St. Vincent - a.k.a. Annie Clark;

yeh she don't sing it like she means it tho. it's like an exercise in songwriting and by the same token it's not dead-eyed stina style deadpan either.
was so pleased my "strange mercy" was faulty. i couldn't conscionably have it knocking about the house.
she writes a corkin' good refrain but can't link them up or develop them adequately to write a good (let alone great) song which is an awful, crying shame. given "marrow" was pretty much flawless, but she needs a producer who will tell her "no, go back and write it again", rather than fleshing out half-arsed sequenced up demos in a cluttery mush of production. eg "Cruel", "swoon"-part, "riff"-part, connected by "drivel"-part (even the riff needs to go up 3 semitones on the last stroke - it disappoints me that my memory of the song is better than the actual song). "chloe in the afternoon" STORMs in, in a prince style, and to my mind doesn't fall apart through design but through not taking the optimum compositional decisions. and so on, and so on. undeserving of the foisted elevation she receives for lack of anything better being offered. the attempted lionization is wish fulfilment

This is all down to a matter of taste, but I think the whole "structures falling apart" is what makes her sound unique. I do much prefer Actor to Strange Mercy, but it's the ever-so-slightly skewed quality, the uneasiness of her sound that makes it what it is.

I thought immediately of St. Vincent vs. Tori b/c they both have the song "Cruel", with a similar sentiment.
Disgree on the Fripp comparison // splitting hairs // Annie is Adrian Belew, in tone, in performance, even in lyrical bent.
There is a selfish part of me that only wants to hear Annie making music in the vein of her Rapeman/Pop Group covers

problem is it's crap-structures-falling-apart.
the refrains are GRAND, but she doesn't know what to do with them. these songs could be so much better and that is what i find so enormously frustrating.

gawd, tori's "cruel" is so much better it's ridiculous, the production and rhythm are so insane on it

like, MARIMBAS

get back to me when annie clark starts using marimbas and whistles in her songs

correction there - i think it's adequate but oft unrelated structures falling apart craply and not in aid of the music, but for lack of an idea what to do with them otherwise. yegads, anyone would think she is ruins / misha mengelberg / the dead c the way people are vaunting this as some kinda revelation. just so peculiar that someone so obviously a very talented musician should have so many absolutely and completely dud chord progressions & unmemorable bridging parts.

get back to me when annie clark starts using marimbas and whistles in her songs

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 00:22 (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's some pretty narrow criteria for good music TBF. I think the point with Annie Clarke is that she can make her guitar sound like marimbas and whistles.

She's a phenom guitarist trapped in a art pop singer/songwriter that wants to soundtrack movies. The inevitable covers album will be a monster.

saw her last night in oakland, wonderful, even with the bad mushy sound of the fox. major crowd surfing; i'm sure she only weight like 80 pounds but I still wouldn't have wanted to have gotten clocked in the head by her boots. her guitar playing actually reminds me more of adrian belew than fripp, and she has the stage presence of prince.

YES I've been saying Belew for years. Absolutely.

it's funny because i just went back and read an interview with her (av club I think) and he asked her if she'd seen Home of the Brave (Laurie Anderson) and she said no but he drew the same comparison. Glad to know it wasn't my sometimes overly 80's KC-saturated brain making this up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urJZfwaRyFg&feature=share

David Byrne & St. Vincent collaborate for new LP "Love This Giant" out September 10(UK)/11(US) ON 4AD/Todo Mundo

is this the only mention of it on ilx? hm.

hmmm. Single did not wow me.

she has the stage presence of prince

Wow, really? Never seen her live

there's lots of great st. vincent live online - pf linked this one some time back, it's awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N66HPoQBChk

saw her live once and was blown away, only thing might annoy you she's not that "true" to the songs' album sound but if you can get past that it's really something special. there's so much dynamics and she is wiiild :-)

Hmm, the times I've seen her she's generally been very formal, except for the guitar freakouts, which seemed kind of ironic counterpoints to her otherwise intentionally stylized/stiff/cold stage demeanor. I mean, it works, but I would not put her on my short list of dynamic, charismatic performers.

Love her covers, though, which is when I usually see her go nuts. Her Pop Group cover was incredible.

I wish I liked Strange Mercy more, i really do but I don't

Hmm, the times I've seen her she's generally been very formal, except for the guitar freakouts, which seemed kind of ironic counterpoints to her otherwise intentionally stylized/stiff/cold stage demeanor. I mean, it works, but I would not put her on my short list of dynamic, charismatic performers.

Love her covers, though, which is when I usually see her go nuts. Her Pop Group cover was incredible.

