Why Burial sucks in 2017

Burial has (mostly) sucked since Untrue. There have been a few decent tracks since then (Unite, Paradise Circus, Kindred) but for the most part, the magic he had has long since gone.

Here's why: He got too big, too fast and can't just sample whatever he wants any more. The reality is, Burial's music is all sample-based and the quality of his music is directly tied to the quality of the samples he uses.

Untrue used BIG vocal samples, from people like Ray J, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce etc.. These were quite obviously unlicensed and Hyperdub, being a young label with no clue about how Burial would blow up in fame, just rolled with it. Kode 9 clearly hates talking about it too and any time anyone mentions Untrue and the samples he uses, he gets really snappy on Twitter. Only last week, after Resident Advisor posted a breakdown of the samples used in Untrue, he posted a picture of a dead rat being disected, before deleting the tweet. I imagine he had to pay a lot of money back to the original artists after Untrue blew up and told Burial that his future material would need to mask the vocal samples in particular, to avoid legal issues/sample clearance fees.

Just look at everything that came after. The vocals in tracks like Fostercare, Come Down To Us, etc.. They're mangled to the point where they sound retarded, just to avoid being flagged for copyright. It's clearly not for "creative" purposes, because they sound awful and have become a meme with people like Fantano. This happens with EVERY sample-based artist who gets big based on a great debut/sophomore album, but suddenly has all the eyes and attention of the major labels, preventing them from sampling openly. DJ Shadow's Endtroducing was awesome and everything that came after was shit. RJD2's Deadringer was the same deal. FSOL also stopped being relevant after Dead Cities, though they did at least properly license their sample usages.

(cont) Put simply, it's unlikely Burial will ever make a worthy follow-up to Untrue and likely the reason he's stopped making albums completely. Anything that comes after is going to be easy-pickings from copyright owners, who will all want their share of the royalties. Burial probably feels burnt-out trying to get the spark from past glories, with sub-standard samples. Burial is finished lads.

'excuses for when your album flops':

“My album was under shipped.”
“My album leaked.”
“I made this album for myself.”
“My label failed to properly promote my album to an urban demographic.”
“My fans don’t want to hear me grow musically.”
“My album will gradually sell more over time.”
“My album was only sold by select retailers.”
“My album wasn’t as good as the last one”
“My fans aren’t supporting me at SoundScan.”
“I don’t care about record sales."

Oh boy another "Burial" copypasta

>people like Fantano

I, personally, blame dark souls

KLF were right

You might be somewhat right but I think the main reason is he just didn't branch out enough. He's basically made Archangel (a great song, but still) over and over and over again, and when he doesn't, it's some boring abstract OPN ripoff.

He's clearly a good producer, but as a composer, he doesn't seem to have any good ideas anymore. I don't know what happened to his creativity.

>Only last week, after Resident Advisor posted a breakdown of the samples used in Untrue, he posted a picture of a dead rat being disected, before deleting the tweet.

get your facts straight. his criticism towards the video was caused by annoyance of repetitiveness. kode 9 has probably seen hundreds of documentaries/read hundreds of articles talking about burial's introduction and breakdowns of untrue.

the dead rat was a sarcastic "rolls eyes" response to when someone replied saying the video was good for people only just discovering burial

I think he just used up all the samples he collected over his lifetime and is in the ongoing process of gathering new source material; digging/lifting takes time not many people know this, and for someone like burial there is a specific mood/ambience he's always striving for so you can't expect him to pull out a dense 20 minute ep all the time. People still like Burial, every time he drops something it gets blogged about.

He's also kind of in that no man's land between doing what he's already done and trying something new (like producing for other artists/singers).

also the fact that you think the sample use of fostercare and come down to us come off as "retarded" kind of makes your post lose a lot of credibility since those are some of my favorite songs, but everyone has their own opinion so i'm just going to ignore that.

i agree that he did get too big, too fast, and untrue was essentially accidental since he produced it without knowing certain programs and it was pushed by a certain emotion that he probably doesn't feel anymore or is tired of, but every artist goes through writer's block and most get over it. especially if you're as talented as bevan. so if you think his next album is certain to flop then cheers to you for not having expectations, but saying straight up that he sucks is a bit too far. don't you think

The vocals are sourced from songs in completely different keys to what he is working with in his own music, so they have to be pitch bent significantly. It's not just that they're completely incomprehensible lyrically, but the timbres are mangled as a result, making them sound like shit. I could understand it if he just fessed up and admitted why he's doing this, but he uses bullshit excuses like "sirens" and "androgynous voices" to make up for his bad production habits.

Lambeth had similar problems, though it was due to really bad time-stretching on the main synth, sounding like it had been fed through a ring modulator.

Recently, the vinyl noise is literally louder than the fucking music, as in Indoors. There is lo-fi and then they're no-fi.

Nah, every time the media breaks down the samples used, he shits himself cos he knows the chances of receiving legal letters through his mailbox increases again. Theres not a chance in hell he hasn't got them already. Major labels have people specifically hired to look after their IP.

dude you're so off. its not even funny
he lets dean blunt do the same shit and he doesn't even pay. not even close blud

>he posted a picture of a dead rat being disected, before deleting the tweet

>he fell for the Burial meme

Go upload a beyonce tune to youtube and see how long it lasts before it gets flagged for copyright theft.

Now use her lyrics in a Mercury-nominated best selling album without permission and see how long you last before the lawyers come knocking. Sites like whosampled.com make this 100000x easier too.

m8 hyperdub would have been closed down if that was the fucking case. you're off the wagon

Only Burial sells big units on Hyperdub, so he'll have different rules in regards to licensing samples. Majors aren't gonna give a shit about their other artists, cos they'll struggle to sell more than a couple of thousand copies (if that).

They will however care about Untrue.

frankly, i'm a fan of the occasional stretched out pitch bends without lyrical comprehension that allow you to interpret while at the same time appearing as more than just an autotuned vocal sample but an abstract instrument aka "siren", but i can understand your POV if you're really that proper about how music should technically be produced.

i don't think it's bullshit excuse, anyway. i feel like that was either his intention, or if accidental then his interpretation of what he created

henlo dean mate where can i get coke in hackney? alright the loo fortnight

again m8. he sampled fucking michael jackson b4 untrue. would have been a deadman b4 that.

Nobody knew who he was. It was a 12" record, from an unknown producer and label. Not a chance in hell he'd put out a record with a sample like that again.

they know who he is now. why haven't they come collected all his shackles ?

ahh i see, you're trolling. that was funny

They'd only be able to retroactively take a portion of past sales, which probably won't be much. Again, not worth it with small releases, though its quite telling Nite Train hasn't been featured on any other release since, whereas all the other tracks from that EP have.

Read his interview to Blackdown where he says he hates artists who turned mainstream and sacrificed their tune craftmanship in favor of musicianship and melody.

Everything he's been doing since Truant/Rough Sleeper has been a uber-subtle diss at his fans. Ironically, they eat it up.

does anyone on this planet give a shit about dean blunt