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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Jim
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warp
Release Date: 29 April 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronica, Soul
Summary
This is the third studio album for the English artist now based in Germany.
Also By This Artist: Multiply
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club)
On Jim, Lidell course-corrects by choosing a warmer, more organic palette. It's a retro-soul record minus the bleeps and whistles, and it exposes Lidell as the charming, confident vocalist he is.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
This is saying something, because every single song on Jim will battle for space in the part of your brain that gets hooked.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
What elevates Jim from faux-soul Jamiroquai ghetto is the effortless exuberance and keen reverence that Lidell brings to the vocals and arrangements, hand-crafting dusty grooves as fresh as the first drop of the needle. [July 2008, p.162]
Vibe
Lidell reaches back further than he has before, appoximating Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, and even Jackie Wilson, elegantly nodding to his clarion-voiced heroes while never allowing the album to become mired in mere tribute. [May 2008, p.72]
PopMatters
The subtlety of these electronics and the discretion of their employment are what makes Jim an ultimately more accomplished record than "Multiply."
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
Featuring a crunching call-and-response bass line, 'Hurricane' not only makes for a hell of a good time, but, much like the album Jim, also makes for one of Lidell’s tightest and most enjoyable to date.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
Soul is about voice and music that connects the church and the bedroom, with elegance and earthiness. And, by that crucial measure, Jim is a great soul record.
Read Full Review >Urb
Ol'boy touches the listener deep on the inside with the polished shimmy of Motown and the greasy strut of Stax tipping his hats to the likes of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and kJackie Wilson. [Mar/Apr 2008, p.107]
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
Thankfully, this is more about Otis, Marvin and Stevie, which Lidell does amazingly well for a British experimental techno brat.
Pitchfork
This is an album by an artist getting comfortable with his softer side. It's another welcome surprise.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
It's hard not to wish, though, that Lidell would transcend what is essentially a Donny Hathaway tribute act and dig out something more intrinsically his own. [9 May 2008, p.65]
Boston Globe
Old is made new again in the best possible way on what could surely be the perfect soundtrack for a sultry, soulful summer.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Jim is most reminiscent of the Southern deep soul of the late '60s, although recorded so well (and so dry) that it betrays its lineage. Add to that an assortment of unobtrusive guests (including Nikka Costa, Gonzales, Peaches, and Alex Acuña) and the result is a record that reveals soul and sincerity.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
And so it goes for a tidy ten tracks, all topped by a voice of gently boiling caramel--a style that channels the best aural qualities of Terence Trent D'Arby and Ray LaMontagne while side-stepping their cloying overearnestness.
Read Full Review >Spin
He refines his act. [May 2008, p.106]
Under The Radar
Lidell's Jim says that it's okay to have fun and not take yourself too seriously, and that's pretty cool in my book. [Spring 2008, p.78]
Austin Chronicle
It's tempting to knock Lidell for being too derivative of Wonder and Donny Hathaway or for simply being the latest in a never-ending line of Brits mimicking the sound of Soulsville, but why bust up a party that's this much fun?
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
U.K. upstart Jamie Lidell’s latest is trapped squarely in this box, but the quality of his vocal performance generally keeps things from being stifling.
Read Full Review >Uncut
He's at his best here on the playful Beck-like 'Hurricane' and the sweetly mournful 'Rope of Sand,' but Jamiroquai-averse listeners would do well to avoid 'Figure Me Out.' [May 2008, p.102]
The Guardian
Jim remodels him into a standard bust-a-gut soul singer who purveys tunes so unrepentantly commercial that the album has been greeted with shock by the faithful. But it's not unappealing.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
So while a cautious welcome is given to this near-flawless interpretation of soul music, it is done with the observation that another record of such polish will be ultimately empty, and more than a little disappointing.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
Jim is pleasant, polite, listenable, smooth (it’s like Yacht Rock for the nu-soul set), undemanding…and a bit of a bore.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Ultimately, this is nothing more than workaday feel good bar music, technically well executed with the peaks and troughs in all the right places.
Read Full Review >Mojo
His near facsimile approach to fond memory demands a revitalising new element and he hasn't got it. [May 2008, p.112]
Q Magazine
Lidell's gospel hollars are impressive, but the music verges on pastiche. [May 2008, p.136]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Matt M. gave it a7:
I enjoy the album but Tosh F is right about it not being as good as Multiply. But that is usually the case with an artists breakout record. I usually have some kind of subconcious bias towards artists first breakout records, and this is the case with Jamie Lidell for me. But all in all, a fun record that came out at the right time as far as it being a summer album and also because of the popularity that Amy Winehouse, unfortunate to say, has brought to this genre of music. Jamie is also way better than her so hopefully this will make him a successful man. Like he isn't already.
derringer gave it a9:
People who are saying that Multiply is better than this album are SORELY mistaken. This is ten times better... it cuts away all the bells and whistles and showcases HIM full force up front. This album is pure bliss from start to finish and unlike the earlier reviewer, I hope he sings A TON of these tunes at his show here on June 4th. I enjoyed parts of MULTIPLY but the production quality was so-so despite the fun electro bits. With Jim, you get any fat is trimmed and you get raw, passionate soul music. His voice has never sounded better.
Tosh F gave it a3:
A BITTER disappointment, after the genius that was multiply. Asides from a couple of tracks all the energy and innovation is gone, it feels lackluster from the get go, multiply made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and a big grin spread across my face, Jim turns my smile to a frown and makes me want to sit down, not get up and dance around. Very bland production, and seemingly directionless. Just hope he doesnt play many of these tracks when I see him next week.
Matt A gave it a9:
I am pretty surprised by this rating. Q refers to the music as borderline pastiche? Lidell certainly wears his influences on his sleeve, but that does not mean it is pastiche. He doesn't try and hide what he's doing. Besides, there are enough eclectic productions touches to make this album feel completely contemporary. It is a very different album than Multiply, and while there aren't as many standout tracks here, I think Jim is a more consistent and cohesive statment than Multiply was. Q Magazine should be ashamed of themselves for giving the shitty new Guillemots CD a substantially better rating than this. Get this disc in spite of their tin ear.
