Critiques CD: James Blake | The Bells Sketch EP

Call it a little slab of weighty vinyl that skitters around dance music but never lifts a foot off the floor even though it has a swing in its hips. Blake is being hailed as a genius and this high concept weirdness built on molasses beats makes a good case. Slurred hip-hop and soul samples haunt it like ghosts between the odd jazzified eclecticism that rebounds into disjointed funk. Warped R&B for lovers on ludes? Experimental dance music for people with no feet? It’s hard to say exactly what this is. The Bells Sketch is a rewarding, yet challenging, listen. It’s also very pretty and quite melancholic EP.