Ryan Leslie, c/d, s/d

is it ok 2 repost this here?

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo305/lejospopo/didntmeanto.jpg

okay but that guitar on you're not my girl, really?

how dope is that solo in that one song

lol i was disagreeing w/ ronan, trying to say the same thing you were xxxxp

i mean there r some great details tho, i just love how the sound of the keyboards pulls away from the speakers on some of the little descending runs on To The Top

every time i try to pay attention to the lyrics my mind just wanders away - really really really cannot get past his wallpaper nothing voice, no matter how pretty the arrangements

guess that is ur cross 2 bear

ronan is dead right abt all my love, which is prolly the showiest production, that bit where the piano replaces the synths!

yeah that end part is so amazing, and the synth back into the piano, there's just something in that shift back and forth as it fades out that works on some level beyond explanation for me.

i'm not saying the lyrics are terrible as such, there is some content there, the music wouldn't work on its own cos it's obviously song structured, but that doesn't mean the actual lyrics are then great. I mean yeah the lyrics are fine, I think there's just a few parts where they're in that zone of him saying he wants to bone someone in a v roundabout overly sensitive and thus ultimately sleazy way. eg "if it's a question of your pride, put that thing aside."

Wondering is that the source of the yuppy complaints cos that's how I'd think of "Intimate Connection" too.

it works lyrically 4 me like the strokes lyrics do which is, its pretty meaningless drivel on the surface but there are lines that jump out for almost no reason and seem great!

ha, that's an interesting comparison - i think julian is a great lyricist on the first two albums pretty much in the way you describe

aye jordan, I get your spoon comparison, but it doesn't quite work because britt d. is a way better lyricist and a better singer to boot

i mean arrangement wise

yeah I get that, I'm saying the comparison ends there

i feel like ryan leslie & the-draem exist to be diametric opposites of each other while kinda being the same

ryan leslie, super-rehearsed & labored-over **craftsman** composer of precision
the-dream, naturally-gifted & ballsy but kinda unable to rein himself in & be thoughtful

honestly, maxwell is the best blend of these two approaches & its why i like his record more than either

About halfway through a first listen to Transition right now (I'd already heard "You're Not My Girl"). Really digging this aesthetic. Guess I should check out the self-titled one, too?

its not as good

btw is it me or does this record sound kinda compressed & not pristine/clean? its kind of annoying actually

the first one has some moments, like 'quicksand' & its short enough that if you like this one you probably wont feel like you wasted your time. but its def not as good

I think 'sunday night' is definitely my favorite on this

yeah i was skeptical that this was really gonna be much better than the last one which i dug A LOT on a surface level but once gibberish wore off was kindof eh abt the whole thing. k3vin was right that its more of the same but in a really good way this time round, hard to even say what's so different but definitely shinier and a little more crooked than last time, not a huge diff, but a huge diff in terms of how often i wanna hear this.

I liked the last one a lot, listened to it quite a bit. It's hard to pick one for me but current one yeah probably edges it, listened to both a lot and still playing Transition.

deej i don't see the line you're trying to draw b/w the-draem and maxwell at all

im arguing that maxwell combines the carefully thought out compositional approach of ryan leslie w/ a more 'felt'/improvised follow-yr-inner-voice appeal of the-dream very naturally so it seems v. natural

lol naturally so its natural -- you get what im saying

I dig both this dude's albums to extents, but his talent-to-personality ratio is way out of whack.

y'know every time I listen to the Maxwell album I certainly think "this like Ryan Leslie meets The-Dream"

I think deej's comparison is more about songwriting approaches than actual sound.

if that's the case then we can just put every auteur from every genre ever on some vague precision vs. ballsy spectrum

okay this might just be because i was listening to their best of a lot around the time i was listening to his first album, but does anyone else get a weirdly "Carpenters"-ey vibe off the production to this?

if that's the case then we can just put every auteur from every genre ever on some vague precision vs. ballsy spectrum

― some dude, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 8:10 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i guess you could, my point was that the-dream & leslie seem to have fairly opposite songwriting approaches/personalities. i dont think im reading that much into it.

The Maxwell comparison is a bit different -- its not like he splits the difference or something -- I'm just saying that he just feels like he covers more bases.

"Never Gonna Break Up" is a dream for fans of creamy synthesizer tones.

listening to transition a lot lately, and ive tried saying it a few times but never really got at why i really like this guy and why i think his personality works is that it is a really great equiv for his whole aesthetic. I think its important that he is the producer as well on these tracks bc he makes them sound like a tasteful/tacky expensive bachelor pad where his sortof-an-asshole yuppie dude'll show you his big tv and put the moves on you, and i think he has a great way of just suggesting his sleazy-slick intentions in the fancy upholstery r smthng

^^^yah good post

this could be kinda like j0rdan said about "Blame It" in the ilx poll, where the sound is the actual sound of the subject matter, and you respond to the artfulness of that creation even if you don't necessarily like getting your drink on in pricey joints, or sleazy assholes

yeah that's a good post tiarnan

kind of was lukewarm to this guy at first but i find myself coming back to both of the albums from last year

2nd one is incredible & mad slept on

i dunno, besides "never gonna break up" and "sunday night" the second one kind of came and went with me, he left some great leaks off of it ("ice cold", "luv this luv", etc.)... I definitely thought the first album was a lot better, but maybe I should revisit it.

'rescue u'

i dunno i cannot get this album (transition) out of my head. i catch myself humming 'all my love' at least one a week at the moment. incredible song.

i think the reason i found his personality jarring for so long is cos it rings really true. outright swagging + boasting never annoys me. but he is like so many guys i've known in real life who play at being this slick sensitive 'i create music' dude.

ha otm

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs015.snc4/34125_535729522013_43201281_31627600_6707217_n.jpg

transition is def a classic album

should've been on my pazz and jop

he is a really terrible rapper tho

there's a grocery bag line on "sunday night"

he is a really terrible rapper tho

― de jong and the restless (J0rdan S.), Monday, July 19, 2010 3:32 PM (1 hour ago)

BEEN TELLING YOU

I still have this nagging feeling that his self-titled is better than Transition.

Less clunkers lyrically. But it's not about the lyrics with dude, I know.

i still prefer the self-titled. it's a bit less....all-around competent than transition i guess, but way more distinctly ryan leslie