Any of you guys checked this out?

Was a big fan of Jungle Groove and Popular is probably the greatest unreleased album I've ever heard... just ordered the CD of What Were You Hoping For and wondered how you guys feel the album holds up to his others?

I truly rate Van Hunt as one of the best and most criminally overlooked artists to emerge post-00s. What the hell is wrong with this damn industry letting someone as talented as Van fly so far under the radar?

[Edited 11/24/13 3:30am]

It's a great album — Van seems incapable of making anything else — but there was a lot more discussion about it when it was released. I'm surprised you waited this long to cop it!

AlexdeParis said:

It's a great album — Van seems incapable of making anything else — but there was a lot more discussion about it when it was released. I'm surprised you waited this long to cop it!

I listened to him a lot around the time of his second and third record and kept meaning to check out the new one but went on a bit of a rock music hiatus for a few years.... At The End Of A Slow Dance came on my iPod shuffle last week and I was like dayum, I gotta check out Van's last joint.

He remains a wonderfully gifted songwriter and recording artist. He's not popular because he's

intelligent and uncategorizable. Van Gogh (pun intended) ran into the same problems, I'm sure

of it. . .

He'll be woefully neglected during his time; but our great-grandchildren will rave about him and

wonder why we paid so much attention to D'Angelo and R. Kelly.

Van Hunt played locally after the album came out and I went to see him. He played some new songs off the album and they sounded even better live.

Van Hunt will be the Shuggie Ottis of our generation.

That album turned me from super-fan to zero fan. I dont even have the stuff i used to love on my ipod anymore

Maybeee one day i will re-visit it. Such a monumental let down.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Van Hunt will be the Shuggie Ottis of our generation.

I've told him the same.

xperience319 said:

That album turned me from super-fan to zero fan. I dont even have the stuff i used to love on my ipod anymore

Maybeee one day i will re-visit it. Such a monumental let down.

What were you hoping for?

duccichucka said:

xperience319 said:

That album turned me from super-fan to zero fan. I dont even have the stuff i used to love on my ipod anymore

Maybeee one day i will re-visit it. Such a monumental let down.

What were you hoping for?

Clearly not that.

I also have the signed CD he offered for pre-orders somewhere...still in the parcel post packaging didnt bother to open it after hearing the album on download (legally!)

xperience319 said:

duccichucka said:

What were you hoping for?

Clearly not that.

I also have the signed CD he offered for pre-orders somewhere...still in the parcel post packaging didnt bother to open it after hearing the album on download (legally!)

Can you elaborate - what disappointed you about this album?

Interesting you bought this up. I have been on repeat the last few days with

Van Hunt's debut and On the Jungle Floor. I got a Bose cd player for my birthday

last month so i've been bumping those two. I tried listening to What Were You

Hoping For but outside of 4 tracks I really don't like the album too much. I do

love North Hollywood and Like Pearls.

I like the title track and It's A Mysterious Hustle.

phunkdaddy said:

Interesting you bought this up. I have been on repeat the last few days with

Van Hunt's debut and On the Jungle Floor. I got a Bose cd player for my birthday

last month so i've been bumping those two. I tried listening to What Were You

Hoping For but outside of 4 tracks I really don't like the album too much. I do

love North Hollywood and Like Pearls.

No love for Popular? That's my second favorite after OTJF.

You guys mentioned almost all of my favorites from What Were You Hoping For?: "Eyes Like Pearls," "North Hollywood," "It's a Mysterious Hustle," and the title track. I'd add in "Moving Targets" and, depending on my mood, "Plum."

AlexdeParis said:

phunkdaddy said:

Interesting you bought this up. I have been on repeat the last few days with

Van Hunt's debut and On the Jungle Floor. I got a Bose cd player for my birthday

last month so i've been bumping those two. I tried listening to What Were You

Hoping For but outside of 4 tracks I really don't like the album too much. I do

love North Hollywood and Like Pearls.

No love for Popular? That's my second favorite after OTJF.

You guys mentioned almost all of my favorites from What Were You Hoping For?: "Eyes Like Pearls," "North Hollywood," "It's a Mysterious Hustle," and the title track. I'd add in "Moving Targets" and, depending on my mood, "Plum."

