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As on any good Beck record, Compass finds time for everything from R&B to hard rock to the type of gut-bucket experimental rock that Tom Waits would be proud of. The big difference is in the vocal performances. It's clear that Lidell is wearing his heart on his sleeve here, and we see a portrait of a person, not a personality.
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Though Compass initially seems like the least interesting song on the album, that’s the beauty of the surprises in store.
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Even as his piecework band stretches the sound in unexpected directions, Lidell--like a peculiar cross of Prince and Otis Redding--remains confidently true to his soul vision, creating a tense musical discourse that wrings raw emotion from each eclectic track.
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Tracks like the punk-lite “You Are Waking’’ collapse under the weight of their ambitions, but on the whole Lidell should be admired for his adventurous musical fusions.
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A curious state of affairs on the surface, this is no empty exercise in muso accomplishment. Lidell’s voice is a thing of wonder, a match for or indeed bettering many of R‘n’B’s mainstream performers.
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If there’s one major complaint to be made, it’s that Compass is simply overlong. These fourteen songs are proof that there is far more longevity in Lidell’s work, even if at over fifty minutes too many moments seem frivolous or forgettable compared to the striking highs.
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Please allow yourself to get lost in its sweeping scope of wonder because it is definitely sprawling. But mostly, we knew he’d be diverse, we just didn’t know it would be this good.
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It's true Lidell darts from one scene to the next, and not every moment earns its place. Yet it all makes a curious kind of sense in Compass' vivid canvas.
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To wit, what irritates most about Compass is the way it assaults the listener with wave after wave of sonic winks, of moments intended to be witty or clever that instead fall flat. Busy and fussily filtered at every turn, I guess it’s ‘crazy’ sounding or something, but there’s nothing communicated in the slightest.
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FilterThankfully, none of Lidell's guests do much to blunt his funky trajectory. [Spring/Summer 2010, p.108]
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Berlin based electro crooner ratchets up the goo factor.
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MojoLidell's bluesy wail goes head-to-head with a dense, churning groove in what can best be described as anti-R&B. [June 2010, p. 97]
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Lidell has been through a lot in his personal life since the last album, and it seems that has prompted a rethink on his music - a turn in direction back to the less predictable, more incendiary writing of Multiply and his days with Supercollider. It suits him to be back in that place.
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Britain’s foremost whiteboy funkateer has learned enough since his 2005 major label debut ‘Multiply’ for ‘Compass’ to pull off a neat trick. With his heart as his guide, Lidell gives us a tour of soul through his geographically-removed ears.
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Though he offers some of his most impressive and experimental numbers to date, due to Compass’s continual up-and-down nature it’s unlikely to make the impression of either of his two previous albums.
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He’s sounding more Sly Stone than Otis Redding this time, which gives him room to get delightfully weird and psychedelic while still keeping everything deeply rooted in R&B.
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Lidell’s voice easily shifts from soul melisma to a more gruff, linear style, although several amped-up numbers (“You Are Waking,” “Gypsy Blood”) feel inert. Luckily, most of the album sticks to the kind of warped romantic confections and wild, simmering vamps he does best.
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This is a transitional record, an in-betweener, one that Lidell may eventually look back on as a door to something else. The good news for all of us is that even when he's down, he's not out.
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Even if such song structures are less conventional and more of an acquired taste than those found on Jim, there is a continuity between the two albums that will satisfy both devoted and new fans alike. However, the best way to appreciate Compass is to follow the bread crumbs Jamie Lidell leaves on the trail and be prepared for anything.
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While Compass, due partially to its longer track list, features a few duds that prevent it from surpassing the superior Jim, the album still shows Lidell as indie’s best answer to Robin Thicke and his compatriots, artists Lidell bests on a regular basis.
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Q MagazineThough his voice remains vintage, his creative spirit has been rejuvenated. [Jul 2010, p.127]
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His fourth solo album is a disc of elegantly warped love songs: Cut with help from Beck, Feist and Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, Compass keeps up Lidell's blend of creamy come-ons and fuzzy beats.
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Compass won't bring Lidell the crossover success he richly deserves, but it is an outstanding document of a restless artist's quest to reinvent his chosen medium. Running in place is for suckers anyway.
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At times, Lidell seems determined to overcrowd his genuinely soulful and lyrically strong music, whether it's with silly, pitched-down vocals ("Your Sweet Boom"), laptoppy clicks, squiggles, and washes ("She Needs Me"), or blasts of aggro rock ("You Are Walking").
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There’s atmosphere, sure, but it’s less sad-guy sitting room and more 22nd-century juke joint.
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In truth he doesn’t always seem to know his bearings, but he manages to make his confusion compelling.
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UncutLidell's vocals are alternately anguished and joyous but always supple. It's quite a ride. [May 2010, p.97]
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Both unapologetically sex-drenched, and featuring the occasional bout of weirdness not seen since Raw Digits, his 2002 side-project with Super_Collider, Compass occasionally drifts too far, its coordinates everywhere at once.
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Although Compass is certainly different from his other albums, it’s also just as certainly distinctly Jamie Lidell, and just the latest step in an ever-growingly impressive career.
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It's the defiantly weird edges that make Compass cohere.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 8
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Mixed: 0 out of 8
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Negative: 1 out of 8
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May 10, 2013
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Aug 29, 2010