mr hudson straight no chaser album download Album: Mr Hudson, Straight No Chaser (Mercury) His executive producer Kanye West has been quoted as saying: "I believe Mr Hudson has the potential to be bigger than me, to be one of the most important artists of his generation", which sounds uncharacteristically generous of the thunder-stealing stage-jumper. Bigger than Kanye? Is that even, y'know, possible? But recent collaborations on singles with both Kanye and Jay-Z suggest that little is being left to chance for Mr Hudson, whose days of touring British libraries are clearly behind him. He still seems stunned by the attention, wondering at one point "I'm just a boy from Birmingham, another imposter on a major-label roster – how did I get here?". But he may have fallen into bad company: much of Straight No Chaser is drenched with the auto-tune vocal gimmick so favoured by Kanye – which, given that Hudson's voice has a timbre akin to Chris Martin and Sting, may not be the shrewdest move. But given his head, the singer brings a quaintly British tone to proceedings, with the prancing piano of cheer-up anthem "Lift Your Head" recalling Elton John and Alan Price, and "Stiff Upper Lip" effecting an impressive rapprochement between quintessentially English imagery, American banjo-picking, and European glitchy groove. Download this Stiff Upper Lip, Lift Your Head, Instant Messenger, White Lies. Album review: Mr Hudson – ‘Straight No Chaser’ One of the more befuddling cultural micro-phenomena of recent times has been the US hip-hop community’s sudden fascination with not-very- interesting British white-boy music. You can probably rationalise [a]Jay-Z[/a], [a]Kanye West[/a] and [a]Coldplay[/a]’s love-in as simply three globally massive artists comparing their respective vastnesses, but quite how perennial mattress-protector-requirers [a]Keane[/a] persuaded on- the-rise Somali-Canadian rapper [a]K’Naan[/a] that it would be a good idea to work with them is a mystery indeed. ​ ​ Equally mysterious is how [a]Mr Hudson[/a], formerly eclecto-indie dullards [a]Mr Hudson & The Library[/a], has (we’ll say ‘has’ rather than ‘have’, given that members of The Library are now credited as guest performers) enraptured the aforementioned Messrs West and Z, unless they have been waiting all their life for a man who sounds like the mutant offspring of Sting and a bassoon being constantly fed through Auto-Tune.​ ​ Oh, did someone mention Auto- Tune? Because it’s not Hudson’s foghorn bellowings that are the real enemy on this record, it’s that motherfucking computer program – with Jay-Z having announced its death earlier this year, this album could be the primary defence witness at the murder trial. ​ ​ When a production technique has been pioneered by Cher and Dane Bowers, that really ought to be enough reason to leave it alone, but practically every line on here is fed through a filter that makes it sound like somebody is attempting to forcibly tracheotomise Hudson while he sings. Single ‘Supernova’ is practically a parody, and the same technique renders the title track absolutely unlistenable. It’s a shame, because in making Hudson sound like a cyborg with a wonky tuning dial in his throat, it detracts from the moments on the album that might otherwise have been affecting. In fact, given that ‘Straight No Chaser’ is such an awful cliché of a title, can we suggest ‘DBA (Death By Auto-Tune)’ instead?​ ​ Oh, did someone allude to Jay-Z again? His collaboration, ‘Forever Young’ , is already the worst moment on ‘The Blueprint 3’ . Only the sparse electro of ‘Everything Is Broken’ , on which [a]Kid Cudi[/a]’s limited rhyme skills actually work to the song’s advantage, is worth sticking around for. The rest of it… well, it actually makes one hanker for Keane trying their hand at hip-hop. Yeah, OK, that’s going too far…​ ​ Pete Cashmore ​ ​ What do you think of the album? Let us know by posting a comment below. ​ ​ Click here to get your copy of Mr Hudson’s ‘Straight No Chaser’ from the Rough Trade shop.