Who is iamamiwhoami?

They're an anonymous leftfield electropop artist/group in the Fever Ray vein, Lyrical and visual concepts focus on the nature magick, and in particular mandrake and mandragora sorcery. Of perhaps more interest is their promotional strategy centering around 6 You-Tube virals and 4 full-length music videos (so far) of high technical merit.

Speculation as to the artist's identity is rampant, and so far, nobody who knows is talking. I think their campaign deserves a dedicated thread.

Prelude 699130082.451322-EDUCATIONAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPFM3DUVT-8

IAM.669321018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HouIf-PXpJs

ITSME.723378
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVVLkWjTISE

MANDRAGORA.1110
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yAI5_YXNqI

OFFICINARUM.56155
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxC4zMCwefo

WELCOME-HOME.3383
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rpD_eclfTY

B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2WDbAFvt6A

O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMroXbAmrI8

U-1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izejVXJ_arQ

U-2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB85HAUXbbM

Britney

this has been discussed on the Christina Aguilera thread and the artist in question has pretty clearly been identified as Jonna Lee.

Some facial features of one of the models in one of the videos are similar. But to call the artist Jonna Lee (who not musically similar in the least) is like identifying all of the surrogate "singers" in The Knife or Fever Ray videos with Karin Dreijer.

It's Jonna Lee, there's not question about it at this point. Somebody did some pretty good detective work and the evidence is really convincing...
She's probably not doing this by herself though. I'm guessing maybe one the Driejers is helping.

I wouldn't expect some viral mystery videos to be musically similar to anything the artist would have put out anyhow. And there's more to it than facial features, there are pictures and video glimpses of set pieces from the virals in her studio and the men in her band match the men in the sellotape video. I'm not really sure what else could come up that would make it any more compelling.

there are pictures and video glimpses of set pieces from the virals in her studio and the men in her band match the men in the sellotape video.

― musically

is this something you could link to, or do i have to search chag thread for details?

duh, just watched the youtube vid that lays it out, pretty convincing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTvrWEYQfKA

Makes a pretty convincing case that Rickard Engfors is The Knife

ha

the main collection of "evidence" in question is on an ONTD post which was locked so it's not easily visible anymore, looks as if the info has been put in Youtube form above though so that works

anyway, love the videos, sounds and general aesthetics, less crazy about the songs & singing. final track (u-2) is the most immediately compelling.

the videos are amazing, yes. i will buy the album should one be released.

not enough owl.

"t" might be my favorite so far. wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW89Pv8QrX4

No, I take that back. "y" is my favorite so far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEoGQU_k78k

Is this STILL GOING???

Apparently. They've already released enough videos/tracks for an album, so I wouldn't be surprised if one just shows up any day now.

I mean talk about building a ton of momentum and then totally fucking blowing it by doing absolutely nothing. I feel like she's already a has-been.

patients, young man.

Well we all know it's Jonna Lee by now but no one actually cares anymore.

I love how we get a new electronic artists whose identity is a mystery every couple of years now and it always generates this massive buzz, whereas if eg Burial had just put his record out and done normal interviews then no one would have given a shit who he was.

That only took, what, two weeks to figure out? What I'm more interested in is who she's working with on this project. Sometimes it sounds like Kleerup, but it might just be a platter of producers.

Because it's absolutely, inconceivably impossible that she might have produced it herself, you know, like Burial did?

I guess that's possible, but have you ever heard a Jonna Lee album? It's not a color she's ever painted with before (not even close).

I don't find it too much of a stretch to think that someone who could teach themself how to play piano or guitar could teach themself how to use Reason or Ableton.

People do change colours sometimes. And I'm speaking as someone who made the same leap.

You know I wasn't intimating that Lee could never conceivably make these songs herself, right? I'm just saying that the sound of them brings to mind the hallmarks of a few selected individuals (most of whom are men living in Scandinavia) who are not Jonna Lee. Also, two-person collaborations are what's in this year!

i think claes bjorklund is her main collaborator. he has done stuff that is slightly similar to this before so it wouldn't surprise me.

anyway, although there were some long periods of time when i didn't care at all and had essentially forgotten about it, this campaign did produce a handful of very special, arresting moments for me. if the goal was to introduce her to a far wider audience than she had before, she succeeded.

The music is really good but I find her Kate Bush mannerisms extremely annoying.

