James Blake - Retrograde (Live on Later ... With Jools Holland)

James Blake stopped by, once again, Later ... With Jools Holland to perform the standout "Renegade" from this year's Overgrown LP. It's an intensely crisp, refined performance, which finds Blake sporting a 1-800-Dinosaur shirt, the name of his new imprint.

Check the performance below and grab Overgrown today on Republic. Otherwise, check out the entire Later episode, which also features spots from Franz Ferdinand and Goldfrapp, among others.

New James Blake - Voyeur

James Blake is seemingly unstoppable right now. The 24-year-old is still a few weeks off from releasing his super-hyped Overgrown LP, and has been teasing with new tracks again and again. This weekend, we got a listen to the brand new "Voyeur," the fourth track heard so far from the LP.

Originally featured on Anne Hobbes' BBC Radio 6 show this weekend, "Voyeur" is simple looped vocal verse with jarring and driving split rhythms pacing the finish. Where it begins in contrast to where it ends, in terms of size and perspective scope is truly remarkable. It goes without much saying at this point that "Voyeur" is shaping up to be one of the year's best and is really transforming Blake into a wholly original and budding star.

Check out the track below and grab Overgrown April 8 on Republic Records.

New James Blake - And Holy Ghost

It's been a little more than a week since James Blake dropped "Digital Lion," another new cut from his increasingly anticipated Overgrown LP, but we've already got another new track to dig into.

"And Holy Ghost," a dizzying and spaced-out crawl with no Blake vocals to speak of, premiered via Benji B's BBC Radio 1 show earlier, but you can listen to the track below via Blake's 1-800 Dinosaur Soundcloud page.

Overgrown is due out April 8 via Polydor and Republic Records.

New James Blake - Digital Lion

"Digital Lion" was actually the second of two James Blake tracks released today. The first, "Voyeur," was unfortunately taken down, but the former will suffice for the time being. The new track has a modestly increased pace from anything we heard from the 24-year-old's self-titled release two years ago. That may have to do with the inclusion of none other than Brian Eno, who lends his help on the production.

Check it out below courtesy of Blake's 1-800-Dinosaur (not sure what that means either) Soundcloud, and pre-order Overgrown here.

New James Blake - Retrograde

As was promised yesterday, James Blake's brand new single, "Retrograde," premiered today on Zane Lowe's BBC 1 Radio show. The track has an elegant touch of Blake's looping harmonies with eventual electro drone overtones fans of his self-titled LP will be plenty familiar with.

Blake's next album, Overgrown, is due out April 8 via Republic Records.

New How To Dress Well - Ocean Floor For Everything

This new cut, "Ocean Floor For Everything," from Tom Krell's How To Dress Well project comes through with the quality production of a Jame Blake single, distorted, echoed loops with an R&B aesthetic. Check out the crafty single below.

BADBADNOTGOOD's Live EP

A while back I posted Tyler, The Creator's live rendition of "Orange Juice" with Toronto jazz hip-hop trio BADBADNOTGOOD. And as the group is catching niche fire, they have released a free live EP of tracks, with covers of Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, and James Blake. Trust me, it's worth your time, even if those names may throw you off.

You can listen to the entire EP below, or download it via the group's Bandcamp page.

Bears and Bullets Albums of the Year: Pt. IV

We'll continue today with our top 25 countdown with albums #10 through #6.

#10: Iceage - New Brigade
And all of you said there's no way anyone will talk about Danish punk music. Well, no one said that, but before Iceage's New Brigade, no one was thinking of it either. The messy, cathartic, and often disheartening record has no common pulse, just launching forward with unpolished, grimy sheen. The fact that Iceage are Danish teenagers does little to put New Brigade in a clever niche. It's carefully all over the map, from garage punk to polished underground new wave, in a tinge all its own.

#9: Danny Brown - XXX
Collectively speaking, 2011 was somewhat of a disappointing year for music in general, full of less-than expected album releases and a slew of band breakups. With that in mind, however, hip-hop came through stronger than it has in years with a new class of rappers garnering national attention. Danny Brown, the often overlooked, off-beat Detroit rapper, and his latest XXX comes through as a dirty, close to death last-call. Brown proudly retells his kinda disgusting instincts in porn-riddled tracks like "I Will," but fills you in on his less-than stellar ambitions like how he wants to, "Party like Chris Farley" on "Die Like a Rockstar." XXX, like the title, is indulgence and the underscored after-effects, crushing and killing the soul without resolution.

#8: White Denim - D
Psychedelia has uncomfortably addled itself next to 'boredom' in a music sense. The long-winded emphasis on musicianship strangling anything of the idea of new age virtuosity has, no matter how stereotypical, constantly attached itself to the genre. Enter White Denim, Austin's answer to a generation of music listeners who never try to confide their time in the aging music movement. For every guitar-driven episode on D, the group's fourth studio album in only three years, there's a change of pace to softer, pop sounds. So while "At the Farm" sounds like every other early 70s jam piece, "Street Joy" comes through unlike anything else on the album at that point. Guilty indulgence on all-too long instrumental pieces are fine, but White Denim puts out consistently strong albums because they understand that it isn't the end-all, be-all of music, and for very good reason.

#7: Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
The Black Lips have made a career resting on the laurels of garage punk. Little to no instrumental showmanship has ever showed up on the group's studio releases, and if you ever experience the group live, you'll understand that the instruments are merely a tool to help them wade through and project their collective insanity. Knowing that, the band's previous albums haven't tried too hard for craft, true garage punk by its most modern means. But on Arabia Mountain, arguably the group's best work yet, the band comes to understand that the grime of their early years can still exist, but not necessarily present it in such a meager way. There's a necessary polish on the album that fits the band well, but never hinders the joyful, careless nature of the message. Call it growing up for people who were always cooler when they were kids.



#6: James Blake - James Blake
The dubstep genre has been mangled by misguided, preconceived stereotypes and club aesthetics to the point where artists like James Blake are hardly identifiable in the oft-ridiculed movement. In part, because the construction of Blake's work is hardly aligned with those misgivings - slow, soulful, and delicately moving through the London-natives harping voice. The electronic architecture of Blake's self-titled album are merely means of conveying his deceptively artful songwriting, rather than the distracting centerpiece.



We'll continue our countdown tomorrow with albums #5 - #1 ...

Wednesday Bears: Bon Iver + James Blake = Fall Creek Boys Choir

A little late here because at this point in the blog world who hasn't heard James Blake's and Bon Iver's collaboration on "Fall Creek Boys Choir"?

It must be some Kanye West wet dream fantasy at this point, because I'm not sure what two artists combining their efforts could possibly be more 2011. Listen to the song below and grab the single August 29 on Itunes.

James Blake "Wilhelm Scream" official video

About two weeks ago, James Blake showed up at BBC's Maida Vale Studios to perform a batch of new songs, including "The Wilhelm Scream," from his anticipated full-length debut, which is scheduled for release next Monday, Feb. 7.

The song got its official due, which features Blake standing in the same room he stands in to make all of his album covers, apparently.

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

James Blake at BBC's Maida Vale Studios

A few weeks ago, James Blake performed at BBC's Maida Vale Studios (the first I've heard of such studios), promoting a small batch of songs from the UK native's heavily anticipated full-length debut (due out February 7), including "The Wilhelm Scream."

For those of you who don't know, the actual Wilhelm scream is that noise you've heard at least three dozen times in movies when someone falls off of a ledge. Watch here if you still aren't sure.

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream (Live at Maida Vale Studios)



You can watch the rest of Blake's performance here.