Grimes/Claire Boucher thread

attach judith's comment to tim's comment about it being "music commenting on its own making" but even to the point where i think the making is semi-erased (thus the "something missing at the centre") and it's all otm to me

also the persistent criticism i encounter of this record is that is sounds "unfinished" or "like demos," which, okay, it definitely doesn't sound like that to me, but considering that, what would make this sound more "complete" necessarily? someone upthread said they imagine drum parts in this record where there are none. i think that is a totally legitimate way to love music, to fill in spaces yourself. it's an interaction, not a closed system. like hearing music faintly, from another room, how other parts are summoned that are not necessarily part of the music but are not totally your own making either

Brilliant album but let's not try to explain it via R&B perhaps. Still think mid-80s Happy Rhodes is the best comparison point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F9mg0wmBUk

The part of Lex's crusade that I disagree with most (while recognising this is a subjective measure) is the "no hooks" measure - this album is like hooks on hooks.

Making this more "complete" would ruin it for me.

i don't recognise the "unfinished" way of listening to music at all - i can't say i've ever experienced music like that.

the "no hooks" argument is my strongest, everything else is trying to justify it retrospectively but what it comes down to is that it goes in one ear and out the other, and i have given it waaaaay more chances than things like that normally get. it doesn't stick at all.

There's nothing I can say to that but, it sticks to my head like crazy. Even though they are insane pitched riffs that I couldn't possibly sing along with.

xpost I believe you, it just seems bizarre to me because I feel my number one reason for liking this album is its kaleidoscope of hooks. The songs don't feel unfinished to me at all, but really generous, like she's offering more ideas than she needs to in each song. The way the songs are filled with this winning little shifts and switch-ups vocally/sonically/melodically. It also means it withstands repeat playing a lot more.

winning little shifts and switch-ups

otm

fwiw the R&B connection doesnt really resonate for me, like, i believe its there, but it doesnt really operate like R&B for me & i dont think thats key to understanding or enjoying it

how hard it is to feel things, presumably

― r|t|c, Wednesday, April 4, 2012 9:38 PM (Yesterday)

lol thank you for checking out the course reader

http://i.imgur.com/dsTSB.gif

lex everyone knows you got baited into hating this by critics you spend your entire life claiming to avoid

it goes in one ear and out the other... it doesn't stick at all.

I have had the "see you in a dark night" line from 'Oblivion' stuck in my head - in a good way - for about two months straight

yeah, i get various hooks that don't seem to last more than 2 seconds stuck in my head all the time.

right now my favourite track from her is not on this album, it's "vanessa".

the part where she goes :
"My heart, oh
and I don't care what you say
but it's the way it goes and it's a happening everyday"

has been completely stuck in my head for days !
(+ she's very cute in the video)

Ha! I woke up with a Grimes song stuck in my head this morning, without having heard it in days. I don't know the name of it or even the lyrics so I've substituted Cocteau Twins nonsense but it's like "some, some, some, some, give it all back, I would start the seaside, I would start the whoooaaaa-ooaaaa-ooooaaa"

I've checked, it's Visiting Statue and it's "seabed" not "seaside" but approximately the same lyrics.

That song is an earworm!

they're (almost) all earworms !
I've just bought tickets to see her in paris in may.

i need someone else
to look into my eyes and tell me girl you know you gotta watch your health
(to look into my eyes and tell me girl you know you gotta watch your health)
LA LA LA LA LA

otm

Interesting interview from Tiny Mix Tapes:

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/grimes

Used to work at D&Q!

(ha ha, it took me like 3 years to learn how to export lossless from GarageBand but by that time I'd moved to the Record upgrade of Reason, so now I don't feel like such a dummy if she couldn't crack it either.)

Hildegarde von Bingen! OK, I love you. I knew I was right to do so.

Well, now we know her primary influence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37I7egeAtSY

I have never heard that song before; it's awesome.

yeah, wow, that's gorgeous. and jeez, you can really hear what grimes took away from it. hamill sounds like she had a p interesting career. according to wikipedia, she recorded with, toured with with or joined: procol harum, jethro tull, king crimson, gilbert o' sullivan, wishbone ash, jon and vangelis (she's on friends of mr. cairo!). voices sounds pretty great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tdeqk3zdPI

http://twitter.com/#!/Grimezsz/status/189136305098199041

http://grimestyle.tumblr.com/

never gonna get over her malice mizer background

Reading her twitter, she just reminds me so much of my siX0r at that age, like freaky avante-naive prodigy goth girl in love with *everything* and eating up everything she possibly can with a spoon and dishing it out in this weird cuisineart blender of everything all at once, and yet still very personal and distinctive.

But, you know, I just love spooky art school girls so much. It's like... man, we could hang out, and drink wine and make the baby jesus cry. It'll be awesome.

Side note, OK, why have I never heard Claire Hamill before? This has my name all over it!

Hamill's Voices topped the UK New Age Chart in 1986, but its outlier in a discography of 70s folky/proggy singer-songwriter and 80s Kate Bushisms (for a few songs each folky album, at least).

yeah def wanna hang w/ grimes

interesting to discover her favourite album of last year was Katy B.

interesting that her favorite album of last year was so uninteresting

I was thinking of you when I posted that, admittedly.

I bit my tongue so hard before taking the bait... I really, really tried not to

not much crossover between this thread and the billy joel poll

The Katy B record is great!

Most of ILX (the smart half at least) thought it was great, too. Sometimes I think Grimes would make an excellent ILX0r. And then I realise she'd probably be a noize borader. Feh.

I've fallen and I can't feel my face.

i think theres an rnb influence but not one that should be overstated. like daydream era mariah in places but thats about it. i mean its there and its not there.

It's an influence, it's hearable, but it's one of about a million "influences" that have been chopped up and thrown in the blender. It's not exactly a USP or anything, it's just a thing that's there.

http://twitter.com/#!/Grimezsz/status/189590724138909696

i'm grimes you guys

You're so positive

Ben Gruber ‏ @benhenrygruber · Details
@Grimezsz listening to michael jackson covers are we?

feel like posting this in the irrationally angry thread, read it and thought "this is why i hate people", not sure if i can explain properly but i can't be alone in this

like the fact that this person thought his knowledge of the fact that alien ant farm's biggest hit was a michael jackson cover was not only worth tweeting@a hipster girl he obv has a boner for, but the fact that he phrases it in a way that makes it look like he seriously expects her to respond to that

it's just

ugh

and it's not even that she's internet-famous or anything, i get weirdly annoyed when i see guys do similar things to girls they know on fbook (it is always straight guys who do this to girls on fbook), i just don't understand what goes on in ppl's heads