James Blake - Debut LP

I think most of the haters are too nerdy to appreciate vocals.

Too bad he's not black, then you could have called the "haters" racist.

A real missed opportunity there.

  On 12/21/2010 at 10:41 PM, Enter a new display name said:

In every track. James Blake is a fucking sellout, man. Just have a listen and feel disappointed.

lol wat?

Fucking Beatles, man. Fucking sellouts.

random guy on last.fm:

"this transcends dubstep. "future garage" is awesome. this is awesome."

holy cow, now you can make a songwriter album and be called "future garage"? the hell is that? "transcends dubstep"?

I hate pitchfork for destroy dance music. Even Nº1 RA album of the year is electronica for indies I think I'm going to my cave

"Interesting how he manipulates his voice as an instrument. Reminds me of Justin Vernon."

Reminds me of autotune

"james blake and the like are probably going to define 2011 in the 'dubstep' scene"

the hell what's wrong with the people, you are free to like this, but redefine a genre when the album has nothing of it?

world is so american nowadays, obsessed with "trascend" shit, to be hyperbolic and sublime and james cameron's avatar ZOMG I'm in the nirvana of arts!

faggots

Agreed that this is not really worth all the ridiculous hype praised upon it. That said, now that I've heard it all the way through, I liked most of it on the first listen and the rest is growing on me. The dude's got chops, no denying that.

I have almost never heard a James Blake track, but it seems like weird hypey things have been happening lately when it comes to "post-dubstep"/indie crossover type shit. Here I am thinking also of the Darkstar album. Which is pleasant and everything, I think.

I read this thread earlier today and decided to check out the album. I've never heard a James Blake track before today, nor have I ever heard his name outside of this thread.

With that said, I really like this album. I dunno what all the genre-hype stuff is about (never heard of "future garage" outside of watmm either)... and I hear no dubstep in this.. to me it just sounds like a really well crafted 2010 RnB album. His vocals are great, imo.

Thanks for the controversial recommendation, WATMM. This album is gonna get quite a few listens in my home. :)

Too much hype around this fellow but he's rather good all the same. As everyone already said. I'm enjoying this album but I don't think he'll do his best work by putting the vocals in the front of every track like this.

  On 1/3/2011 at 12:07 AM, Coalbucket PI said:

Too much hype around this fellow but he's rather good all the same. As everyone already said. I'm enjoying this album but I don't think he'll do his best work by putting the vocals in the front of every track like this.

i love the album, but i also kind of agree with you. it sounds like he has definitely been defining/refining his sound with his EPs, but for this album, he settles into a comfortable, if overly-simplified style, production-wise. still an excellent album though.

  On 12/27/2010 at 2:28 PM, Squee said:

  On 12/21/2010 at 10:41 PM, Enter a new display name said:

In every track. James Blake is a fucking sellout, man. Just have a listen and feel disappointed.

 

lol wat?

 

 

Fucking Beatles, man. Fucking sellouts.

oohhhh dear... that just sounds silly... silly silly person you

He went to Goldsmith's and has a microkorg and a side parting. I'm trying really hard not to let that cloud my judgement, but the anaemic and contrived Feist cover is horrible.

I hated that Feist cover at first, then I started to think if he did some original songs in that style I might be coaxed. But he hasn't really done anything that well fleshed out on the album. What's amazing is how much silence he manages to fit into the middle of a lot of these tracks. I suppose he has done that before but it really stands out here. It can work magnificently but on the other hand it can sound like he just hasn't finished the track yet. At least Limit To Your Love goes somewhere and has tempting little glimpses of beefy dance music without actually going there, which is sort of the angle he should be working at I think.

Hey all.

That's my first tune of 2011, extremely cold tune.

You know where can i preorder the album as vynil?

i think the album is good. never heard of the guy before though, so not hyped for me. i like his limit to your love cover very much.

