Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (2012)

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.

i tried to listen to "Pyramids" once on YouTube and when the page stopped loading 1/3rd through the song i was overcome with apathy about trying to hear the rest until i check out the album

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

― chain the color of am0n (The Reverend), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:38 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah me too

xxp maybe, but this is the same sadsack Maxwell who wrote all that mid-2000s emo myspace poetry and morosely brushes his teeth in music videos

maxwell instagrammed a photo from his hospital bed today

perhaps Jason King's EMP presentation, just pre-comeback, where he read said myspace poetry while Max brushed his very sad teeth with his very sad toothbrush on a screen in the background has forever tainted my impression of the singer

the "forrest gump" lyrics

I wanna see your pom poms from the stands
Come on, come on

My fingertips, and my lips, they burn
From the cigarettes
Forrest Gump you run my mind boy
Running on my mind boy
Forrest Gump

I know you Forrest
I know you wouldn't hurt a beetle
But you're so buff, and so strong
I'm nervous Forrest

Forrest Gump
Now my fingertips, and my lips, they burn
From the cigarettes
Forrest Gump you run my mind boy
Running on my mind boy
Forrest Gump

I saw ya game, Forrest
I was screamin' run 44
But you kept runnin' past the end zone
Oh where'd you go Forrest

Forrest Gump
And my fingertips, and my lips, they burn
From the cigarettes
Forrest Gump you run my mind boy (yea)
Running on my mind boy
Forrest Gump

Forrest green
Forrest blues
I re-mem-ber you
If this is love, I know it's true
I won't For-get you (you)
(oh you you) it's for you Forrest
(oh you you) it's for you Forrest

Outro:
If this is love
I know it's true
I won't
For-get-you

Far worse things than ersatz Stevie.

he's in love with an imbecile boy!

Who isn't?

perhaps Jason King's EMP presentation, just pre-comeback, where he read said myspace poetry while Max brushed his very sad teeth with his very sad toothbrush on a screen in the background has forever tainted my impression of the singer

Hahah you're not alone.

I don't want to luxuriate in a romantic/existential crisis, I want to be able to brush my very sad teeth with my very sad toothbrush

wow those "forrest gump" lyrics are quite dreadful

judging lyrics on paper is always a fool's errand

not that those are his best lyrics or anything, pretty far from

the central comparison is the worst thing!