I'd echo this. Her songs live were very true to the album versions minus some extra-skronky guitar workouts. That being said---excellent live show. She also crowd-surfed during her Pop Group cover...I was impressed.

I thought she was amazing live. Also, and I hate to say it, much more strikingly beautiful than I'd imagined - her eyes were just luminescent and absorbing. And she rocked. Like Robert Fripp.

Haha, I read your post as

I thought she was amazing live. Also, and I hate to say it, much more strikingly beautiful than I'd imagined - her eyes were just like Robert Fripp's.

― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 31 August 2012 16:07 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

someone has never seen Prince

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/02/160262123/first-listen-david-byrne-st-vincent-love-this-giant?sc=fb&cc=fmp

still need to listen to this some more

a frigid creature this one is

I'm loving it.

THere was a piece on them in the Guardian yesterday
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/08/david-byrne-st-vincent?INTCMP=SRCH

"I saw this diminutive minx open for John Vanderslice this past Saturday night"

I definitely wake up when she's singing lead, or better yet, solo. If Byrne's writing or co-writing those songs, good for him, but so far I'm wishing he'd stayed more in the background. "I Used To Watch TV" has some of the old T.Heads engagement, though, and I'll listen some more. Good horns, wish she was playing more audible guitar.

fun detail from the guardian thing is that the prosthetics for the cover are by the guy who did matthew barney's

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WsJG6wD__Os/SjvqgNBdljI/AAAAAAAABVE/sI_d21bh9fg/s400/Cremaster4.jpg

eh-- my reaction so far to the new album

Sonically, texturally, in terms of energy, ideas, this is great on first exposure. Dunno how the songs will hold up in time but they don't quite seem like the primary focus yet.

What other records use brass in ways comparable to this? There must be some but I can't think of anything off he top of my head.

this is the first thing byrne has done in years that I've liked. probably the first album since his s/t one.

I was expecting it to be not so great, as 1) Melissa said she didn't like it and 2) BRASS. I am semi-allergic to brass but wow, this album was actually all kinds of awesome, I liked it from the first hearing, and it got even better the more I listened to it. The brass arrangements are really quite unusual, not what I was expecting at all, and really quite moreish.

(But mostly it made me dig out a bunch of old Talking Heads records I haven't listened to since I was in high school.)

Do you like St Vincent's other stuff WCC?

Yes.

Personally I loved Actor so much but Strange Mercy kind of grated on me. I'm looking forward to hearing this record though.

st. vincent is a bit lame

you're a bit lame.

I was lukewarm on the album after a couple spins (except for the horn arrangements, it wasn't really grabbing me...though I was working while listening).

However, seeing these Jimmy Fallon live performances really brought things together. Think I might end up digging this as much as the last St. Vincent record (a pop gem), though in a more brainy, less brawny manner. Bummed that the closest this tour is coming to me is Chicago in the middle of the week. Times like this...hate the Midwest.

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/david-byrne-and-st-vincent-the-forest-awakes-91012/1416222/

Byrne's vocal melodies have not won me over yet, but maybe if I give it a few more listens.

She seems better live, judging by a number of fairly recent YouTubes. Drop-dead cool gradually becomes poignant (emerging/undertow desperation of the "Joan Didionesque" persona she's cited), plus hairline fractures in keyboard bridges x guitar skronk. Byrne x horns-wise, so far I prefer Music From The Knee Plays.

What other records use brass in ways comparable to this? There must be some but I can't think of anything off he top of my head.

Seeing the show tonight, but underwhelmed by the album.

Saw the show last night and liked the songs from the album better live. Live they are also doing lots of choreography for each number plus using lights and shadows to keep your interest. Alas, Byrne's stiff movements don't seem that endearing to me, and Annie's wiggling also gets a bit predictable. Her voice sounds great I just wish she would write some (conventional) choruses and hooks. The crowd was mainly there for David Byrne I sensed. It was a really expensive show-- $75 to $125 list for tickets.

Haven't looked for the Strathmore (MD/DC ) setlist online. It will be a slight bit different than this one from NY that I saw but its not that different:

Who
Weekend in the Dust
Strange Overtones
(David Byrne cover)
Lazy
(David Byrne cover)
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
(Talking Heads cover)
I am an Ape
Marrow
(St. Vincent cover)
I Should Watch TV
Ice Age
Like Humans Do
(David Byrne cover)
The One Who Broke Your Heart
Lazarus
Cheerleader
(St. Vincent cover)
Outside of Space and Time
Encore:
Cruel
(St. Vincent cover)
Burning Down The House
(Talking Heads cover)
Encore 2:
The Party
(St. Vincent cover)
Road To Nowhere
(Talking Heads cover)

that looks like an awesome setlist