Frank Ocean – Blonde

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EmilienDelRey
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Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by EmilienDelRey »

Image

Frank Ocean
Blonde (stylized as blond)
August 20, 2016

1. "Nikes"
2. "Ivy"
3. "Pink + White" (featuring Beyoncé Knowles)
4. "Be Yourself"
5. "Solo"
6. "Skyline To" (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
7. "Self Control" (featuring Yung Lean)
8. "Good Guy"
9. "Nights"
10. "Solo (Reprise)" (featuring André 3000)
11. "Pretty Sweet"
12. "Facebook Story"
13. "Close to You"
14. "White Ferrari"
15. "Seigfried"
16. "Godspeed" (featuring Kim Burrell)
17. "Futura Free"
Nick
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Nick »

I'm going to sound like the ultimate stick in the mud here, but for me at least, 2016 is the year of the letdown. Let's review...

The Avalanches:

Came out with an album in 2000 called "Since I Left You". The album currently sits in my top 50 albums of all time. Finally released their followup after 16 years. "Wildflower" is really good, but has just about zero shot of entering my to 500.

Radiohead:

All of their albums, except "Pablo Honey" are in my top 500, with "OK Computer", "Kid A", "The Bends", and "In Rainbows" in my top 100. Even though "The King of Limbs" was a step down from "In Rainbows", it was still a great album. "A Moon Shaped Pool" is good. Even really good. But it's their weakest album since "Pablo Honey".

Swans:

"The Seer" and "To Be Kind" are both in my top 500. "The Glowing Man" is good, but mostly feels like a "To Be Kind" retread.

PJ Harvey:

"Let England Shake" is her best album yet, and her only album in my top 200. "The Hope Six Demolition Project" is good, but just can't compare as a followup.

Kendrick Lamar:

I know it's more or less a collection of B-sides, but "Untitled Unmastered" is his worst release thus far. Still good though, but I'll take even "Section.80" over this any day.

Sun Kil Moon:

I didn't like "Universal Themes", but "Benji" was flat out incredible. His collaboration with the experimental rock band Jesu this year might be among the worst albums I've heard from this decade.

Animal Collective:

"Strawberry Jam" and "Merriweather Post Pavilion" are in my top 500. "Painting With" is just plain bad, a step down from the already mediocre "Centipede Hz".

M83:

None of their albums are in my top 500, but I am pretty fond of "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming". "Junk" on the other hand is mostly, well, junk.

The Field:

Again, no albums in my top 500, but every album of his that I've heard before this is pretty enjoyable. This year's album, "The Follower", is decent at best.

Drake:

I didn't really have that high expectations for "Views", but even then, the album managed to fall so short of what I imagined it would be.

Chance the Rapper:

Again, no albums in my top 500, but after "Acid Rap" I was expecting Chance to release something seriously great. "Coloring Book" is good, but a major step down.

Kanye West:

"The Life of Pablo" is in my top 5 albums of the year. I like it a good amount, but it's his weakest solo album in my mind. Not in my top 500. Compare this to "Yeezus", which sits around #170, and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", which sits at #14.

...and now we have Frank Ocean. "Endless" was pretty much mediocre, and "Blonde", while certainly good, is just so much worse than "Channel Orange". Am I getting older? Is this what it feels like? Sorry for all the negativity guys, but this year is just shaping up to be a pretty bad one for music (for me at least).

Anyway, here are some artists who have given me some very pleasant surprises with the quality of their albums...

David Bowie
Anohni
Maxwell
Beyoncé
Kaytranada
Car Seat Headrest
Death Grips
Sturgill Simpson
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Pierre
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Pierre »

Nick wrote:I'm going to sound like the ultimate stick in the mud here, but for me at least, 2016 is the year of the letdown. Let's review...

Radiohead:

All of their albums, except "Pablo Honey" are in my top 500, with "OK Computer", "Kid A", "The Bends", and "In Rainbows" in my top 100. Even though "The King of Limbs" was a step down from "In Rainbows", it was still a great album. "A Moon Shaped Pool" is good. Even really good. But it's their weakest album since "Pablo Honey".

