@blobtower "to be like Aaron Neville, AND [Aphex] Twin?:" British Crooner James Blake Surprise Releases Third Album, The Colour In Anything (Polydor & 1-800 Dinosaur)

"So proud of my brother James Blake dropping the bigness tonight... Also, so proud of our song ["I Need a] Forest Fire" came from wonderful accidents and good friendship... James, or Jim as I call him when I'm upset with him, is such a powerful musician; to be like Aaron Neville, AND Aphex [Twin]?" Bon Iver frontman and frequent James Blake collaborator Justin Vernon (@blobtower) exuberantly Tweeted on the eve of The Colour In Anything. Vernon and Blake previously collaborated on "Fall Creek Boys Choir" from mid-album Enough Thunder EP, although likely first rubbed shoulders due to this singular candid statement: "He's James Blake. Just go listen to his music and say, "hey, that's Kanye's favorite artist." Justin Vernon contributed crooned backing vocals assists to "MONSTER" and the majority of Kanye's sprawling magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, as well as a number of fractured Death Grips-inspired Yeezus compositions; while James Blake told a number of publications between 2013-16 that he in fact longed to nab Mr. West for an album feature on his then-titled Radio Silence, which eventually morphed into The Colour In Anything, sadly sans Kanye's long-rumored rapped verse on "Timeless." Side note: one of the greatest, albeit non-musical, aspects of The Colour In Anything hands down has to be its beautiful, mood-enducing sketched cover artwork (seen above) designed by long-time Roald Dahl illustrator Sir Quentin Blake.

Blake has grown leaps and bounds as a singer-songwriter, producer, and collaborator during the three-year span since Overgrown– having worked alongside the likes of Beyoncé, Drake, Grime emcee Trim, Vince Staples, legendary "reducer" Rick Rubin, and former Odd Future crooner and co-writer Frank Ocean. While I haven't ideally had the adequate time I would like to sit with, digest, and dissect The Colour In Anything (due in part, to its inavailability on one particular streaming platform), James Blake's surprise released album has however, received the coveted "stamp of approval" from my beautiful girlfriend, with whom I generally share all of my Hip-Hop. She seemingly enjoyed "I Need a Forest Fire" and Blake's 2010-11 Indie Rock press-rattling "Limit to Your Love," but noticeably enjoyed them even more once she realized he was a handsome British lad, rather than an R. Kelly-esque R&B crooner! James Blake's self-described "bigger in scope and a byproduct of a lot of change and growing up" third album, The Colour In Anything is currently available for purchase and streaming from Spotify, Apples Music, Amazon Prime, and numerous digital platforms. Polydor Records and its stateside subsidiary, Universal Music Group have yet to announce a physical release, to the best of my knowledge, although a CD-LP distribution only seems imminent in this day and age.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

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