Here we find rising UK soul superstar Jamie Lidell shortly before he dropped his 2005 breakthrough album Multiply. At this 2004 show in London, Lidell is in full-on experimental beatboxing mode. Creating rhythms and textures with his looped, extraordinarily supple vocal cords run through mysterious little boxes and Cycling '74 software, Lidell weaves complex matrices of tics, shticks, moans, wails, hiccups and gasps. The result is some of the funkiest glossolalia ever to ricochet around a venue. He turns that cavity in his head into one of the most mind-boggling percussion instruments I've ever heard.
I had the good fortune to catch Lidell's festival-climaxing set at the 2004 Mutek in Montreal. There he also donned a suit of jumbled recording tape and a race-car helmet, a subtle mockery of Vegas-y glam and glitter. The video below gives you an idea of the vocal acrobatics Jamie flexed at Mutek, a gig that blew my mind 17 ways to Sunday.
That athletic display is a long way from the throwback soul conventionality Lidell's pushing on his new full-length, Jim (Warp). One suspects that he'll be in a jus'-regular-folks Jim state of mind for his upcoming date at LA's El Rey Theatre May 29. I for one hope Lidell's recent fondness for trad-soul songwriting (as Redding/Green/Wonder accomplished as it is) subsides and he returns to the innovative voice contortions of life B.J. (Before Jim).
This is one of my favorite songs from Multiply. I loved the live set he did at Neumo's awhile back in Seattle with similar style and DSP mayhem. As JIM is a practice in tradition song writing of the motown/R&B style and a nice nod to that era, I hope for more future/experimental leanings in the next release. I think he's created a slight backlash with some of his fans of the IDM peanut gallery, with folks not really liking this new venture. I won't be one of those, as he is just warming up for the next release. Multiply and JIM are just stepping stones for an epic release that will polarize music critics and fans alike. Looking past JIM and waiting for the future, Jamie is just living in the moment. Good for him and us.
May 21, 2008 11:23
This is one of my favorite songs from Multiply. I loved the live set he did at Neumo's awhile back in Seattle with similar style and DSP mayhem. As JIM is a practice in tradition song writing of the motown/R&B style and a nice nod to that era, I hope for more future/experimental leanings in the next release. I think he's created a slight backlash with some of his fans of the IDM peanut gallery, with folks not really liking this new venture. I won't be one of those, as he is just warming up for the next release. Multiply and JIM are just stepping stones for an epic release that will polarize music critics and fans alike. Looking past JIM and waiting for the future, Jamie is just living in the moment. Good for him and us.