PJ Harvey:

"Let England Shake" is her best album yet, and her only album in my top 200. "The Hope Six Demolition Project" is good, but just can't compare as a followup.

Kendrick Lamar:

I know it's more or less a collection of B-sides, but "Untitled Unmastered" is his worst release thus far. Still good though, but I'll take even "Section.80" over this any day.

M83:

None of their albums are in my top 500, but I am pretty fond of "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming". "Junk" on the other hand is mostly, well, junk.

Kanye West:

"The Life of Pablo" is in my top 5 albums of the year. I like it a good amount, but it's his weakest solo album in my mind. Not in my top 500. Compare this to "Yeezus", which sits around #170, and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", which sits at #14.

...and now we have Frank Ocean. "Endless" was pretty much mediocre, and "Blonde", while certainly good, is just so much worse than "Channel Orange". Am I getting older? Is this what it feels like? Sorry for all the negativity guys, but this year is just shaping up to be a pretty bad one for music (for me at least).

Anyway, here are some artists who have given me some very pleasant surprises with the quality of their albums...

David Bowie
Anohni
Maxwell
Beyoncé
Kaytranada
Car Seat Headrest
Death Grips
Sturgill Simpson
In order: I hold the unpopular opinion that Radiohead's output has been weaker than their golden age since "Kid A", so I'm even more severe about "A Moon Shaped Pool" than you... For me, the situation about everything they've released since 2000 appears to me as the same as the Rolling Stones' post-"Exile" 70s. Good but nowhere near their peak, with some occasional moments on brilliance on "In Rainbows" like the Stones had on "Some Girls". On "Moon", there are approximately three or four tracks that are truly great, and the rest goes from good to sleep-inducing. Nowhere near the masterpiece the fans make it.

PJ Harvey's "The Hope Six Demolition Project" is indeed a re-treading of "Let England Shake", except she switched the lyrical focus from England to the US. She unsurprisingly feels less involved in it as a result, but since I do like the gothic folk-rock sound, the album remains listenable to me. But it's nowhere near as hypnotic as "Let England Shake".

I do like "untitled unmastered", however. It's a relaxed and unambitious work, and since it was never meant to top his last two albums, I take it as it is, the work of an artist releasing the pressure and letting everyone have a cool moment with him.

M83's "Junk" is junk. A real disappointment, as I'm a big fan of their other albums. I hope it was just Gonzalez experimenting his 80s music recycling to calculate how far he could reach, but I'm worried it could be a sign that Morgan Kibby's departure is a bigger problem for him than people initially thought.

I'm not hugely fond of "The Life of Pablo" either. I'm an album person, and the lack of cohesiveness of Kanye's last album is a real issue with me. It's easily his weakest album this far. Pitchfork's marks for this album and Radiohead's are embarrassing to my eyes; they look like Rolling Stone's reactions about the last U2 and Springsteen albums.

All this said, I had high hopes for Frank Ocean's albums, and the very mixed opinions I've seen this far come as a real letdown for me. Overall, if it wasn't for Bowie and Beyoncé, this year would be disappointing for me so far. I still have to give a shot to Swans, I just didn't find the time: two hours is a long period to lock for an album, and that's the fourth great album they release of this length! (yes, fourth, but it seems everyone keeps forgetting about "Soundtracks for the Blind"...)
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bootsy
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by bootsy »

Nick wrote:I'm going to sound like the ultimate stick in the mud here, but for me at least, 2016 is the year of the letdown. Let's review...

The Avalanches:

Came out with an album in 2000 called "Since I Left You". The album currently sits in my top 50 albums of all time. Finally released their followup after 16 years. "Wildflower" is really good, but has just about zero shot of entering my to 500.

Radiohead:

All of their albums, except "Pablo Honey" are in my top 500, with "OK Computer", "Kid A", "The Bends", and "In Rainbows" in my top 100. Even though "The King of Limbs" was a step down from "In Rainbows", it was still a great album. "A Moon Shaped Pool" is good. Even really good. But it's their weakest album since "Pablo Honey".

