Hey, fellow weeklydjers. I'm playing it safe with this one. James Blake won the Mercury this week, and I want to know what you all thought of his second album, Overgrown. I think it's a great album, and has some of the best tracks I've heard this year. I would love to discuss this album, similar albums, etc. Let me know what you guys think of it.
My picks: Overgrown, Take a Fall For Me, Retrograde
Artist: James Blake
Album: Overgrown
Release: 2013/04/05
Genres: #Electronic
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BIO
James Blake (born September 1988) is an electronic musician and singer-songwriter from London, England, United Kingdom. Blake is primarily considered a dubstep producer and is frequently heralded as a leading figure in the “post-dubstep” community, but he is also noted for his prominent soul influences. Blake was nominated the Critic’s Choice award by the 2011 BRIT Awards and the Sound of 2011 award by the BBC, and won second place in the latter. In addition, his self-titled debut LP, James Blake, was nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize. Blake has also released material under the alias Harmonimix.
James Blake began his final year at Goldsmiths in September 2009 studying popular music while recording songs in his bedroom. In July 2009, he attended the Latymer School and released his debut single “Air and Lack Thereof” on Hemlock Audio. It was a firm favorite with Gilles Peterson from BBC Radio 1, and Blake was invited to do a special mix on Peterson’s worldwide show, which included an exclusive Mount Kimbie track.
Blake released his debut EP The Bells Sketch on 8 March 2010 on Hessle Audio, followed soon after by CMYK on 31 May 2010 and Klavierwerke on 10 October 2010, both on R&S Records. All three EPs were met with significant critical acclaim: BBC’s Nick Grimshaw chose CMYK as his Record of the Week, the title track of CMYK was ranked 24th on Frontier Psychiatrist’s top 40 songs of the year, and all three of Blake’s 2010 EPs were collectively ranked 8th on Pitchfork’s top 50 albums of 2010.
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TRACKLIST
1. "Overgrown"
2. "I Am Sold"
3. "Life Round Here"
4. "Take a Fall for Me"
5. "Retrograde"
6. "DLM"
7. "Digital Lion"
8. "Voyeur"
9. "To the Last"
10. "Our Love Comes Back"
Edit: All my links have this extra bracket. Sorry, can't get rid of it.
I saw James about 6 months back when he came through my city. Great concert. Great album. "To the Last" kills it.
Oh, you saw him live! How I envy you. I've seen a few of his performances online. How are his gigs? It must be difficult for him to perform his kind of music live and pack the same punch that his albums have.
His live show was great. His voice sounds just like the record really. And because most of his stuff is electronic, it sounds basically the same. The venue I saw him at did a great job of mixing too, so the bass just carried into your chest. The coolest part of the show was when he played "I never learnt to share" because it requires a vocal loop, but the audience recognized the beginning of the track and did a little woo-hoo and the cheer from the audience got looped into the vocal so throughout the track you could hear yourself all distorted and pitch-shifted. Pretty sweet.
As someone who loved both albums, I'm curious to know why you preferred the first.
Ah, I can understand that. I agree the second half is slightly weaker than the first. I don't know whether I feel disappointed with DLM and Digital Lion because of how much I love Take a Fall For Me and Retrograde or because they are no better than filler. But Our Love Comes Back is an amazing closer, I feel.
This post must have been really confusing for you, then. I can see you going, isn't this that You're Beautiful guy. People want to discuss the You're Beautiful guy's albums? Don't judge them flagamuffin, remember, music taste is subjective, don't judge them. Wait a second, this guy looks nothing like the You're Beautiful guy. Oooooh. edit: It's funny you mention Radiohead. Now that you say it, this album in particular sounds a lot like a sparser version of Kid A. I never saw it that way. Well, I guess it's time I put Kid A into rotation again.
That is literally exactly where I was going. Like, "man I fucking hate James Blunt, but I guess I'll share this because weeklydj is cool -- wait, Blunt? Blunt? Huh. Fuck." It's Kid A with someone singing over it who isn't Frank Ocean -- that was wrong -- but maybe actually Thom Yorke from his In Rainbows days, plus a lot more piano.
I thought you were taking the piss because the host for the Mercury prize literally introduced him as James Blunt.
I wasn't surprised she did that after seeing her on 10 O Clock Live.
I'm not I ... since however long it's been since his first album I've been subconsciously avoiding his music because I thought he was James Blunt. I don't like a) listening to James Blunt or b) thinking about James Blunt so it was a comprehensive process until a few hours ago.
Ah, yes it is. Personally, I think its one of the best covers I've ever heard. That's on his first album. His sound has changed so much from that album to this one. This one has so much more of an R&B influence, I think.