James Blunt ~ Official Thread

[busybeeburns]

James Blunt: The soldier-turned-songwriter marches on

 

Well-groomed: James Blunt performs at Koko

 

Helen Brown reviews James Blunt at Koko, London

 

THE messages of condolence began pouring in seconds after I'd posted news of my critical deployment to a James Blunt concert on Facebook.

 

Generally mild-mannered friends poured out their hatred of the soldier-turned-songwriter in a series of vitriolic emails. One sent me a pair of virtual ear muffs.

 

What has the man done to warrant such a level of antipathy? Lots of people write and experience significant chart success with rather dull, whiny music. We just turn the radio off.

 

But something about Blunt's brand of pop-rock burrows deeper and more unpleasantly under the skin.

 

In the three years since the release of Back to Bedlam, he has replaced Coldplay in the despised musician stakes, and it's worth noting the factors the two acts share: they're middle-class and lyrically self-pitying, unashamedly ambitious and hugely successful (we English are at best equivocal about the popular success of the slightly posh), and they both indicate the arrival of a chorus by hopping from the standard male vocal register up to a tremulous male falsetto.

 

In both cases, their songs are so infectious that, love or loathe them, they settle into the mental furniture and refuse to leave.

 

So who goes to see the man live? The answer is, lots of well-groomed, doe-eyed, Sloanily-clad women in their late twenties and thirties.

 

Many of them in all-girl groups, clutching each other's elbows during the ballads. Some clinging to boyfriends in polo shirts and deck shoes.

 

It was a mercifully brief, tight set. And the well-groomed audience lapped it up. Dressed in khaki T-shirt and jeans and sporting a straggly six o'clock shadow, Blunt stomped his feet in 4/4 military time to the simple tunes.

 

As the chords to You're Beautiful kicked in, there was a wave of applause and he was forced to sing the opening line, "My life is brilliant", twice.

 

The new material was slickly performed. Like it or not, Blunt's thin, insistent voice is exactly the same live as on record. He doesn't miss any of the few notes he seeks. And he switched easily between rhythm guitar and piano throughout the set. He revealed that Goodbye My Lover is now the most commonly played song at funerals. A chorus of female voices joined him on the plaintive chorus.

 

One girl shouted out a request for his new single, 1973 (an ode to Ibiza clubbing and lost love), and he shouted back, "I'll give you my phone number later." A reference to his reputation as something of a laydeez man.

 

He also asked his friends present not to reveal the secrets of his sex life. Cue guffaws. And after a nigh album-perfect "jam" on So Long Jimmy, Blunt marched off stage.

 

Back home, I saw that a Facebook friend had posted: "Did it hurt?" Yes it did. And it's not over yet. I have at least three new Blunt songs stuck in my head.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/07/bmblunt107.xml

[mc_squared]

Well-groomed: James Blunt performs at Koko

 

Helen Brown reviews James Blunt at Koko, London

 

THE messages of condolence began pouring in seconds after I'd posted news of my critical deployment to a James Blunt concert on Facebook.

 

Generally mild-mannered friends poured out their hatred of the soldier-turned-songwriter in a series of vitriolic emails. One sent me a pair of virtual ear muffs.

 

What has the man done to warrant such a level of antipathy? Lots of people write and experience significant chart success with rather dull, whiny music. We just turn the radio off.

 

But something about Blunt's brand of pop-rock burrows deeper and more unpleasantly under the skin.

 

In the three years since the release of Back to Bedlam, he has replaced Coldplay in the despised musician stakes, and it's worth noting the factors the two acts share: they're middle-class and lyrically self-pitying, unashamedly ambitious and hugely successful (we English are at best equivocal about the popular success of the slightly posh), and they both indicate the arrival of a chorus by hopping from the standard male vocal register up to a tremulous male falsetto.

 

In both cases, their songs are so infectious that, love or loathe them, they settle into the mental furniture and refuse to leave.

 

So who goes to see the man live? The answer is, lots of well-groomed, doe-eyed, Sloanily-clad women in their late twenties and thirties.

 

Many of them in all-girl groups, clutching each other's elbows during the ballads. Some clinging to boyfriends in polo shirts and deck shoes.

 

It was a mercifully brief, tight set. And the well-groomed audience lapped it up. Dressed in khaki T-shirt and jeans and sporting a straggly six o'clock shadow, Blunt stomped his feet in 4/4 military time to the simple tunes.

 

As the chords to You're Beautiful kicked in, there was a wave of applause and he was forced to sing the opening line, "My life is brilliant", twice.

