Nicolas Jaar: I was a Teenage Villalobos

Which I loved, partly because it reminded me Horror Inc.

no idea - this is the first frivolous stuff i've heard.

but clearly i need to hear it if it reminds you of horror inc!

(not my first point of comparison for the album, which sounds a lot warmer, but thinking about it the intricacy and use of melody are def comparable)

comparison/comparable aargh must drink coffee

Well I threw away the word "of" so... But on a re-listen it definitely sounds similar to Horror Inc (at least Horror Inc via Cadenza). Not just in terms of the intricacy, but also Frivolous' use of the same kind of musicbox and string sounds (at least on the track My Consciousness).

Frivolous has pretty much always been on key.

I would say the key distinction between Jaar and Blake is that Jaar can be loose but is never messy.

― Tim F, Thursday, January 13, 2011 6:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I think this is OTM. "Space Is Only Noise If You Can See" is awesome.

who here has seen him live again? like is it *actually* possible to dance yr ass off when this guy plays?

I saw him, however he played to an huge, virtually empty room at 2PM. It was a lot of fun: he started out dancey, 110 bpmish, then pulled it down to downtempo stuff, where it did become more of a sliding and gliding affair. Also, this was last May, and I also kind of like the stuff he was doing a year ago more than his more up to date output.

I wish his sound design were more interesting -- I find a lot of the sounds themselves (electric pianos, or their stand-ins, for instance) a little underwhelming. The ideas are nice, but I wish the execution were a little more fully-formed.

And Plaxico, I don't really understand what you mean about my "deal" in that interview.

i enjoyed the interview, no clue what plax meant

still undecided on the album, i love the vibe of it, but the vocals grate at times

idk its prolly a great interview

kinda surprised that people are disappointed with the album, i think it's amazing. it's funny cause i actually *do* feel that the ideas on this are more focused/fully-formed than those on say the ines comp, which seems a bit sketchier and more obtuse to me (almost idm, reminds me of earlier four tet at times). also i kinda love the vox, esp if you compare them to james blake or superpitcher or even caribou (and 'swim' was my favorite record last year fwiw)

just listened to 'marks' - heard this in dj sets before but omg this song is so amazing. total 7am dancefloor banger when you're not sure whether to go home or not

The album's clicked for me. I listened to it in the dark on headphones. It's very impressive, and much more singer/songwritey in places than James Blake. Really looking forward to catching him at Fabric in March - is anyone going to this? I have a feeling I may be on my jack.

thrilled to see the indie kids picking up on it

^ are they?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_q8078uDJMHI/Sl2zlHA56uI/AAAAAAAAABM/q-wiVvQkV18/S660/snark+banner.jpg

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15122-space-is-only-noise/

Shock horror.

He's pretty indie in fairness

can a jaar stan make me a list of the best stuff not on the album

look at the first post?

cool i will see him in fabric so

i decided i live in london now. i decided this tonight. i live in london.

just fyi.

lol dog latin, no snark here. thought the indie kids would sleep on this one and have james blake be the 'crossover dance' album of 2011

Did you know when something gets best new music on pitchfork you can have Insound automatically drop it in your cart?

I don't know this for sure but when I interned there it definitely seemed that this was the case.

My point being that it is impossible for indie kids to sleep on it, now.

Ah sorry mcoll, thought you were being dancist. Personally think the more discerning indie contingent need jaar in their lives right now and I'm not too surprised they're lapping up the new album, given its abstractions and quirks. But hey, no problem with that. Is it daft to ask whether jaar or Blake could become the new Richard d james? ie dance maverick releases art album gets adopted by indies and guardian supplement readers etc?

Stupid question imo.

We already have one Burial.

I know your opinion Matt; I wasn't asking you

;-)

xpost Burial though? Seriously?

Even the average Burial fan has little idea of who he actually is/what he looks like. Good as his work is, I don't think he has the personality nor the eclecticism to compete as a modern-day Aphex in terms of impact upon the wider world like James did.

Is it daft to ask whether jaar or Blake could become the new Richard d james? ie dance maverick releases art album gets adopted by indies and guardian supplement readers etc?

― chandelier falling through a bar in a batman costume (dog latin), Friday, 18 February 2011 08:59 (1 hour ago)

never change, dog latin ;)

Well you didn't mention looks or personality in your initial criteria. I don't know what an "art album" or for that matter a "dance maverick" but it's not like there's been a hole where the dance producer who indie listeners and Guardian supplements like should be. That's obviously been Burial for a couple of years at least. It doesn't matter whether such a producer exists anyway, apart from making a certain type of dance listener feel good about themselves.

I'm liking this album a lot more now I've been listening to it on headphones, in a lot of ways his production style feels more Geoff Barrow than Villalobos - more crackly, soundtracky. In two minds about the Fabric gig though, this music just doesn't feel like it would be that interesting in a live setting with a live band.

Ah sorry mcoll, thought you were being dancist. Personally think the more discerning indie contingent need jaar in their lives right now and I'm not too surprised they're lapping up the new album, given its abstractions and quirks. But hey, no problem with that. Is it daft to ask whether jaar or Blake could become the new Richard d james? ie dance maverick releases art album gets adopted by indies and guardian supplement readers etc?

― chandelier falling through a bar in a batman costume (dog latin), Friday, February 18, 2011 8:59 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

posts very much in character.

in a lot of ways his production style feels more Geoff Barrow than Villalobos

would have never made this connection myself but it is v. otm.

so pissed off that nicolas jaar and taylor swift are playing london on the same night

NO ONE ELSE UNDERSTANDS THE DISTRESS THAT THIS CAUSES ME :( :( :(

i saw him at the subclub and it was ok. definitely not worth going out of your way or paying a hefty door fee for but perfectly fine. i was more into it then most people there though, it seemed.

but yes he is v pretty

or "a total ride" as my friend kept saying.

I don't like Taylor Swift but I'd go and see her if I were you, it'll almost certainly be a good gig whereas Jaar could go either way. And you'll almost certainly have like 20 opportunities to see Nicolas Jaar in London in the next couple of years.

Definitely a headphones album. Sounds like an art installation on regular speakers. Personally, I'm kind of hyped for the Fabric set to be honest. I don't think he'll let us down.

Apologies to Matt upthread - I was kind of sleepy on the train into work and just having a brainshit into my iphone.

Although, y'know I think there's something to be said for people like Blake and Jaar having, what Tim F I think called, "the Aphex Twin factor" on the Blake thread. That is: A solid dance background; A flexible approach to making music that is apparent from release to release; A tangible image that people can latch on to (helps that both Jaar and Blake are good-looking, James not so much); Certain arty (but not art-school) tendencies (I see "Space Is Only Noise" as a kind of SAWII, while the earlier singles are Jaar's Analogue Bubblebaths); the ability to crossover from 'proper' dance to indie dance to middlebrow media without pandering to a mainstream or compromising their initial values... Just saying I see quite a few parallels, so I'm not surprised Pitchfork are giving this the thumbs up.

or "a total ride" as my friend kept saying.

― jed_, Friday, February 18, 2011 10:18 AM (22 minutes ago)

lol where is ur friend from?

whether or not jaar crosses over to indie kids = least interesting thing about him

plax, glasgow!

oh ok cos this is a totally irish thing to say, i never heard anybody not from ireland say that

Anyway, Aphex Twin occupies a unique position in dance music history that's connected to the time at which he emerged as much as his music and personality. There'll never be another Aphex Twin in the same way there won't be another Beatles.

it's quite a glasgow thing too, i think.