I miss both of you and am also just sinking my teeth into this.
And I've only listened through once and I want to listen through like 8 more times before I even say anything. Which I think says something?
Agreed, I got the sense that the review was written by somebody who didn't actually care for the record that much (and also who didn't listen to it more than twice) but was overruled by the contributor consensus and forced to write a "positive" review.
I've gone back in on AMSP and it is absolutely growing on me by leaps and bounds, but TCIA is still my AOTY.
(that was A Moon Shapes Pool, The Colour in Anything, and Album of the Year, you know, for the uninitiated)
I understand what you mean and was struck with the same thing about repetition vs. songwriting when I first listened through TCIA, but as I've delved deeper I've realized that
A) Those cases of repetition serve to augment the tone of the songs themselves, i.e. they are part and parcel of the songwriting rather than a separate aspect of the songs (the repetition on "Radio Silence" is a perfect example right at the top)
B) This album also contains his most imaginative songwriting AND his most imaginative arrangements ("f.o.r.e.v.e.r." and "two men down" come to mind, almost terrifying in their ability to do nothing one is expecting them to do and yet succeed wildly)
I get that, I'm just waiting, HOPING somebody else sees the James Blake album the way I do, I think it's one of the best records I've heard in 5 years. That's after probably 8 or 10 listens.
Granted I have only been through AMSP twice front to back, so it certainly has the potential to grow on me (and kind of already has), but The Colour in Anything, god damn, it's pretty fucking perfect.
I feel TERRIBLE for James Blake. I honestly think if he releases Colour in Anything ANY other week it is immediately and rightly hailed as the masterpiece that it is (seriously, there are not enough superlatives for this James Blake record, it is a solid 9.5/10 at least IMO). The fact that it's being overshadowed is really, truly sad (and this is coming from someone for whom Radiohead is their favorite band and who believes this record is outstanding...)
Just for the sake of getting folks' reaction to this statement (and because I actually believe it to be true as of this moment) I'm gonna put this out there...
This is an excellent album, but the James Blake album is an even more excellent album.
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