I've listened to the tracks on youtube and I like a few tracks but it seemed like

the album was just missing something. I'd have to give it another listen.

My only problem with this album is the way it's mixed. Too much cold reverb, filtered electric guitar and too little bass makes the album hard to digest as a whole. I do like all the songs individually when they pop up on my ipod.

As gifted as he is, he decided to make a bunch of music that only a niché few were interested in. That's why his shows fell off the way they did. You can make the songs but you can't make people like them. Maybe he will realize that and find his way back to a place where people dig him again.

Ville said:

My only problem with this album is the way it's mixed. Too much cold reverb, filtered electric guitar and too little bass makes the album hard to digest as a whole. I do like all the songs individually when they pop up on my ipod.

This too.

I wish he would release a live recording with these songs, they have quite a different sound live...

BlaqueKnight said:

As gifted as he is, he decided to make a bunch of music that only a niché few were interested in. That's why his shows fell off the way they did. You can make the songs but you can't make people like them. Maybe he will realize that and find his way back to a place where people dig him again.

Fuck that, BK. Now, listen: clearly if the negro wants to eat, he should serve his fan base an art

that is accessible and easily digestible. But Van Hunt seems to be an artist more concerned with

following the direction and guidance of his muse, as opposed to the shallow, uninformed, dare I

say stupid, desires of the populace. He could easily put out an album chockfull of "Dust"s, and

"At The End of a Slow Dance"s, and "Down Here in Hell With You"s so that pop-rockers get their

fill and so do those annoying neo-soul listeners and admirers.

But good artists give you want you want. Great artists give you what you need. And after four

albums deep, Van Hunt's catalogue, at this point in his career, is more interesting than he who

shall remain nameless lest I mention him and start a holy war.

Ville said:

My only problem with this album is the way it's mixed. Too much cold reverb, filtered electric guitar and too little bass makes the album hard to digest as a whole. I do like all the songs individually when they pop up on my ipod.

I disagree with you about the mix. It sounded fine to me. I liked the Nigel Godrich flourishes;

the album reminded me of OK Computer and Kid A. I agree with you about the lack of base:

I like to hear the low-end on albums and I missed it on a couple of these cuts, especially after

what was heard on Popular.

He should let me produce his next album, word up. Together, we'd make all y'all forget about

Voodoo and Parade and House of Music.

duccichucka said:

BlaqueKnight said:

As gifted as he is, he decided to make a bunch of music that only a niché few were interested in. That's why his shows fell off the way they did. You can make the songs but you can't make people like them. Maybe he will realize that and find his way back to a place where people dig him again.

Fuck that, BK. Now, listen: clearly if the negro wants to eat, he should serve his fan base an art

that is accessible and easily digestible. But Van Hunt seems to be an artist more concerned with

following the direction and guidance of his muse, as opposed to the shallow, uninformed, dare I

say stupid, desires of the populace. He could easily put out an album chockfull of "Dust"s, and

"At The End of a Slow Dance"s, and "Down Here in Hell With You"s so that pop-rockers get their

fill and so do those annoying neo-soul listeners and admirers.

But good artists give you want you want. Great artists give you what you need. And after four

albums deep, Van Hunt's catalogue, at this point in his career, is more interesting than he who

shall remain nameless lest I mention him and start a holy war.

The so-called "desires of the populace" when relating to Van Hunt's followers are unlikely to be overly concerned with how commercially accessible his new music is. Popular was a massive hit with his fanbase and was equally as inventive and experimental as WWYHF.

Is "At The End Of A Slow Dance" any less a genuine expression of his muse than, say, "Eyes Like Pearls", simply because of its blatant pop sensibilities? Listening to his new record, it's like he's gone straight from 1999 to Around The World In A Day and it's not too hard to see how that could unsettle a few of his listeners.

Whilst it is argueably admirable of Van Hunt to stick to his guns creatively speaking, sometimes you can't help but wonder if he has shot himself in the foot by choosing the path less travelled. It is the risk you take when you decide to disregard the expectations of your audience and follow your own muse, but the question is, has it really served Van Hunt well? Creatively, maybe it has (I'm really enjoying WWYHF), but it could be argued that it's unwise to risk alienating your audience when you're already something of a underground artist to begin with.

Food for thought, I guess.

