James Blake, Mt Kimbie, CD/SD

i get that, but how does that palimpsest notion come into being? is it the critical narrative overlaid on it or is it in the music somehow? i lean towards the latter with jaar, because when i first heard him he really did feel very sui generis, but none of blake's EPs struck me as being all that separate from the many other EPs from his scene that constantly get released.

xp

seriously? to me the eps sounded both very different from everything else i was hearing and very distinct from each other.

Mixture of both. Artists aren't entirely naive about this kind of thing either, I suspect both Jaar and Blake have had "strategies" of sorts and this feeds through in the music, but then also in press releases, in interviews, etc.

Critics most of the time are suggestible: they will respond to and engage with those sorts of cues and it will shape what they read into the music.

i lean towards the latter with jaar, because when i first heard him he really did feel very sui generis

really? i could get that with the album but none of the previous stuff (as great as it is) couldn't easily be the work of other artists IMO. (haha weirdly inverse xpost reaction with Jordan re Blake)

is it the critical narrative overlaid on it or is it in the music somehow?

more generally it's basically impossible to disentangle these two things, though god knows we all do continue to try.

yeah i will admit that part of what i like abt jaar is how the whole thing hangs together, the link b/w the intimacy of his ambient and the slow human-sounding rhythms of some of his tracks. the feeling of being up-close to another body either dancing or

that interlude in keep me there w/ the just shagged conversation

really? i could get that with the album but none of the previous stuff (as great as it is) couldn't easily be the work of other artists IMO. (haha weirdly inverse xpost reaction with Jordan re Blake)

idk, it's not something specific i can put my finger on, more going by my automatic reactions to hearing blake and jaar last year. when i heard blake's EPs, i kind of nodded and thought "whatever" and filed them away with all the other non-standout electronic EPs i hear over the course of the year, never to really cross my mind again. (tbh i can't really recall a single damn thing about them.) when i first heard jaar i basically went into a bit of a rabbit hole and couldn't listen to anything else for half a week, and had to go and hunt down like everything he'd ever done, and basically got really really excited.

w/ blake i think its suppose to be like he's kindof played w/ all these post dubstep tropes, like pushing at the expanses of space, testing the plasticity until it ends up shaped more like something singersongwritery though still kindof made from all these other things. still yeah this feels like a small album. something that i could imagine being rediscovered as an oddity in a couple decades and really loved by ppl if it gets forgotten about, similar in that way at least to how i feel abt One World maybe but idk how useful that sort of speculation is to anyone

idk, it's not something specific i can put my finger on, more going by my automatic reactions to hearing blake and jaar last year. when i heard blake's EPs, i kind of nodded and thought "whatever" and filed them away with all the other non-standout electronic EPs i hear over the course of the year, never to really cross my mind again. (tbh i can't really recall a single damn thing about them.) when i first heard jaar i basically went into a bit of a rabbit hole and couldn't listen to anything else for half a week, and had to go and hunt down like everything he'd ever done, and basically got really really excited.

I feel pretty similar but I think these are qualitative rather than categorical distinctions.

If anything i'd say that what I like about jaar's work is that it doesn't to me feel sui generis, more like he's picking up on all these familiar threads and saying "there's still something interesting that can be done with these."

I actually like the concept of what Blake is doing now but feel it would be better done using another vocalist - and I suspect that if that had in fact been what he'd done no-one would bat an eyelid at the preponderance of cover versions.

dont go killing/killing the vibe/i cant take your lame style

lol

when i listened to this for the first time a few songs in i wondered if it was him singing but then decided it couldn't possibly be

the link b/w the intimacy of his ambient and the slow human-sounding rhythms of some of his tracks. the feeling of being up-close to another body either dancing or

written abt jaar but otm for jb too

lamp don't be more of an idiot than you absolutely have to be.

better than being simply tiresome

not worried about you thinking i'm tiresome but multiple posts that amount to apocryphal elvis costello quotations would have to be the worst way of making that point.

I learnt the word "palimpsest" par hasard earlier today, and there you all are slinging it around like it ain't no thing.

*humbled*

I hope he fires whomever is handling his U.S. distribution. Stopped in two different stores tonight on other errands and thought I would poke around for this. Neither of these major chains even had him listed in their database, let alone on the shelves - they couldn't even have ordered it! That major label doesn't seem to be helping over here.

Although maybe its only a digital deal in the U.S.?

the database at my store says it's out on CD and LP Feb 15 in the US.

