James Blunt (Melua As A Man)

[drbastard]

thisisnotatest said:

I bought the album. I don't think I've ever got sick of anything so quickly.

My dad asked who 'that whiney git' was I was listening to. I said 'good point' and put M.I.A. on instead.

Oooooooh, quite right. I haven't had that album off my stero for yonks.

[SuperFunTastic]

Anyone else always snigger when he sings about a "semi by the sea" in Wisemen? Or is it just me...

[Tuna Fish]

You're beautiful is not representative of the album.

[drbastard]

I know that. If anything the album is worse than that song.

I'm going to use a well-known Dr Bastard phrase when I feel like summing up these types of singers (much to thisisnotatest's chagrin) by describing Melua As A Man as 'Single Mother Music'.

I really hate the guy and his sweaters.

[Pensiero Bello]

I think it's rather nice that he's made No1. Good on him. Unfortunately, he's rather become a victim of over-hyping. Hopefully it will all die down soon.

I had to review MIA for some reason a while back. It was the most unlistenable tripe I'd heard in a while, truly. But then my tastes lie in the James Blunt/Rufus Wainwright/Patrick Wolf/Jack Johnson area, to a certain extent.

[drbastard]

pensierobello said:

I think it's rather nice that he's made No1. Good on him. Unfortunately, he's rather become a victim of over-hyping. Hopefully it will all die down soon.

I had to review MIA for some reason a while back. It was the most unlistenable tripe I'd heard in a while, truly. But then my tastes lie in the James Blunt/Rufus Wainwright/Patrick Wolf/Jack Johnson area, to a certain extent.

Tripe? That's one of the most vibrant and new albums I've heard in ages and considering the 80s obsession everyone seems to have right now, that's no bad thing.

Does anyone here like Mu?

[Mr Subways]

pensierobello said:

I had to review MIA for some reason a while back. It was the most unlistenable tripe I'd heard in a while, truly. But then my tastes lie in the James Blunt/Rufus Wainwright/Patrick Wolf/Jack Johnson area, to a certain extent.

Totally agree. After the first 20 seconds of Galang, I fail to see what is so amazing about this lady.

[drbastard]

mrbrightside said:

pensierobello said:

I had to review MIA for some reason a while back. It was the most unlistenable tripe I'd heard in a while, truly. But then my tastes lie in the James Blunt/Rufus Wainwright/Patrick Wolf/Jack Johnson area, to a certain extent.

Totally agree. After the first 20 seconds of Galang, I fail to see what is so amazing about this lady.

Being a Subways fan, I doubt you'll see much talent in your record collection.


SMITE!

[Mr Subways]

drbastard said:

mrbrightside said:

Totally agree. After the first 20 seconds of Galang, I fail to see what is so amazing about this lady.

Being a Subways fan, I doubt you'll see much talent in your record collection.

SMITE!

I suppose you'll know all about talent then.

[drbastard]

I know crap music and The Subways are crap.


Oh and the lead singer should stop trying it on with Lisa Moorish, it's both desperate and obvious like The Subways themselves.

[Mr Subways]

drbastard said:

I know crap music and The Subways are crap.

You obviously don't, because you have a Lady Sovereign avatar.

[Busted-Obsessive]

AHEM! back to Blunt...

... I also find the video really wierd as well. For example, why does he have to take of his top? (he is not beautiful) and then he dives off the cliff...?

[Greg]

Oi! Mr Subways and Dr. Bastard! Pipe down else it's 50 Cent albums for the both of you!

Why can't Katie Smellua*, Jamie Dullum* and James Cunt* all sail away on the big boat of over hype and just go away forever? And they can take Dido, Bono and Justin Hawkins with them too while they're at it.

I must confess, I bought Cunt's album. I heard 'Out Of My Mind', which, in all fairness, is a pretty good song. But on my first listen to the album 'High', 'You're Beautiful' and 'Goodbye, My Lover' became songs I never wanted to hear ever again almost instantly.

_{*I am so witty}

[Storm]

James Blunt is music for people who don't like music, and don't really know anything about it. The type of person who puts radio 2 on in the car, and picks up a CD on a whim when tehy're doing their weekly shop in Sainsbury's. I caught my housemate buying it off Itunes earlier this week - he doesn't really like music, which figures.

