thread of miguel

On March 5 in this thread I posted the video for his 2005 single. Check it out if you haven't; it kinda speaks volumes about where he's coming from.

He was definitely a lovable weirdo on his debut, but I think Jive had so little invested in him that he was given the freedom to do pretty much whatever he wanted with that record, a luxury that he definitely made the most of.

haha holy shit @ that 05 video

He still pals around with west coast hippies! Jhene, Thundercat, FlyLo, J Davey, etc...

If Prince is queer, it's because of his gender presentation, nothing to do with his orientation.

if?

If he chooses to identify as that.

apropos of nothing, this is dope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpHgm5nRXE&feature=relmfu

i get why people are using the word "sad" to describe miguel but i dunno if it's the most accurate - it has connotations of inward-facing timidity and moping to me, but the best of miguel's work this year is just so...full-blooded and cathartic and really physical, it's as much about frustration and anger as melancholy, and there's a lot at stake in his songs. i'm suspicious of fetishisation-of-melancholy in general and i think this is a different thing.

heard "Adorn" on Baltimore radio for the first time and, interestingly, they played the 2-minute version. the DJ sounded really excited about it before and after the song, so maybe she was a fan and pulled it straight off the EP instead of using the label promo.

that is interesting

yearning is prob the word that comes to mind with migs

urgency tinged with tangible need, every song sung sincerely on his knees

that was somewhat more lyrical miracle than i intended

can i get a refill

http://www.inflexwetrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Miguel-Elle-Varner-IFWT.jpg

D:

lex's post makes some good points

is he very petite or is elle a way bigger gulp than she normally looks

miguel is petite as hell

def true that for me Miguel's attraction as a singer is how anger and a libidinos streak intertwine.

*libidinous

i guess i read that anger as a resiliency i.e. "...all"

yeah, or a certitude

wouldnt take him seriously if i thought he was ever angry

he seems very controlled and confident to me, just as a person/performer, in a way that informs how he expresses any emotion in hi smusic

not at a Prince level of icy remove but definitely closer than any of his contemporaries that i can think of

Agreed. I didn't at all mean his anger was inchoate or anything; it's closer to seething.

sure but even that seems overstated

these new tracks are definitely mastered way grungier right

paranoid about my hearing/stereo lately so i'm not even sure

i get why people are using the word "sad" to describe miguel but i dunno if it's the most accurate - it has connotations of inward-facing timidity and moping to me, but the best of miguel's work this year is just so...full-blooded and cathartic and really physical, it's as much about frustration and anger as melancholy, and there's a lot at stake in his songs. i'm suspicious of fetishisation-of-melancholy in general and i think this is a different thing.

Great post, Lex. I totally hear the frustration.

damnit I thought we had lex so close to fetishizing melancholy

Late to the party but "Use Me" and "Don't Look Back" are just so... damn miguel how have you made so many of my favourite songs this year already.

xp This is probably the part of Lex's "indie is ruining everything" conspiracy theory that I agree with the most. Melancholy is too often mistaken for substance, and I would hate to see it become a rampant empty signifier in R&B the way it did in indie rock. (That being said, I do obviously love it when it's done right)

these new tracks are definitely mastered way grungier right

there's certainly a density to them but i thought everything sounded pretty clear.

the guitars are kinda 90s rock tho.

the guitars are kinda 90s rock tho.

what with wynter gordon too, we just need one more for a TRENDPIECE

yearning urgency is exactly right btw re: miguel

melancholy implies a sort of resignation - you've given up - that's not present in miguel's work

Yeah "resignation" is where melancholy starts to become indie. Perhaps a sense of (self)alienation too.

Neither of which Miguel does really.

he just wants a quickie iirc

Actually arguably "Broads" is resigned.

I cannot get over the depth of this stuff.

I want to see the waveforms when we finally get high quality versions, because (just based on my ears) this feels like a perfect opportunity to contrast tracks with lots of layers that have been recorded and mixed properly vs. stuff like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy which is just overstuffed and overcompressed etc.

Like, 'Use Me' is the kind of song that could be a total mess sonically if it wasn't so impeccably put together. That round at the end! over top of the guitar strum!

He still pals around with west coast hippies! Jhene, Thundercat, FlyLo, J Davey, etc...

This list is like my ultimate wkiw (esp if it includes Miguel)

Anyways way late to this party but glad I made it

It occurs to me that part of what makes "Adorn" so special is where in most r&b songs you have a static chorus with ad libs over the top, here the chorus is single-tracked and there's this tension where he has to find this balance between embellishing and carrying the melody. Does he toe the line? No, HE GOES ALL THE WAY FUCKING IN.

I might be wrong but I don't feel like there's much of a distinction really between the verses & chorus, and that the choice between 'toeing the line' and 'going all the way fucking in' as you put it, is kind of the main demarcation between the two. That and the short running time of the orig version (I haven't listened to the single edit yet) maybe gives it a sort of sinuous slipperiness where you can feel like lots of stuff is happening but you can't quite get a handle on it--or at least I can't. Which is one of the things that compels me to listen to it again and again.

you need to listen to the single version

...to know what Rev is really talking about. Ok yeah, listened and got it.

Yeah, that element existed in the ADC version, but it wasn't til the single version that it was made really clear.

i just realized that miguel wrote this which totally makes sense in light of the adc shit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye-cmRfwFxM

WAIT REALLY? HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT??

man i love that song. also shame he didn't do more work w/ jam & lewis.

is he playing ny tomorrow? little google bird told me he might be

that SPIN post said they're gonna have a video of a performance from a "secret live show" on wednesday morning, so yeah he's prob playing somewhere tomorrow night

he's also playing PS1 w/ jamie xx & pearson sound on 8/4

WATER PREVIEW also available on itunes now

he's also playing PS1 w/ jamie xx & pearson sound on 8/4

holy shit