thread of miguel

also: "a disconnect between who a small set of music critics want to be relevant to R&B at the moment" and R&B listeners is non-existent. IF you listen to R&B or adult R&B radio, you're sharing tastes with listeners.

Yeah Jazmine is more like a contemporary of Ne-Yo, and K. Michelle and Tamar are like throwbacks to that cohort who just happened to be late bloomers commercially. they feel like a very different breed to me than the eclectic Tumblr Coachella cool kid wave of Miguel/Frank/Weeknd/Jhene/Tinashe/etc.

Jazmine's stuff is notably less afrofuturist and experimental
no less wonderful

also: "a disconnect between who a small set of music critics want to be relevant to R&B at the moment" and R&B listeners is non-existent. IF you listen to R&B or adult R&B radio, you're sharing tastes with listeners.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, July 9, 2015 1:59 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, but Dawn isn't getting played on R&B or adult R&B radio, unlike Miguel/Frank/Weeknd/Jhene/Tinashe, which is where my point about the disconnect comes in. That she became the go-to here was an odd choice to me given that the odds of someone outside of ILX thinking of her before they'd think Tinashes or Jhene or any of the women I mentioned are extremely small, even when thinking in terms of like Tumblr coachella buzzword dead signifier R&B.

I guess I wasn't clear. I meant that most of us on ILM who love Dawn Ricahrd also listen to K Michelle, Ledisi, Keyshia Cole, and other R&B and adult R&B standbys.

dunno if that's true honestly. K. Michelle got a little groundswell on the last year-end poll but nothing near the votes that Dawn's records have gotten.

oh the poll

Haven't been following the conversation around this record too much. Has Frank Ocean really been invoked that often?

I go by seeing the same ten or eleven names in R&B threads.

Haven't been following the conversation around this record too much. Has Frank Ocean really been invoked that often?

― Evan R, Thursday, July 9, 2015 5:51 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

in Miguel reviews? it was finally starting to become less of a ubiquitous theme (save for the Pitchfork review) before Miguel's little interview this week made FO a permanent part of his narrative.

Ha. I do think three or four years ago the comparisons were fair game—two extremely talented R&B singers, each carving their own path, and it was interesting to compare and contrast their visions. And there is some truth to the narrative that Miguel saw R&B changing, opening up to different styles and approaches, and really ran with it. But all that is pretty old news by now.

I've read many essays and reviews alleging that 808 & Heartbreak and Drake and whatnot changed it. How was it changing? Serious question.

yeah it felt pretty forced to me in 2012 but a little inevitable, and they were both L.A.-based guys. but in 2015, seeing "alt R&B" in every Miguel review, and "PBR&B" in the first sentence of The Weeknd's wiki entry, just shows how much those hacky angles stuck with people and continue to shape how they see these artists. (xp)

Here's how Tom Breihan wrote about Kaleidoscope Dream around its release:

A few years ago, Miguel seemed like the sort of fabulously talented R&B singer who routinely gets lost in the major-label shuffle. His “All I Want Is You” was a great single, but ask Jazmine Sullivan what a great single or two have done for her. But then the whole hipster-soul wave of the Weeknd and Frank Ocean happened last year, and you could almost see the figurative lightbulb clicking on over Miguel’s head all the way on the other side of the country. Around the same time Drake was releasing Take Care, his own excellently fleshed-out take on that sound, Miguel was starting to toss out his series of Art Dealer Chic EPs for free online.

Where that narrative falls apart for me, of course, (beyond the "hipster soul" tag and how "PBR&B" was tagged as a more fringe, indie-driven movement than it really was, just because R&B trends happened to start overlapping with indie tastes) is Miguel had been doing outsider-y, avant R&B since at least 2008, with his Mischief tape

Worth noting that a lot of what ended up on AIWIY was originally written with the intent of being given to other artists, so if it's not as representative of his ~singular vision~ as KD/Wildheart, that's probably a part of it.

yeah i don't fault anyone for hearing "All I Want Is You" and figuring that was Miguel's deal for a while, i certainly didn't dig any further until i fell in love with "Sure Thing"

just the way he sings in the first verse of the first song + the effects my reaction was :D:D:D yes yes yes yes

first six tracks completely sold me on miguel's first album.
Also, My Piece. never clicked with the rest.

"Teach Me" still makes me melt

yeah "teach me" might still be my favorite song of his

do not rate it all, playing now

Most of AIWIY works for Miguel despite the tracks apparently being earmarked for other singers. The only one I feel doesn't work is Pay Me.

i think i like miguel's dirtbag style in a way that does not jibe with ilxhivemind because i love "the valley" and "pay me"

I love The Valley, too. There's something about Pay Me that just sounds like it was written for a different voice on top of using then-trendy production choices. Feels forced, unlike the rest of the tracks on that first album.

yeah, it's not so much that it's a bad song it just doesn't work as a miguel song at all

i like "The Valley" but it's like Exhibit A in the album's poor sequencing, would sound so much better if it showed up in the second half after you're totally immersed in his world

The Valley would stick out like a sore thumb wherever it sat on the tracklisting, not sure that straightforward sleaze is a particularly good look for Miguel, he's at his best when he's playing with perspectives and that one just feels forced.

god, I really love Hollywood dreams

I'm still not completely sold on this record, but as of yesterday I have gone from only loving "Coffee" to digging the whole "Coffee" through "Hollywood Dreams" stretch. Progress!

NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA NWA

I still have to listen to it a little more to have a clearer idea but so far I really like the album. especially "coffee" and "wave".
there's an over the top/romantic approach that could be a bit annoying and ridiculous but it kinda works.

http://www.factmag.com/2015/07/15/miguel-leaves-riff-1979-smashing-pumpkins-billy-corgan-credit/

Lol oh dear.

I'm imagine a furious Miguel binning an entire session's worth of recordings upon realising he's accidentally remade Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness.

ah. that said, I did think it sounded like the smashing pumpkins !
actually this album sounds more like a 90s indie album than a rnb one to me...

yeah that riff is Corgan-ish

Emptiness is loneliness
and loneliness is cleanliness
and cleanliness is godliness
and god... turns into coffee in the morning

yeah that riff is Corgan-ish

― Evan R, mercredi 15 juillet 2015 16:14 (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and indeed, as said in the article, the drum kit on that song also REALLY sounds like 1979.
he would have been sued his sexy ass !

DON'T FUCKING GIVE THAT ASSHOLE ME

errrr

DON'T FUCKING GIVE THAT ASSHOLE MONEY

too angry about Billy getting paid to type correctly

Emptiness is loneliness
and loneliness is cleanliness
and cleanliness is godliness
and god... turns into coffee in the morning

― Matt DC, Wednesday, July 15, 2015 7:24 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

omfg lol

LOL

uh
http://i.imgur.com/7eubvyy.jpg

that's genuinely at worst the 3rd or 4th most head-shaking thing he's said or tweeted in the past month

i would like to see the top two plz.

https://twitter.com/Miguel/status/618996710518329344

Does "thot" just mean, like, "hoe"? Is it pronounced like "thought"?

A) p much; B) a bit more abruptly

i keep trying but this album still sounds humorous to me