And as for the anti - MIA feeling in this thread. I think I'd rather people who liked James Blunt NOT like MIA, as they are obviously not the type that can listen to complex, forward thinking, genre defying music.

That,s right - take that noisy Galang off, and put that lovely 'Youre Beautiful' song on.

Oh, and Jose Gonzalez literally pisses all over James 'Whiny' Blunt.

[Pensiero Bello]

That's a big and rude generalisation, Storm. I like music, and I know quite a lot about it. I know what I like, and I know that James Blunt is something I do like: I like his songwriting, the way he melds his voice and the instrumental parts of his songs together to make a very beautiful, if somewhat melancholy album. I listen to Classic FM and XFM and sometimes Virgin, and I buy my CDs from many different places. Or I get them free to review.

MIA is shit, sorry, in my opinion, and maybe I'm not a songwriter like you are (right?) but it doesn't mean I don't know anything about music. It's not complex, or genre defying, to me, it's more like white noise than anything else.

You have every right not to like an artist, but you don't have the right to put everyone who listens to James Blunt in a box and say they know nothing about music just because they happen to like an artist you don't. Surely you're therefore saying that Elton John knows nothing about music? Or Linda Perry?

[Storm]

Of course it's a generalisation. Did I say I was trying to do anything but? To say that EVERYONE who liked James Blunt was like that would be stupid. I am making a sweeping generalisation - but this is how every single record is marketed. I'm sure his record company define his audience in exactly the same way I have. I'm pretty sure that about 80% of James' market is made up like this. It's called marketing. Do you really think it's coincidental that the adverts are in between things like 'GMTV'?

James's main markets will be 'DINKYS' - double income, no kids households who have a lot of disposable income, are usually around the thirty mark, and have a lot of disposable income. Their other core demographic will be the housewife - buys her albums at Sainsbury's, listens to Radio Two, controls the family budget, and likes to have relevant music to play when guests are around. I bet if you took James, Katie maybe even Dido, over 50% of their sales would be made in supermarkets. Sainsbury's plugged Katie Melua long before the album was number one.

If the album was really produced and marketed for muso's, he'd be in NME every week rather than in Now magazine. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this - I like Lucie Silvas, but again, she's probably got the same kind of market.

Also, can you tell me why MIA isn't genre-defying? If she isn't, what genre would you call her music?

[Jen]

I like M.I.A and James Blunt. So there.
Oh and Dr B, I think your Lisa Moorish/lead singer of The Subways allegations are a bit off, as he's dating the female guitarist in the band, and has been for years.

[Mr Subways]

storm2 said:

Also, can you tell me why MIA isn't genre-defying? If she isn't, what genre would you call her music?

Average? Really, it just sounds like noise to me, and she's really nothing more than average.

[Mike]

mrbrightside said:

Totally agree. After the first 20 seconds of Galang, I fail to see what is so amazing about this lady.

How exactly does listening to 20 seconds of someone's music qualify you to describe them as 'average' and 'unoriginal' - and on not one thread, but at least two? The holes in your argument are big enough to house several families. Give it up.

[Mr Subways]

thisisnotatest said:

mrbrightside said:

Totally agree. After the first 20 seconds of Galang, I fail to see what is so amazing about this lady.

How exactly does listening to 20 seconds of someone's music qualify you to describe them as 'average' and 'unoriginal' - and on not one thread, but at least two? The holes in your argument are big enough to house several families. Give it up.

No. I don't like her, and I'm not explaining it to you. My dislike of urban music may give you a few clues, though.

[drbastard]

What a racist and wholly stupid attitude to take. M.I.A. my be urban (to a point) but she's so much more than that. Her album really is a accurate snapshot of what's happening now. It's fresh and relevant in a way James Blunt can never ever be.

[Greg]

I have to be honest that I'm not a huge M.I.A. fan. I like some of the songs I've heard ('Pull Up the People', '10 Dollar') but similarly I can't stand some of the songs ('Galang', 'Sunshowers', 'Bucky Done Gun'). But I am appreciative of the genre-defying innovation of M.I.A.'s music. It sounds like nothing I've ever heard before, which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. Irrelevant of whether I like how it sounds or not, I can recognise the greatness of 'Arular' because of it's innovation etc. It's complex, it's new, it's different, it makes you listen - even if just out of curiousity.

