Is Jacob Collier The Best We've Got?! 

I want to do that, but my current economy keeps me away from travel outside Spain, but i swear you that if The Darkness comes here i will go until it be in Bilbao...which is the other extreme in the map of my city (800km) 😉❤️

we'd like to see you in Texas, but alas...did someone piss in your sopapillas last time?

Hey Justin. Love to hear what you think of Lovebites.

Speaking of The Darkness.... any chance of getting all the boys together on your channel for the 20th Anniversary? It would be awesome to see you all just hanging out shooting the sh1t about the past couple of decades. Love what you do... keep it up😁👍

See you again and the boys in Glasgow later this year mate!

So glad to see someone comment on this! Louis is just as much of a genius, just at the other end of the gritty/clinical scale to Jacob :)

Louis Cole is an example of how you can massive amounts of technical musical ability on many instruments, and a huge fucking in depth understanding of music theory and use it so make harmonically interesting and sonically complex tunes that are actually stobe-cold fucking bangers as well.

Louis Cole!

i loved the interview he did with the patreon guy where he opened up about his "flaws" and how he worked around them for example how he feltlike he didn't have a sophisticated enough foot for soft bassdrumming like some jazz players could, so he made a decision on doubling down on just ramming it down all the way instead which kind of paved the way for the more electronic music kind of beats he does on acoustic lol gives a real good insight into his method and yeah louis cole understands fucking dirt and filth alright, lol clown core is fucking amazing he has a good understanding of gritty drum & bass that would be done electronically in britain back in the day too lol

Went to see Makhia McCraven play, and he was the opener for Louis Cole, who I knew nothing about. What an unexpected surprise 🎉! My friend looked at me and said she felt we just crashed a dance party!😂 such a great show! My only complaint was that I wish the sound guy would have cleaned up the vocals. They were hard to understand since I was not familiar with the songs.

In your opinion.

Have you heard his whole discography? I beg to differ for many of his songs on Djesse Vol. 3

I strongly disagree with regards to this track. Plenty of others, sure, especially his early work. But this? "Make Me Cry"? "It Don't Matter"? "In Too Deep"? "All Night Long"? "Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep"? "Lua"? Plenty of his music is complex without being forbidding.

i agree

​@@murup4R4To quote Christopher Hitchens. "Guess who's saying it? That's a very clever thing to say ... would you prefer I uttered your opinion? What a fatuous remark."

Rufus Wainwright rip off 😂

I see you Stewart Lee.

I'd still love to hear a Picardy third at the end of it, just once!

Yeah same, live was miles better

Agreed. I love his records but his live shows are another level

Agreed. I feel like he has yet to properly capture in the studio the energy he brings live

What's funny is that I remember when he first got some fame online for his videos, people were wondering how he could possibly be as good live as he was recorded. Now the narrative has reversed haha

Live was amazing

I agree and disagree :) theres easy listening tiktok-music and theres complex music. Then there's the maximalist/minimalist dimension also. What i sometimes find off-putting about Jacob Collier is the amount of juice he tries to squeeze out of a song, not leaving out much space for silence. There's a sort of musical/harmonic inflation to it if you will. That being said, hes also beyond awesome!

That’s a really interesting comment - there’s rarely room given to pause in Jacib’s compositions. If I’m honest a lot of the micro harmonies he writes go over my head.