[Edited 11/27/13 0:52am]

MattyJam said:

duccichucka said:

Fuck that, BK. Now, listen: clearly if the negro wants to eat, he should serve his fan base an art

that is accessible and easily digestible. But Van Hunt seems to be an artist more concerned with

following the direction and guidance of his muse, as opposed to the shallow, uninformed, dare I

say stupid, desires of the populace. He could easily put out an album chockfull of "Dust"s, and

"At The End of a Slow Dance"s, and "Down Here in Hell With You"s so that pop-rockers get their

fill and so do those annoying neo-soul listeners and admirers.

But good artists give you want you want. Great artists give you what you need. And after four

albums deep, Van Hunt's catalogue, at this point in his career, is more interesting than he who

shall remain nameless lest I mention him and start a holy war.

The so-called "desires of the populace" when relating to Van Hunt's followers are unlikely to be overly concerned with how commercially accessible his new music is. Popular was a massive hit with his fanbase and was equally as inventive and experimental as WWYHF.

Is "At The End Of A Slow Dance" any less a genuine expression of his muse than, say, "Eyes Like Pearls", simply because of its blatant pop sensibilities? Listening to his new record, it's like he's gone straight from 1999 to Around The World In A Day and it's not too hard to see how that could unsettle a few of his listeners.

Whilst it is argueably admirable of Van Hunt to stick to his guns creatively speaking, sometimes you can't help but wonder if he has shot himself in the foot by choosing the path less travelled. It is the risk you take when you decide to disregard the expectations of your audience and follow your own muse, but the question is, has it really served Van Hunt well? Creatively, maybe it has (I'm really enjoying WWYHF), but it could be argued that it's unwise to risk alienating your audience when you're already something of a underground artist to begin with.

Food for thought, I guess.

[Edited 11/27/13 0:52am]

It's a bit hard to quantify "Popular was a massive hit" because we don't know how many units

it sold. That being said, I was granting truth to BK's post about Hunt's audience wanting a re-

turn to a more accessible music. But I disagree with you about the comparative inventive-

ness/experimental tones of album three to album four.

How do you know that Van Hunt shares the same artistic concerns that you do? The trajectory of

his career seems to indicate to me that because he has not released an "easy listening" album

since OTJF, that he is, perhaps, uninterested in maintaining a grip on any particular audience.

I hope he continues to shoot himself in the foot because it makes for great art.

He seems to be one of those artists, like Lou Reed was, who puts out music as dictated by some

thing other than what you want to hear. He deserves my apotheosizing: he's intelligently crafting

spectacular, musically interesting albums. As a musician, I appreciate and will celebrate this.

I can't put my finger on why I love Designer Jeans so much, maybe it's that relentless beat but there's a hypnotic quality to the song that I really dig. Am surprised to see no-one having mentioned it thus far.

And I also love Falls (Violet) - something about the vocal delivery and Van's phrasing reminds me of Sly circa Riot Goin' On.

The album is indeed a masterpiece. I love how Van continually evolves with every album and never makes the same record twice. When I first heard Popular I was disappointed it wasn't like OTJG, but I grew to love it even more than the latter. On my first listen of WWYWF I was disappointed it wasn't like Popular, but after repeated listens, the same thing is starting to happen.

[Edited 11/29/13 0:55am]

Long time Van Hunt fan here. I found "What Were You Hoping For?" challenging at first. Even reading some of the press that Van did around the time of release I remember him saying something along the lines of the album was like getting a bunch of stuff out of his system. Makes sense considering "Popular" was shelved and that seemed to have a big impact on him. I don't think of "What Were You Hoping For?" as a very cohesive album but I can see the genius that is Van Hunt come through. It grew on me as I listened to it. It is not my favorite Van Hunt album but I can appreciate the artistry. For people just discovering Van Hunt, it is probably not the best introduction as it doesn't have a defining track that you can say "that's what Van Hunt is like" (but the fact that he isn't easily defined is clear and why a major label would never know what to do with him). Some of the earlier comments that talk about alienating a core audience with the record are certainly valid, and I think one of the issues is that it was so long in between releases (I think around 5 years) that the time never allowed the audience to see a natural progression of an artist. I think it will be interesting to see what he does next and I hope it comes out soon.