Jim

Jamie Lidell, Jamie Lidell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 29, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warp Records
• ASIN: B0013F2MG6
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,780 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The record sounds simply wonderful: alternately nubby and spangled, it s like a cashmere throw that turns intermittently into a showman s cape. Lidell's voice has never sounded better than it does here. --Pitchfork

Jamie Lidell s ''Multiply'' might have faded from our minds and iPods since 2005, but the British blue-eyed soul singer s back in a big way. A big, romantic, retro, soul kind of a way, that is. Jim, his second solo album on Warp (not counting the collection of Multiply remixes released in 2006), picks right up where the earlier record left off almost. His new collection of songs is both more polished and more genre-limited than Multiply. But because the Berlin-based singer s such a consummate professional, this material is an absolute pleasure to hear from start to finish. Oh, maybe it s not his professionalism that gives that impression it s his infectious joy. ''Give yourself the green light'', Lidell sings, and his optimism is unquenchable.

In an indie music atmosphere that s leaning (this year) decidedly towards the folk and psych ends of the spectrum, Lidell s retro style provides a welcome contrast (as indeed it did in 2005). Nevertheless, a quick comparison: return to ''Multiply'' after you ve just heard ''Little Bit of Feel Good'' and the older song sounds staid, contained, understated. But maybe that s unfair, because ''Little Bit of Feel Good'' is the funkiest, most exuberant song on the album. It s impossible to resist. If not Best New Music, it s Best Music That s Being Made Right Now.

Two elements of Lidell s composition and production, in particular, seem to have gelled on Jim: economy and crisp precision. The former s an undeniable compositional advantage. The brass-and-horns interlude of ''Another Day'', for example, brilliantly recalls a Frank Sinatra standard (''Fly Me to the Moon'') before jumping lithely back to the original timbre. It s now a Lidell trademark to employ the various ingredients of retro soul jazz tonalities, gospel backing choruses in slick layers that aren t apparent the first few times the songs are casually heard. The crisp production, though, belies the fact that Jim could never have been made 30 years ago. It s the way the cymbal sound in the chorus of ''Out of My System'' splays out into computerized distortion, or the way the accompaniment in the gentle ballad ''All I Wanna Do'' evolves from simple acoustic guitar to arpeggiated organ to fuzzy atmospheric effect.

Still, the subtlety of these electronics and the discretion of their employment are what makes Jim an ultimately more accomplished record than Multiply. You won t find a song like the electro-hiccup ''When I Come Back Around'' here. Instead, there are more pianos; a song called ''Green Light'' wraps them around a clicking horse-shoe percussion and faint aquatic effects. And early highlight ''Wait for Me'' is all unbridled celebration, a little bit ''Runaway'' and a little bit orange shirts and bell bottoms.

You get the feeling Lidell could keep pumping out these perfectly-minted soul songs forever. That s fine with me he s great at it. And ten songs at just under 40 minutes is the perfect dose of neo-soul for anyone who s been pummeled by a bit too much depressive tight-jeaned guitar music over the winter. It s the beginning of spring, Jim is, with the straightforward and admirable aim of getting us all to enjoy life just a bit more. As Lidell himself explains :

All I really wanna do
Is show you how easy it could be
To paint back the colours,
the green in your tree
Before it all fades away. --Popmatters

Product Description

Recorded in Berlin, Los Angeles and Paris, Jim takes even further what was started with Multiply, finding the balance between the spontaneous
creativity of his raw ideas and the careful craft and polish of a great record. Jim will switch you on in the morning, move you on the dance-floor and take you down in the small hours. It s a bold, promiscuously diverse album, mixing up gospel grooves, sweetly sung and fiercely passionate
soul, delicately moving ballads, thumping early R & B, synthed-up disco,
and even a touch of hillbilly funk. I haven t tried to hide the influences,
says Jamie Lidell ''This is the music I love.'' But, listen closely and you can
hear Jamie moving in new directions, creating a sound and style that is
entirely his own.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Electronica with a retro Soul vibe. A true gem., April 30, 2008

By 

starschaser (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim (Audio CD)