If music was a sport Jacob would probably get 1st place... Is it a sport though? I'd say, no. You could argue that music is something LIKE a sport (to some people anyways)... but the sport-like qualities of it would be lower on the list of its highest purposes... and for someone like Jacob (of which there are very few "like him"),, there's this sense that with all that ability, I find myself wishing he'd use it more obviously for and more often for those highest of purposes (like other geniuses clearly have before him - fill in the blank with any number of musical geniuses who's musical works are what's adored first and foremost, not just their abilities - whether it be Bach or Thomas Newman or Herbie or Stevie or Thom Yorke even)..... but even I don't think my opinion about this is very important at all. Jacob is doing Jacob, and THAT is fine by me! He's just an interesting person to use as a jumping off point for thought. And so with music... .and it being treating kind of as a sport.... I guess it depends on how you come at it... I suppose music can be anything anyone can make it into... and from what I've heard, Jacob makes music that makes me think about his talent and skill instantly.... and the best music (in my opinion) tends to make us think about LIFE... emotion... gives us something to both think and feel that's connected to the human experience, not the music experience... when music makes you think about the musician or the music itself, it's a sign that something is a bit off I think... I don't know... or maybe what he does just isn't for me:), which of course is fine!... but it really gets me thinking about it all... Often when I hear Jacob's music it has a kind of exhibitionism to it.... a self-consciousness... it's too aware of itself... he's clearly having fun... and that part is cool... but I think all of that perceptual and imaginative genius he has seems to cloud up or drown out (or maybe crowd out?) the thing I come to music for the most... and for all the amazingness and incredible layers of layers of layers that Jacob crams into his music, it leaves me feeling very little other than a vague awe that is actually pretty disconnecting.... when I hear music that has that inexplicable special thing, I feel a connection... to something beyond the music... that the music carries or facilitates...... he hits that spot every now and then, but all too often right when he hits it, he leaves it......... he has these moments, but they're crowded or not recognized as more meaningful than the others. I'k sure his mind has trouble prioritizing things in such a way as to make it connect with those without his talent... genius can be alienating in this way. For all the genius he has, his covers are (to me) still just lesser versions of the originals... he turns amazing songs into jungle gyms that he monkeys around on... not making them better but making them into an object to drape his genius upon.... which is a little.... I don't know, annoying?.... sometimes it's fun, I guess.... and fun is good.... but it just reminds me that there many forms of musical genius.... the breadth and width of his has something about it that makes the resulting music sound like you put the cuisines of 15 cultures into a blender and served it up assuming that because they're all good individually that mixing them together must be even better!!!.... I suppose I like prefer a more emotive/expressionistic genius that facilitates some kind of transcendence, where the music is just the mechanism, not the end unto itself (though I've made music like that for sure----and there isn't a hard line between the two, nor a right or wrong way to make or use music!)..... hmm.... for some reason I guess when you encounter genius like that you wonder "what would I do with all that?"... or "what SHOULD be done with all that?"... and I don't even know if those are good questions. It's a subjective thing FOR SURE.... some people love his music (a lot of people)... and to me, that means it has value.... so I'm just pontificating and sharing an opinion.... because it's an interesting topic to me...... and even my opnion is subjective, but there's a layer of objectivity in it... as the saying goes "the exception proves the rule".... Jacob is an exceptional musician who, more often than not, proves that being musically impressive and exceptional isn't the highest level use of musical artistry... to me... and I think, objectively to others too.... Jacob is more known for (and talked about) relative to his genius than his actual songs.... which says something... Hmm... It makes me wonder if I'm jealous at all... for over 3 decades I've worked super hard to be "good" at what I do... and some of that effort was wasted (especially early in life) at efforts to have an impressive skillset... sort of an ego based thing in some ways... but there's the other part of it: all the efforts I put in to learn how to make music a language I could use to express my inner experience.... and that was time totally not wasted... I believe the highest form of musical genius is when someone has both an incredible technical and perceptual ability AND uses it to express this higher transcendent thing through composition, improvisation, or the nuance of performance... Jacob is having fun being awesome and he's a light in the world, and he's strikingly humble too, which is so so cool. It makes me wonder what music he would make (or will make) if/when he NEEDS to make music because he can't find the fun... when he needs music as a life-line... maybe that's presumptuous.... maybe he has made music from this place and I just haven't heard it... or, again, it's just not for me... Jacob's talent makes him a lightning rod.... and I don't wanna dehumanize him with all this; he's still a human being... and I appreciate and respect him... don't mean to objectify him.... but I guess maybe I have! Sorry Jacob... but you make me think about the meaning of music and the value of talent and skill and what it all means.... and maybe that's more what his music means to be; it's a starting point for larger conversations..... and by his music I see other music more for what it is! I don't know. I'm tired. - ok, bye.

