Frank Ocean, 'Boys Don't Cry'

I'm not sure I like it. If he gets away with it, surely every label contract will become even more nefarious, right? Plus it resulted in a shit album being sold to his audience under false pretenses. It's... Not good?

this is a fun story but i feel like if getting out of a record contract was as easy as "deliver your label a fake album and then give the real thing to someone else" it would have been discovered before now

It has been.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_(Teenage_Fanclub_album)

Contractual obligations

@Frederik - it's only a bad precedent if Def Jam screwed him with a shit deal.

err, i mean - if his deal with Def Jam wasn't shitty, it's a bad precedent...

none of the examples in that thread happened in the last 25 years

in any event frank's issues with def jam go back pretty far, i wouldn't be surprised if they washed their hands of him a while back and were fine with letting him go if they recouped whatever money they put into the project

anyway this album is not quite as good as i was expecting but i like it a lot. i think it kinda starts weird, i like "nikes" but it doesn't really make much sense in the context of the album. the next few songs feel pretty channel orange-y and maybe out of place with what follows also. "solo" through "nights" is pretty incredible i think, none of the complaints people have about some of those tracks -- no beats, non-linear structures -- bother me, i think there's a lot to chew on lyrically and good hooks. "good guy" is maybe my fav song on this, i wish it was full-length but in general i like all the short songs on this. not quite sure how i feel about the final third of it... "godspeed" is pretty great, the album is pretty organ heavy and it's cool to hear him go more overt gospel even tho him in that context still sort of throws me for a loop. i like "white ferrari" but i also like bon iver... "seigfried" has a memorable ending but is overall a little ponderous i think and for being 9 minutes "futura free" ends up feeling kinda minor compared to how the last record ends.

ultimately i wish the beginning and ending stretches held up to the middle but there's enough stuff i like on either to where i think i'll play this all the way through a lot this year.

i'll admit that there are a bunch of points on this album where i don't know wtf he's talking about but the lyrics that are direct and not space-y i really connect w/ to the point that i don't even really care about the other stuff

Carl Wilson's take.

I hate big labels as much as the next guy but that move is super shady. Def Jam could prove that those 2M where used to pay all those producers and guest artists.

A drake dream heard underwater, no less.

Yeah, I hate this.

xxp he paid that $2M back, though.

Ok, this is growing on me a little bit. The Pink + White to Self Control stretch of songs is fantastic (remove the skit, please and thank you). Somebody could probably make a pretty good Playing God out of the best songs from Blonde and Endless

It helps to skip Nikes. I don't understand the breathless praise for that song or for "Seigfried" which is just not good at all.

Frank's 100 fave films

my goodness that's a dull list

must be a secret ILXer

Time to re-do "Puce Moment" with a Frank Ocean song

the mom weed interlude reminds me so much of the last track on Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada. the bed of synths and the timbre of his mom's voice are exactly like the PSA sampled in that track.

That sound/filter/effect at 1:50 in Nikes.

got apple music to listen to this, which i am doing now. nikes is stunning.

the meandering surfer guitar on this second track is rad

got apple music to listen to this

iirc you can also buy it

i went into the record shop the other day and they didn't seem to have it

digitally

I guess mp3s really are over

after a few more listens there's some pretty moments on this but it's very inconsistent and the sequencing really does it no favours. when the actual songs are so fragmented and formless already, all the interludes just fracture it even further.

id be fine if someone edited the bird whistle out of solo btw

this album provokes no dissatisfaction in me. i think it is good the way it is.

If Nikes, Ivy, Pink and White, Nights and Siegfried had been an intermediary e.p that surfaced 3 years ago I'd of been hailing him as the second coming. This is just a little insubstantial for all the hype. Truth is I keep hoping that he's gonna surprise us with the real album of 'Boys Don't Cry'...

This album is such an awkward bluff.

Skyline To is the true keeper from this

whew! It took long enough:

When you listen to “Blonde,” characterizations like “R. & B. deconstructionist” suddenly feel insufficient. If Ocean was ever interested in toying with genre conventions, he has since widened his gaze. These days, his work feels not only post-genre but post-album, and even post-song.

[snip]

At a time when a pop lyric is only as strong as its potential to become a T-shirt logo or an Instagram caption, Ocean is a genuine misfit. His free-form lyrics are a no-hashtag zone.

I was worried that no one would imply the album was post-genre.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/05/frank-oceans-blonde-endless-and-boys-dont-cry-reviewed

at last we are out of the woods of genre

So many reviews boil down to «I don't actually like this but it feels important so...»

So are Blond, Endless and Boys Don't Cry three separate albums? And why is one spelled Blond and one spelled Blonde? I'm too old to understand what's happening :(

Something about contractual obligations, a super-rare magazine that's already claiming ridiculous amounts of money on eBay, and a frankly underwhelming album.

Trying, and failing, to hear the Gang of Four sample in 'Futura Free'.

And why is one spelled Blond and one spelled Blonde?

bc it's 2016 words have no rules or meaning dog

'Self Control' is making me tearful. The album is growing on me, a lot.

Oh come on ILM, 'Blond/Blonde' deserves more love than this. It's a brave slow burner that breaks the rules. Well, my rules at least given I've little patience with confessional singer songwriters. Blond/Blonde is a work with many layers, nuances and emotions. It needs time and focused listening, but it's worth the effort.

I fear it is heading for the dreaded 'more talked about than listened to' status. It's better than that, much better.

what rules is it breaking?

I added 'my rules' , which include an aversion to: R&B artists showcasing their Gospel influences, introspective men wth guitars unburdening their souls, and sprawling stabs at 'serious artist' status.

This album is way too much a guy with little tune sense unburdening his damaged soul over guitar strums.

"little tune sense"....... Frank's got tunes to burn, they're just not 'immediate', but they are there, in abundance. They are swirling around my head when I'm not playing it. And this is s.o. who gave 'Channel Orange' only a cursory listen.

Interesting. I loved nostalgiaultra and sort of hated Channel Orange. I think I noticed most of the tunes you mention but they just don't seem strong enough. The lyrics are unremarkable as well. It just sounds like a regular singer/songwriters's demo or something. It's coming from an interesting and likable dude so it gets a pass imo. But I'm sort of ready to be convinced otherwise. Could you maybe choose your top 5 favorite moments on the record?

I like the challenge simmel. As I'm currently traveling it will take a few days, but if I can persuade at least one person Blond(e) is the work of genius I think it is I will be happy, I will choose my five moments and get back to you.

Thanks! Looking forward to it.