Jamie Lidell

"I'm a question mark / Walking, talking question mark / But what is the question again?" croons Jamie Lidell on "What's The Use," one of the highlights of his breakout album, 2005's Multiply. It's a question he still hasn't answered. The British-born, New York-based artist is a singer, a producer, and a multi-instrumentalist who uses his seemingly inexhaustible facility with raw sound to build soulful pop ditties rather than conceptual messes. That said, his latest full-length, Compass, is wrapped in crinkly textures and experimental prickliness. That makes sense, seeing as how fellow deconstructionists Beck, Feist, and members of Wilco and Grizzly Bear appear on the album. Rather than being off-putting, Lidell exudes a cool and tantalizing mystique even at his most distant. 

Updated 07/27/2010