At the age of 21 James Blake has released 4 succesful EPs and 1 incredibly well recieved LP. He's been listed in Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums (#8) and Top 50 Tracks (#8) of 2010. He's been named to BBC's Sound of 2011 list (#2), made an ingenious cover of Feist's "Limit To Your Love", and come in runner-up for the BRIT Awards Critic's Choice. Did I mention he is only 21? If I'm honest James Blake is the son of the new revolution in music... Minimalism! His songs are simple yet satisfying, deep but not at first glance, careful yet powerful. His music is just sexy (I didn't say he was, I said his music was).
Blake takes on a new approach to music. He makes tons and tons of it and choose's what he likes best and then takes it apart until it's just skin and bones. His debut self-titled, full-length album was given a 9.0 by Pitchfork and multiple 5 star awards from various media outlets. I even gave it a 9.0 in my rankings, which is usually a little lower than Pitchfork's. It is that good. It actually reminds me of The xx's album in 2009 because on the first listen you think, "This is good, but what's all the fuss?" Then you listen to it more and the songs get ingrained in your head and you can listen for the wierd little moments in his songs where he drops a beat for all of 3 seconds. And in those 3 seconds with no words, you realize that a lot is being said. He is a magician the way he fools the listener into believing there is more there than there really is. Just check it out and you will know what I'm talking about. Oh, and man can he sing!
Tracks to Check Out:
- Limit to your Love (Feist Cover)
- Wilhelm's Scream
- I Only Know (What I know Now)
- Measurements
No comments:
Post a Comment