For those who (like myself) became preoccupied with other concerns, at midnight on November 16 "iamamiwhoami" or "bounty" or "to who it may concern" posted a nearly hour long video at http://towhomitmayconcern.cc/, pulled down after 3 hours. Its an open air "concert" comprised of a apparent single take (ala Russian Ark) from from night through dawn in the Swedish countryside. Versions are sometimes well removed from their earlier appearances, "O" in part 3 becomes more aggressive.

You can follow the breadcrumb trail from here. Tree humping included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLQ3XMd2_10

She kinda needs to drop an album already. Seems like quite a few people's interest is already waning. Having only heard her music in the videos, I'm curious to know if the tracks will be compelling enough on an album, without the mesmerizing visuals. Don't get me wrong, everything I've heard is amazing, but will it still have the same pull and intrigue without the lush/weird/beautiful imagery accompanying it? I hope so.

After a break, she's back with this new (very good) one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLPxTKR7A70

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VduvB5xY2L0

still in love with this whole project.

;john is probably my favourite one out of the full single releases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7zyF2QJ1BA
new song.

album is supposedly out in June.

A new song in under 2 weeks. I like it a bit more than sever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw0JmSRMXkY

Another installment prior to kin (audio-visual album on Cooperative Music, out June 11).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUSwkbu1IjU

These promo videos remain fun.

"Play" is the big ballad of the second set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJBC8L3pG_Y

"In Due Order" goes more hard-edged sawtooth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AqU8FvTR3E

There's an album coming out soonish...
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/68433236.html

I loved both Play & In Due Order!

The newest one, Idle Talk, isn't bad either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2KxlzQMTpU

I've somehow missed all the hype building for iamamiwhoami but I just gave Kin a listen and it's a real album of the year contender. I need to go back and check some of her earlier singles. Think she's going to become my new obsession.

i loved the singles for a while but then fell off the hypetrain hard after she released a couple of duds. gonna have to give the album a listen.

listen to the bounty singles and search youtube for her concert (the hour-long one)!

I haven't bought Kin yet because I bought everything on it already the moment it went on iTunes and b)it's not out on CD yet, but it is very, very special.

think "clump" was her best track but she put it out after everybody stopped caring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VduvB5xY2L0

I got really quite bored of the dribbling things out slowly and anonymously quite quickly, even though I had liked the initial dribbles.

But I gave the album a chance and it's definitely worth a listen - picks up towards the end, it's definitely one for the post-Knife thread (if we still had such a thing, why oh why can't we just grab threads from the Sandbox?)

It's funny, I occasionally find her voice a bit much (in a way I don't find Grimes' voice irritating because Grimes' voice is so obviously a theatrical reducto ad absurdum) when she goes into that quirky thing but not so much that it spoils the enjoyment for me.

"Play" (above), which I initially wrote off as plodding, is constructed just like a mid-period Cocteau Twins tune, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head for two weeks.

Dunno about album of the year, as The Knife announced a 2012 album release a while back, but I think Kin edge's out Niki & the Dove's Instinct and Purity Ring's Shrines in the artsy electro-pop debut category.

Wait, what's that about a new Knife album?

WHY DON'T I HAVE A KNIFE AND POST-KNIFE ARTY ELECTRONICA THREAD NO MOER?!?!?

That thread was on the sandbox.

Play is my highlight too, think this is my album of the year now. I do really like the Niki & The Dove album but this is so much better.

http://pitchfork.com/news/42307-the-knife-at-work-on-new-album/

Why would I read Pitchfork when I have ILX to summarise the salient bits for me? ;-)

(thanx for link tho)

^ neat

I really like this album. For me, this and chairlift destroy the rest of the competition when it comes to catchy synthy Knifey styles this year

Playing in London again in May.

Couldn't agree more, it's excellent! Varied but still cohesive.
Grimes gets all the attention, and I wouldn't say this destroys her, but it is just as good.

this year's gazelle twin in terms of quality and unfortunate underappreciation imo.

Playing a date in the US...in Oakland. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151715593939336&id=270417754335

http://symbiosisgathering.com/lineup/

http://www.popjustice.com/videos/iamamiwhoami-fountain/123717/

That's a good one.

I'm usually a big fan, but this is a bit too Sarah Brightman for me, I don't know...

Yeah, the vocals ruin it a bit for me too. I feel only Liz Frazer can pull off that sort of thing. The song would have probably worked if it was sung a full octave lower.

