James Blake
- Thread starter Blackdown
- Start date
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
co-sign. harmonimixes - i don't get them at all. Limit to Your Love is a good song tho.
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
I'm going to call it like this...
Bell Sketch EP - Great, and I think it's because it's like an... Apocolyptic Joker. Like, it brings out the darkness and grim qualities of Joker that get skipped over. Really pretentiously though, but hey.
CMYK - IDM&B. Really cool, but... This whole Intelligent R&B thing always ticks me off.
The singer songwriter stuff - ...... He's not THAT GOOD A SINGER. Nor does he make good songs. It's just... AAAARGH! I mean, I'm going to get the album soon anyway, but for fuck's sake, the majority of it is ridiculously contrived.
Bell Sketch EP - Great, and I think it's because it's like an... Apocolyptic Joker. Like, it brings out the darkness and grim qualities of Joker that get skipped over. Really pretentiously though, but hey.
CMYK - IDM&B. Really cool, but... This whole Intelligent R&B thing always ticks me off.
The singer songwriter stuff - ...... He's not THAT GOOD A SINGER. Nor does he make good songs. It's just... AAAARGH! I mean, I'm going to get the album soon anyway, but for fuck's sake, the majority of it is ridiculously contrived.
i like bells sketch and cmyk and air and lack thereof but think he too often takes what would be really great abstract R&B/soul into jerky, awkward-ness. i love the sounds and the textures and melodies etc but he seems to like disrupting the balance unnecessarily. interested to hear the album as it seems to bring out really strong reactions in people.
crackerjack
Well-known member
Though not his, I just disocvered - prefer his version though.
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baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Actually knew that (for once!), but it's not a fact that's getting heavily publicised, is it?
Agree with gumdrops on the contrived awkwardness. It obviously reminds me of 90s IDM, which mostly I couldnt' stand, on that score.
Agree with gumdrops on the contrived awkwardness. It obviously reminds me of 90s IDM, which mostly I couldnt' stand, on that score.
crackerjack
Well-known member
Dunno how fair that is. Seems to me, however awkward it is, this album has emotional content, which isn't something I'd ever say about IDM - that always sounded like it was designed for self-congratulation (though I should say the only person I knew who was really heavily into it wasn't that way inclined at all).
When I hear Limit to Your Love, I always think of this
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pre-Simply Red
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pre-Simply Red
FairiesWearBoots
Well-known member
I like CMYK and Air and I think he is best when its more bumpy, dance floor friendly
I like his take on US R&B, but I think he is not quite there with some of it,
I hope he bumps up the groove on his sound a notch and makes it more driving/punchy,
sort of the way I see Ramadanman's sound has developed (his recent tracks have seemed tougher and all the better for it)
I dont see a huge demand for post-dubstep idm? coffee-table dubstep?
By all means get away from pubstep but gives us something to dance to
I like his take on US R&B, but I think he is not quite there with some of it,
I hope he bumps up the groove on his sound a notch and makes it more driving/punchy,
sort of the way I see Ramadanman's sound has developed (his recent tracks have seemed tougher and all the better for it)
I dont see a huge demand for post-dubstep idm? coffee-table dubstep?
By all means get away from pubstep but gives us something to dance to
hmm when idm failed it was cos it went too balmy, emo and melodic and became very boring, or it went the other way and became dry exercises in giving some latest software fad a workout, or it had a bit of a feeling of intellectual superiority or social superiority to the music it essentially leeched off and was probably a bit scared of interacting with, but was no where near as enjoyable or innovative as. Some of it was amazing though, and there is an awful lot of it too. However it was made in a bit of a vaccum, with no actual social scene or clubs etc to support it on the whole.
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benjybars
village elder.
yeah couldn't agree more.. haven't heard a Harmonimix yet which i haven't loved.
that's kind of a lame argument to make against him though. he's not trying to make r&b, he's taking elements of r&b that he likes and putting them into his own sound
same for any kind of music really - it's just being influenced by something
cassie is renowned for not having a "good" voice and she's just about the best r&b artist around. though i absolutely love her voice, and i don't see any problem with jb's either.
same for any kind of music really - it's just being influenced by something
cassie is renowned for not having a "good" voice and she's just about the best r&b artist around. though i absolutely love her voice, and i don't see any problem with jb's either.
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
Okay there's a HUGE difference with that logic.
Cassie is notoriously not a good live vocalist. This is a big deal in the case of people who like to pretend that they're enjoying really good vocalists in R&B (See: People Who Think Alicia Keys Even Remotely Carries A Tune.); but in the case of her music, it's not REALLY important, because she's kind of perfectly plasticine. I've stressed this again, but Cassie is in the Aaliyah model of "Robot Turned Singer". Everything is artificial, but that's it's strength. She's just another instrument... She just also happens to possess a really cute body.
