Boards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_mugMONJM8

Is the only new one I've heard on the Hessle Audio show for a while. Could be that, but if its some kind of Zane Low premier then its gonna be his indie stuff innit or we would have already heard it.

or the darker bits that were on his Essential Mix
probably going to be crappy stuff if it's a Lowe show though.

yeah there was loads of new stuff in that. Fact reckon its a track called 'Retrograde' so maybe its a Bloc Party cover haha.

- New Single ‘Retrograde’ – available Feb 11th
- Album ‘Overgrown’ – released April 8th
- ICA show on February 26th

Two years after his debut album took UK bass culture down previously unimagined roads of introspection, James Blake returns with the epic ‘Retrograde’. The track is available from next Monday, February 11th.

Combining his heart-piercing songwriter side with a skyscraper of soaring electronics, ‘Retrograde’ takes the listener surfing on an emotional sine wave, an electronic soul testament that earmarks him out as the successor to the thrones long since vacated by Massive Attack and the Aphex Twin.

Zane Lowe will be premiering 'Retrograde' on his Radio 1 show at 7:30pm tonight. Head over to James' YouTube channel shortly after it's aired to listen back to the track: http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesblakeproduction

Retrograde is the perfect introduction to his second LP ‘Overgrown’, an incredible album that sees James growing as a singer and songwriter while at the same time returning to the brain melting electronic perfection of his early releases on Hemlock and Hessle, moving way beyond any post-dubstep pigeonholes to include stunning reinterpretations of both hip-hop and house.

James will play at the ICA on February 26th. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday February 8th, available from here: http://jamesblake.seetickets.com/

You're making that up, right?

nope. Copy-pasted.

http://youtu.be/bH6OEh2Z4Qw

maybe with a little bit of My Bloody Valentine

Even tolerated Lowe's voice for another half hour so I could hear it twice.

Seems to be a lot of Janes Blake hate on here all of a sudden. Everyone was going crazy over him a couple of years back, we're a fickle bunch eh? I prefer CMYK and his Hessle stuff too, but his album was far from bad. There were some fantastic songs on it, just a little too much filler. I for one am excited to see where he goes next.

the song writing is more structured, well the vocals are more structured so it sounds more conventunal and it works here. Just a small step from the album stuff. Not mega excited since I lean mroe towards his other stuff but yeah its proper nice. Indie goons are just scared all the good indie is coming from everywhere but indie ;)

prefer it to the earlier EPs, they're pretty directionless bleepy bloopy a lot of the time.

just the most sterile sounding thing

Very much looking forward to 'Overgrown'.

I can't remember much about it earlier.

someone posted a photo of him on facebook yesterday and i had to leave the room and have a glass of water to cool down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p6PcFFUm5I

This is REALLY good. Proper goosebumps shit when the heavy chords drop in at around 2 minutes.

you were aching to hate it anyway

Is this darkness of the dawn

I've not had a chance to listen to the new thing yet but will try and do so with open ears.

It's just I saw him live a couple of years ago and couldn't believe how joyless the whole thing was. Something about James Blake feels almost something puritanical - it's almost as though he feels there's something sinful and wrong about anyone actually having fun with making music.

It's absolutely technically brilliant but earnest as fuck and dull as ditchwater.

also, he's very much in love with that Prophet '08 preset

not feeling the turtle neck either

SO earnest

It's nice, but there's not much to get your teeth into. Hopefully with the press release's references to his earlier EPs the second will be a bit meatier

Is he doing a whole album with Trim? Or was that 12 a one off?

I presume you still see his music as a kind of emperor's new clothes, and his fans only fawn over him because of how "experimental" he is?

At least you gave it a fair go

tried to go once before but it filled up. anyone seen him dj recently? what's he been dropping?

isn't a very good dj really

actually a big fan of the new song - more in line with the earlier EPs which I love but retaining a lot of the earnestness and emo-ness of the album which for some reason I really connect with. I can see where people are coming from calling him overly earnest and stuff though - guess you like it or you don't really, he's obviously very proficient.

http://www.factmag.com/2013/03/08/hear-an-extended-preview-of-james-blakes-eagerly-awaited-overgrown/

This is good, god damn it...

he always been ace and has really honed his craft for the song writing stuff it seems he just gets flack for coming from more trendy areas of music than a lot of indie bands. And his album cover looking like something from fern gully. Which would be cool if he did a remix called Furn Gully Goon Estate.

"There's a fine line between soulful vocals and whining like a creepy baby with a broken voice, and it seems he needs a haircut to see it."

http://www.factmag.com/2013/03/19/hear-the-album-version-of-james-blakes-scorched-earth-house-track-voyeur/

with that image and want to spend more than a second on it without feeling like a dickhead

then its still tough but lets be honest a pic of James Blake in Fern Gully is no more embarasing than any other indie bands image of cardigans and that in the woods.

he's not making it easy for the fans to like is he haha. You've got to admire the confidence to look like such a gimp and an easy target for the haters and not be fussed by making it his album cover.

It sounded rather good.