James Blake, Mt Kimbie, CD/SD

Backlash works in this context because what Blake's doing this year is totally different to what he was doing last year, and yeah what Cherry Blossom said about getting in early. What Whiney said in a tweet isn't remotely significant to anyone outside a few blogs and ILM though.

In a way I kind of think of music that is buzzed or everyone suddenly talking about it - is a bit like having the radio on at work. Except instead of the music itself being broadcast right at you its other people's opinions

I think you might be on the wrong website.

Its certainly possible

I would have thought "backlash" remains a useful concept when critics focus their negative reaction on puncturing the buzz - Kanye and Blake both are good examples of this. It's not that nobody would have disliked the music originally, it's that the expression of dislike becomes about removing the scales from people's eyes.

this mix is my shit: http://electronicexplorations.org/the-show/141-airhead/

after leaving this alone for a bit (and listening to that case of you cover which is absolutely dreadful on every level - jesus, how did he think that was a good idea, people who can not sing should not be doing joni mitchell covers) i think hes prob better off never singing again, unless its just repeated refrains that are heavily treated. anything more than that and he starts to fall apart. plus after more thanm about 20 mins of him singing, you start to hate him, and want to slap him for being so wet. a lot of his ep material is overrated anyway - all awkward, jerky shit for no reason. hes had that prob since day one - for every air and lack thereof, you get something like the b-side, where he doesnt seem to know quite how to finish or complete a track so feels he has to fuck it up unnecessarily.

the thing with this album is, like Gonzales' Solo Piano, I'm very happy to listen when it's around and i totally forget it existing when it's not
not to say it's not catchy or stuck in my head, just that it doesn't linger or leave a crater behind
so whether or not you dig this may be a barometer of how music that fits that general description fits your tastes

And it was written:

Long before he became poster-boy for indie’s momentary fascination with the soulful sounds of UK’s bass underground, Londoner James Blake could already bust a groove.

404'd
momentary fascination
hah.

so this new single streaming at pfork ... he's just seeing what he can get away with now, right? like, this isn't actually a serious stab at making listenable music ... right?

Haven't heard it yet, although I decided to revisit Wilhelm's Scream and it's really really good now.

man people just like dude cause hes young and handsome. it's the equivalent of parents gushing over their kids' horrible scrawled drawings. i'm bumping some shed after subjecting myself to those new tracks to hear how REAL MEN make electronic music

has there ever been a gabber track called 'Real Men Play On +10', cos if not there should have been

it's cool that he wants to shore up his dance music cred, but nothing on his EPs sounded this generic and boring. feels lazy.

These sound like an actual dubstep record, and not that bad. But I don't know if I want to call his production unimaginative or just his signature style.

the first song is taking minimalism way way way too literally

like dubstep drained of all rhythmic snap and interest.

oh jeez
http://pitchfork.com/news/43562-james-blake-and-bon-iver-collaborate/

i've no idea why i had this thread bookmarked, maybe in the hope of future schadenfreude opportunities.

but anyway i think i can remove it now.

saw my friends open for James Blake tonight. fuck the crowd, but man...he is quite something live. like, i actually like him now.

anyone heard his recent essential mix?

One of the highlights of the Essential Mix for me is him 'harmonimixing'/pitching down this Johann Johannsson track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdfdN4uAdFY

that doesn't sound too different from a straight johann johannson track

(oh is that not the erm harmonixmixed version)

ILX was so quick to dismiss this guy. His album and his schtick isn't perfect, but if anything Wilhelm's Scream is a tune of the year for me.

Guys I am SO FUCKING into Mount Kimbie right now, esp the more upbeat stuff like "Blind Night Errand" and "Carbonated"; can ppl recommend me some more stuff that sounds like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l18NA6rQ9LU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHEIo7ZIlQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sspN0XcHh7o

https://soundcloud.com/dauwd/whats-there-pictures-music

Well, I see there isn't much love for James Blake around here. However, new song is out and I love it.

i'm into it. wish the drums weren't so generic/perfunctory though.

wish the drums weren't so generic/perfunctory though.

yeah, the boring percussion lets this down

i liked the early EPs and the "sounds" or sonic palette of the first album but his voice is a tad bland for me and his songwriting is dreadful. interested to see how he fares on album 2.

link plz?

http://pitchfork.com/news/49467-listen-to-the-new-james-blake-single-retrograde/

doesn't seem to work though.

build up to the song playing is kinda funny

song itself is lovely tho

soo good yo

i forgot that i really liked this guy--good late at night music

Love that he's started writing songs.

that's being very kind to this piece of mewling nothingness

the music literally sounds like an unfinished demo

Well I know you hate James Blake so I don't expect this to trigger a Damascene conversion.

this is fucking excellent. hes still working in this uncomfortable way for me though, never coalescing into whatever it is i suspect hes capable of. despite whatever collective will seems to be goading him towards some undefined achievement. just the parts he's assembling, never convincingly in the same place. the venn diagram never overlaps. the bells sketch, a man with a piano, a voice behind a door in a dark corridor. it has something to do with the sound of a city, a future that never was, whatever little music is left dying - heard from another room. this is the good though. really good. not really a song and not really a track. half there. a reflection of something in your peripheral vision. the vocals are almost uncomfortably intimate, never honeyed or sweet, he sings like an older man. the groove doesn't know how to slink into the room. i'm not really getting at why i cant stop listening to it. i guess its always kindof cheap to think about that. it doesn't even get stuck in my head but as soon as its over i want to hear it again. it never actually finds a groove but it hypnotises me anyway. the slow deliberative movements. the shape of each heavy vowel.

the raw/"demo" quality is part of the appeal for me, i totally get how it's a love it or hate it thing though.

funny, i can't think of too many artists whose early material (esp the untold remix and CMYK ep) sounds more polished and slicker than what came out later.

kate nash went from "foundations" to "under-estimate the girl"

never forget

feel like this dude has been mining the same melodies for a lil while

no argument, but they're good melodies.

http://pitchfork.com/news/49687-brian-eno-rza-guest-on-new-james-blake-album/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1aeKFyr4SQ

Eno collab:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?3aNRCoOsWb8