Jamie Lidell - Compass Reviewed
July 8th 2010 09:33
Jamie Lidell: a man of many genres
Jamie Lidell (born in Cambridge, England, in 1973, but now based in New York, USA) is a true genre-hopping musician. Having been associated in the past with styles such as electronic/techno, pop/rock, and funk/soul/R&B, he has thrown it all together, with the help of a number of notable accomplices, on his fourth full-length studio album, Compass.
COMPASS: Rating....8.5/10
Tracklist
1. Completely Exposed
2. Your Sweet Boom
3. She Needs Me
4. I Wanna Be Your Telephone
5. Enough's Enough
6. The Ring
7. You Are Waking
8. I Can Love Again
9. It's A Kiss
10. Compass
11. Gypsy Blood
12. Coma Chameleon
13. Big Drift
14. You See My Light
Bonus Tracks
15. I Turn It Around
16. Lies Inside
1. Completely Exposed
2. Your Sweet Boom
3. She Needs Me
4. I Wanna Be Your Telephone
5. Enough's Enough
6. The Ring
7. You Are Waking
8. I Can Love Again
9. It's A Kiss
10. Compass
11. Gypsy Blood
12. Coma Chameleon
13. Big Drift
14. You See My Light
Bonus Tracks
15. I Turn It Around
16. Lies Inside
Jamie Lidell has said that Compass is a rougher production than previous albums. He has previously explored the genre of pop and this time has come up with a soul/indie record. It takes time to get used to, and it is not an album you can understand just by listening to the best songs off it. Lidell is a truely exceptional vocalist (as well as his unique 'soul' singing voice, he also contributes beat boxing, vocal layering and looping, and numerous other vocal effects). Compass is likely to be remembered as Lidell's collaboration with other notable musicians, with this list of contributors:
-- Beck Hansen - Co-production, backing vocals, guitar, synths.
-- Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear) - Co-production, co-mixing, bass, guitar, synths, percussion, wind instruments.
-- Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear) - Guitar
-- Chris Bear (Grizzly Bear) - Drums, percussion.
-- Leslie Feist - Backing vocals, guitar, percussion.
-- James Gadson (session musician rumoured to have played on 300 different Gold records) - Drums.
Plus many others.
For an album with such notable company, it is still not hard to love the music for what it is. It opens magnificently with the beat-boxing, exploding rock song, Completely Exposed and the funky Your Sweet Boom, while other strong tracks include blues/soul tracks I Wanna Be Your Telephone and Enough's Enough. Lidell's voice throughout the whole album is amazing -- very different and instantly recognisable, and always so strong and confident. His songwriting has evolved from previous albums into a more complete album of many genres.
Overall, a fantastic record that anyone can enjoy if given the time.
Bren.
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