Born in Cambridgeshire rather than the Deep South, Jamie Lidell nevertheless has a remarkable soul voice, reminiscent of Otis Redding's. He began his career on the underground techno scene but, way before Duffy, Adele or Amy Winehouse, he was emulating the sounds of Stax and Motown.
His latest album is his best yet, buzzing with a sunshine funk that Stevie Wonder would be proud of (notably on the ebullient single, "Little Bit of Feel Good").
"Wait for Me", with its boogie-woogie piano and gospel vocals, is typical, lending a 40-year-old songwriting template a sheen of sassy modernity.
Like a New Age Stevie Winwood, Jamie has his own joyful road to the elixir of Stevie Wonder-sourced synthesised soul. The first taster from his forthcoming eagerly anticipated second single, "Little Bit Of Feeling Good" is as slinky, suave and downright superb as homegrown UK dance gets.
Jamie's vocal charm presents riches aplenty - elastic pitch, melodic purring, peachy phrasing - and the minimal funk backdrop, sashaying horns and rainbow-coloured back-up harmonies make this a true gem.
Signed to the hip electronica label Warp, and counting Feist and Gonzales (who plays piano here) among his pals, the Berlin-based Lidell would be expected to produce something pretty cool on his third album. But where its predecessor fused laptop beats with retro styling, Jim is an all-out stomping soul album. In its favour, the tunes are tight, and Lidell has a great soul voice.
It retains a keen sense of nostalgia, a sharp sense of style and mixes influences to generally pleasing effect. By the singer's own admission, it's a promiscuously diverse collection that mixes up gospel grooves, sweetly sung soul, delicate balladry, thumping early R&B, synthed up disco and even a little 'hillbilly funk'.
My picks: "Out Of My System", "All I Wanna Do", "Little Bit Of Feel Good, "Where D'You Go" and "Rope Of Sand".

Solo Piano
The Reminder
Back to Black
19
Rockferry
Nine Lives

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Infectious and unashamedly summery., April 29, 2008

By 

Esthero - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim (Audio CD)

If you haven't already made the acquaintance of left-field electronica label Warp's most unlikely artist, "Jim" is the ideal introduction to Jamie Lidell, a nerdy techno boffin who emerged from his chrysalis on breakthrough album "Multiply" as a consummate old-school soul showman, pulling off his musical throwback pastiche as effectively as Amy Winehouse.
Where Winehouse is bluesy and melodramatic, Lidell's music is more celebratory and infectious, though the gorgeous "Rope of Sand" touches on the sorrowful serenity of What's Going On-era Marvin Gaye.
Elsewhere, Lidell actually appears to be channelling Sam Cooke on "All I Wanna Do" and Al Green on "Green Light", while the electro-funk of "Figured Me Out" and pacey rhythm'n'blues workout "Hurricane" should get the crowd on their good foot.
"Jim" appears to be an honest approach from the accomplished musician, covering many everyday issues such as the confusion of emotions. And the record is a concise one, never detouring from a backbone made up from unabashed good feeling and trumpet-driven bluster.
Whether the subject matter is talking, listening, hurting or longing, the delivery - clipped and concrete - is there. For the majority of this album, his directional, well-paced verses serve him well.
The first thing to say about "Jim" is that it is unashamedly summery. Lidell's intentions are laid down in stone on "Another Day", brimming with sunshine bright pianos and an absurdly feelgood outline. Orchestral trumpets drive the cut along well. Most clarity is provided at the junctures where the performer truly unleashes himself, giving credence to that wonderfully grainy-but-polished set of lungs.
" Wait for Me" exudes a bandstand eccentricity hitting all the highest notes, "Out of My System" supplements xylophone spine shivers with an irresistible hook. Single "Little Bit of Feel Good" is archetypal Liddle, this time backed by gospel voices to deliver blissfully glorious melody.
Jamie's reputation among the cognoscenti has been as a maker of experimental electronic music. But God gave him a voice which seems to emanate from the southern states of the USA circa 1964 - a cross between Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.
Stylistically, this is where the music sits too, though with the kind of electronic twist you would expect of an artist with Lidell's pedigree
Throughout, the obvious comparisons to Stevie and Otis, Sam Cook and Al Green abound, a little something "Jim" can outlive.
Lidell has lit the touch paper, history will tell if he ignites the flames.
As said above, it's a genuine updating of the brassy, sassy, occasionally gospel-tinged soul music of the Stax era, along with a sprinkling of Stevie Wonder, the odd excursions into Jamiroquai-like funk territory with "Figured Me Out" and a nod towards Sly Stone/Al Green in "Green Light".
It's clever musically, but it wouldn't work without the compelling quality of that voice, which would be enough just of itself to make us sit up and take notice of Jamie Lidell.
Back to Black
Multiply
Muddlin Gear

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time Warped British Blue Eyed Soul, May 19, 2008

By 

R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jim (Audio CD)

This CD is a whole lot more than "A Little Bit of Feel Good," which is not only getting a lot of radio-play, but also appeared on both "NCIS" and "Grey's Anatomy" in the past few weeks. Though Jamie Lidell's a British bloke, he's got a voice straight out of the 1960's South. He's been likened to everyone from Marvin Gaye to Sam Cooke. My understanding is Lidell came from techno, but I have no experience with his previous music--but you better believe I'm going to check it out!

Standouts for me: "A Little Bit of Feel Good" which will get you up on your feet with it's uptempo beat and gospel groove. "All I wanna do" a bluesy ballad. "Green Light" which adds a techno groove over what could have been an Al Green song.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008