KING

They're a nu-soul girl group from LA consisting of sisters Amber and Paris Strother (the latter of whom writes and produces all their music) along with Anita Bias. A bunch of us here liked their The Story EP a couple years back. They just dropped a new song and I figure since they're finally putting out an album this year and it seems like they're going to continue making the most gorgeous music ever like they've been doing, they deserve their own thread.

"In the Meantime" (the new one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmYe9i8IxWA

"Hey" (which Kendrick sampled for "Chapter Six"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itl3BgEUNW0

"Supernatural"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tVrGt_hWzo

"The Story"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dhPuid9e4Q

They've also done some collaborations with The Foreign Exchange and Robert Glasper.

A proper thread! :D

A well-deserved one.

I had to post "In the Meantime" in the "kinda out there, maybe kinda experimental, maybe kinda pretentious modern r&b" thread last night, and it's actually not any of those things.

oh, I didn't realize that one had been bumped

we'd been talking about the teaser in rolling r&b

oh my good gosh this new one is the purest driven bliss

for real

srsly like i feel humbled to be in the listening presence of such beauty

Been meaning to look into these folks -- thanks!

I had to post "In the Meantime" in the "kinda out there, maybe kinda experimental, maybe kinda pretentious modern r&b" thread last night, and it's actually not any of those things.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 23:56 (Yesterday) Bookmark

this is really otm and precisely what makes it so great past the sheer aesthetics, the way it employs its astral psych soul etc motifs (for abject want of better terms) in the service of the essence of a pop song; making a fleeting moment feel infinite whereas so often with music coming from this realm the motivation seems the opposite, capturing by expansion

and it's so well structured too, they know exactly how and when to push drift into drive, repeating the chorus into a mantra at 3 mins and letting go again, or like 'supernatural' slowly building up to wooshing starlight fireworks

Sisters were originally from Minneapolis, iirc?

new one is absolutely gorgeous, the story ep sounded lovely but never stuck with me; "in the meantime" just feels more anchored

"Hey" was just about the perfect thing to play at 5:30 p.m. while lying in bed at the height of that summer with the windows open.

Jaw dropped @ "In The Meantime".

I'm getting flotation tank Janet vibes. And a little bit of Tweet's first album.

I thought this was going to be about the dude who sang Love & Pride

And a little bit of Tweet's first album.

the stuff tweet's doing nowadays is an even stronger comparison imo (did anyone else pick up her latest EP?)

yeah i did. it all sounds like live jam sesh versions of possibly great songs i havent heard yet

I'm getting flotation tank Janet vibes. And a little bit of Tweet's first album.

^^ feeling this too. absolutely gorgeous.

it's so 80's r&b imo. love it

oh my god i loooooove this

I heard a bit of SWV in there maybe...is that just me?

Stevie Wonder, Very?

In The Meantime is lovely, I want to be, like, in a hammock in the sunshine, like, immediately.

I heard a bit of SWV in there maybe...is that just me?

― bride of lecherchaun (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 21 March 2013 05:05 (16 hours ago) Bookmark

it's not too strong but i kinnnda see where you're coming from w/ this... something like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAgAHOuJR4o

maybe like tha rayne x rotary connection, idk

Love this, very happy to see they're back. I got a bit worried about them at one point when it looked like their Twitter had stopped updating.

Fela cover

http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/2013/10/king_take_it_slow_in_tribute_to_fela_kuti.php

FUCKING INCREDIBLE live fyi. harmonies>>>>>>>>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Al1j9SjhI

(there are some more videos on that youtube account too)

(album's out this year btw)

(album's out this year btw)

Well, there's my #1 slot taken care of.

News!

http://weareking.tumblr.com/post/89064089201/tune-in-tomorrow-for-the-live-vid-of-our-new-song
https://twitter.com/weareKING/status/478928039212875778

omg! finally!

yayyyy

Well, there's my #1 slot taken care of.

Finally 2014 is picking up steam!

Rawk.

(Lol)

there's an amazing density to the songs of theirs that i've heard that renders them almost tactile..and if there is any one thing I look for in pop music these days, it's synaesthesia

...

anyway eric otm, anything other than aoty will be a disappointment tbh

(haha sorry)

!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0dHHRWjcy0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRPhNLZEoXM

Thought his thread was gonna be about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEMDzXZfILo

Get out.

New single

https://soundcloud.com/weareking-1/mister-chameleon

stunning, truly

maybe a single a year isn't so cruel

i mean a full album of this all at once could be beyond the limits of human capacity

^^^^^^^^

yeah this song is beautiful

album's done i think!

but yeah when i interviewed them they pretty much said it took them a year to do three songs

they were totally wonderful tonight and uh all the new songs are basically the same caliber as everything they've released so far

album "in the fall"

@weareKING on KING Creative. Pre-sale begins 12/3. Love, Paris, Amber and Anita #weareKING #February5 <3

!

oh my god finally

February 5th? Why must I still wait 2 months?!

wow i'd pretty much given up on this

oh my god this new coda on "Hey"

https://soundcloud.com/weareking-1/hey-extended-mix

finally listened to this and burst into tears

Damn, this is luxurious

KANG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbpSV3gBRfk

oh fuck

How many years in a row are they fixing to release one of my top 5 tracks of each respective year?

srsly like i feel humbled to be in the listening presence of such beauty

― r|t|c, Tuesday, March 19, 2013 5:07 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

every time

The only Pazz & Jop results that have bothered me:

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/singles/2011/VGhlIFN0b3J5fHx8S2luZw==
http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/singles/2014/TWlzdGVyIENoYW1lbGVvbnx8fEtpbmc=

When "The Story" is the weakest thing they've put out to date, that's pretty astonishing.

Even the Red Hot + Fela track is amazing.

fear this album like the rapture tbh

I'm stockpiling canned goods as we speak.

goddamn this new song

http://lpr.com/lpr_events/king-february-5th-2016/

This thread is a bitch to find.

xposting from the year end thread

https://wearekingmusic.bandcamp.com/releases

it's really good :)

you seeing that LPR show Maura? Writing a longer piece?

(talked to some industry people who i respect who saw them at APAP and said they seemed "academic"; i am very curious to hear for myself)

what does "academic" mean in that context?

paris (the multi-instrumentalist) is a tremendous synth nerd

nah i live in boston and am traveling too much. but i am writing about them. i thought they were incredible at great scott in 2014.

yeah they're great live. i saw them at lpr two years ago and it was such a gentle, sweet show

xp by "academic" i believe she meant technically polished but not especially present... which she hastened to point out could mean they just had an off night and were falling back on training to keep them afloat. She buttressed all that with a "it's not that every act has to lead with their soul but i thought KING certainly would"

IT'S HERE Y'ALL

www.npr.org/2016/01/27/464592961/first-listen-king-we-are-king

err....

http://www.npr.org/2016/01/27/464592961/first-listen-king-we-are-king

Yaaaaay

AAAAAAAAAAA

oh my god, i cannot deal with today

<3 <3 <3 <3 !! !

