Mars/Venus Koffee Brown Arista, 2001   Buy it online Tracks 1: Intro 2: Weekend Thing 3: After Party 4: Didn't Mean To Turn You On 5: Chick On Da Side 6: Fingerpointing 7: Blackout 8: All I Need (Bonnie & Clyde) 9: All Those Fancy Things 10: Quickie 11: The View (Interlude) 12: I Got Love (Scars) 13: Hater's Disease 14: Qualified 15: Mars/Venus (Interlude) 16: Do U See Reviewed by Lincoln Cho	Sometimes uncomplicated is enough. Music that is accessible. Easy to listen to. And doesn't demand a sophisticated palate to enjoy. Mars/Venus is like that. The type of album that begs to be slipped into the CD player with the kind of easy insouciance that includes dimming the lights and pouring a pair of glasses of something smooth and intoxicating. Koffee Brown's debut album doesn't demand a master's degree in music appreciation. No matter your musical orientation, Mars/Venus is pleasant and, at times, even approaches pleasurable. Koffee Brown is the mysterious duo of Vee (her) and Fonz (him) whose pedigree is not being flouted by Arista. Where they came from seems less important than the kind of music they're making: somewhat traditional R&B, with heavy 70s and 80s licks in evidence. This is music to seduce by: sophisticated ghetto with just enough of a beat to continue to be useful if the seduction proves successful. Both components of Koffee Brown claim roots in gospel music. Polished vocals and a sense of style and harmony give credence to the claim. Vee and Fonz were introduced by Kay Gee Gist of Naughty By Nature and Gist's fingerprints are all over Mars/Venus including producer and major writing credits on 12 of 16 tracks. Elements of cheese mar Mars/Venus only slightly. For instance, the 25 second intro sets the stage for the type of "he said, she said" dialog that resonates through the album though, in the case of the intro, it's to the strains of the theme song from The Young and the Restless. Man: Mars. Strong. Protective. Determined. Needed. Woman: Venus. Nurturing. Emotional. Shapely. Needed. We need to talk. Though the underlying feel of Mars/Venus is a sort of sophisticated late-at-the-club or early-at-the-crib groove, a pleasing -- and, once again, uncomplicated -- blend contributes to the whole. At their essence, Koffee Brown gives us more or less classic R&B, though, as appropriate to a post-90s recording in this genre, Mars/Venus also offers up elements of hip hop and a couple of tracks with a definite clubby feel. These include the Kay Gee Gist-penned tunes "Quickie," "Weekend Thing" and "Blackout" which features some delicious "she said" rap by Lady Luck. While Koffee Brown work well together, the instrument worth watching here is Vee's soaring voice. I could, for example, listen to her perfectly modulated warbling on "All Those Fancy Things" all day long. There's a lot to like about Mars/Venus. Well produced by Gist, expect to see a fair amount of this album surface on the airwaves: the songs on are mostly radio length and ready. While the album represents a solid debut, there's nothing here that's going to set the world on fire. However, more miles and a stronger sense of self could see this duo producing something remarkable on future releases. | April 2001 Lincoln Cho is a musician and freelance writer.	There's a lot to like about Mars/Venus. Well produced by Gist, expect to see a lot of this album surface on the airwaves: the songs on the album are mostly radio length and ready.