@@adamwattsmusic Theres nothing stopping you from making music the way you described though. He's just making it the way he wants

@@BobGnarley. well, there might be something stopping me - a lack of sufficient talent haha - but that doesn't mean I don't or haven't tried (and both successes and failed at the efforts).... I've made lots of music, and continue to... my points are parallel and perpendicular to the one you just made... I find it interesting to think about this stuff.... does talent come with any kind of moral or ethical responsibility? It's similar to the question of, does wealth come with responsibility? Or intellect? Seems to me that Jacob isn't only doing what he wants, he's also doing what he feels he should as well... he's got a generous spirit about him... he teaches... he encourages other musicians...

Yes, but girls just wanna get catsuits! 😂

@@raquelsnt and boys!

@@JustinHawkinsRidesAgain 😂😂😂😂😂

Voluminous Cat Suit tour...

​@@JustinHawkinsRidesAgain you could go for the compromise - one voluminous leg, one tight legging.

Are you sure you saw Collier? Tedious tripe!

He’s not for me. I prefer Marc Rebillet.

@@stukavonferno8858 'Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine'

He was running around the stage like an overactive toddler with ADHD not sure what instrument to play. A few crashes on a cymbal, some chords on a piano, a few notes on the bass, then running across the stage in his bare feet. He might have perfect pitch and be able to get a tune out of anything he lays his hands on but is he a great artist?

@@nick326697 wow, i bet you're fun at parties!

Yep!

There doesn't seem to be any life experience in his music, so he's really not got much to say. His music smells a little too much of privilege and juliard so to speak. That said, if he changed his lifestyle to be more rugged, allowed himself to be taught by people 'outside the prep school culture' and got involved in a project with the right leadership, he could certainly be a solid member of a cool musical ensemble!

@genericusername2783 I think the chances of that happening are nil unfortunately. He's too well known and the is the industry darling. His name is too big to take a collaborative job

Wow!! Then you need to listen to Djesse volumes 1 and 2 now! Djesse volume 2 is especially beautiful and full of gorgeously written music.

@@whitherandthitheryou need to listen to Djesse volume 2 immediately!

@@whitherandthither He needs his heart broken into bits or life needs to punch him straight in the teeth. I don't mean this in a nasty way, but I'd love to hear what kinda songs he writes after this happens.

Agreed. There are some incredibly tallented musicians out there these days but a lot of them fail to move me at all. Each to their own though of course.

I agree. There are people with far less musical ability or knowledge than Jacob that, in my opinion, make much better (or more listenable) music. I’ve always been baffled by him.

That's really interesting cause I like Louis Cole but I don't think his music is half as interesting as Jacob's.

@@patchworkpants - I'll take "good" over "interesting". 😄 Sorry, total troll comment.

Yeah Louis Cole definitely has more interesting ideas than Jacob, even if on initial listen both of their music just doesn't grab you. While Jacob's just stays grounded in complexity, Louis' takes off and grows on you.

@@floatingdisembodiedhead8975 I agree. Louis Cole's music is off-putting only by stylistic choice lol.

That's exactly the reason many people (including me) don't click with his music. Too busy, too complex, layers over layers. I'd love him to be as minimalistic as he is a virtuoso.

@@davidgildegomezperez4364 yuup agree.. its sounds like someone who is very organized and follows the "rules" of music trying to be spontaneous. I can hear the thinking going on through out every one of his songs. Imagine Jacob makes a song that his actually pushes himself to his limits and it sounds like the song can fall off the track at any moment but it doesnt. Hes a super skilled musician so he plays in his comfort zone at lot.. just how I feel about his stuff, Great musician.. boooooring music.

@davidgildegomezperez4364 I get you. Outside of a handful of songs, most of his music is very maximalist. I love it because I find it's very rewarding to listen to time and time again, but I think for some people the excess can be exhausting. I think maybe 'Time to Rest Your Weary Head' and 'The Sun is in Your Eyes' are his most stripped back songs. If I was to recommend a live performance, try searching 'In The Real Early Morning BBC Proms'. I think maybe this would show a more vulnerable side of Jacob than maybe some are used to hearing.