 

The new material was slickly performed. Like it or not, Blunt's thin, insistent voice is exactly the same live as on record. He doesn't miss any of the few notes he seeks. And he switched easily between rhythm guitar and piano throughout the set. He revealed that Goodbye My Lover is now the most commonly played song at funerals. A chorus of female voices joined him on the plaintive chorus.

 

One girl shouted out a request for his new single, 1973 (an ode to Ibiza clubbing and lost love), and he shouted back, "I'll give you my phone number later." A reference to his reputation as something of a laydeez man.

 

He also asked his friends present not to reveal the secrets of his sex life. Cue guffaws. And after a nigh album-perfect "jam" on So Long Jimmy, Blunt marched off stage.

 

Back home, I saw that a Facebook friend had posted: "Did it hurt?" Yes it did. And it's not over yet. I have at least three new Blunt songs stuck in my head.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/07/bmblunt107.xml

 

Sounds excruciatingly painful!!:stunned:

[busybeeburns]

Lisa Verrico at Koko, NW1

 

 

Since slagging off James Blunt became a national pastime, it has been difficult to discern what made the former soldier so popular in the first place. His soon-to-be-released second album, All the Lost Souls, won’t help in that respect. Lumpen instrumentation, bland production, vocals high on helium but low on emotion and lyrics from the moon/June/soon school of writing will only sharpen his critics’ claws.

 

Yet, live, Blunt breathed life into the banal and was shockingly fun company. “A lot of my friends are here tonight,” he said sweetly. “So if anyone asks about my sex life – say nothing.” Already he had the predominately female audience on his side, thanks to the opening oldie Breathe and a new number, Annie, a Fleetwood Mac-inspired track that saw its singer wring out every rhyming line like his life depended on it.

 

Annie neatly summed up Blunt’s often elusive mass appeal. If the perfect pop lyric is about making a Hallmark greeting sound profound, the 33-year-old could be churning out cards in his sleep. “Here’s one you might know,” he announced, dispatching the multimillion-pound pop moment You’re Beautiful just three songs in, a mark of his easy confidence. The scruffily attired, unshaven singer stripped back the hit, playing guitar but giving his four-piece band a breather, leaving room for the chanting crowd to become his chorus line.

 

Nothing on All the Lost Souls was as instantly infectious, but several songs came close. Shine On’s neat trick was to start out quiet, then repeat itself to a crashing backing. I’ll Take Everything was a broody piano ballad that at once felt familiar, and Carry You Home stole from Soft Cell’s Say Hello, Wave Goodbye and set Blunt’s girliest vocal to a great melody. However, the current single, 1973, was still a dud.

 

Two highlights – an anthemic Wisemen and a genuinely moving Goodbye My Lover, performed solo at a piano almost off stage – were a reminder that Blunt is more than a one-hit wonder. And that he doesn’t deserve as much derision as he receives.

 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article2400304.ece

[mc_squared]

 

Since slagging off James Blunt became a national pastime, it has been difficult to discern what made the former soldier so popular in the first place. His soon-to-be-released second album, All the Lost Souls, won’t help in that respect. Lumpen instrumentation, bland production, vocals high on helium but low on emotion and lyrics from the moon/June/soon school of writing will only sharpen his critics’ claws.

 

Yet, live, Blunt breathed life into the banal and was shockingly fun company. “A lot of my friends are here tonight,” he said sweetly. “So if anyone asks about my sex life – say nothing.” Already he had the predominately female audience on his side, thanks to the opening oldie Breathe and a new number, Annie, a Fleetwood Mac-inspired track that saw its singer wring out every rhyming line like his life depended on it.

 

Annie neatly summed up Blunt’s often elusive mass appeal. If the perfect pop lyric is about making a Hallmark greeting sound profound, the 33-year-old could be churning out cards in his sleep. “Here’s one you might know,” he announced, dispatching the multimillion-pound pop moment You’re Beautiful just three songs in, a mark of his easy confidence. The scruffily attired, unshaven singer stripped back the hit, playing guitar but giving his four-piece band a breather, leaving room for the chanting crowd to become his chorus line.

 

Nothing on All the Lost Souls was as instantly infectious, but several songs came close. Shine On’s neat trick was to start out quiet, then repeat itself to a crashing backing. I’ll Take Everything was a broody piano ballad that at once felt familiar, and Carry You Home stole from Soft Cell’s Say Hello, Wave Goodbye and set Blunt’s girliest vocal to a great melody. However, the current single, 1973, was still a dud.