I would say that at a certain point qualitative differences become categorical differences. The joke on Blake's songwriting is that he covers Feist - somebody whose only decent recording was also a cover.

I hope he fires whomever is handling his U.S. distribution

would be surprised if James Blake has the authority to fire a division of his own employers

would be surprised if James Blake has the authority to fire a division of his own employers

Haha, I wasn't being serious, just pointing out that he should be disappointed that the major label isn't giving him a huge push over here. But as one time says, apparently its a week behind over here.

Nice piece, Sean. Do people know this song is a cover? I didn't, anyway

http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/blake_vs_blake.php

Great blog. If James Litherland is his dad, then his dad was in Colosseum. Ace.

yeah, in that interview he said something about growing up hearing the song, because his dad was "producing" it, but that version didn't come out until '06. huh. anyway.

idk dude is my age, '05 still feels like "when i was growing up" a bit

alright now i feel like dude should say fuck it & do a whole covers album

and in both songs he ditches the bridges and any extraneous sections, which were there in the original tunes to, you know, add variety and keep your ear involved. but since he's approaching everything from an electronic or dance music p.o.v., it's the sound and texture that changes, not the chords.

i kinda really like the original song there, it's like jackson browne

i love it but i also really like wihelms scream so

he is tired.
at least
in his voice he sounds tired.
and in my head he goes back and forth b/w both ears
i dont know about my love.
i dont know about my lovin anymore.
each time its like
that little peak in the melody
he needs two attempts to get over it.
singing this song he is worn out
its the last part of his voice that are left
skimmed off the surface of an old song
just to have enough momentum.
dissolving into an acid synth wash
until everything has melted
all i know is i'm turning turning turning

and in both songs he ditches the bridges and any extraneous sections, which were there in the original tunes to, you know, add variety and keep your ear involved. but since he's approaching everything from an electronic or dance music p.o.v., it's the sound and texture that changes, not the chords.

― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Thursday, February 10, 2011 1:04 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

On point, I feel.

it is impossible to listen to this album in the metro

From Twitter:

jetfury Geoff Barrow
fuk me!! make one comment!! just for you record.i wasnt digging at the artist you think.i was digging at some bristol commerial pubstep

pubstep!

slightly sad that no one ever picked up on manara's suggestion that "naughty step" should be a genre

Aw, I thought of "naughtystep" yesterday. I guess there's no such thing as original thought.

although i don't think anyone's come up with "sidestep" yet

"mugstep" - 140bpm version of: pot of coffee on a rainy day house

it was an original thought a few years ago, as was "sidestep", "churchstep" etc. look, we did all the -step puns in like 2007

Imhostep?

GIS comes up with this btw:

http://images2.memegenerator.net/ImageMacro/5086427/ITS-OVER-IMHOTEP-IS-FINISHED-IM-IN-UR-VAGINA-BOOTING-UP-UR-TITS.jpg?imageSize=Large&generatorName=Stereotypical-Canadian-Moose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ehllI7Jts

haha (actual lol at 3:20 - 3:40)

For those following this stuff:
James Litherland IS my father, not a man that was produced by my father.

That midi instruments remix is amazing. Several huge laughs from me as well. The part where it goes nuts with a big drum build up is incredible.

Skream and his Skreamix's hay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPIyXrPtu0

:')

Finally got around to listening to this after one of my workmates recommended it to me. Maybe because it's a dull, wet Sunday afternoon but this is hitting the spot. The one album it's reminding me of is John Martyn's 'Solid Air' who had a similarly gauzy voice. He isn't anywhere near as good as Martyn, but sonically it's on the same plane.

I like this album now! Have acclimatised to the scrapey vocals. "The Wilhelm Scream" converted me first, then went back to the rest. Still not so sold on the last two or three tracks, but that could be just scrapey-vocal fatigue kicking in.

i like joe keyes' blurb on this disc, posted today on the emusic blog

In the midst of a whole lot of madness last week, the James Blake record arrived on eMusic U.S. From what I understand, it’s pretty divisive! Some people really like it, some people think it’s watering down dubstep. These are real controversies! Amazing! We live in thrilling times. You can be the judge yourself. And while you’re at it, download his cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.” Which, come to think of it, is probably not going to do a whole lot to defend him from his accusers.

it's true: we live in thrilling times.

no one thinks it's watering down dubstep

holy shit on that screamix remix. the seinfeld bass was serious lols. not a dis, but it sounds like something milton or dominique leone would make.