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Album: James Blake, James Blake (Atlas / A&M)

Reviewed
Sunday 06 February 2011 01:00 GMT
Comments

There have been suggestions that this well-educated north London white boy is a cunning invention cooked up to sell the idea of dubstep to, well, people who read newspapers such as this one.

The 21-year-old, a runner-up in the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll, may make music which is informed by the sonic landscape of that scene, or at least the moody, sinister end thereof, but James Blake is not a record you'll ever hear booming out of car windows.

From opener "Unluck", which has you checking the laser lens on your CD player for dirt, this is an album which has you imagining what might have happened if Robert Wyatt or John Martyn had made glitchcore.

If all you've heard is the single "Limit to Your Love", the most conventional moment here, you won't be prepared for this extraordinary record. Built for repeat listening, this will keep on giving. Don't you just hate it when the hype is right?

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