A Lidell Bit More
Sometimes, to the shock of some, I like music that doesn't go oonce oonce oonce; it is probably some sort of professional failing that I don't write about those other things very often. Jamie Lidell used to go oonce oonce oonce; now he goes croon croon croon, and the funny thing is, I think I like him better more now than then. (Super_Collider will always hold a special place in my heart, however.) Strange people are giving a fair amount of guff to Lidell's new album, Jim, seemingly because it's too earnest, too knowing, too pretty, not as manic as his live sets, or some combination of those. That is of course their right, although I disagree strenuously (as I attempted to argue in a review in Pitchfork back at the end of April, though in retrospect I suspect the topic sort of got away from me--sometimes, the records we like the most, we end up liking for the most nameless reasons).
Anyway, if Jamie Lidell is the sort of character who interests you, and he should be, you can read my feature on him in the June issue of Spin magazine. The print version has gone off the shelves, but you can read it online here. (The text may look really, really small in your browser — click once on the page and it will enlarge. It's still really small, but at least marginally less unmanageably so.)
If you're really a glutton for punishment, I'll shortly be posting the full, unedited transcript — almost 8000 words worth. Unfortunately, Jamie's personality — sort of generous and guarded all at once, proudly self-deprecating — doesn't really jump off the page. Unsurprisingly, it's all in the voice...