James Blake, Mt Kimbie, CD/SD

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/792/tumblrlfzz9gdsqi1qdawze.gif

this album has been lovely background music.

the sleeper cut is "i mind" (would have fit in perfectly on klavierwerke)

kinda love i never learnt to share and will be playing it around my sister a lot

Weird thing about Never Learnt to Share - he's an only child.

So we're liking this now? God my head!!

Only just discovering the Mt Kimbie album. Lovely, especially Before I Move Off, Carbonated and Field, though (apart from a couple of bassier tracks) definitely closer to Four Tet and Gold Panda than dubstep - basically the 2010s incarnation of IDM and trip hop. Which is fine by me. Blake still stands alone, for better or worse.

Okay, I've just realised how fantastic Wilhelm's Scream is - the build up and the chord progressions and the use of sidechaining transcend most of what's going on in this album.

Listened to this album again last night after a horrible day at work. It really calmed me down despite how unstructured it is (maybe I'm a rockist after all). The album is like incomplete thoughts floating in your head which is a new listening experience for me.

Plus, I listened to "Love What Happened Here" and I wonder why he couldn't be this remotely funky on his debut. I don't know if he is pandering to me or what but I nodded my head to it.

sounds like a cmyk outtake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vwOxF4NtdU

wilhelms scream is wonderful.

What an odd comment to make
http://pitchfork.com/news/41740-echo-chamber-james-blake-vs-remixes/

I can understand that maybe the commissioning of remixes can feel like hustling when you're a hot producer who's suddenly flooded with requests to remix songs, but the rest of that quote is a bit odd yes (maybe because it's taken out of context. That SPIN blurb it's taken from just seems like a collection of quotes instead of a (mini)interview).

yeah, it's understandable, but kinda shitty to say since he first started making a name off off remixes (untold, the harmonimix stuff). i'd imagine he'd say that he did those because the tunes spoke to him and not because he was trying to latch on to someone else's success, but still.

I did the Spin interview - those were the choice quotes taken from it because Spin wanted a variety of formats in its new artist feature. I'm sorry it's unclear - it didn't seem that way to me when he said it or when I wrote it up. He was just saying that he hated being asked to remix big acts he had no connection with just because he was the latest hot producer, and he thinks it makes the other artists look bad too. The remix industry now is very much about throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks - there are major label singles with six or more remixes. That's very different to doing a favour for Untold, who put out his first single.

That's what I thought that was meant but wasn't sure - thanks for clearing that up!

The remix industry now is very much about throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks - there are major label singles with six or more remixes.

not that I don't think it's dumb but that's hardly a new thing, if anything it's some choice !!!90S REVIVALISM!!!

"Remixing is like musical prostitution. I think it's really cynical and vacuous; I'm batting offers away like flies. It never used to be like that. Ray Charles didn't need five remixes. The song speaks for itself."

they're sitting out there waiting to give you their money. are you gonna take it? are you man enough to take it?

xpost True - I remember the 90s remix glut too but Blake's only 22 so it's new to him.

"Remixing is like musical prostitution. I think it's really cynical and vacuous; I'm batting offers away like flies. It never used to be like that. Ray Charles didn't need five remixes. The song speaks for itself."

^^^ Doesn't fucking get dance music.

Would totally be down for hearing a Ray Charles remix in the middle of a house set.

afaik Ray Charles didn't do a bunch of pop remixes under an alias either

Really? If that's true he's such a pompous arse.

Rather than being a contradiction, doesn't the distinction between remixing as an artform and remixing as a cynical marketing tool make sense? Now I'm worried I might have misrepresented him in the edit. Full quote was this:

I’m batting remix offers away like flies. I really dislike the remix industry. I think it’s really cynical and vacuous. You get five different remixes of someone’s first single in five different genres. It’s not right and it never used to be like that. Ray Charles didn't need five remixes. The song speaks for itself. It’s a horrible way of treating people and I won’t be treated like that. I haven’t done a commissioned remix so I don’t know what to charge. It’s like musical prostitution – lending your sound to someone else’s track. It’s just a load of indie bands who want some sort of validity.

Still doesn't get it.

xp I assume mh means the Harmonimix white label thingies he did, not official remixes

What's to get, Matt? I don't follow you. But I think your point that he doesn't get dance music - if by that you mean the specific culture and industry - then you're probably right.

Yeah, I didn't mean official commercial remixes.

Exactly, he doesn't get dance music, he doesn't get the idea of plurality and cross-pollination that you get through remixes, he doesn't get how incredible it can be to be on a dancefloor and hear a record you love reappear in an unfamiliar context. The idea that it's in some way killing the purity of the song or is a "horrible thing to do to a person" is just bizarre to me.

The remix industry now is probably an issue of bet-hedging as much as anything else, but it still provides an income for a lot of producers that would be non-existant otherwise. It feels like Blake is just pontificating from a position of privelege.

Haha "bass-heavy, reggae-informed techno" is such a wrongheaded way to describe dubstep as well so well done SPIN for making that happen.

It’s not right and it never used to be like that. Ray Charles didn't need five remixes.

oh fuck off with your sandi thom-esque "it were all fields round here" bs - not to mention it's always been like this, for as long as i can remember! and maybe ray charles didn't have five remixes at the time, but given how many excellent producers rework vintage songs to superb effect - henrik schwarz on bill withers' "who is he?", say - dismissing the potential of remixes comes off as really shallow rockism.