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD WHAT? MY HEAD IS SPINNING

RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND RUNNING AND RUNNING AROUND

If it follows the pattern of the annual song they've released for the past few years, this...should be close to my favourite album of the decade.

sounding good so far!

yeah this is pretty nuts, the first song wasn't my fav but glad i stuck with it instead of going over to rihanna right away cos damn does everything sound good. need to hear hq tho

I stopped the Rihanna to play this haha.

This album just ended and I applauded.

chord progression in the bridge of "the right one" is essentially the peak of music for me

i know i'm gonna fill this thread with hyperbole but i really feel that

does "the greatest" sound even more like an infinite swirl in album context? yes

god i feel like a diamond buried in a riverbed

i'm a little drunk which i think is appropriate

this shit is sick

"The Greatest" sounds way better on the album than in isolation.

the new intros and outros on the old songs are like some ascension to heaven-level shit

the "supernatural" intro is unreal

Okay, really, releasing this in January is really unfair to everyone else who wanted to release an album this year. Y'all can't make a better one than this.

i think i can sink into this album forever!

ok I got a little more to drink and wow "love song"

i think my spine is melting

"What's wrong with Brad?"
"An album stream melted his spine. It's rare, but it happens."

haven't followed the tracklist but whatever guitar solo happens at 45 mins is very *throws devil horns*

jesus the last song

i've spent a lot of time with these singles and they honestly feel brand new on the album

that is nuts, that never happens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC9bdKAKst4

hmm this wasn't what i was looking for ... lol

i mean kudos to them that they have built such a rich and seamless and iridescent ecosystem in which i hope to live forever

this album is an hour long? this is literally the only album on earth where i will not mind that it is an hour long

"the story" as the penultimate track feels like some kind of full circle thing idk. feeling something like completed symmetry just hearing that synth line

well cool i have been woven gently into the fabric of the universe. goodnight everyone

haven't followed the tracklist but whatever guitar solo happens at 45 mins is very *throws devil horns*

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Wednesday, January 27, 2016 10:12 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes, this is an amazing moment

lol awesome thread so far, off to actually listen to the album now

oh wow it's out there but i have a hectic day today. yknow what i'm not going to do king like that, i'm going to approach their album with a bit more ceremony than others (rihanna). i've waited five years i can wait one more day.

Ah, this is frustrating, I pre-ordered the album on Bandcamp, but it doesn't come out until next week, and I have no idea how I'd be able to play the stream on my stereo... Is it worth listening on your computer with headphones?

holy cow this is good

xp can't you just hook up your computer to your stereo?

They're in different rooms, so no, sadly.

stream it on your phone?

This is the best thing I have ever heard.

halfway through and there's literally nothing i can say to contradict any of you

this is exceptional

this is it, the singularity

feels so weird to finish the 2015 albums poll countdown today after listening to the 2016 winner

thankyou Novak Djokovic for winning so quickly and permitting me time to hear this blessed masterpiece

i read that as based masterpiece, still made sense.

This has that diaphanous hologramic quality of Swain-Jolley produced stuff like Imagination and early Bananarama.

OH MY GOD, the climax of "oh please"

overwhelming tbh

great record

the most beautiful music ever made

I knew that hearing so many of their songs together at the same time would be overwhelming but maybe not this overwhelming?

My housemate arrived home as I was doing the dishes to "Supernatural" and without even saying hello to me exclaimed "what is THIS?"

Love Song becomes this unbelievable thing without you noticing

im waiting on two things itt, once all the flowers have been laid at their feet: 1) notorious contrarian crank al shipley, and 2) whether or not ppl think they surpassed their last release

their last release?

derp their debut

i'm not the expert here pal but doesn't their debut show up here in its entirety, in lush extended-mix form, segueing into the other songs? if that isn't surpassed idk what is

^^^^ yeah this is why i was confused

no im saying 'derp their debut' as in, derp this is their debut, i was thinking the old singles had been compiled somewhere but apparently not

ahhhh

i assumed there was more to the catalog i wasnt familiar w/ but apparently i knew their shit better than i thought :(

you're taking home the gold

This notional clusterfuck that doesn't even exist is a waste of good pedantry, guys.

Kind of annoyed I can't listen to this until tomorrow at the earliest.

i still want to know what al thinks lol

I succumbed and right now I'm listening this on the phone despite the crappy sound, and so far it sounds like Jones Girls' "Nights Over Egypt" stretched through a wormhole, which is pretty much the best thing I can think of.

This album is incredible. Everything about it is perfect without anything ever feeling forced. Like others have already said, that climax/solo in Oh, Please is everything, very Prince like.

Hey is still my highlight. It feels so cruel that it's only six minutes long, I want to be in that moment forever.

okay, queuing up; you guys losing your shit here has me worried/hopeful/terrified/excited

not to set the bar too high, but its awesome

omg at "Native Land" this is amazing

this is really great so far

puts me in the zone of "Right Here" by SWV but way more layered and complex

i get kind of a 80s jam & lewis' jagged edges sanded smooth via 'i want you'

R&B not my thing at all but this is amazingly beautiful music

wasnt there another thread w/ King discussion at one point? Maybe rev's alt-R&B thread?

Yeah, I think that's where I first posted about them.

rev, what's the link there? Not sure i have that bookmarked.

wow, this really can't be background music on the first listen huh.

should i go to a free KING show tonight and get a copy of the album a week early?

Nah.

lol

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/51d86680e4b03f5ac28eb1ba/t/54919cb9e4b0c7f5bb5600e0/1418828985794/trap.jpg

Oh, I guess Andy K was the first to post about them here. I picked them up via Erykah Badu's twitter.

itt: kinda out there, maybe kinda experimental, maybe kinda pretentious modern r&b

going to their record release show next friday, see y'all there

andy k: prophet

They're playing here in a couple weeks and I have a gig that night. >_____<

going to a listening party in my house tonight. Y'all are invited.

livestream it

doing my hair special too

into track 3 and thinking how many of those pre-programmed casio drum patterns they used. i think i used that tropical drum pattern back in the 90s once too!

...

this whole album is lushly beautiful but "Native Land" is fucking stunning

So they're killing it at an in-store in Amoeba Hollywood right now. Just check this clip!

https://twitter.com/LauraSterritt/status/692893241083981825

It's no GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW - Uhuru Flight - LIVE @ Amoeba SF but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTmAHP1MSck

What's in your bag, KING?

