Bilal - Airtight's Revenge

Basically, anyone who likes either New Amerykah and isn't fucking with this is stuck on stupid.

*throwing the gauntlet down*

<3 u rev

i got this today on some random download shit and it is bonkers good

op is a ringing endorsement, tbh though i didn't even know he was around still

"All Matter" is as tense as a coil.

he had her walkin the town
sellin her ass
he was makin money til she broke her back
one daaaay
how you do dat?
upside down on the poll when you're smokin crack
somebody yelled from the back
"get this ho up off the floor"

upside down on the poll when you're smokin crack

too much time on ilx

irl lol

that was an otm post

hook me up dude

just check the usual places

album is v. good.

Oh dang, I didn't realize it was done yet. Hooray!

just check the usual places

― The Reverend, Wednesday, November 3, 2010 10:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cant find :( u have aim mofo

hey rev would you post one or two choice tracks?

i still need to check out the aloe blacc album

deej, i got it off slsk, i don't have a link to a rar/zip

j0, this is my immediate fave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0apYId-zQQE

Basically, anyone who likes either New Amerykah and isn't fucking with this is stuck on stupid.

― The Reverend, Thursday, 4 November 2010 02:52 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

was thinking of starting a thread about the last Mos Def album with p much the same line. Will download this, never knew Bilal was still kicking around.

yeah straight up i thought this dude was dead and shit

His unreleased album Love for Sale was good too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geIyb1pfk0s

i like this album a lot.

how does this compare to Love 4 Sale (which is a classic imo), from what I've read it's a lot "rockier"

Great album. Along with the Quadron album, Plug Research is A+ this year.

COOL ON THE OUTSIDE AND HOT IN THE MIDDLE

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

It's good, but when I put this on it kind of just drifts over my head. I guess it's a bit like listening to an r'n'b Tame Impala - like, there's music there and it's ostensibly interesting,but it doesn't hold me by the lapels and shake me like New Amerykah does. Sorry, I will keep listening.

this is so great on headphones

like this a lot, though i think the songwriting could be a bit stronger at times. its mostly bilals voice/phrasing/tone etc that carry it for me. the last song is quite like cody chestnutt. overall though i think i like this album cos it has a kind of resigned tone that hangs over the whole thing.

I finally listened to this and... don't get it. It seems so aimless and confused. There are no hooks, none of the breaks were memorable - I just don't get it. It's like Voodoo if you take all that makes the D'Angelo great. The songwriting seems like he needs someone to tell him to sharpen it up. The New Amerykah comparison doesn't even really make sense considering how TIGHT that record is, even parts like Master Teacher are so focussed.

I'll give it another go but really this guy exists for me to occasionally pull out Fastlane.

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

"Flying" works because Bilal sounds like the broken-down woman he's singing about.

rev did u make a best albums list last year? i remember finding some really cool shit i had missed off your 09 one (shafiq husayn, meshell ndegeocello)

ILM 2010 Albums Poll Ballot+Stats Fiesta

It's a lot closer to the ILX hivemind's than the previous year's list, where I was kind of carving my own little corner of the world for myself. I also listened to a lot more rap, less r&b and dance than the few years previous.

ya, i feel i hewed p close to it too, or at least to stuff the same stuff you were onto. will check out esperanza spalding & ramadanman tho -- bilal is dope

I love the reggae coda of "Who Are You"

Really like this lp, but it's mastered so horribly I can't usually make it all the way through. It's way too harsh.

Still have much love for Levels, Restart and All Matter. Three of 2010's best songs right there.

Really? I haven't noticed any problem with that.

Yah man, crank it and you'll have to turn down the highs in your e

*eq

Check the opening drums on Restart.

Compare it to the Aloe Blacc lp which was one of the best sounding albums from last year, any genre. That whole album is so warm and inviting, although not as adventurous on a song to song basis.

I don't really ever listen to music loud tbh.

It was one of the first things I noticed and I'm not a major geekaudiophile. My preferences with sound could differ greatly from yours so if you don't notice then cool. Still one of my favorite soul releases from '10 regardless.

This album still jams

Maybe somebody can help me out with this: Bilal teased Airtight's Revenge with a single-worthy track that ultimately didn't make the album, and I don't remember what it was called or know where I can hear it again. I vaguely remember the song being in the vein of "Cake & Eat It Too," kind of heaving and beat-heavy, but that memory could be way off. I was really bummed when it wasn't on the album, then the album grew on me so much I didn't care anymore, but I'd love to hear that track again if anybody remembers it.

no idea, dude

Spent way too much time searching, but I found it. It's "Free." Definitely too beaty to have fit on the album, but not a bad song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZHIENQ698w

Nottz production is always very buoyant.

Yeah, I could go for a whole Nottz-produced soul album. Maybe not a Bilal-Nottz album, because there are probably better uses for Bilal's unique talents, but I always dig Nottz.

just put on

just started playing this and it's definitely a bilal record

it's also really good? obv

Both of the above posts OTM.

new one sounded great while making dinner last night . i want to dig in more but it sounds like his most reined in, concise album yet?

