Catching Up With James Blake, His EPs and His Singles...

In 2011, James Blake put out one album, two EPs and three singles. That's 29 tracks or nearly three times his 2010 production. I've argued here at length why Blake is an electronic savant, a dubstep wunderkind, but at some point, tripling your artistic output (all while touring, which Blake has in '11) is going to have diminished returns, right?

The last time I discussed Blake in this space was back in June, on the cusp of his "Linesfarne" single release. Since then, he dropped the Order / Pan 12", the Enough Thunder EP and his latest, the Love What Happened Here EP. Each effort continues Blake's mercurial trend of shifting sounds and ideologies, but he's finally reached a point where some material returns to the well.

Note: this isn't a slight against his songwriting. If anything, some fans would prefer Blake to stay in the same mold for more than three songs or even return the R&B sampling of the CMYK EP.

Starting with the most recent product, Love What Happened Here finds Blake drawing on the avant-garde electronic stuttering of his earliest releases, reminiscing the Air & Lack Thereof 12" and Bells Sketch EP, minus the dubstep decibles.

Order / Pan is an oddity in Blake's discography. Released after his eponymous LP, it's a two-track single that finds James tempering any and all pop leaning, toying with space and silence, and exploring his most experimental affections.

Enough Thunder is an interesting combination of Blake's piano balladry and the abstract sampling of his Klavierwerke EP. Rounding out the EP's four original compositions are a beautiful Joni Mitchell cover as well as a Bon Iver collaboration that sounds like you'd expect.

In all, they're three very different experiences which mostly answer my leading question. Despite the dearth of new material, Blake manages to sample the right chords and deliver songs that hold up the weight of his discography thus far. Though some sigh that he's mostly abandoned his early, dubstep leanings, Blake remains an electronic composer conjunctively using his voice and laptop in ways we hadn't heard yet. It's a shame his debut album isn't making a bigger dent on the "Best Albums of 2011" lists we see cropping up on the web...

Right-Click + Save Link As:

James Blake - We Might Feel Unsound
James Blake - At Birth
James Blake - Fall Creek Boys Choir (feat. Bon Iver)
James Blake - A Case of You (Joni Mitchell Cover)
James Blake - Pan

MediaFire Link: Download a complete ZIP of all three new releases discussed above.

Tweet

Lisztomania: My Top 5 Sets at 2011's Pitchfork Music Fest

Because everybody loves lists...
For the third year straight, I attended Pitchfork's music festival in Union Park, Chicago. For three days, I battled through hot heat and hangovers to see some great--and not so great--bands selected by the indie kingmakers themselves.

Here's a list of my five favourite performances, in no particular order...

New Wu-Tang/Fugazi Mash-up Record May Be the Best Yet

It looks like laptop aficionados are getting a lot more creative with their full-length remix records because the latest effort to pop-up online, a mix of Wu-Tang Clan and Fugazi, could be the best one I've heard yet.

The project, cleverly titled Wugazi, has released two singles, but an entire album is due out in a week or so. And of course, it's titled 13 Chambers.

Between this project, the James Blake/Drake mash-up LP, James Drake, and last year's excellent Notorious B.I.G./The xx remixer, summer playlists should be spilling over with mash-up goodness...

Right-Click + Save Link As:

Wugazi - Sleep Rules Everything Around Me
Wugazi - Sweet Release
&
James Drake - Wilhelm's Fucking Best
The Notorious xx - Dead Wrong Intro

Tweet

Download Now: Mount Kimbie's New Carbonated EP

Mount Kimbie's Crooks & Lovers was an LP I slept on for most 2010, but having now listened to it ad nauseam, I can easily call it one of last year's most underrated records.

So then, you could imagine my pumped-up-ness when I got my hands on the dubstep duo's new Carbonated EP half a week early. While the release is a mere six tracks long, the three original cuts are up to snuff (especially the title track) and remaining three remixes aren't half bad--though not as good as James Blake's re-work from last year's Maybes EP

MediaFire Link:

Mount Kimbie - Carbonated EP

Right-Click + Save Link As:

Mount Kimbie - Carbonated
Mount Kimbie - Maybes (James Blake Remix)

Tweet

Lisztomania - The Top 15 Records of 2011 (So Far)

Because everybody loves lists...
As you've probably read elsewhere, we've reached that just-about halfway mark in the year (and the official start of summer, whoo) so it's time for every music publication to rattle off their favourite records of the the past six months. As is my due blogging diligence, I'm throwing my hat in the ring, keeping my list to a stout 15.

An exercise like this can be a weird one though. A Stereogum commenter put it well when he wrote, "These lists are snapshots in time, snapshots take time to develop. We’ll see what more exposure brings come winter time."

It's hard to accurately rank albums I've spent so little time with and who knows where or if they'll show up on my year-end list--plus, there's that looming issue of albums I haven't even heard yet. Regardless, here are the LPs I've been spinning nonstop since I first got my ears on them...

