Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (2012)

i think there's stuff that's immediately hooky because it tries to be -- "thinking of you" & "pyramids" being the obvious examples. the meat of the album isn't like that... it's more about the listener immersing.

some of the lyrics clunk but when he's writing well i think hes a great lyricist

that sfj piece is so weird. i feel like half of it was cut out in editing or something.

I think SFJ was on the plane three aisles down. If I'd read his article before boarding I would have asked him to be escorted from the aircraft.

i think there's stuff that's immediately hooky because it tries to be -- "thinking of you" & "pyramids" being the obvious examples. the meat of the album isn't like that... it's more about the listener immersing.

― J0rdan S., Monday, July 16, 2012 1:34 PM (2 hours ago)

so this is gonna be like the drake album :(

i think this album is pretty tremendous.

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

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, July 10, 2012 12:41 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark

I kind of feel like R. Kelly's midi orchestration is such an intrinsic element of his style that it's hard to imagine him without it. It's part of the essential suspension of disbelief that one must take with him. The problem with Write Me Back is the lack of memorable songs.

Anyway, anyone who doesn't like Channel Orange is stupid doo doo dumb. *puts "Super Rich Kids" on repeat*

I don't mind Kels' retro nuevo at all but the new one is a rush job.

Don't think I've gone a week since late February without hearing a Write Me Back single several times between three stations.

The thing about Kells album that is so infuriating is that it would be abt 1,000,000 times better if he'd actually had real orchestration behind the songs and not his lazy synths. I mean, even wose then with Love Letter, it feels like his laziness is crippling him wrt the sound he wants to make.

Seem to recall seeing the names of over a dozen string players (plus Larry Gold as arranger) listed in the credits.

Didn't Usher debut at number one? What radar are we talking about?

I love "Feelin' Single" I gotta say.

Don't think I've gone a week since late February without hearing a Write Me Back single several times between three stations.

All I can say is I envy you for living somewhere where R. & B. still gets played on the radio.

I love "Feelin' Single" I gotta say.

If nothing else (and that is the case), "Feelin Single" helped me hear how much of "Lovely Day" there is in the verses of "Love on Top."

'thinking about you' is a great shit karaoke jam

do doubt but elle varner 'refill' is the champion shit karaoke/shower singalong jam of the year

*no doubt

tpp otm

'climax' all the way doggs

i always sing "climax" as "just show me the carfax"

ursh is the absolute king of the artform it has to be said

lookin 4 myself nothing short of singalonga tour de force, fuck the haters

'climax' does also get some shower falsetto action chez tpp

i saw some dude slay "climax" at karaoke recently. falsetto game on point.

wtg ship

thanks guys

also played drums

has it been emphasized enough re: that whiney tweet that r kelly and usher are THE r&b of choice, almost tiresomely so, for hipsters

yes

k just wanted to make sure

i gave my best
it wasn't enough

eh hipsters don't listen to black people unless they're Prince or in TV on the Radio

haha waht

so the dud bits of this really do sound like bad ryan leslie... i like a few tracks but actually found myself switching to r-les as this realisation dawned towards the end.

gonna go see this guy live next week, will report back

forkscnn

you hear it.... FIRST

this is so good, easily my favorite album of the year so far. i didn't really get "pyramids" when i first heard it, but in the context of the album, it makes perfect sense. i had to settle into the mood first, and that often takes me a while, slow learner.

love "thinkin bout you" right out the gate, no reservations about the falsetto, just gorgeous. inclined to think of "sierra leone" and "sweet life" as treading water, but they set the vibe so that when "super rich kids" breaks the surface (a little), it really stands out, another favorite, earl as mvp. everything from there through "lost" is flawless, and "sweet life" is creeping on me. fucking "pilot jones", damn. gets a little rough towards the end with "monks" and "forrest gump", but "bad religion" and "pink matter" make it worth hanging in.

"pilot jones" and "crack rock" remind me of sly stone circa riot, same kind of blurry, detached sadness and beauty, like it's too painful to lift a finger, but the memory of happier times keeps bleeding through. not a sound/vibe i encounter much in contemporary music. kills me.

if only

yeah, i admit that that's more the target than what's actually achieved (no sin), but i was feeling a bit wounded yesterday, and they suited the mood quite well.

feel like i'm taking crazy pills with this album. finding it very hard to keep going after the one where the Greatest Rapper Of His Generation Earl Sweatshirt mumbles some garbage over a "Real Love"/"Bennie & The Jets" mashup.

you caught that "Bennie" thing too, eh

"Super Rich Kids" I would rather listen to "Benny and the Jets"

― I see you, Pineapple Teef (DJP), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 10:52 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

man you really want me to reread this thread

i wasn't claiming an original insight w/ the "Benny" comparison btw, i'd read it on other sites too before even hearing the album

haha touche, Alfred

I didn't mean to be accusatory, I was OTMing with a heavy helping of preening

haha

you caught that "Bennie" thing too, eh

oh shit yeah, the bennie throws me every time the song starts. do love earl on it though. not cuz he's rapping so well (he isn't), but just cuz i like his voice and presence, he anchors the song in a way that appeals to me. could do without the dumb "lucky charms" line.

"Super Rich Kids" might be my favorite song on the album

it's actually closer to DJP's beloved Mary J song that interpolates "Bennie."

"Super Rich Kids" might be my favorite song on the album

― chain the color of am0n (The Reverend), Thursday, July 19, 2012

it's great, but with such strong competition from "pyramids", "lost", "bad religion", etc.

"Pyramids" is a glacier for me.

i like his voice and presence, he anchors the song in a way that appeals to me.

^^ yeah he's all lumbering, his slur just fits with the slow clomp of the song