Definitely

A Love Surreal already felt fairly concise to me (if not "reined in" per se). I feel like this album applies that album's discipline to Airtight Revenge's sonic template, though I haven't yet gone back to AR to confirm whether this is even remotely close to correct.

this tweet made me download this album lol

https://twitter.com/alshipley/status/617116418518028288

:)

Finally cracked into this yesterday. Exciting record. First half sounded great to me; second half was a little harsh but I was listening on bad speakers. I run hot and cold on Adrian Younge (sometimes his retro-ness scans as schticky to me) but his work here sound good

Yeah, this is the first Adrian Younge production I've really had any use for because he's finally working with an artist who pushes against his staid-ness.

who's Adrian Younge

the live drumming on this record is pretty appallingly bad, like the worst drumming i've heard on a 'name' record that wasn't shambolic indie rock shit

did you not like the Ghostface album xp?

the live drumming on this record is pretty appallingly bad, like the worst drumming i've heard on a 'name' record that wasn't shambolic indie rock shit

lol yeah this is such a weird choice

I thought the Ghostface record was a blast, but campiness flatters Ghostface. Haven't gotten around to the sequel yet though

who's Adrian Younge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Younge

And yeah, some of his fake-vintage stuff comes across as plastic to me, esp the drums

the live drumming on this record is pretty appallingly bad, like the worst drumming i've heard on a 'name' record that wasn't shambolic indie rock shit

track examples? i still haven't gotten a chance to listen to the first half, but there were parts in the first half that just seemed like intentionally janky loops.

if this album is as good as sirens (Which was amazing, if a bit short and bitty), i think it might be bilals best album in a while. i think airtights might be his best, followed by the first one, and then love for sale.

many songs on the record are as good as "sirens" which yeah is incredddible

Been listening to a lot of Adrian Younge's productions lately and was looking forward to In Another Life. Those drums sure are hard to get past tho. :(

i would call the drums a little basic sounding maybe, but i don't think i would have noticed so much if not for the convo in this thread. after one listen today i think it's pretty great, "it's definitely a bilal record" otm

production feels less than stellar but the songwriting is lovely

only heard this once, on the train, so not ideal conditions, but the album seems underwritten. i wish he would get someone to write for/with him. nice to hear him screaming a bit though, i miss that side of him.

and the drums - though a bit shoehorned in - are better than some of the drums on his other productions. at least these have some thwack to them, most of the time they sound flattened, or like theyre stuck on a certain preset.

First half is pretty good but I think it gets a little aimless near the end. The song I keep coming back to is "Star Now"

album gets better the more i hear it, though it does still seem a bit underdeveloped in places, like they could have done more with the songs. the repetitiousness of the drum sound is dissappointing after a while but the last song kind of slays me. and sirens is still amazing. i love bilal to death, but while i like that he just keeps making albums, unlike dangelo, i still think he has yet to make an album deserving of his talent. having one producer is one good idea, but a strong writer would help loads i think.

saw him live this evening in london. the relentlessness of younges non-grooves becomes more apparent live, where you just want the drummer to STFU with the breakbeats after a while. i didnt realise how sparse the new album actually is, and not always for the better. his current band are good, though it got samey quite fast to hear virtually every song end in a big rock blow out, like a rock shortcut. i wish bilal took rock's propulsion, speed, and catchiness, rather than just grand 70s heaviosity. airtights revenge worked rock/pop influences in much more subtly. hes still a brilliant performer, and singer, though oddly, he doesnt really give himself much time to relax or stretch out vocally these days, which is a shame.

Lemme tell ya that starting the year hearing Bilal do an extended live jam on "Sometimes" is as good a way to get going as you're likely to get.

what a record

so fucked up on prescription pills
she'll never trust a man again

my ears weren't ready for this album when it came out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epfE8rjLeTs

^^^ really wonderful song

seeing him with Kassa Overall on Sunday; bilal is always great in concert

i love this. low key

Did anyone spring for this Bandcamp-only, all-star, no preview tracks release?

https://bilalxhighbreedmusic.bandcamp.com/

Btw ulysses idk if that was the last concert you saw, but I hope it was a good one.

it was a good one (he did sometimes!) but not QUITE the last show I saw. god i miss live music.

not heard that EP but i love the new song on spotify, in the rain.

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

this is interesting

new album is brilliant

best since airtight’s revenge, just as formally daring

!!!

Yeah this is sick, thanks for the heads up

i didn't realise this was out yet but it rules

There’s a new album?!

*flees to Apple Music*

Listening to Love for Sale on youtube today (after hearing his interview on Questlove's podcast), it's just so so nice to hear another record from that incredible Electric Lady era.

Oooooooh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB7fhyqh0IM

ugh this is so good, finally watched it

the glasshaus album is so good. its kind of the album i wish he would make, ie a great lineup of musicians, a simple setup, unfussily but elegantly produced. i do wish it didnt have common on THREE songs - when i saw him live at the weekend, he brought common out there too (no dis to common, he brought a lot of excited-child MC energy), which was a surprise, im just unsure its one i need, lol.

the live show was interesting as ive not seen him live in years and thought it would be like the glasshaus album, but it was split loosely in half, the first half rockier (so big but controlled rocking out climaxes to songs, blues guitar soloing, just putting the guitar louder in the mix, though im not sure hes really that interesting using rock dynamics tbh), the second half was a bit subtler and more restrained, which is where i see his strengths.

i love bilal, hes one of my favourite singers, and the glasshaus album reminded me why, but his albums since the second one have all been pretty middling. i might need to persevere with the new one, it seems okay, more electronic, kinda like miguel in places, but i wish he picked/found better material. might be a tried n tested route but i hope one day he does a cassandra wilson and reworks old songs (i used to have a live version he did of my funny valentine that was sublime). he deserves better material to work with. good for him getting a grammy nomination though.