Jamie XX is on our radar, good or bad he has been shouting like a child down a hole for a good part of 7 years through his re-edits, remixes, his band the XX, and his own productions. Unbeknown to many music fans he has slammed a solid foot into music trends and sounds since he appeared in his late teens.
His ‘All Under One Roof Raving’ was arguably the anthem of last summer and left us drooling at the mouth for more. Almost a year later he has returned with his first full solo effort.
Thus far on this blog as well as with others outside of this realm there has been split debate over the early releases from this album. Some liked ‘Oh My Gosh’ but not ‘Loud Places’ and vice versa. So what was the album going to be like, and would we like it?
I may be following the pack on this and going against the feelings of others, but I really like this album. It’s got a bit of everything, a little pop, a little club, some chilled tracks, and a great flow for an album.
My main worry with this album was that it would become a bit same-ish after a couple tracks as did the last XX album, but Jamie XX kept me on my toes throughout the 11 track offering.
I find myself moving day to day on what are my stand out tracks. The fore-mentioned ‘Loud Places’ and ‘Oh My Gosh’ are big tracks. “Sleep Sound’ and ‘See Saw’ are great for driving…. actually I’m going to leave it there so you can get your head around them all for yourselves.
Happy June brothers, hopefully this album brings a little sunshine in what has been thus far a dreary summer!!
thisisnothappening.net 
This album is very listenable. I like it very much. My wife likes it, my little girl likes it. I find it ends up on repeat and going round 2 or 3 times in succession …. but it is all over the shop! All over a pretty big shop. I can probably cope with the ping ponging from style to style … until Popcaan pops up. Now, I like Popcaan. I think his album is pretty good and is something I’ve had on from time to time the last year or so … but this track feels so out of place on the album and I feel interrupts the flow massively.
… But what can I say. I am wearing this CD out despite this.
I’m still listening to this. I still think its all over the shop. I still love it.
I’ll keep it brief as I’m at Glastonbury but I’ve waded into this with gusto this week and really like it. It’s sort of what I expected but more so. The guy’s clearly a mega talent but his music is always interesting and the stuff with Romy is really great.
I’m going to try and catch him here too :
On the whole, dance music doesn’t always embrace the album format that well. That’s a ridiculously general statement of course, not least because ‘dance’ means so many things and because there are plenty of stone cold classics that stand out. But I don’t know that they come along that often. Those albums you play and play again, even years later. I’m thinking of Royksopp’s Melody AM, Air’s Moon Safari (yeah I know, hardly a ‘dance’ album), Etienne De Crecy’s Super Discount, Daft Punk’s Homework, to name a few. What they all have in common – and what this wonderful Jamie XX album brings to mind – is that they have a warmth, a human touch, that makes the floor to the floor beats or the electronic wizardry come alive.
I’m feeling that way about this album, which I haven’t stopped playing since I got it. It helps that we went to Sonar last weekend and saw him play an absolutely killer DJ set, including a fair bit of this album. It put it in a context and also made realise what a talented guy he was on the decks.
Never got on with The XX much. They seemed a bit mopey and monochrome to me. This is another thing altogether. In Colour is the perfect name. It’s mysterious, it’s seeped in a deep knowledge and love of dance culture, and it just feels as fresh as a daisy. I fucking love it. And I think I’ll still be playing it in a decade’s time…
I love this blog, when we all get the chance to comment I always pick up on things that I had not ‘heard’ or thought before. Good words David, you’ve probably open this up a bit more for me.
This is really really really good. It’s been on rotation since Glasto and his set at the Park was fucking brilliant, cider-assisted wonder.
Initially I didn’t really gel with the non four-four stuff but it’s all fallen into place. I’ve never been a big XX fan, but the tracks with Romy are fantastic.
As has already been said, it’s electronic music with a human touch and that will always work for me (see also: Caribou, Hot Chip, Crazy P).
Great choice. I’d have probably not bought it off my own bat.