Current song you are listening to(or the Last song you listened to) - by Andarthiel
Meowdori on 3/11/2019 at 11:07
[video=youtube;VdwouR3tOz0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwouR3tOz0[/video]
[video=youtube;NKpFLa3XTpE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKpFLa3XTpE[/video]
[video=youtube;y40XVMNw_QA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y40XVMNw_QA[/video]
Gray on 9/11/2019 at 01:31
Two days from now, I have tickets to go see (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imogen_Heap) Imogen Heap. Who? Oh, just some pop singer who made the most awesome album of 2007. Pop? But surely, Gray, you despise pop, don't you? Well, yes I do, unless it's done exceptionally well. This is done
exceptionally well. She's a multi-instrumentalist and seems to be able to play pretty much anything. She programs and tweaks her own noises. She does multiple overlays of her vocals with some very clever studio trickery way beyond what almost anybody else has ever done(*). I've listened to the near-perfect album
Speak For Yourself so many times I lost track after about 12,000. It's so rich, layered, clever, personal, emotional... there are still so many tiny clever details I discover in it now. It's too complex for my brain to take it all in in one go, there are so many awesome things happening at once.
One of the best albums of all time. Seriously. And I own thousands of albums.
Unless you hate her voice, which some people unfortunately do. Meh. Can't please everyone. Other stuff she's made is also pure genius, but that whole album is a 10/10. I've never seen her live, but in two days I will, with my stepson (also a fan) and his girl (who has been subjected to some heavy propaganda lately). I hope she'll use that controller-glove-thingy from
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0lCL2hpRPM) Me The Machine, a new music controller that allows you to create music quite literally from thin air.
But I rant. To prepare for the gig, I've been going through all her music, and I'm struggling quite hard to find something to post. Let's ignore the two most famous songs, and play this instead. I just simply adore that tinkly piano bit as the chorus kicks in, but there's so much more to love in it.
Imogen Heap: Closing In
[video=youtube;SJEyVKsAn6Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJEyVKsAn6Y[/video]
[Edit]
One thing I've discovered this last week is that there's a deluxe version of Speak For Yourself on Spotify, with a bonus disc of instrumental versions of every single song.
Every song? But surely, that sounds superfluous and selfindulgent, and can't possibly be justified? Yes it can! Listening to the instrumentals just makes me love her even more, because you hear all the clever awesome layering of sounds you might otherwise miss with her vocals on top. Yes, even as instrumentals, every single song stands out as a masterpiece. Really. And now without the vocals, you can more clearly hear that the backing melody goes in the opposite direction of the vocals, maybe that's why they blend so well. She really knows her stuff.
(*) Yes, I am counting Brian Wilson, Enya and Kate Bush. I'm guessing they inspired her to take it a step further.
Gryzemuis on 9/11/2019 at 13:27
I'm gonna listen to her. I don't know what to think of her music yet. I don't hate her voice. But what she does with her voice reminds me a bit of auto-tune. And I do hate the sound of auto-tune very much. So we'll see if her music will grow on me.
Hopefully it's a bit like The Chromatics. The Chromatics should have been a bit too slick and too poppy for me. But after hearing them at the end of S03E01 of Twin Peaks, I was sold.
Have you seen Nitzer Ebb already ? I saw them live back in 1987. I didn't realize it a few weeks ago (when you mentioned them), but I actually have seen them twice back then. Once in my hometown, and once at a festival in Belgium (Pukkelpop). Knowing what kind of music they made at the time, I can't believe they are still making music at age 50+. :) Electronic Body Music for bodies in wheelchairs ?
Gray on 9/11/2019 at 13:34
She does not use auto-tune, but (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk) one song is exclusively a capella run through a vocoder, and as an avid Kraftwerk fan and a lover of vocoding, even I was impressed with what she did with it.
Nitzer Ebb is in a couple of weeks, not been yet.
EBM in wheelchairs? I saw a live video from some recent festival of 242, lead singer must be 60+ by now, he looks small and shrivelled up, but can still bounce across the stage like a motherfucker on speed. Not a wheelchair yet. NEP are a bit younger, so I'd expect some bouncing.
Sulphur on 9/11/2019 at 14:03
Yeah, Hide and Seek was her breakout moment - a decade ago. Oof. I remember it showing it to friends at work and all of us marvelling at her use of layered vocals. I don't think she's ever topped it, but her brand of intricate pop remains interesting if also strangely disposable at the same time.
