Katy B - On A Mission (4 April 2011) - hype, anticipation &c

i was never overwhelmed by her singles until "easy please me" & "witches' brew" (two of my favorites on here) but the depth of quality songwriting throughout this album really surprised (& pleased) me

i think there's a rare quality here for a dance pop album (?) where neither the beats nor vocals overshadow the other... it's all very seamless and natural

otm

she's just a really dope songwriter overall

It's all very well having a big stack of great singles but it's the quality of songs like Movement, Go Away and Disappear that elevate it to a great album.

At the other end of the year I'm probably playing this more than PJ Harvey now.

Can someone add neneh cherry to the j0rdan s listening club thread

it's gonna be really hard to decide between pj harvey/katy b/beyoncé for my album of the year but it's pretty hard to see beyond that all-female top 3 right now, nothing comes close to them

Beyonce's out of the reckoning for me, the highs are very high indeed but there's still a sense of nagging patchiness and the ending doesn't feel particularly satisfying, whereas the other two end on either an emotionally devastating note or a triumphant bow. But it's the difference between top five and top three.

the beyoncé ending with the bonus tracks = double whammy for schholin' life/dance for you = an ending which is JUST FINE BY ME

*schoolin

I don't really like Dance For You, but I'm not really counting bonus tracks anyway. 'Party' aside, the first three quarters of 4 has this amazing upward momentum to it, and then it gets a bit lost at the end.

Whereas On A Mission is perfectly ordered and paced. I dunno, I just get a slight feeling of too many cooks about the Beyonce album. But like I said it's largely amazing and there aren't too many records I've enjoyed more.

i kind of think of the ending proper as "end of time" which works really well tbh, given that i see no reason to ever listen to "i was here" and i think of "run the world" as a thoroughly amazing but completely separate single. but in practice it's end of time => lay up under me => schoolin' life => dance for you. yessss

On A Mission is a really solid album, but after playing it loads for about a week or two earlier in the year, I just don't feel like I have that much to come back to. Might dig it out again.

For me the quality of year's best albums is so high that having to edit tracks out is a strike against though.

Anyway this is Katy's thread and there isn't a single track on her album I ever want to skip.

Katy's album is more consistent, but the highs are higher on Beyonce's and I find myself playing it way more.

is Witches Brew a single now too? I didn't know...

Have been listening to this more lately and loving the album tracks like Go Away and Disappear. this album is seriously getting better on the re-listens.

i love power on me, its defo my favourite off the album atm

Does she have any imitators other than Emeli Sande yet?

jess mills and delilah riding the post-katy b wave too

and yasmin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsNBQJEofQM&ob=av2e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxNe9jWNuEU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbmm_hXcrA0&ob=av2e

there's cleo sol too, this single isn't very katy b-like (though it is great) but she's vocalled several uk funky tracks in the past and probably will do so again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPr6YY7kDaI

i don't see any of those as being "post-katy".

oh i know they predate katy and aren't following in her wake soundwise, it's more the sudden major label push to their careers

or whatever, i'm typing in a hurry so if you want to nitpick go ahead cuz i have 949039483 thoughts in my head atm

no, that was pretty much all i thought save maybe qualifying "sudden push" a little (has katy sold well enough to count as a gravy train? maybe she has, idk). it looked like you were running with rev's imitators line.

Thanks. The Yasmin is the best (and most Katy B-like) of the bunch. Cleo Sol was cool, too. I think I'd like the Delilah more with a better singer, and Jess Mills didn't do anything for me at all. Also, hellllllllooooooooooooooo Yasmin.

The unexpected Public Enemy squeal coda is so great.

yasmin's other two singles this year -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HO-E0mlmEc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQcwuAhJ4Ms

also it's just struck me that a lot of people in here won't have checked ruff diamondz - GOT ME BURNIN - new UK girl group, their current single was produced by geeneus and written by katy b. and it's EXCELLENT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNArt8VbCqo&ob=av2e

ooh, very nice. i like.

i've been loving yasmin's singles for the most part.

Royal T did a pretty good Yasmin remix earlier in the year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPVqLpMN0Vk

I thought there was a good bassline remix too but maybe I'm just remembering hearing the Royal T remix in a DJ Beez mixtape or something.

love a lot of this album, including the title track. but i just played it and when the chorus arrived, i expected it to sound ... bigger, maybe? like it was rocket that didn't quite tear out of the docking station during lift-off.

xp this is the remix you want - one of 2011's enduring little classics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptkNUvd7ADM

great show in shep bush tonight. she looked like she was having the time of her life, it was super infectious.

"movement" video like your favourite holiday photos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFwGeW2HmcA

Movement is a single too now? goddamn!

DREAM VACATION

she just got a write-up in SPIN, fairly small but worth checking out if you're an utter obsessive

is it by my man's and dem powertweeter whiney g?

nick duerden? am i missing out on some intricate ilxian inside joke?

Notorious ILX rabble-rouser Whiney G. Weingarten writes for SPIN.

Katy B doesn't seem like his "thing"

he actually tweeted recently that you're an asshole if you want to listen to how to dress well (or whoever it was) instead of katy b

what if you like listening to both?

http://twitter.com/#!/1000TimesYes/status/123815014615355393

http://twitter.com/#!/1000TimesYes/status/124136955809243136

Katy B - On A Mission (4 April 2011) - hype, anticipation &c

( Elliott Wilson fired as XXL editor-in-chief )

lol so yeah, no expression whatsoever of appreciation for anything about her music, just a furious dichotomy hurled at asshole strawmen

strawholes

Ha! I guess the 'A' doesn't stand for 'Asshole' anymore. #movingup