​ ​ The world's defining voice in music and pop culture since 1952. Join Our Mailing List. © 2021 NME is a member of the media division of BandLab Technologies. Mr Hudson: 'Straight No Chaser' "I'm just a boy from Birmingham / Another imposter on a major label roster / How did I get here?" So sings Mr Ben Hudson a few tracks into his second album, Straight No Chaser . It's a reminder of the downright strange position in which the formerly folky singer-songwriter finds himself. Together with his old band The Library, Hudson's first single peaked just outside the top 40 and he seemingly disappeared soon after. Then he was plucked from near-obscurity by super-fan Kanye West. In terms of relative fame levels, it was a bit like The Strokes' Julian Casablancas deciding he just had to work with Dominic Masters from The Others. The first fruits of the West-Hudson collaboration featured on West's 808 & Heartbreaks and were followed by 'Supernova' - a smash single that deservedly hit number two in the charts and hung around the top ten for aeons. That track opens up this collection, and while it's the most immediate thing here, it far from overshadows the rest of the set. West also pops up on 'Anyone But Him', a bitter retelling of the 'Girl Is Mine' storyline that boasts some sharp production and wonderfully jealous sentiment ("I'd rather hear you'd had the whole football team/ Than have to watch his filthy lips on your skin"). The spot-on tone of resigned hurt even excuses the gaucheness of some of the rapper's rhymes ("Now when she go black she ain't never coming back/ I'm sorry Mr H, I thought you already knew that"). His vocal contributions aside, West's influence as the album's "executive producer" is far from hidden. Straight No Chaser sits comfortably next to West's last record in the same way that Iggy Pop's The Idiot nestles alongside its producer David Bowie's contemporaneous Low . The sparse beats and Spartan keyboards on 'White Lies' underline the similarities between the two albums, and when the vocal trickery kicks in on 'There Will Be Tears', 'Stiff Upper Lip' and especially the title track, you almost have to stop yourself from checking that you haven't accidentally stuck on West's album. Despite that, Hudson does more than enough to ensure that the album is still his own. Its finest moments, such as 'Learning To Live', 'Time' and 'Instant Messenger', find his naked and sometimes fragile vocals vying with the starkness of the production. It sets up a hot vs. cold/man vs. machine battle that draws you in as the subtleties of the sound and intelligence of the lyrics become increasingly apparent. Hudson recently told DS that West's goal with Straight No Chaser was to "make a pop record". In truth, this album is rather too downbeat and quirky for that title to be easily bestowed, but it's all the better for it. Straight No Chaser (Mr Hudson album) Straight No Chaser is the second studio album by British pop musician Mr Hudson, a follow-up to the last album released under the name Mr Hudson & The Library entitled A Tale of Two Cities . Straight No Chaser was released in the UK on 19 October 2009. It was released in the United States on 29 June 2010. Contents. 1 Background 2 Track listing 3 Singles 4 Chart performance 5 References. Background. Sessions first started at Gizzard Studios in Bow, East London, with the album being engineered by Ed Deegan, however the Library (Mr Hudson's backing band) were soon fired and tapes were shelved when Mr Hudson was then flown to the Bahamas to record a new album with Kanye West. In an interview, singer Ben Hudson was asked to describe the album: "My mission statement was to make a pop record, but not a throwaway pop record. My heroes are people like Bowie and Prince and Damon Albarn. I didn't want to do anything niche. Kanye threw down the gauntlet. He said, 'Let's see if we can make you a popstar'. I was like 'Let's have a go!'. It's a bit more widescreen, a bit more punchy, but the eclecticism of the first record's still there. There's a tune where I'm a cross between Deliverance and Sade". [2] Track listing. No. Title Producer Length 1. "Supernova" (featuring Kanye West) Mr Hudson, Kanye West, Dave McCracken 3:13 2. "White Lies" Dave McCracken, Music Kidz 3:11 3. "Knew We Were Trouble" Mr Hudson 3:15 4. "Straight No Chaser" The Bullitts (additional production: Mr Hudson) 3:23 5. "Learning to Live" Mr Hudson & Andrew Savours 4:18 6. "Instant Messenger" Mr Hudson 3:44 7. "There Will Be Tears" Mr Hudson 3:47 8. "Stiff Upper Lip" Mr Hudson & Steve Robson 2:52 9. "Central Park" (additional vocals: Joy Joseph) Mr Hudson 2:53 10. "Anyone But Him" (featuring Kanye West) Mr Hudson 3:10 11. "Everything Is Broken" (featuring Kid Cudi) The Bullitts (additional production: Mr Hudson) 2:44 12. "Lift Your Head" (additional vocals: Joy Joseph) Mr Hudson 3:08 13. "Time" (additional vocals: Joy Joseph) Mr Hudson 3:58 14. "Supernova (Calvin Harris Remix) (iTunes UK Bonus Track)" 5:41. Singles. "There Will Be Tears" was the first single from Straight No Chaser , but failed to attract the attention of the media, something only "Supernova" achieved in chart success. "Supernova" was the second single from Straight No Chaser . The single features American artist Kanye West, usually a rapper, as a singer on this track. It debuted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, behind the number one single "Beat Again" by JLS (number 20 on the UK Singles Chart). [3] "White Lies" was the third single from Straight No Chaser . The song was released on 12 October 2009 in the United Kingdom and reached #20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Anyone But Him" is the fourth single from Straight No Chaser. Chart performance. Straight No Chaser debuted at #25 in the United Kingdom on 25 October 2009. Chart (2008) Peak position UK Albums Chart [4] 25. References. ^ "Straight No Chaser – Mr. Hudson". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 4 December 2014 . ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/interviews/a180210/mr-hudson.html ^ http://www.findtheshit.com/2009/09/24/mr-hudson-white-lies-2/ ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums/ A Tale of Two Cities (2007) Straight No Chaser (2009) "Too Late Too Late" "Supernova" "White Lies" "Paranoid" "Young Forever" "Playing With Fire" "Love Never Dies (Back for the First Time)" "Why I Love You" "Real and True" Kanye West GOOD Music. Use dmy dates from July 2012 Use British English from July 2012 Articles with hAudio microformats 2009 albums Albums produced by Kanye West GOOD Music albums Mr Hudson albums Albums produced by Mr Hudson. Help improve this article. Categories. Mr Hudson. Encyclopedia Article. Kanye West, GOOD Music, BBC Radio 1, Frank Sinatra, Miley Cyrus. Kanye West. Encyclopedia Article. Jay Z, GOOD Music, Rihanna, Chicago, U2. Supernova (Mr Hudson song) Encyclopedia Article. Mr Hudson, Kanye West, UK Singles Chart, Calvin Harris, Irish Singles Chart, Billboard (magazine) A Tale of Two Cities (album) Encyclopedia Article. Studio album, Indie rock, Hip hop music, Universal Records, Jim Abbiss, Straight No Chaser (Mr Hudson album) Suggestions. GOOD Music. Encyclopedia Article. Katy Perry, Pop music, GOOD Music, Good Music 107.5FM, Good Music (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts album) Kanye West production discography. Encyclopedia Article. Kanye West, Jay-Z, John Legend, Beyoncé, Rihanna. Kanye West discography. Encyclopedia Article. Rihanna, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Jamie Foxx, John Legend. Mr Hudson. Encyclopedia Article. Kanye West, GOOD Music, BBC Radio 1, Frank Sinatra, Miley Cyrus. A Tale of Two Cities (album) Encyclopedia Article. Studio album, Indie rock, Hip hop music, Universal Records, Jim Abbiss, Straight No Chaser (Mr Hudson album) Related Books. The Path of Splitness. By: Indrek Pringi. Full Text Search Details . Actual Infinity. 1: Something caused it to explode. It did not explode for no reason at all. It did not explode by magic. In order for it to ex. . hing without an end, and without a beginning. Infinity is something that has no beginning and no end. There is no end and no beginning to anything. . hest radiation you managed to pick up, and aim it again, along the same exact straight line, and pick up the farthest detectable radiation again … A. . ion again … And if you repeat this an infinite number of times along the same straight line: you will still not get to the end of the Universe. You . . better legal break in court. That is a bonanza for lawyers called: ambulance chasers . This forces corporations to actually change how they operate. . ent in less than two centuries. At first, there was the pure monopoly of the Hudson ’s Bay Company. Then the Northwest Company based in Montreal ent. . destroyed their own natural habitats before they ever expanded out West. The Hudson ’s Bay could have kept on taking furs from the natives for hundr. . inary myth fairytale romance, my shining knight in white armor, my upper class Mr . Perfect.’ Unfortunately there are only a few millionaire bache. . them. What happens if you try to tarnish a polished idol of the masses? ‘ Mr . Leader… isn’t it true that your government has-‘ ‘Shut up!’ . Mr. Hudson: Straight No Chaser. Ben Hudson has quickly emerged as the one of the brightest newcomers within the American music scene. Preparing for the launch of his debut solo album, Straight No Chaser, we caught up with Mr. Hudson in NYC. 211 Hypes 0Comments. Text By. Share this article. In this Article. Ben Hudson has quickly emerged as the one of the brightest newcomers within the American music scene. Having already experienced success with his band Mr. Hudson and The Library, the British musician’s fame rose to new heights this year with his introduction into Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. music label, a collaboration on the track Supernova, and an appearance on Jay-Z’s “Forever Young” from the recent #1 album, The Blueprint 3. Preparing for the launch of his debut solo album, Straight No Chaser, we caught up with Mr. Hudson in New York City. As humble and down to earth as anyone we’ve had the pleasure of meeting, Ben gave us a bit of insight into his new found celebrity status and taste for all things American. Interview: L. Ruano Photography: Stephen Wordie. Interview with Mr. Hudson. Ben, very nice meeting you. Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got to where you are now? I’m just a fairly typical kid from the suburbs, but I’ve always had a taste for American stuff. I was always obsessed by Back to the Future and I loved American sports because I was rubbish at British ones. I wasn’t good at soccer or anything. I got okay at basketball and tried American football as well. Surely enough it served me well when I arrived in Hawaii and Kanye and the guys were surprised that an Englishman could do a decent layup. I guess it’s just a funny story how I ended up here. Most people actually think that your connection with Kanye developed overnight, but from what I understand, it actually took some time, no? The thing is it took me a long time to figure out my sound because I always wanted to showcase the best of both worlds. I wanted to be a songwriter and didn’t want to neglect that part of my craft. I also wanted to learn about production. I started getting into stuff like J Dilla, Kanye West and Outkast, those might be some of the most obvious places to start, but you know, being an Englishmen, it’s not like being in New York. I didn’t necessarily have everything available to me. It took me awhile to fuse those 2 things, songwriting and a what we call urban production. Then I made that first album, A Tale of Two Cities, which actually never came out here (America), just in the UK, which is where Kanye heard it and thought it was good music. How long did it take to begin working on your album? We were working on The Blueprint 3 in Hawaii and also started doing 808’s and Heartbreaks before we finally got around to my record this year. Here we are, Summer 2009. Its been a long grind, its be a long time coming for me to be on whatever floor of this building, talking to people on the phone about the album. You know, it’s crazy. It definitely is. I was reading about your journey in various overseas interviews and it’s been a wild one. Yes, I’m the new kid on the block. So Mr. Hudson began as a band correct, not just a solo project, but rather Mr. Hudson and The Library? Yea, I mean it’s one of those things that’s hard to do on a project like this, perhaps. It’s kind of like Prince, where he has a band and it’s important to him, but he still remains just Prince. I can understand. So will Straight No Chaser follow a sound familiar to that of your new single, Supernova, or will it be more geared towards the sound of A Tale of Two Cities? It’s bigger, it’s wider and it’s louder. It’s more future human arts basically. Is Kanye producing the entire album? It’s more of a collaboration. His role was that of an executive producer. I tried not to make too many demands at the time because he’s got a huge amount of people asking him for beats and vocals. He would basically be involved when he could and when he wanted to, that way it would be more of an experience and not an obligation. Straight No Chaser. Can you give us some detail behind the meaning of the title? I guess it was approached with directness, like kicking it in the nuts. I didn’t want to have all the intros and outros and make it too indulgent. I wanted it to be more straightforward, not shallow but to have a lot of weight behind the punch. It was still like Bam!, a knockout with one punch… you know what I mean? When you listen to the record your gonna know what your listening to, it’s not just background music. That’s one of the characteristics that makes Kanye so original. He doesn’t hold back. You know it’s his sound when you hear it. While listening to A Tale of Two Cities, I can draw so many musical influences. What artists/music did you listen to growing up? I was into everything. When I was a kid I was into American Pop, acts like Paula Abdul, MJ, the New Kids on the Block, and Madonna. But in my teens I was into very metal stuff because my brothers were into that and I was in my big brother’s band playing drums. I was into Helmet and Metallica, stuff like that. Later, I kind of got into the Lemonheads and more of the Guns style. I kind of fell out of love with new music. When everyone else was listening to this trippy acoustic stuff I thought that mainstream was a bit brainless, not really brainless but no one had anything to say anymore, this was