Swans:

"The Seer" and "To Be Kind" are both in my top 500. "The Glowing Man" is good, but mostly feels like a "To Be Kind" retread.

PJ Harvey:

"Let England Shake" is her best album yet, and her only album in my top 200. "The Hope Six Demolition Project" is good, but just can't compare as a followup.

Kendrick Lamar:

I know it's more or less a collection of B-sides, but "Untitled Unmastered" is his worst release thus far. Still good though, but I'll take even "Section.80" over this any day.

Sun Kil Moon:

I didn't like "Universal Themes", but "Benji" was flat out incredible. His collaboration with the experimental rock band Jesu this year might be among the worst albums I've heard from this decade.

Animal Collective:

"Strawberry Jam" and "Merriweather Post Pavilion" are in my top 500. "Painting With" is just plain bad, a step down from the already mediocre "Centipede Hz".

M83:

None of their albums are in my top 500, but I am pretty fond of "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming". "Junk" on the other hand is mostly, well, junk.

The Field:

Again, no albums in my top 500, but every album of his that I've heard before this is pretty enjoyable. This year's album, "The Follower", is decent at best.

Drake:

I didn't really have that high expectations for "Views", but even then, the album managed to fall so short of what I imagined it would be.

Chance the Rapper:

Again, no albums in my top 500, but after "Acid Rap" I was expecting Chance to release something seriously great. "Coloring Book" is good, but a major step down.

Kanye West:

"The Life of Pablo" is in my top 5 albums of the year. I like it a good amount, but it's his weakest solo album in my mind. Not in my top 500. Compare this to "Yeezus", which sits around #170, and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", which sits at #14.

...and now we have Frank Ocean. "Endless" was pretty much mediocre, and "Blonde", while certainly good, is just so much worse than "Channel Orange". Am I getting older? Is this what it feels like? Sorry for all the negativity guys, but this year is just shaping up to be a pretty bad one for music (for me at least).

Anyway, here are some artists who have given me some very pleasant surprises with the quality of their albums...

David Bowie
Anohni
Maxwell
Beyoncé
Kaytranada
Car Seat Headrest
Death Grips
Sturgill Simpson
I agree with some of what you are saying. I feel like some of it is living up to expectations from previous albums for some of these artists and I feel others may just turn out to be very good over time and better than their previous work. I love Radiohead's, Kanye's, The Avalanches, and Kendrick's albums. Chance and PJ I felt were good but not as good as the reviews have been giving it. I was disappointed in The Field and Animal Collective. The Swans I feel like with most of their albums it will take a few listens but I liked it on first listen. Drake's album was inconsistent, uneven but I still liked it overall. James Blake was a little disappointing. I enjoyed it but not up to par with his previous work. Not a fan of Sun Kill Moon so I don't know about that one at all. Overall to me it's not been a disappointing year as it was for you but I do see your point based off the anticipation of a lot of these albums and then being disappointed that they don't match the artists previous material.

There were also some other albums that I really liked this year in addtion to the ones you mentioned as pleasant surprises:
NAO
Anderson .Paak
Modern Baseball
Mitski
Jessy Lanza
Gallant
dvsn
Esperanza Spalding
Bas
Aesop Rock
Illiniq
Strange Fruit
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Illiniq »

I don't think you are being a stick in the mud at all, think you're pretty much spot on in your analysis of all these recent works.

I've been putting together a comprehensive best of the year mix collection for friends since 2004 and I can say with absolute conviction that to date imho this has been the worst, least interesting music year in that twelve-year span. My guess is Lemonade may crack the all-time metacritic top 200, barely, when all is said and done (though it shouldn't), but I don't think this year lands more than 6-10 titles in the top-1000.

My sense is much of this is just a cyclical thing (lame years happen - see 1981,1998, 1973-74), but there's no denying that one side of the music spectrum - rock, has been absolutely putrid in 2016 and while I have never bought into the whole Rock is Dead argument before, I am now starting to worry.

