1. Frank Ocean channelORANGE
2012 should rightly be the year in which Frank Ocean finds a fame and fortune entirely all his own. That was me, back in April, upon featuring
Frank Ocean in the very first
Things You Should Be Listening To feature. I couldnt have predicted just how true my well wishing couldve come. In the feature I discussed
Oceans unfortunately being overshadowed by his fellow
Odd Future bandmates and the stars he wrote songs for or featured on tracks by. Then the rest of the year happened. Since writing that feature a lot has happened for
Mr Ocean, most of which I touched upon in my
gushing introductory feature on
Frank Ocean and
review of
channelORANGE. I imagine most people know the highlights anyway, so well just talk
channelORANGE here. His first official album following the technically-a-mixtape
nostalgiaULTRA couldnt have gone, or been, better really. It became clear that
Ocean is the most talented member of
Odd Future (except perhaps the ambidextrous twisted lyricist
Earl Sweatshirt, though we need more from him first), yes even more so than
Tyler, the Creator, and quickly upon realizing this the credit he deserved came finally following as the spotlight centred on him. Through the course of
channelORANGE the listened is greeted by an experimental and soulful take on RnB as it amasses in its artillery elements of funk, hip hop, rap, electro, jazz, string ballads and classic soul. The sound is intrinsically modern but also vividly vintage, and combined with
Oceans storytelling as told through his emotive vocals, creates the album of the year and the start of something great. Providing he doesnt stop music altogether and focus on his storytelling to become a novelist as he has threatened. Please dont
Frank, were just getting started surely?
Key tracks Thinking Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Lost, Bad Religion http://youtu.be/F15IjgyHd60 http://youtu.be/s26qTrH2atA http://youtu.be/sDSPybTFYHU