 

Two highlights – an anthemic Wisemen and a genuinely moving Goodbye My Lover, performed solo at a piano almost off stage – were a reminder that Blunt is more than a one-hit wonder. And that he doesn’t deserve as much derision as he receives.

 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article2400304.ece

 

This reviewer is sucking up more than a Dyson!!:rolleyes:

[Romy_arg]

Originally Posted by David S;2115138

Even if you hate him, you got to admit the artwork for his 2nd album is good

 

 

 

 

 

I like the way that the photo was done..

but i don't like the artwork from the words..

it's not a James Blunt- style

 

it's too... different... :\

[Lamposts]

What does everyone think of the album?

[Black Rose]

Has it leaked?

[Lamposts]

It sure has bud, got it off oink.

[mc_squared]

What does everyone think of the album?

 

Are you kidding??:dozey:

[grids]

I love James Blunt now :dance:

[*Sarah*]

got the album yesterday, and it's really good. even "calmer" than the first one, but i don't mind ;)

[mc_squared]

got the album yesterday, and it's really good. even "calmer" than the first one, but i don't mind ;)

 

Calmer than the last one? Can that actually be possible??:stunned:

If JB "calms down" any more, he'll congeal!!:lol:

His next album should be entitled "Music For Insomniacs"!!:P

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

even calmer? :uhoh:

btw i like his first album (the few songs that i've listened).

[mc_squared]

even calmer? :uhoh:

btw i like his first album (the few songs that i've listened).

 

He's as dull as dishwater.:rolleyes:

Incidentally, the poll at the top of this thread speaks volumes.;)

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

wiki info about first single of second album. 1973.

 

oh my i just get to know that he lives in Ibiza :surprised:

 

how he can like go to Pacha and do so... slow-calm-sweet music? :thinking:

 

- just listening to 1973 now-

[mc_squared]

1973[/url].

 

oh my i just get to know that he lives in Ibiza :surprised:

 

how he can like go to Pacha and do so... slow-calm-sweet music? :thinking:

 

- just listening to 1973 now-

 

Wel Pacha's the place where all the celebrities hang out, so I wouldn't be surprised.

However, Il Divino is far classier and less commercial, IMO.;)

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

Wel Pacha's the place where all the celebrities hang out, so I wouldn't be surprised.

However, Il Divino is far classier and less commercial, IMO.;)

il divino? :thinking: you mean il divo?

 

oh i know it... i didn't knew he live here, lol that has shocked me really.... :o

if that's true he must know lots of celebrities from here.... :wacko:

[mc_squared]

il divino? :thinking: you mean il divo?

 

oh i know it... i didn't knew he live here, lol that has shocked me really.... :o

if that's true he must know lots of celebrities from here.... :wacko:

 

Actually, it's EL Divino. Anyway, it's the club where Hed Kandi resides, so it's the place to be. I was there for the HK closing party two years ago, and it was fantastic!!;)

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

Actually, it's EL Divino. Anyway, it's the club where Hed Kandi resides, so it's the place to be. I was there for the HK closing party two years ago, and it was fantastic!!;)

oh you mean a disco called el divino... i'm not into discos here... :thinking: i hardly ever go to a disco... i prefer listen to music at home... i don't like the djs of the disco where i go with my friends.... they play music that i don't like....

hk?

[mc_squared]

oh you mean a disco called el divino... i'm not into discos here... :thinking: i hardly ever go to a disco... i prefer listen to music at home... i don't like the djs of the disco where i go with my friends.... they play music that i don't like....

hk?

 

Hed Kandi - one of the best dance music labels in the world.;)

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

Hed Kandi - one of the best dance music labels in the world.;)

as i said i'm not into disco and things like that (trance, dance...)... :thinking: not to rap and hip-hop thing too... although one of my cousins is a break dancer... :uhoh:

and one of the lil girls will be a go go dancer, we all are sure of that lol...

that's totally offtopic... :uhoh:

[mc_squared]

as i said i'm not into disco and things like that (trance, dance...)... :thinking: not to rap and hip-hop thing too... although one of my cousins is a break dancer... :uhoh:

and one of the lil girls will be a go go dancer, we all are sure of that lol...

that's totally offtopic... :uhoh:

 

So where's she go-going for this??:rolleyes:

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

So where's she go-going for this??:rolleyes:

what do you mean? :thinking:

[mc_squared]

what do you mean? :thinking:

 

You didn't get the joke??:stunned:

[Darlene_Ihnfsa]

i'm not good at jokes.. i got that it was a joke... but doesn't got the joke itself... remember man that i'm not english native... :uhoh: ....