Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (2012)

"Pyramids" okay I see why ppl are pointing to this as the standout (faster tempo, buzzy synths) but to me this is basically breaking a mood that I was enjoying, at least until that bass line comes in at which point I stop caring and start agreeing, this is great

Marvin and Stevie are the go-to references for R&B, for better or worse. It would help if Frank Beverly got his due.

I think Frank has more in common with Maxwell/D'Angelo

apart from one really really important thing ie the VOICE

new Maxwell album and single are apparently coming soon, but he just canceled a bunch of tourdates due to "vocal swelling and hemorrhaging," which is v worrying

lex i'm not really into this frank ocean stuff either but honestly whining over and over that people don't share your exact taste is a terrible look, please chill the fuck out

gee lex, do you have an opinion on how Frank Ocean sings, I'm not really getting a clear sense of where you stand on that

i've never seen an album so unanimously rhapsodised about

this album was released today...

lol is "Fertilizer" a joke

Part of why I made the Prince-in-his-prime comparison: Starfish + Coffee into Dorothy Parker aka is this guy for real.

"Lost" this is great, too; dude has a knack for settling into a groove that conveys ease regardless of the song's subject matter

also re: his singing, it's interesting to me that he's basically using this blank, somewhat fragile instrument that resonate a good third to a fifth below where his songs are set; obv as a dude with a lower voice I am going to be psyched that someone is out there putting out things I could reasonably sing but he's got a bunch of different colors in his timbre between his registers and it's actually pretty canny and smart of him to spread out parts across his vocal range the way he does, since trying to do vocal gymnastics all through his range would be super disjointed

"White (feat John Mayer)" despite this being a pretty instrumental, I feel honor bound to hate it because of John Mayer

"Monks" more hot snares/cymbals

"Bad Religion" okay I am going to overrate this song because the first few bars remind me of "Porpoise Song" but bear with me; this is the most instantly appealing song on the album in terms of how it sounds since "Thinkin Bout You", even if I'm not as convinced by his falsetto on it

at some point I should go back and actually listen to what he's saying, I guess?

"Pink Matter" ha okay this was not the song start focusing on the words, huh

I like the idea of the chanted exclamations in the background but I don't think I can recover from how stupid I thought the first two lines were to give this song a fair shake

dan: does the fact that he's 24 count for anything? like, his voice could/will improve right? i'm just thinking about what (bear with me) will oldham sounded like in his 20s (terrible) and what he sounds like now. also assume that frank o has not had extensive voice training.

that's not that young

ha yeah we're not talking about justin bieber's learning curve or something

There have been R&B singers, even critically acclaimed ones, with less than amazing voices and I don't see why that should stand in Frank Ocean's way if the songs stand up, the eyeroll was for the Marvin comparisons really.

anyone know anything about the James Ho that has a credit on nearly every song on this? brainwasher?

his discogs page indicates he's an industry dude but i've never heard the name

"Forrest Gump" I really want to hate this song but the beat is great; I learned my lesson from "Pink Matter" and am studiously ignoring what he's saying

does the fact that he's 24 count for anything? like, his voice could/will improve right? i'm just thinking about what (bear with me) will oldham sounded like in his 20s (terrible) and what he sounds like now. also assume that frank o has not had extensive voice training.

It's hard to say, really; certainly his voice will change as he gets older but what direction it will go is totally in the air. Also, he's unlikely to do a Madonna and get vocal training that completely changes the way he sounds, given that he's basically building his career off of the nasally rasp that is currently in vogue. If anything, I would expect is voice to open up some over the next few years with a little bit of the edge in the midrange coming off, possibly at the expense of some of the flexibility. He also may get better at the leaps into his passagio that sometimes makes him a little flat on interjected notes that leap up a third or fourth above where the bulk of the melody lies. I expect from the way he's singing and phrasing that he has had some amount of vocal training; whether it was formalized voice lessons or tips picked up singing with some type of group/choir, I don't know.