Late period Cocteaus got away with it because they had a better sense of tension and release and always shimmering sonics. I recall some missteps from them too (IIRC, on Love's Easy Tears) when they got into a lock groove of trilling.

Hopefully the next one from Joanna & co. will be more grounded.

Love's Easy Tears is CT at its best imo.

Another new song. Hopefully this means an album is on its way.

http://www.popjustice.com/videos/iamamiwhoami-hunting-for-pearls/124760/

Bandwidth schmandwidth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJxXYHQIF40

Another five singles have been released since the last post on here and an album is out in three weeks. Kin is still one of my favourite albums of the decade so far but I've been strangely unmoved by any of the songs I've heard from this new one and haven't even listened to all of them. Will definitely give the album a listen but I'm just not expecting to be blown away like I was with Kin or Bounty.

I've heard all the singles on Spotify and I like all of them. Didn't realize they were leading up to an album so soon (I'm accustomed to her taking a couple years to get to that stage).

"Fountain" and "Hunting for Pearls" have probably been two of my most played tracks this year, awesomely excited for this next record

Maybe I just need to spend some more time with the songs that are out there. I'm actually more behind than I realised. Seven of the ten tracks on the album have already been released and I may have only heard three of them.

The album is out Nov 10th and is called BLUE.

Three new songs: "Shadowshow", "The Last Dancer", and "Ripple"

For some reason Vogue Magazine has the exclusive album stream.

Second live concert video, streaming now.

"Kin" is my favorite album from 2012.

It's in my Top 3 with Visions and Bloom.

I'd put Kin just behind Kaleidoscope Dream. It would definitely make my top 10 of the decade. It's a shame I couldn't get into the follow up in the same way. It just kind of passed me by.

Blue is sounding incredible to me right now.

^ It's so good :) I love Jonna Lee.

Holy Shit, new Jonna Lee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWOZqsIm_0

Interview on her new solo project

http://www.anothermag.com/design-living/9616/the-ethereal-new-musical-endeavour-from-jonna-lee

this new one sounds a lot like Ellie Goulding to me

Love the song and the video! My boyfriend also asked if it was Ellie Goulding while I was watching it. I can hear some inflections in her voice that sound similar.

Looks like this marks the end of IAM project as well. If this is chapter 2, bring it on!

I just want more grinding, ala "Clump". As much as I love ethereality, we live in friction.

Returning to this, discovering it has fewer views than many shitty videogame playthrough segments, has confirmed my opinion that Western Civilization deserves to collapse.

Sanpaku OTM

NOT HUMAN, JUNE 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z3n5TJB4Xk

So stoked. Samaritan just keeps getting better with repeated listens.

Looks amazing!

"Concert in Blue" was so good as well. "The Deadlock" an original song from that session, is prime IAM

Not sure why Jonna felt the need to distinguish this from the iamamiwhoami material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xdov_B-cQg

IONNALEE is Jonna doing it on her own afaik. IAM was more collaborative

Really good single as usual. Kinda feel like it doesn't have the usual layers of IAM's stuff though, where you can come back to it and find something new - it's much more immediate. The outro is fantastic though

Given time I think "Blue" is close to as good as "Kin". Try listening to this while walking by the seaside on a sunny day, it accompanies the empyrean sparkle of water perfectly. "Kin" is more of a weird and tense record, but "Blue" is absolutely consistent in its embodiment of the air/water elements. It's a release and exorcism of demons and reclamation of joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzqJCco1WE8

just cuz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUSDfx9ItWs

new song on friday is a redux version of this apparently http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=4yAI5_YXNqI

excited

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihd9dKek2gc

newest single, favorite of the bunch and reminiscent of Blue era

so I never, ever hear about this woman's work outside of ILX and via people who have liked it on youtube. maybe i'm out of touch; I think all of it is pretty great; does she have any kind of presence outside of these narrow confines?

hi akm, yeah would say she does to some extent. rym rated Kin as #82/1200 albums in 2012. Will say out in the wild I don't meet a lot of iam fans, probably know about 3 tbh

new album feb 16 "everyone afraid to be forgotten"

thankfully this time Jonna put out less advance singles than she did for "Blue" which ended up making the album a tad familiar on first listen.

technically this is a new artist and not imamamiwhoami anymore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF-8uJUpL5A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dt3-1la9ug

nice