  On 1/4/2011 at 4:25 AM, kakapo said:

He went to Goldsmith's and has a microkorg and a side parting. I'm trying really hard not to let that cloud my judgement, but the anaemic and contrived Feist cover is horrible.

i can safely say the microkorg statement is a weak opinion based on music equipment wank. he's got chops on the piano—like, classically trained in performance. but using a $300 synthesizer can cloud your opinion? squarepusher is an embarassing musician alias, but what effect does that have on his music? (though to appreciate the comparison, you'll have to ignore the fact that his musical output has sucked as of late.)

i'd probably say the same thing about the side-parting too, and while i'm not sure what reputation goldsmith's has—dude, get out of your elitism! you can do it!

  On 1/7/2011 at 4:03 AM, KY said:

  On 1/4/2011 at 4:25 AM, kakapo said:

He went to Goldsmith's and has a microkorg and a side parting. I'm trying really hard not to let that cloud my judgement, but the anaemic and contrived Feist cover is horrible.

i can safely say the microkorg statement is a weak opinion based on music equipment wank. he's got chops on the piano—like, classically trained in performance. but using a $300 synthesizer can cloud your opinion? squarepusher is an embarassing musician alias, but what effect does that have on his music? (though to appreciate the comparison, you'll have to ignore the fact that his musical output has sucked as of late.)

 

i'd probably say the same thing about the side-parting too, and while i'm not sure what reputation goldsmith's has—dude, get out of your elitism! you can do it!

Far be it from me to speak on kakapo's behalf, but you're missing context which has resulted in you posting nonesense. Don't worry, it happens. Please post less though.

Although Goldsmiths is full of dickheads and MicroKorgs are uncool and, well, I don't know whats wrong with side partings, but I don't support judging people on these charactertics. However after about 5 listens of this album I have decided it is a terrible piece of shit.

It's actually an exercise in patience trying to sit through one track. Music without the fun.

It really dries my vagina.

  On 1/7/2011 at 1:58 PM, Lady kakapo said:

  On 1/7/2011 at 4:03 AM, KY said:

  On 1/4/2011 at 4:25 AM, kakapo said:

He went to Goldsmith's and has a microkorg and a side parting. I'm trying really hard not to let that cloud my judgement, but the anaemic and contrived Feist cover is horrible.

i can safely say the microkorg statement is a weak opinion based on music equipment wank. he's got chops on the piano—like, classically trained in performance. but using a $300 synthesizer can cloud your opinion? squarepusher is an embarassing musician alias, but what effect does that have on his music? (though to appreciate the comparison, you'll have to ignore the fact that his musical output has sucked as of late.)

 

i'd probably say the same thing about the side-parting too, and while i'm not sure what reputation goldsmith's has—dude, get out of your elitism! you can do it!

 

Far be it from me to speak on kakapo's behalf, but you're missing context which has resulted in you posting nonesense. Don't worry, it happens. Please post less though.

well it's nice knowing cacapoo doesn't always have to stick his head up his own ass—i can't imagine the amount of stretching required to do that.

and just to make sure: did you say that a musician's hairstyle, music equipment and education are factors that could affect your opinion of his music, kakapo? i just want to make sure i understand the "context" of a seemingly straightforward response.

you should seriously cut him some slack though—not EVERYBODY can be a long-haired ginger fag who makes their own drum machines.

okay, might have been a bit harsh—just think that superficial factors shouldn't have an effect on one's own opinion of a musician. i think his future releases will likely be better than this one, but he definitely pulled together a solid debut album.

kakapo is an equal opportunities troll in his defense. wouldn't have him any other way.

  On 1/7/2011 at 3:51 PM, Coalbucket PI said:

Although Goldsmiths is full of dickheads

Some departments have em, mostly art.

i love this album

  On 1/9/2011 at 5:32 PM, tompty said:

  On 1/7/2011 at 3:51 PM, Coalbucket PI said:

Although Goldsmiths is full of dickheads

 

Some departments have em, mostly art.

Are you there? I actually thought it was virtually all arts there