It feels weird that we've reached a point in time when casio drum patterns are a nostalgic sound.

i don't deserve to listen to this album; it's too pure, too luscious, too immaculate for my scummy dirtbag soul

like i am clutching my heart trying my hardest not to bawl at all of this beauty

Jesus take the goddamn wheel @ the second half of "Oh, Please!"

I tried listening to the NPR stream but the sound was so poor it was like watching a beautiful flower opening in black and white. I can wait an extra week to hear it in full.

im waiting on two things itt, once all the flowers have been laid at their feet: 1) notorious contrarian crank al shipley, and 2) whether or not ppl think they surpassed their last release

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Thursday, January 28, 2016 10:00 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it sounds v pretty but i'm not rushing to any judgment beyond that, seems like the kind of thing will either reveal its virtues (besides prettiness) over time or lose my interest

"hey (extended mix)" makes me feel like this song loves me and cares about my well-being more than any person ever has in my entire life

"like i am clutching my heart trying my hardest not to bawl at all of this beauty"

lol

loving all the hyperbole in this thread, keep it coming

i was being serious if that's hard to believe

This sounds like Scritti Politti circa Provision. That's a compliment.

Smoother than I expected on some cuts. Like 80s and 90s "quiet storm" radio

it sounds like stevie wonder to me tbh

a couple of moments i had to stop what i was doing with that same feeling of "this is too much". yall kind of choke things to death around here but that was a nice feeling. i'll look for it on whatever format that isn't streaming and bump this thread in 2019 when i happen to listen to it some random night and no one else is watching.

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/511/258/66a.png

preemptively feelin bad about the backlash, you can see it in the distance

This sounds like Scritti Politti circa Provision. That's a compliment.

not remotely as glassy and fractured. this is more warm and blurred. the chord changes feel similar i guess

backlash?! for what? not being dawn richard? they're not even going for that. they are more or less completely successful at doing something really good

Yeah but its only natural, given the intensity of love being poured out rn, that there's gonna be something to balance it out

You listen to this yet, JCLC? You have a hot take on the album?

"native land" is ridic

LMAO this is like the most inoffensive music and people out here tryna stir up some controversy just cuz a lot of people have had such strongly positive reactions to it

"Native Land" is gorgeous, my favorite track.

Reminds me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7A7Vmt71_U

album sounds gloopy

imagination comparison otm

This album kind of reminds me of Avalanche by Quadron but if it had been produced by Stevie Wonder at his peak. There's some Minnie Riperton in there too which is never a bad thing.

It's basically 12 songs that give me the same feeling as Ex Factor Lauryn Hill does and it's perfect.

I doubt I would have heard of them if it wasn't for this place and I'm grateful to everyone who has championed them over the last few years. Feeling pretty emotional about this record right now.

did i tell you guys i went to that amazing show they had at Amoeba and bought their album and they signed it for me?

That's awesome. I'm seeing them in a couple of weeks. Did you buy the album on CD? Don't suppose they had it on vinyl?

Aw yeah, 'Love and Pride'! Tune!

i didn't tell you guys that because my wife was late coming back from work and i missed the show

they had the album on CD, not vinyl. i'm holding out for the latter!

i'm sure you took the high ground and made no mention of your disappointment..

Sorry to hear you missed out nomar. Also sorry I misjudged your original post and mentioned I was going to see them in a few weeks. They aren't coming on stage until after 11 so there's a chance I'll fall asleep and miss the show. If I do, I'll be sure to come on here and tell you.

I'm going to try and wait for the vinyl too. Will be looking forward to getting it probably some time in September.

this thread is amazing

i don't see any mention on their bandcamp of a vinyl release but i imagine it's gonna happen.

I'm so fucking sad I won't get to see them when they're here in a couple weeks but my partner is getting into the airport at the same time :(

can't someone else pick him/her up

can't call a cab?

Uber, get with it

Heh, I do enjoy the intact state of my relationship. Esp. given we haven't seen each other in months. Hopefully KING will be back soon...

This is fantastic

(thread and album alike)

two listens and i'm kinda with al. it's certainly LUSH but i need greater fidelity, a fair amount of time and a live experience.

i listened to most of this on NPR this morning whilst staggering around, not bad.

wow the morbs seal of approval

It's official.

i'm seeing them tonight :)

Reviewed on P4K today

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21469-we-are-king/

TOO LOW

combination of that review + that score comes off as kinda patronising

not a badly written review

last sentence of it is like a high-school term paper wrap-up, flailing for something to say that sounds substantial

"The influence of (topic) will surely be felt for years to come."

the high school (and college freshman) paper would replace "surely" for "definitely."

yes, well tweaked. teamwork!

Digging this! Some sophisticated stuff going on. Was thinking how much I would hate it exactly as is but with some indie waif singing, so thank goodness it's not. Love the trend of people making music that echoes stuff I used to love on the radio when I was in the single digits. Waving a wand to put them on tour with HAIM and give both a huge budget and a time machine (Time machine?) to work with 1986 Jam/Lewis

I've been assigned a longer review and am uncharacteristically nervous

You should relax to some KING.

heyyyyyyy
u
are

This is a great album. Is this their actual first album? I remember hearing The Story EP years ago and was confused when I saw it on this one... I guess it's really a compilation.

it's their first album but all the songs they've released to date except for the Fela cover they did for a Red+Hot comp are on here

Crowd loves them

it was exactly the same as the show i saw 1.5 years ago but the place felt packed and everyone was going nuts, it was amazing

Did they play with a band or was the music pre-recorded?

ok, the chord progressions are insane. who's the melodic genius behind their sound? i feel like i haven't listened to an album that rich in ages, lots of stevie obv but also nods to fagen and jobim in the harmonic dept. i'm impressed.

they write and produce their own shit

ughhhhh i was tied up in astoria and couldn't get to the show tonight :(

"hey" was pretty incredible live

yeah i love how it was reduced entirely to keyboards

it sounded so nice when the crowd caught the refrain

The official release finally came out, so I've listened to this on a proper system, and I have to say it's not as perfect as I first thought. I still love the arrangements and the songwriting and the synths, but it feels they could've done more work with the vocals, or maybe they just have an aesthetic to their singing that I don't quite understand?

First of all, they do this breathy, cooing vocal style on almost every song, throughout the album, and it makes it feel a bit flat, like there's no ups and downs. I didn't mind it on the singles I heard before, because it works on individual tunes, but IMO a full album requires a bit more variety of expression, it shouldn't all sound the same. And I don't mean they should've gone into hyperdramatic melismas and other R&B tricks of making music more "expressive", but some, more subtle changes in style would've still been nice.

