fucking.
awesome.

really?

what about him is awesome? cause, i don't know, it seems like it's just one dude standing in front of some gear and maybe you could take a nap like i do when i listen to the album. (and i say that because it's pretty tranquil, not because it's completely overhyped and i find it horribly boring or something.)

yeah, i'd have to think he would be snore inducing live.

from what i've heard of live recordings, which is pretty little, just BBC1 session, it's pretty good live, just more acoustic. he's touring with a live band, from what i've heard, and no/minimal electronics. XIX can attest.

i was part of a bid to put him on here in toronto at an intimate and beautiful space, but he elected to go with a traditional rock pub venue with the express interest (from the horse's mouth) of demand far exceeding space, and create a line-up outside on a main thoroughfare. it sold out in two minutes.

i'm kind of turned off, though i still think the record is the best i've heard this year. but i'm not fighting for a ticket, nor asking for a free one (we'll see).

Hey, I do! But maybe this isn't the place to say so.

well, if you don't like the music to begin with, you may not like it. And it's very intimate. But he plays with a live drummer and guitarist and does all his sequencing live. I'll agree that his songs are a bit of the same over and over but it's only like 45 min of songs which he does very, very well.
His voice is gorgeous. The ambiance was great. Just absolutely beautiful. He closed with Joni Mitchell's "Case of you"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6aq5wUjRlw

his show here sold out in 3 minutes.

it's interesting you say that about them wanting demand to exceed the space because the people who own the venue he's playing here also own a larger venue and often move shows between the two, but it was made very clear that they would not be moving that particular show.

I really believe that if I started fucking around on Garage Band today that I can make something that sounds at least as good as James Blake.

It's the old thing...you could paint something like that? OK, go ahead. Gotta beat whatever day job you got now if you're so confident.

can you sing like that?

i'm fairly certain you could not even come close.

Nah, I just got to get the right marketing team to convince you nobs that there's something remotely talented about my "masterpiece."

Kingfish, playing ignorant today are you?

That said, the electronics, especially the bass, is the most interesting part of this record for me. I'm not enamored of his voice like some seem to be. When I listened to it the first time on my laptop speakers and could only hear the outlines of the songs and his vocals I thought it was pretty lame. Hearing it all fleshed out made a difference to me. I guess if his concerts are more acoustic affairs, I'd probably leave disappointed.

Dude, I've listened to that James Blake album at least 5 x trying to find something remotely interesting in it. Can't. It's utterly boring. IF this is good music, i'd rather listen to shitty music, thanks.

And I'll second Nobody that the vocals are merely okay. I'd rather listen to Casey from American Idol sing just about anything.

continue on then.

I don't mind the not liking it, I'm so-so on it myself, kinda depending on my mood. I just think the whole..I could do this shtick is silly. It's like...OK, I guess you can also paint like Jackson Pollock, play better than every punk band and write better than Hemingway what with those choppy little sentences. That whole train of thought never sticks for me.

it's an annoying and retarded mindset.

Well, I believe there's a difference between Jackson Pollack and any old dude throwing paint at a wall. Not sure anyone believes they can write like Hemingway. I have faith that anyone can make a record as good as James Blake. That's my whole point, nobody.

Because I think James Blake sounds like Joe "I make shitty tracks on laptop" Nobody doesn't mean that I can't appreciate simplicity (or whatever you want to call it). My favorite album from last year was Harlem.

What's the definition of Garage Rock - attempting to play rock'n'roll and failing gloriously. James Blake is just failing without the glorious part.

Kingfish, you can't be this dumb. Can you?

I just think disliking something and saying...Oh, I could do that is totally different. And, I will always stick with the retort...if you can do it, go ahead or shut the fuck up. Dislike it all you want and I don't care at all. But yeah, I'll comment negatively on the whole I could do that angle.

Yes. I'm this dumb to think that not every hyped 9.125 band on pitchfork is deserving of praise. And some people ascend the ranks of the art world on a mound of bullshit. Color me retarded.

Dalen, can you please try to learn a new argument tactic?

James Blake is a skilled musician and seems to be a reasonably skilled producer and composer. I happen to not particularly like any of his music, but I agree with nobody that the whole "anybody could do this" argument has always been flawed.

But if his voice is really so great (not saying it isn't), why does he insist on obscuring it with so many effects which essentially sound like AutoTune? My problem with Blake is with his aesthetic choices. He seems to have ridden in on the back of a number of recent trends, and I've had a really hard time trying to figure out what's supposedly so special about him. I've listened to his three main EPs from last year (Bells Sketch, CMYK, and Klavierwerke) and his album from this year several times each, and I've been listening to them for a good while now. I mean, maybe it'll all click for me one day, but I'm seriously doubting it. I thought that Klavierwerke might have been pointing in a good direction, but his album seems like an unfortunate left turn from that, IMO.

Sorry, I'm not buying this. I think it's fair criticism to say that any no -talented hack could create something as shitty as ______.