December 9-16, 2004

musicpicks

Citizen Cope

Rock/pop

People don't get Clarence Greenwood. They wonder why he thinks it isn't overkill to mix a reggae-ish vocal line with a trip-hop beat and a gospel organ and rudimentary folksy guitar and funk bass—all in a single song. They ask why he seems to have an activist's conscience, painting portraits of struggle with poverty and addiction through his lyrics, but doesn't flesh his characters out beyond a fleeting snapshot. He knows what people say and, apparently, doesn't care. He writes for himself. The man behind Citizen Cope saw his 2002 major-label debut, a skittish but promising affair virtually ignored and buried by Dreamworks. After two years of butting heads with the now-floundering label over creative control of his second release, he bought himself out of his contract and hopped over to RCA, but scars are evident in the somber vibe and curtailed scope of The Clarence Greenwood Recordings. Even if the loosely absurd "Pablo Picasso," in which a man falls in love with a woman on a billboard ad, or the introverted "Sideways" aren't as direct as his previous musings, Greenwood still succeeds in creating solemn and evocative moods with a minimalist touch. When it comes to the words, anyway. The music can still be cluttered on occasion, but that's just something the citizens will have to cope with.

Thu., Dec. 9, 8 p.m., $15, TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011.

—John Vettese