Mthrfunkr (post-dubstep tumblr)’s discussion of the hype behind James Blake and what he’s doing.
But I want to talk about Burial
The comment “achieving the wrongly-assumed impossible - injecting emotion into electronic music” is a bit unfair on the electronic music scene. Four Tet’s Angel Echoes, Jamie XX’s Adele remix, Floating Points’ K+G Beat to name just a few are all great examples of an artist giving their genre a bit of emotion. However what sets apart Burial’s work is his ability to sustain a mood for an entire LP, not a couple of songs.
Untrue reeks of atmosphere; I find the album immediately takes me to rainswept midnight London. Now obviously I don’t expect that is does the same for everyone who listens to it, but I remember hearing Giles Peterson interviewing LA beatmaker Flying Lotus on the topic of Burial and he said something along the lines of “It’s something I didn’t really get ‘till I came to London - it makes sense here.”
Untrue is still as good as it ever was, yet I really don’t think we’ve had a release since that has touched, or will touch quite the same place in the soul. Electronic musicians have and continue to imbue their records with whatever emotion they want - but Untrue is so much more.
ps. Recommended listening:
- Burial
Endorphin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtEBEVC0HUc
Untrue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmW_r3XK2HA
In McDonalds (My personal favourite): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06FiSFtX6G0
- James Blake - I Only Know (What I Know Now)
