Showing posts with label Jamie N Commons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamie N Commons. Show all posts
Monday, 2 January 2012
The XX - Open Eyes (demo)
With the boundaries that The xx’s debut album set, being acclaimed one of the best albums of 2009 and it’s overwhelmingly positive reviews, it’s no wonder that they’ve shied away from the spotlight for the past year or so. Their disappearance off the musical radar left many an awestruck fan tossing two sides of the coin: had they already reached their peak and would another album taint the crystallised perfection of the first, or was that just the tip of the iceberg? Now they seem to have crept out the shadows again leaving behind the demo of “Open Eyes” before slinking back to record their new album which opens with a soft melancholy, humming resounding with tenderness and longing. At first, Romy Madley Croft’s crooning seems hesitant and self-conscious, as does the simple bass riff rising and dropping again as quick as it started like a hopeful heartbeat only echoed in the lyrics seeming to offer futile reassurance: “everything will be alright.”
Without the synths and beats that made up the bulk of the first album, this shows The xx stripped down, naked and at their most vulnerable, but still still retaining their underlying notion of sincerity that they do best. It only gets better with every listen, so convincing that once you’ve stopped listening you realise you’re so wrapped up in the tangible aching sense of longing that it it embodies, trying to remember why you feel this way until you realise that it’s just your empathy that you have with the “loss of faith” that ‘Open Eyes’ revolves around. Fortunately, this only instills faith in the fact that The xx really do have the midas touch and can push themselves in a very different direction whilst maintaining their recognisable sound and hopefully return from their absence to more well-deserved glory.
By Bella Roach
Friday, 9 December 2011
BBC Sound of 2012: Is the hype justified?
Yesterday saw the announcement of the longlist for the BBC Sound of 2012 to the general disappointment and/or disinterest of everyone. Fifteen artists have been longlisted for the award which aims to highlight the best up and coming acts of the year ahead. Previous winners have included Adele, Ellie Goulding and Jessie J. So who made it onto the list and also what has been missed out?
The award appears to have abandoned its links to guitar music this year, embracing more wide ranging genres. The obvious artist at whom a lot of disgruntled grumblings has been aimed at is "the most hated man in dubstep", Skrillex. For the balance of fairness I listened to something by him and I can only describe it as the biggest heap of shit in the world. A mix of bastardised wobwobwobs and some screaming; why the BBC decided it was necessary to tip this colossal waste of listening time, who knows. Slightly more happily for dance and rap music in general is the inclusion of Frank Ocean, who is swiftly overtaking Tyler The Creator as the most popular (and maybe even, whisper it, more talented) member of Odd Future. He is certainly more marketable to the masses with singles like ‘Novocane’ already generating considerable chart interest. Azealia Banks stands out as front runner having topped the recent NME Cool List and her status as a female rapper would surely give the Beeb some edgy integrity.
Dry The River have felt like they’ve been tiptoeing around the fringes of success for ages now. The ridiculous popularity of fellow folkies Mumford and Sons and Fleet Foxes would suggest Dry the River are destined for a bigger audience and their brilliant recent EP ‘Weights and Measures’ more than confirms that they deserve it. Neatly coinciding the announcement of their debut album and their biggest headline show at the Electric Ballroom with this list, makes them stand out as a band who deserve it.
Jamie N Commons and Spector are achievements for the LuvLuvLuv label, as well as heading up the more classic side of the list. Jamie N Commons has shown some astounding songwriting ability with his early releases which have been rooted in American blues and rock n roll. Spector on the other hand seem to be attempting to rehash the generic "indie" format which lacks not only in originality but also talent.
Perhaps the most notable exclusions are more UK bands on indie labels. 2011 has seen the emergence of many promising British artists spanning a wide-range of genres. What about brilliantly original artists like dance music’s new hopes Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Stay+? More folky artists like Lucy Rose and Alt-J? Or the countless great bands coming out of Oxford’s blessing force scene? You can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a ploy to draw some more attention to the award. And with a record industry mogul announcing today that the award had practically become irrelevant and journalists nominating artists who they think they are going to talk about over the next year, instead of genuine up and coming talent, does it even matter? Try telling that to the artists on the list that may have just got their first foot on the ladder.
By Jessy Parker
The full longlist:
The award appears to have abandoned its links to guitar music this year, embracing more wide ranging genres. The obvious artist at whom a lot of disgruntled grumblings has been aimed at is "the most hated man in dubstep", Skrillex. For the balance of fairness I listened to something by him and I can only describe it as the biggest heap of shit in the world. A mix of bastardised wobwobwobs and some screaming; why the BBC decided it was necessary to tip this colossal waste of listening time, who knows. Slightly more happily for dance and rap music in general is the inclusion of Frank Ocean, who is swiftly overtaking Tyler The Creator as the most popular (and maybe even, whisper it, more talented) member of Odd Future. He is certainly more marketable to the masses with singles like ‘Novocane’ already generating considerable chart interest. Azealia Banks stands out as front runner having topped the recent NME Cool List and her status as a female rapper would surely give the Beeb some edgy integrity.
Dry The River have felt like they’ve been tiptoeing around the fringes of success for ages now. The ridiculous popularity of fellow folkies Mumford and Sons and Fleet Foxes would suggest Dry the River are destined for a bigger audience and their brilliant recent EP ‘Weights and Measures’ more than confirms that they deserve it. Neatly coinciding the announcement of their debut album and their biggest headline show at the Electric Ballroom with this list, makes them stand out as a band who deserve it.
Jamie N Commons and Spector are achievements for the LuvLuvLuv label, as well as heading up the more classic side of the list. Jamie N Commons has shown some astounding songwriting ability with his early releases which have been rooted in American blues and rock n roll. Spector on the other hand seem to be attempting to rehash the generic "indie" format which lacks not only in originality but also talent.
Perhaps the most notable exclusions are more UK bands on indie labels. 2011 has seen the emergence of many promising British artists spanning a wide-range of genres. What about brilliantly original artists like dance music’s new hopes Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Stay+? More folky artists like Lucy Rose and Alt-J? Or the countless great bands coming out of Oxford’s blessing force scene? You can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a ploy to draw some more attention to the award. And with a record industry mogul announcing today that the award had practically become irrelevant and journalists nominating artists who they think they are going to talk about over the next year, instead of genuine up and coming talent, does it even matter? Try telling that to the artists on the list that may have just got their first foot on the ladder.
By Jessy Parker
The full longlist:
- A$AP Rocky
- Azealia Banks
- Dot Rotten
- Dry the River
- Flux Pavilion
- Frank Ocean
- Friends
- Jamie N Commons
- Lianne La Havas
- Michael Kiwanku
- Niki and the Dove
- Ren Havrieu
- Skrillex
- Spector
- Stooshe
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