James Blake
James Blake: 7



James Blake's Klavierwerke EP, his third and last of 2010, hinted at a move away from the forward-thinking dubstep of The Bells Sketch and CMYK toward a more intimate, personal sound. With his eponymous debut album, James Blake completes that transition. The songs are stripped down to the barest essentials, and Blake's voice, rare on the EPs, comes to the fore on every song. In this sense, James Blake is much more of a pop album than anything he did before.

Some of Blake's best EP tracks (CMYK, for instance) are appealing for their shuffling, active beats. On James Blake, however, the beats tend to crawl. Look at Wilhelms Scream, where the beat moves forward only tentatively, each beat isolated from those before it. As the background drone rises in volume, the beat eventually drops out altogether, finally coming back in a slightly more propulsive form toward the end. It's a completely different effect from on his EPs, but it works brilliantly.

Vocally, Blake sounds similar at times to both Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Antony Hegarty (Antony & the Johnsons). The Vernon comparison comes out most strongly in his sparse but effective use of electronic modification on songs like I Never Learnt to Share. At times, however, the comparison is too apt. The two-part Lindesfarne comes across as simply a lesser version of Bon Iver's song Woods. The first part is mostly just Blake's electronically modified vocals, and while the second part puts more behind him, Lindesfarne as a whole is still the weakest part of the album. Regarding Hegarty, Blake doesn't have nearly his talent, but his tone is often similar, and satisfyingly so.

Both Vernon and Hegarty are noteworthy for their ability to wrench huge emotions out of their voices, and Blake's debut shares the same sort of intimate nature as their works ("my brother and my sister don't speak to me, but I don't blame them"). The sparseness of the background gives the album a spacious beauty that sits well with the lyrics. Blake previously mostly hinted at the mood of a song lyrically, often with haunting fragments of vocals (most likely influenced by Burial's use of vocals on Untrue), but here he's direct. In general, he pulls off this approach successfully, especially on songs like I Never Learnt to Share and To Care (Like You).

While the fact that James Blake doesn't sound much like any other Blake release (though it does share clear ties with Klavierwerke) makes it refreshing, its best moments come when Blake uses electronics reminiscent of his older works to augment the vocal focus. One of the most powerful moments on the album is the release at the end of I Never Learnt to Share, where the beat sounds like a close cousin of those on Klavierwerke. Likewise, the excellent cover of Feist's Limit to Your Love drops out midway through, returning with just the rhythm, where Blake excels.

Prior to its release, I had hyped up James Blake to absurd heights in my head, heights I couldn't reasonably expect it to meet. Even tempering those expectations, it's somewhat of a disappointment. It's not the breakthrough, landmark album his EPs suggested it would be. He's still growing and trying new things, and I'm sure that he'll realize his full potential sooner rather than later. With these caveats in mind, I can appreciate James Blake for what it is: a very good debut by one of the freshest active musicians.

good points, tho I can't stop listening to it. Lovin it now, even more than ep's maybe (!)

Goodie Mob - Soul Food
Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle
Caetano Veloso - Jóia
King Sunny Adé - Juju Music

1/1

morning benders - big echo

8/10

it really started clicking this time

No Age - Everything in Between: 4.5/5
Johnny Cash- American VI: Ain't No Grave: 4.0/5

The Decemberists- The King is Dead

ya im sure that wasnt any good. their last album sucked hard.

Catching up on some 2010 albums

Bobby McFerrin
VOCAbuLarieS: 6.5

There are some great ideas in here, but I think McFerrin just stretches them too far. If he'd have skimmed 20 or so minutes off the album, tightened up some of the songs, I think this would have been a much better album.

Deerhunter
Halcyon Digest: 6

This is by no means a bad album. It's got a few songs I really, really enjoy, such as Helicopter and the closer. But it also has songs that do nothing for me and, worse yet, just meander along and dare me to hit the skip button. There's something about Deerhunter that other people seem to enjoy that I just don't. I can't put my finger on it. I just find them boring. Most of the time, at least.

Agalloch
Marrow of the Spirit: 8.5

Damn, man. The second that guitar bursts in with its heavy distorted riff after that sorrowful cello intro (which surprisingly keeps one interested throughout) is just amazing. There's so much to love here. I think with this album Agalloch have really found a way to meld their ideas into single, cohesive tracks. Their songs have always been long, but these shapeshift in ways that earlier Agalloch songs don't, particularly the album's centerpiece, Black Lake Nidstang. They also go for a denser, almost wall-of-sound approach at times, as opposed to the stripped-down nature of earlier stuff, but they still have that same dark atmosphere. I think that's what I like most about Agalloch, their superb ability to fashion a bleak atmosphere that far surpasses most metal artists I've heard. They're not interested in writing the biggest baddest riffs or showing off their technical chops. They're interested in the emotional core of the music.

its nothing like the hazards of love

that doesnt mean it will be good though. just read a little about it and said it was directly influenced by R.E.M. so mb ill give it a shot.

yeah i see a little rem in it, more neko case i think, it's decemberists goin much more country-twanged. Nothing wrong with that, but if it were the first time I heard the Decemberists, I would think they would just be a boring, inoffensive my mom likes them too kinda band that made a album that comes on while you're cleaning your room and cbf'ed changing it but it's not hurtin' nobody kinda record. I've always liked the Decemberists cuz of their sort of dorky quirks and unexpected eccentricities and although every band has a right to some kind of "mature" record that's a break from their normal selves, this one just ain't cuttin it and just comes across as vanilla safe.

Well, no, but that's not what I said. I was pointing out that your opinion of the last album shouldn't influence whether or not you listen to the new one because the albums aren't similar.

Funkadelic-Funkadelic
8.2/10

America Eats Its Young-Funkadelic
8.4/10

Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome-Parliament
8.9/10

Matthew Dear-Black City: 6.5/10

I went in thinking well this might be an album included on my end of the year list but it turns out I was pretty disappointed by it. i dont know what it is really, just not into it. maybe it needs more than one listen but pretty eh as far as i'm concerned.