@@AToolyTime it is more difficult to be minimalistic. Simple songs that generate a lot of emotions, for example "We Will Rock You" by Queen, are very difficult to come by. It is relatively easy to pretend to be interesting by just adding layers of complexity.

@davidgildegomezperez4364 I don't really agree with that, to be honest. I think both forms can be easy and difficult in their own right. It is hard to balance a maximalist song, the dynamic range, and complexity without compromising clarity and emotion. Especially when you're flirting with ideas that are idiosyncratic. Likewise, a minimalistic song is difficult because it requires a good hook, lyrics, or musicianship to carry out the simplicity or maintain prolonged interest over repetition. I would wager most songs favour more tried and true forms of song-writing but offer plenty of emotional weight. Especially in pop and rock.

Its sounds like that because he has so much at his disposal but I’m pretty sure he could create whatever he hears in his head instantly. He seems to be as free with musical inspiration as anyone.

perfect comment.

Very well said. Thsi is exactly how I feel about jacob collier as well. I feel like there is some sort of contrast or friction missing, which most of us experience in life.

That’s probably the best way to sum it up for people aren’t interesting in his music, I think there’s a fine line between liking and appreciating something

Exactly how I feel. I don't care if it's "smart" or whatever. It's so sterile to my ears.

well he is a clinical musician to be fair

i would be bored shitless at a concert of his.

@@sixslinger9951 ​ I thought that. Then checked him out at Glastonbury this year and it was amazing. His band are great and the show is full of energy and positivity.

@@sixslinger9951A JC show is a lot of things, but boring isn’t one of them. I’m not really a fan of him as a recording artist either, but live is a different story.

@@sixslinger9951 you really wouldnt.

Hollow is the word, no soul, just notes

yep, also his voice freaks me out, its like kermit is yawning and singing at the same time.

Yes I think lots feel the same. Many others have been hypnotised with the he's the best thing since sliced bread critics. In reality his music is bland.

Interesting! I like both too but find Cole is a human metronome while Collier is way more playful with time/swing. They have jammed together - saw it on YT! Peace!

The jam was quite some time ago: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xRk8odHY4ZE.html I listened to JC's albums and found them "interesting" yet hardly memorable and after trying two times I'd had enough. I do not expect any of his music to last. Louis Cole I can't get enough of, been to a concert recently hearing some new music. In a hundred years I expect him to be regarded as one of the great composers of the 21st century. Like Stevie Wonder quality.

imogen heap has been doing crowd harmonies since 2010 and is also a musical genius, just sayin

@@kimbliboo she definitely is that

Honestly if you need a background in some form of study in music to truly appreciate something I don't think it's valid to say that it's good music under any circumstances. I have a music background but before that I was still into stuff like jazz and classical, knowing more about theory and appreciating the technicality of it all didn't improve my enjoyment of it at a deeper level at all besides maybe additional awe in just how difficult some of this stuff can be. The only thing that really matters at the end of the day is if it sounds good and it moves you in some way, and that can come from both a highly technical piece of music or something pretty simple. Academics and charlatans love to hide behind technical ability in absence of taste and creativity and just pretend everything else is beneath them. Not saying Collier does that but I think you get my point.

I don't like his stuff either, and i'm a virtuoso guitar player (Shameless plug, check me out). He's doing too much i think, that's the problem, i mean it's not bad per say, but it's hard to follow his music. Max Martin (as if he's some form of god, but he's right!). He said you need maximum 4 melodic ideas playing at the same time or else the listener might get confused. Jacob surpassed that long ago, so yeah there you go! Jacob falls in the same category as Polyphia or Dirty Loops for me. Amazing at their instruments, impressive technically, but not very musically pleasant, where's the hooky melodies?

Empty is a good way of describing it.

Sometimes artists let their talent get in the way and instead of trying to make feel something just try to impress you with their fancy talent and skills. That’s the type of artist that Jacob reminds me of. Sounds cool, feels like nothing.