- 2011's Top 15 Albums (So Far) -
15. Woods - Sun & Shade
14. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
13. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
12. Julian Lynch - Terra
11. Ducktails - Arcade Dynamics

10. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
09. White Denim - D
08. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
07. Zomby - Dedication
06. Wild Beasts - Smother

05. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
04. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
03. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver*
02. Pure X - Pleasure
01. James Blake - James Blake

*Includes the album's three bonus tracks.

Like the list? Click on each album title for its respective download link.

Tweet

Album of the Week - SBTRKT by SBTRKT

You know what's a trend I can totally get behind? Gentrified dubstep. Allow me to qualify that. Of course, I'm not referring to race, income, et al., but rather the mainstream re-modification of this rather specific genre of electronic music.

Dubstep has by now developed a relatively concrete template--it may be hard to describe to friends in one sentence, but you know it when you hear it--so much so that if one departs from its standards, they must be re-labeled "post-dubstep" or "witch-house" or some other genre that the collective press has yet to stupidly* name.

But as dubstep continues to grow up and out of the underground, artists like Jamie Woon and SBTRKT are co-opting its styles and praxes, stripping away all the warble, murkiness and grime and re-purposing said conventions for mass, pop appeal.

"Is 2011 turning out to be the year UK bass music goes semi-mainstream?" asked Pitchfork's Jess Harvell in an April review of Jamie Woon's Mirrorwriting. With the release of SBTRKT's self-titled debut right around the corner (June 28th), alongside Woon's output and the championing of James Blake, she may be onto something.

SBTRKT's record, which I've already spun several times between Sunday night and now, runs all over the place stylistically speaking; there's something for everyone. And while the LP is delivered in broad strokes, it's more than "generic UK garage."

Don't get me wrong, the lo-fi output of Burial, Zomby, Benga, Mount Kimbie or Kode9 define dubstep, but not everyone has an ear for a track like "Endorphin." Even if you do, do you always have the patience/appreciation for it? Wouldn't you rather just dance? Honestly, it's refreshing to hear London bass in a much more glossy, digestable form and SBTRKT delivers just that.

I could complicate things further by throwing around genre terms like funky, 2-step, drum & bass, four-on-the-floor, grime, ambient, or breakbeat, but the takeaway here is to cheers an album that captures UK electronic music in an easy-to-swallow 40 minutes, not to pick SBTRKT apart influence-by-influence; its originality exists in its straightforward delivery.

*Can we honestly not do any better than "Chillwave" or "Witch-house"?

MediaFire Link:

SBTRKT - SBTRKT

Right-Click + Save Link As:

SBTRKT - Wildfire
SBTRKT - Something Goes Right
SBTRKT - Right Thing to Do

Tweet

Is This a New James Blake Track? + The Lindesfarne Single

My adoration of James Blake has been well documented on this blog, even before the musician released his astounding self-titled LP earlier this year. Since I've long devoured everything the wunderkind has produced so far, I'm waiting with eager ears to hear new material and I finally might have it.

The unknown, untitled track is a BBC radio-rip, and while no author has officially been named, it bears so many Blake mainstays, including a sampling of his own voice. Too good to be true or right on the money? Let's hope it's the real deal, not some clever remix.

In related news, Blake's dropping his "Linesfarne" single next week, which includes a singular edit of the Bon Iver-echoing "Linesfarne I & II" from his album, condensing the two songs by a minute. The 7" is a double A-side, with LP-opener "Unluck" on the flip. Download 'em all below.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

James Blake - Untitled
James Blake - Lindesfarne (Single Version)
James Blake - Unluck

Tweet

Album of the Week - James Blake by James Blake

I'm not sure which state I was flying over by the time I got to the the James Blake feature in the most recent issue of FADER. I don't remember what I was listening too at the time either. The piece, in typical FADER fashion, is a snapshot of the artist, detailing what you'd predict--where he lives, his disheveled record collection, and his thoughts on remixes. What struck me most wasn't the telling ephemera, but Blake's own musings on the resonance of his music.

"My theory on why people connect [with my music] is because a lot of people sit in front of their computers listening to music, and when I write I sit in front of the computer," explained Blake. “Having spoken to a lot of people, everyone is kind of just distracting themselves from the fact they are devastatingly alone. I know that sounds like quite a dramatic thing to say, and I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but I think that is a truism.”

"And maybe those people, sitting at home, 'with the lights off, in the evening, in their bedroom,' are as lonely as Blake when he writes his best songs," mused the piece's author.

Those sentences get at a point I've been unable to make in my own posting about the artist. Though I've tried to get at what makes Blake significant--why he connects with me and should connect with you--his words humanize the proceedings.

And that's important. As a blogger, it's up to me (us?) to help the cream rise to the top and explain why it deserves to be up there. I was talking to my friend Chris the other night about how music today isn't as good as it once was in the 60s and 70s. While that's a topic too big to unpack here, my short answer is that, nowadays, great music exists, you just need to know where to look.