Anyway, the one other artist she reminds me of is St. Vincent, who also does experimental pop though wrapped around more melodic cores, so perhaps she won't really be your thing, but it doesn't hurt to check out.
[video=youtube;-7LsBjrqqHA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7LsBjrqqHA[/video]
Gray on 9/11/2019 at 14:23
I've been quite impressed with what I've heard of St Vincent, just not had the time to give it a proper go yet. Will do, just not this week, too much other stuff happening.
[Edit]
And yeah, the song that broke her in America was Hide And Seek, when it was used in some godawful teen soap, a couple of years after the album was out. Some rapper I forget even sampled it for one of his songs. Both of those things surprised me, she was "mine" and it didn't seem right that these clueless American teens now suddenly adored her. That, of course, was just my own elitist arrogant assholier-than-thou stupidity, it gave her much more exposure and probably prolonged her career significantly, so even though I despise teen soaps in general and whichever that one was in particular, I can't help but to be grateful for it.
Then again, I discovered her back in 2006 when she did an American tour and played on Jay Leno and David Letterman. I was just stunned by what I heard, when Goodnight And Go came on. And the the song built up to a weird stalker twist. And then... VOCODING! I was in love!
:ahem:
Point being, she must have been already popular enough to do American talk shows by the time I found her, so I can't claim to be one of the original fans in any way, shape or form. I just loved what I heard when I heard it. I was vaguely aware of her previous band Frou Frou but never paid enough attention, I didn't know it was her at the time.
[Edit again]
Oh, I remember now, the Frou Frou I heard back then reminded me a bit too much of Lamb, which I loved, so I dismissed Frou Frou as some lame wannabes and didn't hear more than a couple of songs. And yet again, I was clearly wrong. Sometimes I like being wrong, but in this case, I could have discovered Imogen Heap much sooner if I hadn't been so dismissive. I guess the lesson here, kids, is try to be less of a jerk than I was. You might find something.
Gray on 9/11/2019 at 22:53
Quote Posted by Gray
EBM in wheelchairs? I saw a live video from some recent festival of 242, lead singer must be 60+ by now, he looks small and shrivelled up, but can still bounce across the stage like a motherfucker on speed. Not a wheelchair yet. NEP are a bit younger, so I'd expect some bouncing.
I was just looking up my Nitzer Ebb tickets, and there was a link to... sweet merciful crap -
Front 242 are playing Glasgow next year! It took me slightly less than half a millisecond to decide if I could spare the £28 for a ticket. I'm going! Woo! Only seen them live 3-4 times, and last time was over 15 years ago. I can not tell you how excited I am about this. Wow! Wow! Wow! WOW! WOW! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!
:jumps around on the floor like an idiot, then runs around in circles and falls over:
:gasps:
Um, I... *gasp*... kinda... um, sorta wanna see them... a bit. Can you tell?
Or, like, um... (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D1MjDAM9s) whatever... :erm:
Gray on 11/11/2019 at 00:09
Imogen Heap live. Just got back. Awesome. Not only is she an extremely talented musician, she's also pretty damn well funny. I have so many things to say about this great show, but I should probably sober up first. Nothing I can post can convey the awesomeness of the gig, so I'll just post this instead:
Imogen Heap: The Walk
[video=youtube;QWGVan5KYUc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWGVan5KYUc[/video]
I don't want to detract from the awesomeness of her performance, but as a drum nerd, the live drums kicked all sorts of ass you don't get on the albums. Props to the drummer, and whoever tweaked the reverb on the kit, it sounded amazing.
[Edit]
This song was not played at the show, but I've been thinking about it for weeks now. And for 14 years. Those of you who even vaguely know me will instantly realise why verse one is so dead on accurate. It's what I use to push people away.
[video=youtube;7nk7lmczoM0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nk7lmczoM0[/video]
Pyrian on 13/11/2019 at 15:26
[video=youtube;xq866Q7GUlc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq866Q7GUlc[/video]
Well this is nice.
Tocky on 17/11/2019 at 03:45
Just before the world went to shit.
[video=youtube_share;CU3mc0yvRNk]https://youtu.be/CU3mc0yvRNk[/video]