Secondly, and this is tied to my first point, a lot of the times it feels like I'm listening to the backing vocals, but the front vocalist is missing. Maybe it's a part of KING's collective ethos to use this kind of group harmonizing so much, but it also contributes to the feel that's it's all an uniform mass. When listened as a whole the individual tunes are kinda lacking in character because the narrative voice never changes.

I still like the album and everything else besides the vocals is great, but I don't think in the long run it'll shoot into my personal soul/R&B top 10. But like I said, maybe their vocal aesthetics are a deliberate choice, and I just don't get it?

ok, the chord progressions are insane

They are *incredible* at the heart-melting chord change - last two songs especially.

who's the melodic genius behind their sound?

the members of the band? paris writes most of the music

"Native Land" is my favorite album closer in recent memory.

one of the things i'm really appreciating about hearing that as an album is that the cumulative effect of all of these songs at once is something i've been really craving - previously i've only been able to hear their songs alongside each other, they're not suited to multi-artist playlists at all

this album is amazing and all i am listening to

"Native Land" is my favorite album closer in recent memory.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, February 8, 2016 8:31 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's their version of D'angelo's "Africa".

not quite as good imo right here and now but I feel like this album will take a long time to sink in completely, so maybe!

the way "The Story" sets it up tho!

(sorry, I will be using lots of exclamation points when I talking about this album)

imo the dreamy breathy everything-is-backing-vocal style is a necessary aesthetic choice to perfectly attain the subtle narcotic development of each song on the album. have never heard a record before where every song creeps up on me, adding layers to the mix until the whole thing is floating in space

still think Love Song is my marginal favourite but this back end is so strong, have been listening to it this morning

yeah, I agree with Tuomas that the vocals could be more present but it feels more like a feature than a fault

Guys I think it's safe to say that an album calling itself WE ARE KING is not overly concerned with the primacy of individual voices.

This alone makes it both pretty unusual and interesting in the context of contemporary R&B which has for the last decade or so tended to emphasise individual stars, or groups where there's either one dominant force, or everyone gets a star turn.

Actually listening to this again, individual vocal lines are not the point of it all, if you isolate the vocal melodies they are in and of themselves not that interesting, but the harmonies (both vocal and instrumental) are sublime. It's like a beautiful cloud.

This alone makes it both pretty unusual and interesting in the context of contemporary R&B which has for the last decade or so tended to emphasise individual stars, or groups where there's either one dominant force, or everyone gets a star turn.

this is a really good point

Yeah, I can understand the anti-individualist aesthetic on a theoretical level, but on a practical level the combination of that and every tune being sung in the same vocals style makes all the songs on the album sound like each other, with no unique character to each. And I don't think that's a good thing, because this is still a pop record, not ambient music or anything.

Also, while Matt is right that the "star turn" approach to R&B group vocals has been dominant for the last 15 years or so, if you go behind that you can find examples where individual voices and variety of singing styles can work within a more collective ethos: En Vogue, The Jones Girls, The Three Degrees, etc. Though of course KING might not be interested in that kind of approach either... But it means that, to me, this album will not rise to level En Vogue at its best, for example.

The way the three work as a collective instead of letting a singer shine extends to the mix too. I couldn't figure out why "Oh, Please" baffled me, and it's due to how the voices and instruments are mixed as if recorded on the same track. Maybe they are.

Yeah, the mix tends to put the vocals on the same level as the backing track instead of putting them on the front, like you normally do in pop music. This also adds to why they feel so nondescript and samey, because they blend in with the other instruments. Again, this is an approach that can work in other genres, but to me it just sound good on an r&b album.

"it just doesn't sound good"

i would argue that it sounds extremely good, especially on an r&b album that is particularly focused on harmonic collisions, and creating a kind of soft inhabitable space which the emphasis of a singular voice would undermine, and that r&b is not some monolith where this is struggling against the technical achievements of en vogue, of all things

Honestly I love the mix, vox are mixed way too high nowadays imo

i mean i get that you are articulating why the vocal approach doesn't work for you specifically but it seems a weird thing to get stuck on, for me, as it's not like this record would be enhanced by a more isolated and elastic vocal (the closest the album gets is "hey" which i think is fitting bc it is where the record gets sort of reduced to its essence). the design of the vocals within each song makes them even more captivating harmonic vortexes. and i hate to make a like "this record is all and no genre, man" argument but your distinction between pop and ambient feels particularly meaningless here

Brad otm
I feel like it would be SO much worse with a more lead singer/backing vox situation

the album's already kind of a singular achievement to me in that it manages to build an enormous environment that feels like an almost unconscious form of r&b, one captured through layers of dreaming, while also remaining groovy as hell

yep

brad otm, this record creates its own self-contained, immersive world better than anything i've heard since nicolas jaar's early material - you feel like you're in it, and the vocal harmonies & production are very much key to that. i also think that the songwriting, the melodies and the sheer richness of the arrangements preclude it ever feeling samey, even if a lot of those things come into focus only after a few listens. (the moment when that bassline comes in on the extended version of "supernatural", the way that the horns only come in after the 5 min mark, this record gives so much so gradually)

I filed my review yesterday and made some of these points. I love the album but can understand how it can turn into a beautiful trance.

it starts as a beautiful trance that unfolds into loving every discrete element!

heaven forfend we have any rockists left on ilx but the whole 'they play all the instruments and produce it' aspect of this unearthly masterpiece is surely catnip for traditionalists and progressives alike - it doesn't make the music any better when taken out of context but it makes KING an even more satisfying and exciting proposition imo. their next album could be...anything

This album is good, but I must agree with the sentiments that it all kind of rolls together into one hourlong wash of a song.

Excellent deep house offers a useful point of comparison for this album, I think.

only now realizing—guess what amazing song has a paris strother co-write

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsfT7QhnGj8

AHHHHH that was one of my absolute favourites from that album.

wtf why didn't i know they were originally from minneapolis???

Great review Alfred!

The other reference point that occurred to me was Rene and Angela's "You Don't Have To Cry".

lol i literally just compared the record to "your smile"

Great review Alfred!

The other reference point that occurred to me was Rene and Angela's "You Don't Have To Cry".

― Tim F, Wednesday, February 10, 2016 3:59 PM (

Thanks, Tim. Are you trying to kill me with that reference?

IDK is that a good thing or bad.

An even better one (apart from "Your Smile"! OTM brad) is Angela Winbush's "Angel", minus the massive hollering.

Alfred, I'm not in the know — please share a link to your review.

IDK is that a good thing or bad.

The agony of not catching it, especially since I'm about write a long piece on Angela Winbush.

