Overgrown
Throughout Overgrown, Blake electronically bulks his voice in a genuinely unbecoming fashion—while certain distortions and echoes are added for a specific sonic effect, much of the vocal. Name: James Blake-Overgrown (Deluxe Edition)-Paul'sBoutique.zip. Size: 82.31 MB Uploaded: 16:58 Last download: 15:23. Zippyshare.com News: HTTPS/SSL activation. 03 Apr 2018 20:48. Upload/Download has been moved to the https/ssl protocol. Everything should work stable now. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2013 CD release of 'Overgrown' on Discogs. Overgrown is the second studio album by English electronic musician James Blake. It was released on 5 April 2013 by Blake's Atlas Records, along with A&M Records and Polydor Records. The album features guest appearances from electronic music producer Brian Eno and Wu-Tang Clan member RZA. Dir: NABIL dancers: Lil Buck, Ringmaster Nugget, Taliban sheik producer: Kathleen Heffernan dop: Danny Hiele editor: Isaac Hagy post: Gloria VFX color: Fergus.
2013
James Blake
Universal Republic
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This post is in partnership with Consequence of Sound, an online music publication devoted to the ever growing and always thriving worldwide music scene.
Some people were born with the innate ability to seduce. Some can do it with their looks, others with words or behavior. In addition to having really good hair, James Blake can seduce with his voice. His lithe, melodic croon entangles perfectly with elegant electronic arrangements — a distinct style that gives Blake room to move around as a songwriter. He’s always tweaking and evolving his sound, which makes every release an anticipated occasion for fans of nu-R&B and post-dubstep.
Those electronics put Blake on the map. His 2011 self-titled debut was a jittery 40 minutes of unorthodox beats and rhythmic manipulations. Vocals would come and go at a moment’s notice, bouncing from left channel to right channel. Yet there was an ominous mood and cohesion to the music. The album charted well in almost every country except the United States.
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Which brings us to Overgrown, the latest realization of everything Blake’s capable of as a songwriter and vocalist. Building off of recent singles and EPs, he’s crafted an album of full-on electro R&B. Gone is the glitchy dubstep; the mood and cohesion remain. A press release for Overgrown states that Blake worked with Björk, Drake, and Bon Iver when composing the album — and if you listen hard enough, you can hear their ideas being filtered through Blake’s own stylings. The eponymous opening track is just the pattering of a minimal beat and that gentle croon. He’s really improved as a singer, hitting high notes and low notes that he’s never even attempted before. His words are impressionistic metaphors: “If that is how it is / I don’t want to be a star / Or a stone on the shore.”
Naturally, the simplicity of Overgrown downplays the dubstep seen in Blake’s early work. Although not entirely gone, it’s been reduced to small doses. On “Take a Fall For Me,” Blake puppeteers a creepy beat for guest emcee RZA. It’s a strange collaboration, but it works (and gives hope to future hip-hop endeavors). Overgrown’s only other collab is “Digital Lion,” which was produced by Brian Eno. During instrumental passages, we’re treated to an Eno-Blake jam session — Eno supplying the ambient chords, Blake the quivering samples and snares. This is followed by the record’s most disappointing moment, “Voyeur.” It’s the most dance-oriented track here, but it doesn’t lead anywhere, aimless compared to Overgrown’s more developed songs.
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“Life Round Here” might be Blake’s finest composition yet. An ascending/descending piano riff accompanies a drum machine, as Blake gets all ‘90s R&B. When he sings “Part-time love is the life for me,” there’s a hint of Usher in his delivery.
James Blake may lose some fans with the tamer, more sultry sounds of Overgrown. But he’s going to gain a lot more. Without the cut-and-paste dubstep, his music suddenly becomes quite radio friendly (“Life Round Here” screams FM). It’s the ideal sophomore LP: Blake emphasizes and magnifies his finest assets (the croon, the dark romance) for the sake of a better song. Of course, it does help when you’re taking lessons from Björk and Bon Iver.
Essential Tracks: “Overgrown”, “Life Round Here”, and “Digital Lion”
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James Blakes selftitled debut is without doubt a strong debut album, and a modern classic.
His experimental neo-dubstep on that album, was full of James Blakes creative production, mostly snippets of his soulful voice. At times it was to experimental for me. And too little focused and lacking structure. A collection of songs rather than a complete album.
Now that his second album is here, I have to admit I was a bit excited and sceptic if he managed to outdo his first album.
The first single “Retrograde” showed a “new” James Blake. He sounded less experimenal and more laid back. The production was softer, James Blake focused more on his vocals – he dared to be a vocalist, an singer songwriter. James Blake is not only a producer, a songwriter, arranger – but he´s also a extraordinary vocalist. With a voice that sounds like a cross between Talk Talks Mark Hollis, Antony & The Johnsons Antony Hegarty and the norwegian singer songwriter Thomas Dybdahl. Warm, soulful – smooth!
With his second album, James Blake have grown up, but not outgrown himself.
The production is better, he has written songs this time – almost all songs have full lyrics and a structure instead of snippets of looped vocals like on the debutalbum. If Blake had tried to outdo the debut album – make an even more experimental – make a James Blake pt II, I am afraid he would have tried to hard.
Instead he has mellowed the production, and he looks back. I can hear traces of trip hop here. Artists like Massive Attack, Tricky and even Björk seems to be inspiration, he even flirts with the dancefloor here and there.
Second track and third track “I Am Sold” and “Life Round Here” both tracks makes me think how Massive Attack around “Protection” would sound with James Blake as guest vocalist. The only guest artists is vocalist from Wu-Tang/Gravediggaz member and actor/screenwriter/director RZA who raps in english (instead of american) on “Take A Fall For Me” a song that sounds more like Tricky – than Tricky himself has done for years.
Skip forward to the Brian Eno produced “Digital Lion” where James Blake does a track that sounds like a update on Björks “Hyper Ballad” mixed with Plastikmans “Spastik”.
If you want to dance, the club-friendly beats of french sounding song titled “Voyeur” is the track to seek. And when he let the beats pump out of the stereo for the last minute it´s almost like James Blake asks for the track to be included on a DJ-mix album. I would love to hear someone do a fat clubmix of this track!
Have you noticed war siren sound on several of the tracks? It seems to be part of a concept on this album. The sound is incorporeted at the end of a majority of the tracks: The one finger push on one button on the synth, and held down/looped and/or timestreched for the next minute or so. Until the end of the song (see i.e. “Retrograde” for a perfect example). If there is a soundconcept on the album, this sound is!
James Blakes Top 5 most popular songs according to Spotify is
- “Retrograde” off “Overgrown” album,
- “Limit To Your Love” the beautiful Feist cover from “James Blake”
- “CMYK”
- “A Case Of You” his wonderful version of the Joni Mitchell classic
- “The Willhelm Scream” off James Blake
You can listen to “James Blake” and “Overgrown” here, if you use Spotify If you want to buy the albums, click here to download through iTunes
If his two cover versions of “Limit To Your Love” and “A Case Of You” is what you love about James Blake and is the sounds you love from him. I promise you you would love the whole “Overgrown” album. Some reviewers has called the album to slow, and if i should agree with that I would say the album is a slowburner. But let it sink in. It comes to you slowly – and when it hits you – you´re stuck!