Exactly, he doesn't get dance music, he doesn't get the idea of plurality and cross-pollination that you get through remixes, he doesn't get how incredible it can be to be on a dancefloor and hear a record you love reappear in an unfamiliar context. The idea that it's in some way killing the purity of the song or is a "horrible thing to do to a person" is just bizarre to me.

The remix industry now is probably an issue of bet-hedging as much as anything else, but it still provides an income for a lot of producers that would be non-existant otherwise. It feels like Blake is just pontificating from a position of privelege.

matt dc otmfm

Also how many other artists' work did Ray Charles reinterpret? How many other jazz or rock or soul artists reinterpreted his songs? It feels historically ignorant more than anything else.

Oh bollocks, I cocked up that pasted quote. The "horrible" bit shouldn't be in there - that was from a different question where we were talking about the practice of labels overcommissioning remixes and refusing to pay for them, knowing that a lot of remixers would leak them online anyway because they were proud of them, thus giving the label free publicity. Aeroplane complained about this too - apparently it's common practice. And I agree that is a pretty lousy way to treat people.

He isn't criticising remixing per se, but the remix industry.

My new user name will be Cap'n save-a-Blake

that makes a lot more sense

xpost True - I remember the 90s remix glut too but Blake's only 22 so it's new to him.

― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Thursday, March 3, 2011 4:58 PM (2 hours ago)

im 23 and i totally remember this. being all like uh why is there three remixes on the cd single of bitch by meredith brooks (this is a true thing its terrible that i know this)

We've done so much great work pillorying him based on the strawman misquote, DL! Stop trying to fix this.

it does seem like the main point of remix albums these days is to have another excuse to send out press releases/get google hits/etc.

I think I get the idea of having what's basically a second version of the album with a different remixer on each song, but I don't think it really works so well. I'd rather hear two or three remixes of the most remixable songs rather than a few gems and a couple of reinterpretations.

heh i get that remixes have a certain bloggability esp when they seem to promise a certain alchemy of crosspollination b/w two seemingly incongruent aesthetics but i kindof feel like that narrative is so burnt out by early bloghouse etc that its kindof not worth talking about anymore

remixes help expand listenership and make for easy press; they're generally cheap to produce and fast to make
when your marketing budget is a shoestring, remixes make good pr sense

Maybe JB's problem isn't the remix itself but the "on spec" mechanism with which most bands/management teams solicit that stuff
i.e. do the work, the remix belongs to you, maybe we'll pay you
Which is fine for some but worthy of criticism

Owen, what's your take on remixes of your work? Do you ever regret handing over the keys to the car? Does it seem to pay dividends in any way, short term or long?

owen otm

I think he just doesn't like to spam out loads of random remixes himself. He only really does them when he's really feeling something. I bet he gets asked to do loads and isn't into doing a bag of them for the sake of it. Same prob goes for other people remixing him.

I'm loathe to defend blake but I definitely think in the last five years or so it feels like the majority of great remixes, edits, what have you, have been productions driven by the remixing artist - e.g. Schwarz doing Bill Withers, yeah, but more generally really deliberate match-ups between dance artists of similar sensibilities on, say, two track vinyl releases - as opposed to the tradition of labels commissioning a bunch of remixers.

Seems to me like the last great mainstream remixers was JLC. The early-to-mid-00s was an awesome time for that in general.

Dubstep/post-dubstep have never really had a proper remix culture either, some unofficial remixes yeah (was it Goth-Trad who did that ace Erykah Badu remix?) but I can't even think of any examples of, say, Hessle Audio putting out a remix (though there may be). So it's kind of gone straight from no remixes to people like Joker, Skream, Rustie, Blake etc being asked to do remixes for major label releases... There's a lot of these at the moment, and the only one that seems to have taken on a life of its own in any big way is the Le Roux remix (ew).

The two sides sort of come together in the sense that electro-house was a great form for teasing out an original song's qualities (very extended mix-y) whereas it's very hard to do a remix in a dubstep or post-dubstep style that doesn't sound just like that. Nothing wrong with that but I could imagine the process becoming frustrating - ironically, given Blake's current style this probably wouldn't apply to him! The complaint seems odd coming from in particular.

uk funky is pretty good at the "commissioning multiple remixes" thing (see e.g. Addictive's "Domino Effect") but, of course, not if you're talking dollars. But again funky is a form fairly sympathetic to songfulness.

Dubstep/post-dubstep have never really had a proper remix culture either

idk i'd disagree with this - can think of a ton of great remixes by ikonika (who's managed to successfully carve out a remixing style that's quite distinct from her own material, pretty varied from track to track, but still recognisably her), and reworking mainstream hits is a huge thing (think brenmar, kingdom, the cassie remix compilation etc).

and in terms of label-commissioned remixes, uk funky producers from crazy cousinz and geeneus through to ill blu and funkystepz have done amazing stuff in that format.

I don't think there has been as big a remix thing as there has been in say electro in... dubstep/post-dubstep... until recently at least. There have been a good amount of remixes but even last year I was finding it hard to pick up on that many that really stood out or had been done. Its just not much of a thing for now. A load of labels/artists will keep doing that no doubt others will push it as far as it'll go cos its good promo and kind of fun to get others involved on your releases. I doubt James Blake will be making remix fodder anytime soon. But you'll sure hear a million Skream remixes, maybe Joker if he goes for it this year... or even a load of the night slugs peeps doing epic amounts. Its just the way they roll. Sometimes it makes for good listening a lot of the time its doesn't its just quality control innit. There is a fine line between blog fodder and good promo though... I just hope post-dubstep peeps walk it fine as they get more hype.

Lex my post was specifically distinguishing between unofficial and official remixes. Kingdom et al specialize in the former really.