[Introducing] – James Blake

I’ve been sitting on this for a while now, and even though he’s been around for over a year, he’s really only starting to gain momentum, so that’s why it’s an “Introduction” piece.

When listening to either of James Blake’s three EPs (all released in the last 10 months) or his couple of singles (one on his own, another with Airhead), I can’t help but be reminded of Mike Skinner’s refrain on The Streets’ debut album “Original Pirate Material”; Let’s Push Things Forward.

It’s not often that you can say this, and when you do say it it carries a huge weight with it, but there aren’t too many people out there making music like James Blake is.  To me he’s pushing music forward, taking every conventional notion you had about music and how it should be made or sound and turning it on its head. Sure there have been (and are) artists who do things with music that make you feel embarrassed to even be walking upright, but this is just taking the piss.

When I think back to albums or artists that have had that affect on me, making me think I’ve never heard anything like this before, I’m reminded of Daft Punk’s debut album, the aforementioned debut by The Streets, Radiohead’s “Kid A”, and more recently, GOBBLE GOBBLE. With James Blake, it’s all of those artists combined, but without the Rap and with more U.K. Garage and Dubstep thrown in, contorted into chopped up breaks of electronically-charged metallic splinters that are guaranteed to fuck you up if you get too close.  But we always get too close, it’s part of what makes us human after all (see what I did there?).

As I said he’s released two singles and three EPs and not only has he released them all on vinyl, but they’re all still available, even his debut 12″ single from July 2009 “Air & Lack Thereof”. Below you can hear cuts from each of those EPs and I strongly urge you to buy each of them, either on vinyl or as MP3s, as well as a recent cover of Feist’s “Limit To Your Love” like you’ve never heard it before (and an accompanying video).  Oh, and I hear he’s an awesome Tennis player too.

This kid’s about to hit the big time, just you wait and see (he even has a Napoleon Dynamite mouth, if you needed anymore proof).

Keep up to date with James Blake – Facebook | MySpace | Last.fm

James Blake – “CMYK”
James Blake – “I Only Know (What I Know Now)”
James Blake – “The Bells Sketch”
James Blake – “Limit To Your Love” (Feist Cover)