​@@MaxFury_Official Okay, I think throwing Polyphia under the same bus as Jacob is quite the stretch there. They may not be having the same "hooks" in the traditional sense but it's there. Also, the melodies do flow actually and are intuitive enough for anybody else to follow along despite the apparent display of complex techniques. The problem w. Jacob's music is that he can't even begin to do proper songwriting in the first place and he just always overcompensates stuff to the point that it just sounds so artificial. Polyphia has been consistently avoiding the same mistake/error. Anybody can put side-by-side Jacob's "With The Love of My Heart" and Polyphia's "Playing God", it should be clear which one's easier to listen and follow along and which isn't.

Back at the Blue Note NYC with Chris Thile October 2022... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wiCI6KEnh-M.html

But the voice game he does is cool

Precisely this. I have many of his songs sort of sprinkled around different playlists, but I don't really listen to his albums front to back very much because they're often about a third gems, a third interesting and a third cacophonous. Hearing him play Hideaway live though, got to me emotionally in a way that nobody else ever has (although this is admittedly a bit of a complicated half-truth). It's a song that had already brought me to tears before, but the live performance was just incredible. I'd heard of people being brought to tears by songs from so many different artists on numerous occasions: The Beatles (my grandfather), Micheal Jackson (an old neighbor), Jimi Hendrix (an old friend), Taylor Swift (an ex-partner), Harry Styles (a friend) etc etc etc and I just never really got it. Jacob Collier though, really got to me somehow. There are very few other artists that have ever been able to do that to me. Just one song here or there (again, sorta complicated half-truth). But there's at least half a dozen songs of Collier's that really touched me and brought me to tears in some way. It's just always been strange to me hearing someone say that **all** his music has no soul, is robotic, or too calculated. I've always associated the "no soul" label to something like Levitation 21 by Tigran Hamasyan. Something robotic or even straight up disruptive (on purpose). Someone listening to Hideaway or The Sun is in Your Eyes and coming away with "that song lacks emotion" is mind boggling to me. It's understandable to not connect with a song or even an artist, just like I don't connect at all with Jimi Hendrix's music, or Taylor Swift's. But I can at least recognize that their music isn't robotic or unmotivated.

.....just heard his tiny desk concert and wow

😂

Not exactly. He's just being himself. He talks a little about his style in his Rolling Stone UK interview. Basically he likes chaotic, colorful, and comfortable clothes.

Like King' s X never did despite nearly every artist in heavy rock saying they are their favorite band since Beatles.

Inner turmoil played a part...in 1988, Cult of Personality was huge and by 1995, none of the band members could even agree in a direction to go in, so they disbanded....they have reunited and are touring, however...

Living Colour are on tour now in the States, coming to Europe and Australia later, headlining some, supporting Extreme at others.

George is unrelated to Jacob, but in his early days most of his videos were Jacob transcriptions.

Complete with endless comments of "too many notes."😂

If his songwriting sucks then how would anyone learn to be a better songwriter themselves by learning from him? Oh... maybe if you take his songs as lessons in what _not_ to do..

@@SineEyed if you can’t get any interesting ideas from Jacobs ridiculous harmonic vocabulary then I’m afraid that you’re just not creative enough.

Yep he's a much better ambassador of music than he is an artist in his own right. I sometimes feel dazzled by his music but never moved. I can be more moved by a 2-chord Hank Williams song. But as a thinker/leader/ambassador of music and composition, I think Jacob is tough to beat. I think his own works would be better as film scores or ensemble compositions than as pop.

​@@SineEyedthat's because most people love his songwriting.

​​@@deputyrock3489you should listen to Jacob's simple stuff... he's got very simple songs too. "Never Gonna Be Alone" for example, basically only uses 2 chords for the most part. He pours out his soul into all his songs, but this includes child-like exploration and chasing excitement as part of a sonic journey, and most people take that for granted as fuck, especially in adults and they get distracted sometimes if they don't have the emotional intelligence to see the common thread between all of these expressions, whether they are serious, light, complex, or simple.