Austin: http://www.spin.com/2016/02/review-king-we-are-king/?utm_source=share-fb&utm_medium=button

can't read your review until the pile of garbage i wrote about them is shaped into something worthwhile but i promise i will afterward alfred

Cool; a very flowing and heady review: a perfect match for the music.

especially since I'm about write a long piece on Angela Winbush.

Alfred casually outshining all other pretenders ITT.

yeah that is my dream piece alfred, i would only trust u with it tbh

I'll try my best to take home the gold

i was going on amazon to see about buying the CD but it linked to this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007AJQQ?qid=1455153396&ref_=tmm_acd_swatch_0&sr=8-1

They're playing in Mpls in a few hours! The sisters are DeLaSalle grads of '04 but this is their first big Twin Cities show. They were just on the radio talking about Nintendo's "Punchout" and Cocteau Twins. I'll try to report again from the other side...

i have listened to this record a couple of times and mannnnnnnnn native land is already one of my favorite songs ever

isn't it?

its like tamales at christmas 2 me

I've fallen hard for "In the Meantime," such an incredible bass line and chord progression

thing is, that is all of the songs, all of the songs have incredible bass lines and chord progressions

"Native Land" is definitely my favorite right now

They're very light touch when it comes to bass, so when they do turn it up you really notice it. The bassline on In The Meantime really purrs.

The chord progression on The Story is incredible and really reminds of something. Like I think it's widescreen techno of some sort but I dunno.

In the Meantime also has that ridiculous chord change on the third line of the verse

Saw them last night in Minneapolis. They were really amazing. Hey got the biggest reaction, there were a lot of people singing along to it which was really moving. I was disappointed they didn't do Native Land but that was the only thing I'd change.

Interesting about the Cocteaus mention. It occurred to me on first listen that some vocal nuances are Ella filtered through late-period Liz, which seemed an unlikely influence.

Great to read through this thread after coming to the conclusion that this is one of my favourite albums ever. And I've been listening for a week! So many astonishing moments, one that thrills me to no end is that middle bit in "Red Eye," when the vocals start to modulate towards something almost unearthly. Their command of harmonic structure and arranging there is unbelievable. Great album to listen to in sequence but I've also enjoyed listening in shuffle with a long crossfade time, leading to ever more mysterious segues and transpositions. What a wonderful obsession this has become!

this album is completely addictive

oh, please!

i listen to this album ~3 times a day

wish i could quit my job so i could listen more

i think it is making me a kinder person, because i'm so blissed out when i listen to it

is KING a cult?

OTM. I had a really shitty, annoying start to the morning the other day and I listened to this album over the course of my commute and my irritation just ~dissolved~.

I listened to it last night when I had to with late and I was really stressed out.

I think I’ve listened to this album about 10 times more than any other so far this year.

fuck i missed them last night. how was the oakland show?

Mpls show was really nice. All about the vocals, with everything else pushed to the back, though Paris got pretty funky on the keys at times.

I have started listening to this yesterday.
it sounds great although for now, the album may lack some "hits" but I guess it takes some time before I can really make out and appreciate the songs.
"Native Land" seems fantastic, though. It has something in common with Blood Orange's sound and it seems they have worked together, so that would make sense.

They’ve announced they are playing London and Manchester end of March.

paris and amber strother apparently worked with corinne bailey rae on her new single, and it shows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iibMNsSRCE

I was just wondering where she's been. The Sea is still a fave.

Ah, that must be why I like the new Corinne Bailey Rae so much. That was a surprise.

Her last album was incredible tho!

trippy new video for 'carry on'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YwhEgflFRM

2001 needed an R&B epilog.

Meanwhile, I think "RedEye" is sufficient justification for a Donald Fagen collaboration.

i wanna see a video with them in it at some point

This never fails to chill me out

Hmmm interesting

hi

wow @ this album. this is my sound.

i hope they get massive

hi

Lol Im still stuck in '15, but I've been super stressed at work. Thinking maybe I should listen to this album at breaks.

It's a nice audio world to inhabit

On a Miles Davis tribute album.

http://pitchfork.com/news/64049-erykah-badu-stevie-wonder-bilal-king-featured-on-miles-davis-tribute-album/

What's the point of doing a tribute for the most popular jazz trumpeter of all time with people who are not jazz musicians? It's not like his tunes are crying for a pop/R&B treatment, and I doubt most of these people, as great as they are, can do them justice.

What's the point in anything

true

I think that's the most infuriating Tuomas post I've ever read. The point is that Miles Davis has/had influence beyond jazz, and that King are musicians, and that voices are instruments, and that their enthusiasm is more important than your doubt.

Sorry if that sounded too negative, I didn't mean to criticise KING specifically, but the whole project. I just don't get doing tributes that do not even honor what the tributee was about. Miles Davis always wanted to push things forward, I'm sure getting some contemporary, underappreciated jazz players to do hypermodern *jazz* versions of his tunes would much more in his spirit than this kind of non-jazz pop star get-together.

so miles can do jazz versions of pop songs and even classical pieces, but pop performers can't do version of jazz numbers?

It's a Robert Glasper album featuring all these guest vocalists. Robert Glasper is a jazz musician (who admittedly has been making boring r&b/pop albums featuring guest vocalists recently).

Also I don't think Miles Davis was especially enamored of 'jazz' after a point.

Actually it sounds like a weird blend of things (overdubbing on/sampling Miles recordings?), so who knows:

Everything’s Beautiful brings Miles Davis’ sound into the 21st century, blending a diverse group of master takes and outtakes from across Miles’ incredible tenure with Columbia Records (1955-1985) with original reinterpretations. Robert Glasper produced the collaboration.

But there have been enough jazz albums that pay tribute to (or recreate the style of) almost every phase of his career, so y'know, whatever they want to do.

Glasper's Black Radio albums are spectacular; dude is a genius so I'm totally happy to see his remix culture take on miles

reminds me of this project (which had its moments, actually): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthalassa:_The_Music_of_Miles_Davis_1969%E2%80%931974

why is glasper a genius

Well, musically he's a demon both as a composer and a performer; probably seen him play a dozen shows live and he has never been anything less than enthralling.

