Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam is the debut album of British singer, songwriter and musician Ghostpoet. It was released worldwide on 4 February 2011 on Gilles Peterson's label Brownswood Recordings.[5] The album was shortlisted for the 2011 Mercury Prize,[6] but lost to Let England Shake by PJ Harvey.[7]
| Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 February 2011 | |||
| Recorded | Redbull Music Academy studios and The Brownswood Basement | |||
| Genre | Electronica, trip hop | |||
| Length | 41:11 | |||
| Label | Brownswood | |||
| Producer | Ghostpoet | |||
| Ghostpoet chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Lesson Six |   [4] |
Reception
editUpon its release, Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam received generally good reviews from music critics. The website Metacritic[8] gives the album an aggregated score of 78/100 while, and as of July 2011, Amazon ranks it at 18 in their list of the top 50 most acclaimed albums of the year so far.[9] Most reviews, both positive and negative, emphasized the engaging nature of the music; Zachary Houle of Pop Matters praised the sound for being "compelling in its own audacity."[10] Adam Kennedy of the BBC stated that "rarely does a British debut album forge such a fully formed, genuinely unique direction", adding, that the album "throws its headgear into the ring as an early contender for 2011's finest out-of-leftfield long-players".[11] Some reviews were more mixed, however; American magazine CMJ noted the challenging nature of the music, saying that the songs "barely step out of the realm of down-tempo trip hop genre pioneered by his countrymen Massive Attack," but added that, "Ghostpoet shows that he is close to mastering it."[12]
Track listing
editAll songs written and produced by Ghostpoet.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Onetwos" | 0:40 |
| 2. | "Run Run Run" | 3:19 |
| 3. | "Us Against Whatever Ever" | 4:28 |
| 4. | "Finished I Ain't" | 4:19 |
| 5. | "Longing for the Night" | 3:34 |
| 6. | "Yeah Pause" | 0:17 |
| 7. | "I Just Don't Know" | 3:36 |
| 8. | "Survive It" (featuring Fabiana Palladino) | 4:21 |
| 9. | "Gaaasp" | 5:27 |
| 10. | "Cash and Carry Me Home" | 3:35 |
| 11. | "Garden Path" | 2:49 |
| 12. | "Liiines" | 4:51 |
- Note: Some editions of the album combine "Onetwos" with "Run Run Run", and "Longing for the Night" with "Yeah Pause" respectively.
Personnel
editAccording to the album's liner notes:
- Ghostpoet - Vocals, writing and production
- Florian Sauvaire - Drums on "Finished I Ain't", "I Just Don't Know" and "Liiines", additional production
- Chris Lockington - Guitar on "Finished I Ain't", "I Just Don't Know" and "Liiines", additional production
- Fabiana Palladino - Vocals on "Survive It"
- Ian "Ean" Carter - Mixing, guitar on "Finished I Ain't" and "Liiines", bass on "Liiines", additional production, recording
- Brendon "Octave" Harding - Recording, additional production
- Stuart Hawkes - Mastering
- Nigel R Glasgow - Additional production
- Mischa Ritcher - Photography
- Teddy George-Poku - Styling
- Ana Pryor - Graphics
References
edit- ^ "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ Sam Morris. "Review: Ghostpoet's Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam". Lessonsix.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Mercury Prize - Albums of the Year: News - Albums of the Year". Mercuryprize.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ Alexandra Topping. "PJ Harvey wins Mercury music prize for the second time". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Ghostpoet". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Amazon.co.uk: Best Albums of 2011". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Ghostpoet". PopMatters. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "BBC - Music - Review of Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Ghostpoet". CMJ. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2015.