However, in the case of Blake, Blake is a SERIOUS ARTIST. He's making REAL MUSIC. Cassie is forgiven for not having enough ability because it's nothing that big. But when 'Measurements' came out for example, everyone was like "HE SINGS TOO!? GOSPEL!?" And I felt like "... Yeah, it's pretty good, If he discovers auto-tune maybe, and tries to take songwriting a bit more seriously." However, he's just as incapable a vocalist as Cassie and he gets blown for warbling "But I don't blame them!" over and over? That's a fucking hook, that's not a goddamn song! Everyone blatantly ignores his lack of ability and pretends it's there, but Cassie being unable to sing was such a fucking travesty!?
And WHY is that? Because of everything Blake HAS done. If Blake didn't have this production legacy behind him, this would've been dismissed as absolute crap, because that's what it is. Blake's 'singer' bits are good in a 'part of the picture' way. Something to occasionally utilize... It's not what Blake does best. But Blake gets automatically praised for just about anything and everything he does so easily that Blake doesn't even know what he's good at.
However, Cassie has not had everything she does loved. Because she lives in a different world... Her music matters less to her fanbase than the fact that A) She may have cheated on Ryan Leslie with Puffy B) OMG SHE CUT HER HAAAAIR! and... then, maybe after another couple of things, her music. When people get to the music, they don't take her as seriously because they think she's untalented (which isn't true), that she's all beauty, that she's only still signed BECAUSE she's 'banging' Puffy. Really, despite the whole 'cult of Cassie', the people who Cassie NEEDS to like her to succeed won't give her any mind.
Actually, that reminds me of how Kelis' is stuck between commercial expectations (Making a Will.I.Am/Guetta produced house monstrosity) and courting 'other' music (The one-offs with Crookers & Basement Jaxx). In the case of Kelis though, she's also a better singer and a songwriter than given credit, unlike Cassie...
Cassie is notoriously not a good live vocalist. This is a big deal in the case of people who like to pretend that they're enjoying really good vocalists in R&B (See: People Who Think Alicia Keys Even Remotely Carries A Tune.); but in the case of her music, it's not REALLY important, because she's kind of perfectly plasticine. I've stressed this again, but Cassie is in the Aaliyah model of "Robot Turned Singer". Everything is artificial, but that's it's strength. She's just another instrument... She just also happens to possess a really cute body.
However, in the case of Blake, Blake is a SERIOUS ARTIST. He's making REAL MUSIC. Cassie is forgiven for not having enough ability because it's nothing that big. But when 'Measurements' came out for example, everyone was like "HE SINGS TOO!? GOSPEL!?" And I felt like "... Yeah, it's pretty good, If he discovers auto-tune maybe, and tries to take songwriting a bit more seriously." However, he's just as incapable a vocalist as Cassie and he gets blown for warbling "But I don't blame them!" over and over? That's a fucking hook, that's not a goddamn song! Everyone blatantly ignores his lack of ability and pretends it's there, but Cassie being unable to sing was such a fucking travesty!?
And WHY is that? Because of everything Blake HAS done. If Blake didn't have this production legacy behind him, this would've been dismissed as absolute crap, because that's what it is. Blake's 'singer' bits are good in a 'part of the picture' way. Something to occasionally utilize... It's not what Blake does best. But Blake gets automatically praised for just about anything and everything he does so easily that Blake doesn't even know what he's good at.
However, Cassie has not had everything she does loved. Because she lives in a different world... Her music matters less to her fanbase than the fact that A) She may have cheated on Ryan Leslie with Puffy B) OMG SHE CUT HER HAAAAIR! and... then, maybe after another couple of things, her music. When people get to the music, they don't take her as seriously because they think she's untalented (which isn't true), that she's all beauty, that she's only still signed BECAUSE she's 'banging' Puffy. Really, despite the whole 'cult of Cassie', the people who Cassie NEEDS to like her to succeed won't give her any mind.
Actually, that reminds me of how Kelis' is stuck between commercial expectations (Making a Will.I.Am/Guetta produced house monstrosity) and courting 'other' music (The one-offs with Crookers & Basement Jaxx). In the case of Kelis though, she's also a better singer and a songwriter than given credit, unlike Cassie...
jimitheexploder
Well-known member
I think James Blake has come a long way since his early vocal demos
Leo
Well-known member
yeah, i realize he's not trying to make a full-on r&b album...just not sure he's been that successful in, as you say, taking elements of r&b that he likes and putting them into his own sound either. as i said, i like his stuff in general and give him points for stretching and trying. but so far, the vocals just don't cut it.
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
THIS IS A BIG DEAL! YOU CAN'T COMPARE CASSIE AND JAMES BLAKE! THAT'S LIKE SAYING BASSLINE AND NICHE ARE THE SAME THING!!!