Part of it is being a little older with college age children in America and seeing how much the new multicultural fabric of our nation has shifted listening tastes. For the younger kids - white, black, Asian, Hispanic alike - Hip-Hop, Mainstream Pop, and Big Ticket EDM are their shared music languages - not rock. If Rock is to see another big resurgence, I feel it will almost have to initiate in Europe, especially England and Ireland, where I feel there's still more of a sense of cultural ownership of the genre, just don't think there's enough youthful passion for Rock in the states to bring something like that to fruition - the kids in the states today see rock like kids in the 60s saw jazz and big band - quite simply, it is their parent's music.

Secondly, now being into a second decade with Pitchfork and other like-minded websites as the dominant rock n roll taste-makers of the era has really started to take its toll. I appreciate much of what Pitchfork does, but there's no denying that they represent a very effete, anti-classic rock sensibility when compared to the dominant taste-makers of previous eras and the end result is we now find ourselves in one of the two or three wimpiest era's in popular music history since the Beatles hit the scene. I mean, seriously, when craptacularly wimpy dreck like Tame Impala's Currents is being championed as the gold standard for rock in the dominant music rags of the present era, or frankly, Pet Sounds as the greatest album of all time over the likes of Revolver, Are You Experienced, London Calling, Exile On Mainstreet, Highway 61 Revisited, or Born To Run - we've got a serious wimpiness problem in music today. A tougher-minded counterpoint that legitimately challenges Pitchfork's view of things on a major cultural scale can't get here soon enough.
Illiniq
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Illiniq »

Pierre wrote: I'm not hugely fond of "The Life of Pablo" either. I'm an album person, and the lack of cohesiveness of Kanye's last album is a real issue with me. It's easily his weakest album this far. Pitchfork's marks for this album and Radiohead's are embarrassing to my eyes; they look like Rolling Stone's reactions about the last U2 and Springsteen albums.

All this said, I had high hopes for Frank Ocean's albums, and the very mixed opinions I've seen this far come as a real letdown for me. Overall, if it wasn't for Bowie and Beyoncé, this year would be disappointing for me so far. I still have to give a shot to Swans, I just didn't find the time: two hours is a long period to lock for an album, and that's the fourth great album they release of this length! (yes, fourth, but it seems everyone keeps forgetting about "Soundtracks for the Blind"...)
To your Pitchfork comment, agreed - and hopefully my wish for a drop-off in their influence is indicated by this action - they do seem to be reaching that RS stage where they are beginning to overrate lesser works by artists they've previously championed because to do otherwise would denigrate the authority of their perceived critical sensibility. But they are nowhere near RS levels yet, which seems to exist now purely as a Stuart Smiley type baby-boomer affirmation rag.

To The Glowing Man - after how great The Seer and To Be Kind were can't fault them for going back to the stylistic well one more time, but the well is quite simply going dry - they made their statement very strongly with previous two efforts but Glowing man, while not bad, is not nearly on same level and does feel much more like a recycling of musical ideas we've already heard.
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prosecutorgodot
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Illiniq wrote:My sense is much of this is just a cyclical thing (lame years happen - see 1981,1998, 1973-74), but there's no denying that one side of the music spectrum - rock, has been absolutely putrid in 2016 and while I have never bought into the whole Rock is Dead argument before, I am now starting to worry.

Part of it is being a little older with college age children in America and seeing how much the new multicultural fabric of our nation has shifted listening tastes. For the younger kids - white, black, Asian, Hispanic alike - Hip-Hop, Mainstream Pop, and Big Ticket EDM are their shared music languages - not rock. If Rock is to see another big resurgence, I feel it will almost have to initiate in Europe, especially England and Ireland, where I feel there's still more of a sense of cultural ownership of the genre, just don't think there's enough youthful passion for Rock in the states to bring something like that to fruition - the kids in the states today see rock like kids in the 60s saw jazz and big band - quite simply, it is their parent's music.