about 10 years ago after Brit Pop. I wasn’t excited by new music, so I went back and started listening to Bowie, Neil Young and Marvin Gaye, getting back and back into the older days. Then I suddenly realized in about 2003-2004 that maybe I should see what hot new music is out there and that is when I got into Hip-Hop and R&B. I started listening to old soul records like Bobby Womack and stuff, and that’s when I was ready to appreciate music from Kanye and Outkast. A lot of people feel there was a void in Hip-Hop until maybe about a few years ago. When Kanye burst onto the scene, it was a breath of fresh air. People felt “Hip-Hop was dead”, yet I think overall its a really good time for music right now. Definitely. What Hip-Hop needed to realize was that it was part of the mainstream and that it was actually Pop music. As soon as people stopped denying that, they said “lets have fun, lets start entertaining people and start selling some records and just make sure everyone is having a great time.” Its not just being moody in your bedroom smoking anymore, but just about having some fun. It’s what Hip-Hop was about originally anyways, “let’s get on the corner and entertain each other.” I completely agreed with you. It’s exciting to see Hip-Hop take on a new stage with musicians like Kid Cudi, who himself, like you, blew up quite rapidly. Yea, it sort of happened at a similar time. In Hawaii, he (Kanye) was like “this guy is Kid Cudi and this is Mr. Hudson” and within seconds of meeting each other, we were already writing a chorus together. That’s exciting to hear. It’s the beginning of a new movement. Getting back onto Straight No Chaser, will the album incorporate autotune? I only use it maybe 30-40% of the time. Only when I think it adds value to the track and brings the emotion out. I want to give people value for their money but I’m not going to take it off just cause people feel it should be off, I’m using it as a tool to make things sound cool. If the song doesn’t need it, I wont use it. Like I said before, I think it adds a lot of emotion to the track, so the important thing is to avoid picturing why everyone is putting it on for the sake of it. That’s the current “hype” at the moment. Everyone using autotune. Definitely. When you look at Jimi Hendrix, he wasn’t using the wah wah (pedal) on every song. He just liked to bring it in and out to have that effect. We’ve been talking a lot about music, which of course is your expertise, but how much are you into fashion? I could never afford to be into fashion because I just didn’t have the budget. It was more like charity shop chic and hand-me-downs from my big brothers. 3 big brothers and my dad, so a lot of hand-me-down stuff. I would kind of just make it work, I’d wait until things came back into fashion. But you know, hanging out with Kanye and the guys, they’re really into their clothes, so I have been learning a lot from them. I just got flown out to Paris for fashion week, so its been amazing. I’m learning fast. Its kind of funny though because a lot of “fashionistas” nowadays are paying the big amounts for vintage/thrift shop clothing rather than the new goods. Yep, I’m always wearing the right stuff at the wrong time. I was dressing like the Strokes in 1999. Speaking of gear, how did you feel about Kanye naming that Louis Vuitton sneaker after you? It’s nuts. That’s the kind of thing that happens in my crazy new life. It wasn’t a massive surprise, kind of like “yup, that’s the kind of thing Kanye does.” It was a massive compliment you know, but I still haven’t gotten a pair. Yea, a lot of people didn’t get a pair. They were a bit pricey. They were like $1,000 or something. I know you’ve had an unbelievable crazy schedule. What are your plans for the rest of the year and heading into 2010? We’re going to tour this record here (America) and around the world. I’m just looking forward to seeing more of the world, you know? I’ve never been to South America, I’ve never been to Australia, I’ve never been to Japan. That’s the part of the tour that I love, and I’m definitely looking forward to that. I’m also trying to get my production work off the ground which I’ve been working with Estelle and another couple of UK acts on. Just popping in the studio when I’m not jumping around, it’s my only little time to get some work done. Ben, its been a pleasure chatting. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to chat with HYPEBEAST. Any last words? No, thanks for your time. No last words, just please check out the album, there’s a lot of depth to the record and lots of different sounds, so yea come see one of our shows. We play every show like it’s our last!