Archive for the ‘James Blake (2011) – James Blake’ Category
- gospel style
- lyric: 4 lines repeated 4 times
- harmonies: different phrasings/different lyrics (slightly)
- 1st section: vox and organ, harmonies join later
- 2nd section: organ drops out, deep bass line. all vox harmonies
- very hissy – overdub artefact? hiss becomes musical texture, pops on and off
- 3rd section: vox only
- short electronic melody at end
KEY IDEAS to plunder
- harmonies with slight differences – reminiscent of queen’s ‘somebody to love’
- hiss/overdub artefact as deliberate texture
- two word lyric – practically no lead vox
- two note oscillating vox loop “i mind” bed (starts with edit pop)
- overlayed with other 2 note vox loop – changes pitch but not tempo) – other lyric? i hear an ‘s’…
- electronic beat drops in for 2nd and 4th (double time) sections
- low bass (kik?) only one note
- ‘guitar’ chord stab with white noise in 3rd section
- thereafter reverse white noise functions as opening hi hat – ducked by kik?
- fade out – only track on the album that fades out
KEY IDEAS to plunder
- vox loop layers as harmony and melody
- white noise as cymbal (swell, reverse ‘open hi hat’) – ducked by kik
- two line lyric, repeated
- piano + vox beginning
- popping edits begin with piano and background noise
- then processed hi vocal joins
- descending bass line joins to end
- very short song (1:36)
KEY IDEAS to plunder
- begin with ‘live performed’ section, then build track from edited loops of same material
- use edit pops as beat
- lyric double meaning by being homophones “how forlorn to watch you go / how full on to watch you grow”
- begins with vox, joined by single chord pad
- little insert of popping edited processed high vocal
- low harmony vox joins
- unexpected backing enters. beat with low bass, organ pads and pop edit vox loop
- fast electronic woodblock is a feature of the beat
- pop edit vox loop changes chord and back again (pitch shift without tempo shift)
- ‘chorus’ vox sounds pitch shifted up (live performances feature another vocalist for this part – presumably to recreate this pitch shifted timbre)
- breakdown section: low bas + vox, then organ pads + vox, then opo edit vox loop solo
- all returns for second half, repeats first main section
- ends with solo vox loop
KEY IDEAS to plunder
- popping edit loop, changing chord, as backbone of song
- double meaning homophones
- piano & vox (uneffected)
- single take live performance (ie. piano and vox recorded simultaneously)
- some faint background noise
- very little lyric repetition (compared to previous tracks)
- short (1:56)
- feels like an interlude, a break from the processed electronics, midway through the album
KEY IDEAS to plunder
- live performance recorded in a sonically interesting place (ie. background sound)
- falsetto vocals
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a track by track analysis of key productions
to take inspiration from