(men's voices often do go through a shift around the mid-20s; I know for me I suddenly got a good bit louder and more natural vibrato started manifesting in my vocal production)

Haven't had a chance to listen to the rest of the album yet -- had to be on desk a half hour back and it's been busy as hell since -- but "Bad Religion" does sound very lovely, and that's about where I left off. The album seems very backloaded rather than frontloaded.

I'm with you two so far. The two leaked tracks had already made me wonder whether I overrated last year's release.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 7:36 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can you elaborate on this? I have absolutely no idea how leaked tracks for one album could make you question how you rated a different album...

i think this album is pretty tremendous.

ain't felt this way on a first listen since take care *winks*

I didn't like the singing, content, or structures of "Pyramids" or "Thinking About You," which made me return to the mixtape to see if I'd overrate it. It's a natural reaction for me. I still think it's a good record.

*overrated

anyone know anything about the James Ho that has a credit on nearly every song on this? brainwasher?

his discogs page indicates he's an industry dude but i've never heard the name

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:33 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Malay

Is this getting played on Hot 97 et al?

xxpost Fair enough. I spent so much time with it - perhaps you did too - that I can't imagine his new stuff altering my feelings about it, but, yeah ... fair enough.

ah, thanks. he did "green light" !!

xp to andy

Malay is an R&B/Pop/Rock/Hip-Hop producer and songwriter who is believed to be of Asian descent.[1]

oh wikipediapaws

Is this getting played on Hot 97 et al?

From the NYT:

Ebro Darden, the program director for Hot 97, a hip-hop station in New York, said that Mr. Ocean’s sexual orientation would not be a factor in the station’s calculations about broadcasting his songs. “Hot 97 has supported Frank Ocean since before his record label knew what to do with him, and we will continue to,” he said. “I hope people judge him based on his music, not personal preferences.”

that doesn't mean that his songs are getting played tho

local R&B station played "Novocane" quite a bit through last winter. Dunno the story nationwide.

my guess would be that hot 97 is probably playing some of frank's stuff tho i doubt it's in heavy rotation next to usher & trey songz. as far as radio stations go they were a pretty early supporter of odd future.

ain't felt this way on a first listen since take care *winks*

-_-

hot97 only playing the ambient wordless playstation segues

"Thinkin' Bout You" is #37 on Nielsen's Urban National Airplay chart.

too bad urban radio only plays 12 songs

Meantime from Rich Juzwiak

http://gawker.com/5924627/frank-ocean-is-wonderful-and-important-but-rb-has-been-gayish-for-a-while-now

boom

hmm i don't really listen to r&b at all but i really like this album. he's a really good singer with a great voice. the production on this seems way more inventive and creative than most r&b i hear.

^ my best attempt to give lex a heart attack

Frank strikes me as a better songwriter (although he isn't super-consistent yet in that category) than a singer, but I'm increasingly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on his vocal abilities. He seems to use that flat, affectless voice as a conscious choice because he can sing quite beautifully when he wants and one of his best tricks seems to be breaking out of the former into the latter mid-song. I've only listened to the album once but I'm pretty taken with it as it is. I think "Pyramids" and "Bad Religion" are remarkable songs, although I think I like his Fallon performance of BR more than the album version.

"Pyramids" is basically the best Terry song in a couple years.

I don't understand why everyone is leaping directly to Marvin/Stevie comparisons when Maxwell is sitting there forlornly looking at us from the 90s wondering why everyone has forgotten he existed

― I see you, Pineapple Teef (DJP), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 7:57 AM Bookmark

tbf, Maxwell would be doing that anyways

Ha, my favorite song on this so far is prob "Sweet Life," i.e. the one Pharrell produced.

I like parts of "Pyramids," but I don't have a good handle on it as a singular entity yet.

maxwell seems like he has the least anxiety about being forgotten or neglected of anyone in R&B

"Sweet Life" is one I'm not quite sure about. Seems kind of ersatz-Stevie to me.