As a cultural figure, in the direct face of the wyntonesque old guard, he has long argued in principle and action that the way forward for jazz as a popular art form is to embrace contemporary hip hop and r&b. He has been doing that from the aughties when peeps dismissed that as corny hip bop revivalism but hey lo and behold it begets thundercat and kendrick and many of the the boldest and most meaningful voices in both jazz and hip hop. He has been a force for musicianship in rap and vitality in jazz and theres a limited number of people doing that.

lo where behold what beget how

http://weigelbroadcasting.com/assets/contest/206/contestimage/980x420_TooHotToHandel.png

glasper plays some good piano on a bilal album i like

"lo where behold what beget how"

glasper's recording career is over ten years old, i'm saying he's been around long enough to change the conversation. he's extremely influential and impactful on the creative careers of any number of contemporary musicians who came up hearing him and are now working with him.
he's a guy who was raised on the native tongues and has a tribute to dilla as one of his standards. the vast majority of serious jazz artists of the early 00's didn't much fuck with hip hop (except in extremely corny ways), glasper is a successful, thoughtful composer who does
http://bricartsmedia.org/events/robert-glasper-experiment-featuring-talib-kweli-glenn-kotche-aja-monet
^this show pulled around 10k people; there were massive crowds outside the gates. this kind of crossover jazz revivalism is a significant musical movement, both in terms of audience interest and creative output, and glasper's on the vanguard

I don't disagree with any of that forks, I just wish I was more into the records he's making. Like, the band is playing songs with all these guest vocalists and the playing is weirdly safe, but the songs are just not that great. And when Glasper/Derrick Hodge/Chris Dave show up in the context of someone else's record where there is a stronger concept happening (thinking Maxwell, D'Angelo, Jose James, Kendrick, etc), there's a lot more 'going for it'.

why is glasper a genius

some of that's matter of taste i guess? imo both black radio albums were among the best music released in their given year (sure they are occasionally corny but idgaf).

But i hear what you're saying about how he and the trio are pretty straight ahead with their playing on their own albums (though maybe try a few tracks on the new album, Covered; his take on Stella by Starlight is dope and shows great versatility). he values beauty in his playing and i think that sometimes gets confused with weakness; just because he has a fondness for lengthy polished legato sections doesn't make what he's doing any less daring. also i will cop to being colored by seeing his live performances which are multi-media jam sessions and often inspire more experimentation.

it may be fair to say that glasper is most effective culturally when he's part of the mix but it's too easy to overlook that he's the straw that stirs the drink.

Didn't know about Covered, definitely enjoying this more than Black Radio. I wish Chris Dave was on it though, they're such good foils for each other. Glasper will play something pretty and CD will fill in the space with something so unexpected and rhythmically digusting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xObvb77GzQE

maybe we should move this to the Glasper or the jazz thread though.

yeah, that video is entirely in line with what i think of when i think of glasper. great stuff.
if you wanna stay on thread topic, i think there's def intersectionality with Glasper and KINGs sound and maybe a good piece to be written about how they're both children of 80's R&B and jazz fusion. riyl for sure

So good in London last night. Incredible atmosphere and Native Land for the encore.

Agreed, best gig I've been to so far this year.

excellent, stoked about seeing them tmw

i couldn't go :(

Free show in NYC in Central Park on Saturday, June 11 at 2:00pm with Cymande and Deva Mahal; apologies for reposting this on a zillion threads but I'm excited.
http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/event/summerstage-cymande-king-deva-mahal-dj-parler/

with CYMANDE?!!???

right?

whoa

they seemed to be having a lot of fun when I saw them who could ever begrudge

Finally bought this. So great.

http://saintheron.com/featured/interview-king-discuss-creating-their-own-musical-destiny-in-the-realm-of-rb/

Mixing soul with traditional R&B gives accolades to the selection of music that has been influential across all genres.

this appears to have been written by the same guy who writes the subject headers for the spam in my inbox.

Realize the grand importance of creative expression, as KING shows and proves that their art speaks for itself and while not against the artist but develops with them as artists.

yeah, i'm not sure this is english.

i just remembered what the bridge of "the right one' reminds me of! it's "mountains"!

or rather it's like if "mountains" melted

which "mountains"?

prince

vinyl

Damn, means I'll have bought it twice. Ah well.

why on earth would you buy the vinyl when you already own the CD?

give the $20 to the local animal shelter instead.

i don't own the CD.

ah missed chewsh's post

i'll answer tho: cause it's an awesome object? on gold vinyl? some people really like playing records? etc.

http://f.cl.ly/items/2h2v0k3f0H2H2j2V180c/ClouDrop%2023%20Jun%202016,%2009%3A29%3A57%2023%20Jun%202016,%2009%3A33%3A13.png

I bought the digital download.

I also DJ, and prefer to use vinyl.

Strange comment though, why are you bringing up animal shelters?

Why would you buy a CD, when the digital download is more convenient anyway? Why didn't you give that etc.

sorry, i'm ignorant on this topic but is there some technical reason they had to do this as double vinyl? if not, i wish they'd done a single LP.

i'm guessing it's at 45rpm, for sound quality

(at 45rpm you can only fit a couple of songs on each side)

Most double's are still 33 1/3. But with less tracks you make the grooves wider which allows for a bigger dynamic range.

Single LPs are gash for DJing too.

Isn't the album almost an hour long? So it wouldn't fit on a regular single LP, even if they made grooves narrower and sacrificed the bass.

I don't think it's necessarily intentional, but they way this album has been marketed has been kinda dodgy. When first became available, it was only as a digital pre-order on Bandcamp with no mention of any physical release. So I paid for the pre-order, so I could listen to the couple of preview tracks you got with that. Then, later on, they did add a limited edition CD to Bandcamp, but at that point presumably a lot of people had already paid for the digital pre-order, so if they wanted to pay for the CD, they had to pay twice. Anyway, that limited edition sold out very soon, and there was still no info whether there'd be a regular, non-limited physical release.

Then, long after the digital album was officially released, a regular CD came out, but it was not available on Bandcamp at all. (Normally, when a band releases an album on Bandcamp that also has a physical version, you only have to pay for it once: you get the digital release immediately, and the CD/LP/cassette will arrive in mail later on.) I like physical records, so I paid for the album for the second time. And now there's an LP version coming out... Thankfully I'm not a vinyl fetishist so I won't need it, but presumably there are some folks who have now paid for the album thrice: first for the digital version (because there was no info whether there would be a physical release), then for the CD (because there was no info whether it would ever come out on vinyl), and then for the LP.

It's self-released, right? They might have used the digital money to pay for the CD, then CD money to pay for pressing the vinyl. Just guessing.

I guess that could be the case, but that's not how most self-released CDs are done on Bandcamp. You can pre-order the album, the band gets the money right away, and the CD will arrive to you later on. Of course it's a bit of a financial risk to promise there will a CD release, since you don't know whether it'll sell enough copies to cover the pressing costs, but the other alternative would be to make your fans pay for the album twice, which is kinda shitty too. There wasn't a huge gap between the announcement of the digital album and the CD version, so the band must've known a CD was coming, yet they made the digital version available to buy with no mention that there'll be a physical release.

I don't see that anyone's being 'made' to do anything...