Yeah I’d very much consider him a “musician’s musician” as you need to really understand and know music to respect all that he’s doing, but you can still be a “musician’s musician” or a “producer’s producer” and make music that’s also appealing to a wider audience as well (Steely Dan, The 1975, etc.), which I feel like Jacob is incapable of.

It's music that appeals to a mostly white/suburban/overprivileged subset of musicians who are socio-culturally aloof, excessively narcissistic/superficial, and see music/art as forms of athleticism with discrete metrics for quality instead of the ever-amorphous mystery and spiritual calling that it actually is.

@@junzeroni I definitely get your point about the privileged aspect of it, I didn't get any of the opportunities that people like Collier got because my family aren't rich, I only started learning guitar 3 years ago at 18 because I managed to find a cheap one at a car boot sale lol and my music classes at school were just an excuse for everyone to piss around so there's no way I'm catching up to his level any time soon, but that's ok I just love playing it and making stuff. But I don't think he himself is a bad guy. Like I don't see him as a narcissist or anything he seems quite nice to me. And yes I don't think his music is any 'better' than less complex music at all, it's all subjective at the end of the day, and I have a love of cheesy pop punk stuff and bedroom pop like dayglow so I won't be judging anyone's music taste haha

Indeed. Music by numbers. Where those numbers are tensor calculus.

I’d say he makes music for himself first, in a good way. But he’s definitely inspired by other musicians and also enjoys throwing his ideas back at them.

I got the FNM vibe. Epic era.

don't you ever disrespect YES like that ever again. pure blasphemy. YES is actual godly music. Jacob is pure cringe

True! I never thought about that until you mentioned it!

I loved the song Jacob and Jonah Nilsson did on Jonah's solo album. It's called 'Independent Girl'. Sooo good.

Perfectly said. I was frustrated about all the critics who judge him and his music on aspects that aren't what he's trying to achieve or what he likes doing. But yeah essentially, I love him too for existing, being unique and pushing certain aspects of music that I value forward. But we don't have to love his music at the same time.

You should watch a few lengthy interviews. They are very interesting and explain a lot.

@@Proghead88 Oh I have delved deep into the Collier well my friend. From the micro-tonal to plagal cadences to negative harmonies.

He is afraid to experiment - which is how you grow!

@@gr8tbigtreehugger I kinda disagree with that. The song featured it the video above is an attempt at rock/metal which is something he hasn't done before. He experiments all the time. He's experimented with everything from classical to hip-hop.

@@gr8tbigtreehugger hahahahaha Jacob Collier is the essence of experimentation. Listen to his last 4 albums.

Maybe because he's not really in the "rock" sphere. Enjoy the Collier rabbit hole. I recommend gravitating toward his live performances.

@@Marklar3 I listen to everything though, been singing forever and have musician friends. It's odd no one would mention this guy. I will. Thanks.

@@johnsuttoniiijs If you're open to any genre, then I have a few recommendations: Moon River In The Bleak Midwinter (And David Bruce's analysis if you're a music nerd) The Paste Magazine studio live performance The 2 Tiny Desk Performances The "audience choir" Snarky Puppy ft. Collier "Don't You Know" "Lua" live "Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep" for Mahogany sessions.

I agree with you so much !!!! Finally someone had to say it

He's definitely a Musicians' musician. He's undeniably one of the most talented musicians in existence at the minute; his ability to play seemingly any instrument no matter how obscure, unrestrained creativity and unreal understanding and mastery of music theory - but yeah ultimately the majority of his songs definitely aren't the most listenable, memorable or relatable... Great for one or two listens to be impressed but I don't find myself listening to many of them casually. Sometimes less is more and it couldn't be more true with music. I think he'll struggle to find mainstream listeners because he can be quite overwhelming. He's undeniably brilliant, but he's like a Michelin Star Restaurant - exceptionally good, but you wouldn't want to eat there every single night; sometimes a simple plate of cheesy chips is all you need to feel great.

