Bad Pandora! Frank Ocean, not Billy Ocean.

March 2, 2013 11:13 AM

I am coming late to the game just discovering Frank Ocean, and am loving channel Orange. I want to find similar awesome stuff, and Pandora is failing me. Help tune up my station, Mefites! 

I've seeded with the following tunes: Bad Religion, Super Rich Kids, and No Church in the Wild. Considering adding some selections from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I want soulful Alt-R&B with a sort of soothing downbeat chill feeling to it. What I am getting is Johnny Gill, Al B Sure, and Mariah Carey. I am hoping for songs with that sort of that lost searching vibe. More Radiohead than sex, ho's and bragging that you get from most hip-hop radio tunes. (No Chris Brown, please.) 

Any suggestions on good seed fodder, or just simply others songs or musicians that I should be checking out? Thanks in advance.

posted by bmosher to media & arts (19 answers total)

Use last.fm instead of Pandora for this station, perhaps?
posted by oceanjesse at 11:16 AM on March 2

Miguel and the Weekend are the most Frank Ocean-like artists I know of, though if you want to go back a bit maybe Prince, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson are what you need.
posted by chrchr at 11:17 AM on March 2 [4 favorites]

Were you thinking newer or older music recs? Because channel Orange during various songs really hearkens back to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, or old-school Prince - to me, at least. I mean, it's well-done R&B. If you're not already very familiar with those artists, I would definitely dabble in that part of the pond.
posted by vetala at 11:17 AM on March 2

Seconding Miguel

Check out:
Where's the Fun in Forever
Gravity
Adorn
posted by ageispolis at 11:22 AM on March 2

So, not to thread-sit, but to answer the old/new question, I'd be more interested in new recommendations, rather than old school.

Also, thanks to the Miguel and The Weeknd pointers. That led me to this Wikipedia article that I think matches up exactly for what I am looking for, but didn't know what it was called. PBR&B is one name for it, apparently.

Thanks, Mefites!
posted by bmosher at 11:51 AM on March 2 [1 favorite]

Check out the new record by Inc. "No World". Also people call it Sea Punk but I think Grimes is actually a lady version of "PBR&B".
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:51 PM on March 2

Here's a couple songs from last year who I think catch this vibe too, by Daughn Gibson and Mikky Ekko.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:02 PM on March 2

Oh and the Internet.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:05 PM on March 2

Tragically, Chris Brown and Drake actually have some pretty excellent deep cuts along these lines too.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:05 PM on March 2 [1 favorite]

Cascades more into jazz than modern R&B, but it might be right up your alley (re the 'Radiohead' and 'downbeat chill' reference) to check out Flying Lotus' amazing collabs with female vocalists, e.g.:

Auntie's Lock/Infinitum (ft. Laura Darlington); Los Angeles, Warp (2008)
Tea Leaf Dancers (ft. Andreya Triana); Reset, Warp (2007)
Unexpected Delight (ft. Laura Darlington); 1983, Plug Research (2006)
RobertaFlack (ft. Dolly); Los Angeles, Warp (2008)
posted by ageispolis at 1:24 PM on March 2 [1 favorite]

SBTRKT
How To Dress Well
posted by mannequito at 1:27 PM on March 2

Maxwell
posted by Greener Backyards at 1:56 PM on March 2

Try John Legend and Raphael Saadiq.
posted by Fig at 3:35 PM on March 2

2 more - Walé; and you should check out Big Boi's two solo albums. Plug in whatever tracks stand out to you from those.
posted by Fig at 4:17 PM on March 2

Autre Ne Veut!!! (bonus)

(nthing The Weeknd and How To Dress Well, also)
posted by en forme de poire at 4:51 PM on March 2

Frank Ocean strikes me as the closest thing to a male Meshell Ndegeocello that I've ever heard.
posted by umbú at 6:03 PM on March 2

I had no idea there was such a name as PBR&B. Is this a name for pretending there wasn't anything much happening in R&B since the 80s until Frank Ocean?

you could dialing up radio with genre: quiet storm or neo-soul. Bilal, Anthony Hamilton, Angie Stone, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Chrisette Michele, D'Angelo, Leela James, Dwele, Raheem DeVaughn, Ledisi.. Miguel is really good
posted by citron at 8:39 PM on March 2 [1 favorite]

I'm not much of an R&B fan, but I like Frank Ocean, and I'm also surprised by how much I'm digging Usher's "Climax" - I think it has the vibe you're looking for.

Other artists - Cody ChesnuTT, The Roots, Janelle Monae.
posted by Gortuk at 8:10 AM on March 3 [1 favorite]

Sorry I haven't responded sooner -- I was in an unexpected disconnected state for the last week.

Thanks, everyone, for all the excellent responses. I will have lots of things to check out this weeknd.
posted by bmosher at 7:44 AM on March 8