Makes my blood curdle for reasons that I could probably put into words if I could be arsed

But yeah, praising James Blake for his songwriting is like praising Space Jam for its non-diegetic sound or some shit, kinda missing the point big time there guy

Album Rating: 5.0

?????

Album Rating: 3.5

Um James Blake is literally a singer-songwriter who writes singer-songwriter music that just happens to be in a style in which the production etc. is significant more so than in most singer-songwriter music so it's not in any way missing the point to judge him based on his songwriting.

"I mean I jammed his first two albums and didn't like them but I can tell that his skills are primarily as a producer, not a songwriter, which is very different"


man u are fuckin dumb mate

"Um James Blake is literally a singer-songwriter who writes singer-songwriter music that just happens to be in a style in which the production etc. is significant more so than in most singer-songwriter music so it's not in any way missing the point to judge him based on his songwriting."

^^^

s/t has amazing songwriting and production in equal measure

Album Rating: 3.5

Wow I think that's the first time Potsy has agreed so completely with something I said.

Man, this thing is so overlong and polluted with mediocre filler, but also has some amazing songs on it too, that I don't know what to think, it continuously fluctuates between a 3.5 and a 4 for me. Why couldn't he just have done a bit more self-checking and edit this down to a nice 10-track 40 minute record like his first two? :-(

If you removed the nice production from James Blake's first two albums, the songs would lose 99% of their appeal. Ofc production and songwriting can be woven intimately together in the creative process in a way where they compliment one another, but Blake's production carries his stuff waaay too much

Album Rating: 2.5

i guess

Album Rating: 3.5

But just because you don't enjoy his songwriting doesn't mean that judging him based on his songwriting is missing the point, it just means you don't think he's a good songwriter. A sentiment which, before this album, I would have agreed with.

"If you removed the nice production from James Blake's first two albums, the songs would lose 99% of their appeal"

Well, the same can be said about like 99% of music that isn't in the folk or guitar rock genres, so I'm not sure that's a good criteria to judge music on. Like... if you took away the nice production from any electronic ambient music, then you would just have complete silence on tracks XDXD

"A sentiment which, before this album, I would have agreed with."

Well shit maybe I need to give this a spin after all, even if that single sucked mightily

Also ABond you're missing my point entirely. In the case of electronic ambient music the production is the goddamn music. With Blake, I really feel he hides behind / utterly depends on his production (at least on the two albums I've heard), which in the context of pop music is usually frowned upon by anyone interested in music criticism? If you deliver a mediocre idea in 4K HD and dripping with effects, it is still a mediocre idea.

His compositions don't feel robust is what I guess I'm trying to say, and that would be all the more glaringly obvious if his production wasn't really nice.

But I'm not so sure if it's fair to call James Blake a pop music artist, rather than a downbeat electronic artist, in which case the production IS the music. Just because he loops his own vocalizations and has been doing increasingly more and more singing on his albums, doesn't change the fact that he is still primarily an electronic music artist.

Album Rating: 4.5

just saw him live







confirmed aoty

" In the case of electronic ambient music the production is the goddamn music. "

james blake doesnt make 'electronic ambient music'

"With Blake, I really feel he hides behind / utterly depends on his production"

?????


"which in the context of pop music is usually frowned upon by anyone interested in music criticism?"

this must be why practically all famous pop artists ever never produce their own songs.................

I wasn't saying Blake makes electronic ambient music lol. That was me responding to ABond's point that electronic ambient is inseparable from its production (I agree)

But I feel pop music should be somewhat separable, a mixture of production and actual robustness of composition rather than total reliance on production for its effect. A common critique I hear of pop music is that the songwriting is poor and the production is what carries it entirely, a criticism I would level at Blake based on the two albums I've heard but yeah w/e

I'm sorry poly you have no idea wat u are talking about, his voice and piano compositions have literally always been just as quintessential to his presence as his ~production~ which is further reinforced by his live shows in which he rarely ever plays his most electron ice driven tracks over his piano and voice driven ones

And mainstream pop music hides behind its production literally 90 percent of the time hence why the same 10 Uber successful producers have made almost every successful pop song of the decade regardless of who the singer is