Dude it's dickish, come on.

first world problems

I've been holding out for a vinyl release as it's my preferred format these days but it's almost $40 including shipping and I can't really justify spending that much more than the cost of the CD. If there was going to be a version on regular vinyl that I could buy in shops for $20, I'd wait for that. At this stage I just want to own my favourite album of the year on some kind of physical format.

hey guys maybe there was some sort of backup or bottleneck at the pressing plants and they had a really long turnaround time for the vinyl

I was going to say... the stories about indies being squeezed out by majors re-releasing DONE WITH MIRRORS and other "crucial"record store day items are probably instructive here

give the $20 to the local animal shelter instead.

― wizzz! (amateurist), Thursday, June 23, 2016 3:33 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ooh we should have a list of small purchases made my ILXORS that should morally be given to animal shelters....

maura....you don't like done w/mirrors? underrated jawn imo

but overall yeah this:

hey guys maybe there was some sort of backup or bottleneck at the pressing plants and they had a really long turnaround time for the vinyl

― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, June 24, 2016 8:50 AM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's lesser Aerosmith and the market for a deluxe reissue seems... slim

hey guys maybe there was some sort of backup or bottleneck at the pressing plants and they had a really long turnaround time for the vinyl

― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, June 24, 2016 8:50 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i figured it was a pressing-plant-backup issue.

it may also just be a little chaotic precisely b/c they are self-releasing. but of course these days even major-labels are screwing up releases big time, b/c nobody really seems to know how to release an album anymore.

they made a bandcamp mixtape or something:

http://bandcamp.com/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=BC%20Weekly%207-5&utm_medium=Tweet&show=186

thanking u
is easy cuz u are big hoos

hey guys maybe there was some sort of backup or bottleneck at the pressing plants and they had a really long turnaround time for the vinyl

― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, June 24, 2016 6:50 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

iirc this is the case 100% of the time?

ya I was being facetious but idk if it came thru v well, bcz to me it is totally obvious that this is the case 100% of the time and it's absurd for anyone to complain abt vinyl taking a long time to come out

hot damn that jennah bell song

Chewshabadoo OTM! I have the album now and it's 33 1/3. Sound GREAT. Though my ears are easy to impress.

four song Spotify Sessions!

man they can really do it live...dang

https://open.spotify.com/album/73cbJQKaZAp6vedt7fsUh9

ilm sound forever

they are playing at the dakota jazz club in mpls coming up, place is usually pretty spendy but it's a really nice intimate venue for a group like this

saw them last night at a tiny intimate little venue and it was SO. GOODL. AAAAHHHHHHH

booked tickets for their london show, at a medium-sized venue but we'll see how popular they prove. all of london ilx ought to be there

bristolians, glaswegians and mancunians will be receiving the delightful presence of KING as well if they'd care to attend

i listen to that spotify sessions more than the album tbh. debarge flip so swoonsome

Wait when are they playing? (I'm guessing it's the Jazz Café or similar?)

Listened to this album after a stressful and shitty day and it just melted everything away.

nov 7th, village underground

In W. DC tonight

five shows in Germany but none in France :(

this album is gonna get super-overlooked on the year-end lists, don't y'all think?

probably. nobody outside ilx seems to care. :(

I'll do my best.

It's my number one, but I'm a non voting felon

I could picture pitchfork sneaking it in near the bottom of their list, like what they did with Blackheart last year. It seems like the kind of album they'd like.

They were great at Bush Hall earlier this year, but funds are a little tight right now so probably can't make the trip up this time.

Craig and I resisted the urge to shout out 'Love and Pride' between tracks remarkably well I felt.

nobody outside ilx seems to care

is this true? I don't really have my ear to the ground at all but they got v favorable notices from NPR, Pitchfork, Ratliff in the Times, Spin...feels like a really enduring album to me

whoa i'm listening to this album and "supernatural" O_O

hi, k3vin!

welcome to h3avin

is this true? I don't really have my ear to the ground at all but they got v favorable notices from NPR, Pitchfork, Ratliff in the Times, Spin...feels like a really enduring album to me

i don't think nobody outside ilm cares. it definitely got love 'round release date. i guess i just felt like that was months ago and it's an understated record and so ppl would forget. but i just searched my email and found this from their publicist in August:

KING's critically acclaimed #1 independent album We Are KING has been honored with coveted spots on the "Best Of 2016 (So Far)" lists by TIME Magazine, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Complex, NPR, Stereogum, Noisey, Newsday and The Quietus.

so maybe i'm wrong. i hope so!

its my #1 this year

think i heard one of these tracks on a recent episode of "insecure"

A track def plays in an ep of high maintenance

It's definitely got some love in the more daddish sections of the UK music press - that's not surprising given it'll appeal to the sort of people who wish R&B had stopped evomvingy at some point shortly after Innervisions.

It's not like something like Blackheart, which really did seem to get completely ignored outside of ILM, Fact and The Quietus.

ILM, Fact and The Quietus
ILM, Fact and The Quietus
ILM, Fact and The Quietus
ILM, Fact and The Quietus
ILM, Fact and The Quietus
ILM, Fact and The Quietus
ILM, Fact and The Quietus

https://vine.co/v/eOZpvu01PQt

A track def plays in an ep of high maintenance

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Saturday, November 5, 2016 3:13 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark

oh yeah that's what it was

there was a king song on insecure, too. "in the meantime," i think.

people who wish R&B had stopped evomvingy at some point shortly after Innervisions.

well let's face facts there was very little evomvingy left to do after Inmerzidgions

Blackheart is a fictional demon appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary to the superhero Ghost Rider.

> It's definitely got some love in the more daddish sections of the UK music press - that's not surprising given it'll appeal to the sort of people who wish R&B had stopped evomvingy at some point shortly after Innervisions.

king sounds pretty '90s r&b to me- am i just ignorant?

HOLY SHIT THIS ACAPELLA COVER OF "HEY"

https://soundcloud.com/jessicanewry/hey-acapella-arrangement-of

SO GOOD IT BROUGHT ME BACK TO ILX

omg hi 💕💕

:)

so pumped for seeing them in 2 days

people who wish R&B had stopped evomvingy at some point shortly after Innervisions.

well let's face facts there was very little evomvingy left to do after Inmerzidgions

― though she denies it to the press, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Saturday, November 5, 2016

exactly

Haha I was posting on my phone but I have no idea how that even happened.

Holy fucking shit their new song Runaway is the best song of all time

well let's face facts there was very little evomvingy left to do after Inmerzidgions

LMAO

Holy fucking shit their new song Runaway is the best song of all time

― imago

was unable to google. link?

("king runaway" gets the second novel of a fantasy trilogy. "we are king" runaway gets a song by we the kings. "paris king runaway" gets louis xvi.)

oh wait it's live-only, i thought they'd released it on soundcloud or something, carry on

yeah, what a damn show

Their contributions to the Corinne Bailey Rae album are at least on the level of their own work, maybe even better? "Horse Print Dress" in particular is a rollercoaster of ecstacy

This, Corine Bailey Rae, and the Tweet album are touchstones of quiet acoustic R&B.

