Tips for 2011: Part 2 My second tip for 2011 could not be more different to my first. This man melds music in a way that is so studied, so intricate, so affecting and so ridiculously natural that it's hard to believe no-one has ever really come close to aping it.
He is, of course, James Blake.
James Blake is all about contravention. He makes dance music that is at its best when totally devoid of bass; songs like 'CYMK' and 'Air and Lack Thereof' bloom in the wasteland frequencies of electronica, the middle register. There are no euphoric Euro-Cheese hooks, no Calvin Harris synth-pokes and certainly no bass breaks designed to make your sternum implode (see: Pendulum). James Blake plays on emotions far deeper than simple joy or misery.
Blake's decision to sing on recent tracks is further proof of his willingness to take risks. Though there is much merit in earlier instrumentals or sample-based tracks, they fade into obscurity faster than garage did compared to his vocal performances. The only evidence you need for James Blake's inevitable rise to prominence is this:
James Blake - Limit To Your Love from James Blake on Vimeo.
Something about the perfect depth of his voice, allied with the faintest hint of a London tang and Regina Spektor quivers just draws me in. The 'drop' from 2.30 to 2.45 is just as gut-wrenchingly bittersweet.
Where The Vaccines blast away passive resistance with a top-to-bottom water cannon approach, James Blake uses water torture. Two to watch without question; who do you prefer?
Vote at the top of the page on the right for your favourite.
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