I don't really love his voice. This song might be a banger if he gave it to someone else to sing

I often think he wants/needs to capitalize as much as possible from new media and social. But in that moment there is a shift from “ composing meaningful music “ to “ showing entertaining music “. But this happen to a lot of artists ! The only exception I know among the virtuoso musician group is Daniele Gottardo. His latest work is really challenging, difficult and absolutely not “mainstream wanna be “. I truly truly admire Jacob Collier as a musician but after hearing “ Hideaway “ I haven’t found any song that touched me or challenged my listening so much. I don’t really feel like listen to the new stuff for more than 1 or 2 times. I have the feeling that is a product with the intent of “ ohhhhhh “ effect from people who have a general understanding of music. It’s more acrobatic stuff rather than a ballet or a dancing. I can clearly see a deep musician but I can’t feel the man behind the music. A good musician- even if he is really talented - is not necessarily a good artist. And again I say this with the maximum respect because listening to Hideway song I felt that there was so much potential. Another critique I want to point out is his overall sound. It’s rooted too much on digital processor. And this thing affects tremendously the acoustic heart of the music. He wants to be a one man band and therefor he needs computers, processors, loops, filter bla bla bla. I understand the strategy but the result is comparable to a photo with so much “ filter “. So much that it looks beautifully fake. Concentrate on acoustic instruments Jacob !!! Don’t waste your time plugging the voice into a harmonizer !! It all ends up in a sort of cheesy baroque jazz vibe! There is no tension but just “ chords filling “ wich is nice when episodical. This is just my humble opinion All the best

Yes he has talent but not anything thousands of musicians couldn't do. Nothing memorable at all.

Completely agree in the costume subject! But my own particular favourite Jussy's outfit is that one of the past tour which looked like inspired in a gypsy dress!

He has a similar musical interest - musical mindset and philosophy even - to Mark Applebaum. It's not what's commercial, or accessible or necessarily even melodic, but rather what's interesting and intriguing, to compose and to perform. The purest form of art, perhaps.

@@polbecca It's pure, but as you point out in an "interesting and intriguing" way. It's music for the mind. As a Mathematician I already have lots of engagement for the mind. I want music to move me and Jacob's doesn't. One note from Mahalia Jackson or one chord from Chopin has more movement and power in it than everything I've ever heard from Jacob combined. His music makes me think but pretty much never makes me feel. This is especially disappointing when he re-harmonizes something, because invariably I find that I prefer the original, although there's no doubting his skill.

@@mathmusicstructure Tend to agree. Jacob's music is extremely clever, but I don't know enough music theory to fully understand what he's doing, so the density of the arrangements, however well contrived, makes for quite hard listening, when, as you similarly noted, what connects with me is often sparser, simpler and more gentle, but it depends how receptive I am in a given moment to busyness or complexity.

That's an accurate assessment of his djesse albums. They've got an ocean of technical prowess, but shallow as a puddle when it comes to songwriting / composition

I love his voice!

Imogen Heap

Oh he’s THAT guy! Wondered why the name was ringing a bell! Thanks! 🙏🏻

And Bobby McFerrin.

All these people mentioning others that do it, or have done it before. smh. Just because someone has played an instrument live, done a loop live etc. etc. doesn't mean other people are forbidden to do it or appreciate it!

I experienced it myself at his gig and the psychological effect is extremely uncanny.

I don’t at all dislike his music, but complex music can be “bad music” (subjectively of course). You shouldn’t put talented people on a pedestal because just they’re talented, thereby censoring anybody who criticises their music. Have opinions.

Boring music is worse than bad music sometimes.

A lot of the vibe I've seen surrounding Collier's whole thing is what I'd consider 'toxic positivity'. I talk about music on a lot of different forums and have long gotten used to fans of his acting insufferable when people criticize or dismiss his work.

I’m one of those who finds it cold. I guess subjective responses to art can be hard to explain, but to me it feels so constructed and layered that there isn’t room for emotion to burst out: either his or mine. But clearly millions of people love it so he’s doing something right for their ears.

I just really find no personal themes in his music. Yeah the dude can make a composition but if the music has no direction or overarching meaning then I feel it's somewhat pointless

@@RoamingHeathen Hajanga is one of the songs that is just... soooooo warm to me. Id be interresed on your opinion on it!