Horse Print Dress is so fantastic

Seeing them tonight and so excited. If you buy tickets via the link they shared on Facebook you get a free digital copy of the album too.

Horse Print Dress is so fantastic

― the fog of "Wha...?" (stevie)

and it's on PONO!

hahahahahaha

Yeah I don't see how this sounds anything like a 70s Stevie Wonder album. The whole palette is 90s..... Though I know performatively distancing oneself from "dad rock" has always been mission critical around here

I'm a big fan, and to me they sound very 70s Stevie inspired.

Stevie's big on syncopation, I love this but don't hear any Stevie either

the chords and harmonies are unlike anything i've heard. it feels like the new classical music, or something pretentious like that

This is way more jazz kids who liked Tom Tom Club and SWV

I hear '80s quiet storm r'n'b and some similarly mellow '90s r'n'b but not Stevie

I hear '80s quiet storm r'n'b and some similarly mellow '90s r'n'b but not Stevie

Totally this

Think Imagination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xjg5hhJoo

Woah, were Imagination a thing in the US?

Only "Just an Illusion."

found some interviews, artists mentioned as influences

prince
duke ellington
stevie wonder
"80s and 90s R&B"
esmerelda spalding
steely dan
erykah badu
joni mitchell
quincy jones
koji kondo (longtime nintendo composer, super mario bros, zelda, etc)
late 90s R&B
ryuichi sakamoto
cocteau twins (makes sense)

Spalding introduced Corinne Bailey Rae to King

xp no wonder they are the best thing around

What no Sade?

swv? i should coko!!!!!

...

sakamoto & kondo.... !

sakamoto a really interesting cite there imo

koji kondo (longtime nintendo composer, super mario bros, zelda, etc)

― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

yeah but are they down with the "earthbound" soundtrack?

i just googled "paris strother jobim" and came across this

Paris has been playing piano since age two, her musical inspirations proving to be both curious and extensive from early on. In addition to the musical richness of her hometown, Paris was inspired by everything from the lilting bossa nova of the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the limitless expressions of soul and consciousness of Stevie Wonder, to the grandiose and saccharine emotionality of Disney movie ballads.

This, Corine Bailey Rae, and the Tweet album are touchstones of quiet acoustic R&B.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, November 7, 2016 5:27 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You heard the NAO album or the Ruby Amanfu album from last year?

I love the Nao album and rate it higher than KING, but it's not really quiet or acoustic?

Neither is the KING album really. There's barely an acoustic instrument on it.

the NAO album rarely feels organic or light in the way the KING album consistently does

that London gig last week was incredible. Aside from anything else I loved the holy trinity stage set-up (and how unfortunately rare that the backing keyboardist + singers combination is so common but the former being a black woman isn't)

Paris also did a lot of synthy flourishes that made me think good things could come of her and Lindstrøm going into a studio together

she did a pretty convincing turn as the best musician in the world tbh

People are sleeping on the Emily King album from last year for this kind of lush/laid-back R&B. That album is so gorgeous. I totally agree with the love for the Tweet and Corrine Bailey Rae albums. I just can't properly get into the NAO album and I've really tried. There's a couple of really great songs on there, but it just hasn't clicked the way I want it to. I can't really put my finger on why.

they were so good live, the harmonising was flawless and the performance of "Hey" they're doing was so stripped back and pure - it made me think to myself "this would make a lovely wedding song."

lmao someone at our show shouted out that "Hey" was actually their wedding song

that is too cute

More like GRAMMY NOMINATED KING

does this mean i have to start referring to them as Grammy Nominated Snarky Puppy

king's entire audience is grammy voters

Why is this album being panned by most EOY lists? I feel frustrated people are hyping lesser r&b/pop albums and this one is almost perfect. Granted, it's more of a compilation album but that has never stopped the hype before

Well, maybe not panned but largely ignored.

king's entire audience is grammy voters

ILM is full of Grammy voters?

Why is this album being panned by most EOY lists? I feel frustrated people are hyping lesser r&b/pop albums and this one is almost perfect. Granted, it's more of a compilation album but that has never stopped the hype before

― Moka, T

What do you mean "panned"? Did you mean ignored?

I'll correct this week.

xp
http://fictionsoftware.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/mygod.jpg

Xpost: yep corrected myself! Not panned, largely ignored.

this thread was just bumped for a grammy nomination, moka

king's entire audience is grammy voters

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, December 6, 2016 12:54 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i have to come clean y'all....
i'm clive davis

i must also make a confession...i'm francis von grammy

(that is my body on each grammy statue)

(take, eat this in remembrance of me)

it was me, I nominated the grammys

some very weird ricocheting between "king are totally beloved by critics" and "king are totally ignored by critics" in the last few posts

KING are totally beloved by critics vs. KING are victims of critics always just voting for Radiohead in year-end polls

Seems critics like it but not enough to add it to their EOY lists. It's weird because it's not a guilty pleasure kind of album or generic comfort food r&b like that Frank Ocean one. Guess they didn't pass the cult of the cool 2016 test.

I listened to it a lot more in the first half of the year than the second half. Maybe it just kept moving down people's lists as newer things came out.

i must also make a confession...i'm francis von grammy

― 6 god none the richer (m bison)

tell us about heaven, francis

"hey" was pretty incredible live

― J0rdan S., Friday, February 5, 2016 11:44 PM (ten months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i love how it was reduced entirely to keyboards

― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Saturday, February 6, 2016 1:04 AM (ten months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it sounded so nice when the crowd caught the refrain

― J0rdan S., Saturday, February 6, 2016 1:13 AM (ten months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this was the best moment i've had at a live show in a while

damn if that 15 second clip of 'the greatest' that just aired on the grammys didn't give me chills

Really cool to see them in the nominees.

Much of the [new Anna Wise](https://annathewise.bandcamp.com/album/the-feminine-act-ii) has a King feel to it.

Much of the new Anna Wise has a King feel to it.

holy crap this anna wise album is amazing. i kinda liked the feminine 1, but this is on another level

This is great, nice recommendation.

Yeah, this Anna Wise album is great. It reminds me of that last Mr Twin Sister album the way she mixes some of those darker electronics with the more laid-back R&B.

Still in my Top 3 of 2017 so far. Anna also co-wrote PRIDE. on DAMN. btw

I'm getting some distinct vaporwave vibes from this though this album is better than pretty much every vaporwave album I've ever heard

Great EOY choice y'all

omg die

lol

just kidding, it's more chillwave. like Com Truise