Not just which websites to bookmark or RSS feeds to subscribe to, but which genres to mine.

There's no question Blake makes electronic music, but with each release, he's pushing the envolope further and further, injecting classical composition and organic textures, evolving England's dubstep sounds.

So how do I sell the idea of "post-dubstep" to someone like my friend Will, who listens to Bruce Springsteen and party rap almost exclusively? How do I explain this is a record for the patient, one that rewards a listener with a good set of headphones and an isolated hour to spare? I've labeled Blake avant garde as much to brace the listener as to define his sound.

The best answer I can come up with is a post like this, where quoting Blake secretly reveals a mission statement. Where the emotions behind the myriad samples and and strained vocals are spelled out by their owner. Where I try to earn your trust. There's brilliance to be heard here.

MediaFire Link:

James Blake - James Blake

Right-Click + Save Link As:

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

Tweet

Citizen Mix Vol. IV - Valentine's Day (Oh Yes, I Did)

Unless you've somehow managed to shut out every single advertising platform known to man, you're well aware that today is Valentine's Day. To celebrate such an ostentatious afternoon and evening, I've whipped up a mix that is sure to please the happily in love, the blissfully ignorant, or those who've got a date with their Xbox/ice cream/cats tonight. Chaucer would approve.

Um, this mix probably won't get you laid though. For that, may I recommend D'Angelo's Voodoo?

Click here to download Citizen Mix Vol. IV - Valentine's Day
Tracklist:

1. Purity Ring - Ungirthed
2. Alessi Brothers - Oh Lori
3. Weezer - You Gave Your Love to Me Softly
4. Robin Pecknold - On a Good Day (Joanna Newsom Cover)
5. Beirut - Postcards from Italy
6. Rusko - Hold On
7. Cloud Nothings - Leave You Forever
8. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
9. Van Morrison - Sweet Thing
10. Thom Yorke - Videotape (From the Basement)

Tweet

Now That's What I Call Dubstep! - Vol. 1

Last week, Diplo released Blow Your Head - Diplo Presents Dupstep, a compilation of his favourite purple tracks. The mixtape attempts to condense the zombie genre into 16 must-have cuts. Is it a success? Well, sure -- the mix touches on most of the genre's staple artists and has a decent amount of classics*, what it's lacking is more: Where's Burial? Where's "Purple City"? etc. etc. etc.

Regardless, it's a pretty good primer for anyone new to grimy jams and, more importantly, is a pretty great excuse to publish some solid dupstep myself. Crank your subwoofers and download 12 teeth-rattling tunes below.

* Rhetorical question: Does it get any better than "Sweet Shop" or "Archangel"?

Right-Click + Save Link As:

Purple City - Joker & Ginz
Sweet Shop - Doctor P
26 Basslines - Benga
Tears in the Rain - Zomby
Tron - Joker
Sunset (feat. Diplo) - Borgore
Burn (Stenchman Remix) - Jessica Mauboy
Stop What You're Doing (James Blake Remix) - Untold
Puzzled - Randomer
Boss - Ginz
Strange Fruit - Zomby
Archangel - Burial

Tweet

Artist Spotlight: James Blake Is All Sorts of Awesome

James Blake, London's 21-year-old wunderkind producer, has released four EPs since 2009 and his latest, Klavierwerke, is a micro-masterpiece. Blake is one of many UK exports touting skills in the dubstep/electronic genres, but while so many of his peers hover around four-on-the-floor rhythms, Blake's jams are much more challenging.

Let's start with the basics: Blake's music is normally rooted in R&B, soul, and avant-jazz. In only four releases, Blake's created his own recognizable style -- his songs are mid-tempo and cut between sampled/manipulated vocals (usually his own) and bass tics, stuttering cymbals, timid handclaps, and other nondescript electronics. The point being, Blake practices minimalism. His goal isn't to get you on the dance-floor; it's a exercise in digital subtly. The CMYK EP, released in May, is the most straigtforward take on Blake's warped R&B sound; think Autechre meets Burial.

His latest, the Klavierwerke EP, was released earlier this month. Each of its four tracks find Blake stripping down his slow-burn sound and relying more heavily on his piano. "Tell Her Safe" recalls the isolation of Bon Iver, while "I Only Know (What I Know Now)" turns electro-convention on its head, playing with silence and irrhythm more than sub-bass and snare-drum.

On top of all that, Blake just dropped "Limit to You Love," a Feist cover and the first we're hearing from his forthcoming debut LP. The track's interesting because A: It's a Feist cover by James Blake and B: We hear Blake's voice, free of any manipulation. The album cut is stirring in it's simplicity, shifting between Blake's voice and piano and skittering bass beats.

It's all headphones music for sure, but a little patience reveals an artist challenging what electronic music can be. Or maybe's he's just a overly-trained classical music major using Ableton as a pallet. That's for you to decide.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

CMYK - James Blake

I Only Know (What I Know Now) - James Blake

Tell Her Safe - James Blake

Limit to Your Love - James Blake

Tweet