Secondly, now being into a second decade with Pitchfork and other like-minded websites as the dominant rock n roll taste-makers of the era has really started to take its toll. I appreciate much of what Pitchfork does, but there's no denying that they represent a very effete, anti-classic rock sensibility when compared to the dominant taste-makers of previous eras and the end result is we now find ourselves in one of the two or three wimpiest era's in popular music history since the Beatles hit the scene. I mean, seriously, when craptacularly wimpy dreck like Tame Impala's Currents is being championed as the gold standard for rock in the dominant music rags of the present era, or frankly, Pet Sounds as the greatest album of all time over the likes of Revolver, Are You Experienced, London Calling, Exile On Mainstreet, Highway 61 Revisited, or Born To Run - we've got a serious wimpiness problem in music today. A tougher-minded counterpoint that legitimately challenges Pitchfork's view of things on a major cultural scale can't get here soon enough.
Currents is not a rock album, it's synthpop and psych-pop. Of course, pop and rock overlap a lot, like with the Beatles, but I think most people classify Currents as pop, and Tame Impala's earlier work, such as Lonerism, as rock.

Yes rock is not as popular. For rock to stay relevant, it needs to evolve, not keep reviving the trends of the past. While the past few years have indeed been quite barren for rock, we have had some standouts. Many would say The Glowing Man is a fine rock release this year, and the prior two records are highly acclaimed rock/post rock albums. Death Grips' Bottomless Pit and Jenny Death, while maybe more likely classified as hip-hop, fuses elements of rock, punk, and other genres pretty creatively. And have we already forgotten David Bowie's mind-blowing Blackstar? Art rock fused with jazz and synthetic elements, an incredible rock record this year!
So, I would not agree rock is dead. Some are moving the genre forward.

No need to sweat Pitchfork, it is not really important in the greater scheme of things. It's only one publication. It's not like they have extra weight when it comes to Acclaimed Music, for example.
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PlasticRam
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by PlasticRam »

prosecutorgodot wrote: No need to sweat Pitchfork, it is not really important in the greater scheme of things. It's only one publication. It's not like they have extra weight when it comes to Acclaimed Music, for example.
There are some lists that have lighter weight than Pitchfork though, like for example Elvis Costello's 500 favorite albums.
I feel like that
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prosecutorgodot
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by prosecutorgodot »

PlasticRam wrote:
prosecutorgodot wrote: No need to sweat Pitchfork, it is not really important in the greater scheme of things. It's only one publication. It's not like they have extra weight when it comes to Acclaimed Music, for example.
There are some lists that have lighter weight than Pitchfork though, like for example Elvis Costello's 500 favorite albums.
Hmm, I didn't know that. But makes sense.
Harold
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Harold »

Any idea when the Apple so-called "two-week exclusive" will actually end? In my day, two weeks meant two weeks. The album should have been made available elsewhere by now. Don't say two weeks if you don't mean it.

Sorry, but this pisses me off.

I have listened to the album twice now thanks to YouTube uploads (which, of course, have disappeared shortly thereafter - one upload was actually removed from YT within the 15-minute window between when I found it and when I went back to listen to it). I like it a lot, although it's obviously a much slower grower than Channel ORANGE. But I am not buying an Apple subscription just to listen to it.
Jirin
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Jirin »

I actually like Untitled Unmastered more than his more popular albums. Maybe because it's a collection of singles and doesn't have a unifying theme, and thus doesn't have the histrionics that put me off about To Pimp A Butterfly.

I agree a lot of bands following up great albums released less great albums this year. But, there have been some great albums from surprising sources.

Lucinda Williams released her best album in 18 years. David Bowie releases a beautiful album about his own impending death that ranks well among his best. Underworld released a great album, and I never got their earlier more famous albums.

I wouldn't worry too much about rock. Any year is going to seem weak for rock that we don't hear from the likes of The National and Arcade Fire.
Jirin
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Jirin »

Is Blonde actually going to be available as a physical release to me anytime soon? Since I liked Channel ORANGE don't mind blind buying, but blind buying a nonpermanent version as my only access to it?
Bruno
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Re: Frank Ocean – Blonde

Post by Bruno »

Now on spotify.
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