James Blunt on the other hand is much more one-dimensional. His songs and 'his' songwriting are much more middle of the road, conservative and well, lazy. If you like the music, that's fine. But if you don't, which is is a bit more understandable, then it has nothing to offer beyond the physical sound of Blunt. There's nothing new, nothing different, no charismatic frontman, nothing that comes up any colour other than grey.

Regardless of which you'd prefer to listen to, 'Arular' is a better record than 'Back To Bedlam'.

[Mike]

mrbrightside said:

No. I don't like her, and I'm not explaining it to you. My dislike of urban music may give you a few clues, though.

The only thing it provides clues to is your ignorance. 'Urban' music is a near-meaningless umbrella term - beyond the fact that they're stocked in the same department at HMV, what does MIA have in common with Maxwell or Erykah Badu, or more pop-oriented artists such as Mario or Destiny's Child?

And in any case, if you're going to dismiss a category of such size and scope in its entirety, what is the point in singling out particular artists as 'average'?

[Mr Subways]

At the end of the day, having given her a chance (I've downloaded both Galang and Bucky Done Gun or something) and they weren't awful, but I don't think they were amazing, definetly not as ground breaking as has been said, but as I said, that genre doesn't appeal to me, and yes, it's closed minded, but if I said to you "check this great new rock band out, so and so" you'd probably say "no, I don't usually go for rock." I'm only assuming here, please correct me if I'm wrong, but for me, it's a natural reaction to dislike urban music in general.

[tigermilk]

His name is very apt.

He also has one of the most peculiar speaking voices i've ever heard, unnervingly pitched somewhere between a mewl and a trill. And Richard Madely fawning over him a few weeks ago was one of the most painful things i've seen in a while.

[Storm]

mrbrightside said:

At the end of the day, having given her a chance (I've downloaded both Galang and Bucky Done Gun or something) and they weren't awful, but I don't think they were amazing, definetly not as ground breaking as has been said, but as I said, that genre doesn't appeal to me, and yes, it's closed minded, but if I said to you "check this great new rock band out, so and so" you'd probably say "no, I don't usually go for rock." I'm only assuming here, please correct me if I'm wrong, but for me, it's a natural reaction to dislike urban music in general.

I think you'll find most of the people on the board have broad tastes when it comes to music - I may like MIA, but it sits rather comfortably for me next to HardFi, Magic Numbers, Bjork, Radiohead, Girls Aloud, Norah Jones, Kelis etc etc.

The one genre I don't like is heavy metal - but that said, I would then never comment on heavy metal, cos I don't know enough about it to make any informed decisions. For me to cast judgement on a genre of music I neither liked, nor knew nothing abotu would be a bit pointless.

MIA isn't really urban either. You would never hear it on Trevor Nelson's R1 show, or being played on Choice FM. It owes as much to electro, punk and rave as it does to hip hop, ragga and grime.

I liked Greg's explanation - I know lots of people that don't like it - it's harsh and abrasive just like much of the subject matter, and it's very unmelodic. It's not an easy listen. But liking something and appreciating it are two different things.

In short, I still think it's a much better album than James 'I like housewives' Blunt. Sorry.

[Mr Subways]

Well fair enough then. I think I went about that the wrong way, god knows what mood I was in, but yes, I just don't see how she's so amazing, and I think Blunt's album is far better.

[drbastard]

James Blunt, to me, has recorded the worst album since Funky Dory/Passion.

[Mr Subways]

drbastard said:

James Blunt, to me, has recorded the worst album since Funky Dory/Passion.

Not that long then! I've only heard Funky Dory, and I didn't think it was that bad. Passion... I don't wish to hear.

It is Geri's latest isn't it?

[Veronica Fever]

drbastard said:

James Blunt, to me, has recorded the worst album since Funky Dory/Passion.

I have to say I agree with you. I'm a bit of a Blunt convert, having liked him and got the album off iTunes and bought tickets to see him, now recently I realised "what the fuck?" and have sold my tickets. Much of Fucky Dory seemed to be disposable pop tripe, much like how Back to Bedlam is unlistenable 'sensitiveindieforthosewhodon'tknowbetter' [Bastard]Single Mother Music[/Bastard]

However, I haven't heard MIA so can't join the discussion fully.