Grimes/Claire Boucher thread

It really isn't.

^

Not as different as early reactions on this thread suggested, but different enough that the demo sounds like the pinnacle of a sound not captured on this album. Whereas the album version is good but not really a standout (which is not too much of a criticism: everything here is pretty great to awesome IMO).

the demo is sublime, album version nothing special

if I read spotify correctly Flesh w/o Blood has 3 million listens, that's p good (compare: "Everything is Embarrasing" (2014) has 9 million)

Also, 3 million views on YouTube.

Another thing with the "Realiti" demo is that the video clip is very important to me and a lot of my enjoyment of the song is tied up in the ~vibes~ it disseminates.

was suggested upthread that album version is mocking the demo, vocals def seem less sincere to me

Why do you all like Realiti so much? It's one of the weaker things here for me.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, November 17, 2015 6:16 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it was released early and ppl binged on it when they were starved for grimes

not sure I understand what you mean by "less sincere" xp

'sincerity' as a musical criticism term should be a temp ban offence by now

the 90s club remix synth sounds kind of insincere, or just bored, like you can picture someone limply pressing down on the keys when they played that part

She's not up to it as a live performer to be a pop super star. One of the worst shows I have ever seen live.

― mickcsmitkh (micarl), Monday, November 16, 2015 9:12 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

did you see her last night at terminal 5?

butterfly almost too on the nose for a closer but i love it and never want it to end .

i think california could be a mega smash. 'cause i get carried away' gives me chills

A secret thing with Skinny Puppy? Really?

Bringing out guests =/ make her good live

works for taylor swift

i think i'm more amused at this idea you need to be able to bring it live to make it as a pop star

oblivion crossed over in ways i never would've imagined, i can see this managing some exponential version of that kind of pop success but radio seems very very unlikely, even if it was smuggled in via movie/tv means. i'm not sure it totally matters now anyway tbh. like there's a level of radio penetration she would need to become a certain kind of megastar, it certainly doesn't hurt to have radio on yr side, but it's not as necessary as it was. on first listen i thought the new one was good but it would never replace oblivion in my heart or whatever but now i'm not so sure. the lyrics do make me wince at times though. still mainly just happy that she pulled it off.

There are several songs on here that I could imagine being ubiquitous movie trailer "paper planes"-type megahits, flesh without blood among them. I hope it happens because grimes is brilliant and she deserves to become obscenely rich.

What kind of listener wouldn't dig Pin? Thr dreamy eccentricity of Oblivion is totally absent from a track like this. Nothing in the sound of this album would be weird/unfamiliar/alienating to average pop listeners

The "dreamy eccentricity" of "Oblivion" was totally its crossover selling point though. It always struck me as pretty likely that "Oblivion" (19.6m youtube views) would enjoy a very similar brand of success as Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" (18.3m youtube views), and certainly it fulfills a similar function as a dancefloor staple at a certain type of house party.

"Pin" is amazing, but I don't know what context it fits into, it's so busy and dense and gloriously self-impatient. I doubt it would alienate listeners, but it doesn't necessarily fulfill a role for groups of listeners either.

the janelle monae song is kind of a clunker

as usual

Flesh Without Blood feels the most like an alternate universe hit. Don't think she has much interest in being a producer/writer for anyone else now though from what she's said in interviews recently

In 2015 pop stars rly need to be able to pull it off live

If you don't hear the big difference btw demo and album Realiti like why do you even care much what music you listen to

It's like Tim got his hands on one of Al's "by the book" projects and hot rodded the damn thing. And we know the bones of that song can't handle the hot shot synth sound and JTT is bound to crack wise in the kitchen later but the chaos is more interesting.

idk about u but i am extremely undiscriminating, everything sounds the same to me. that's why i like all the music i've ever heard except the majority of this album.

xps uhm I guess I didn't mean "sincere" in some totally dated or lame way...

I meant (but not able to listen now and confirm my intuitions) that the vocals on realiti demo had some kind of melancholy vibe combined with etheral vocals, as if grimes is singing from some detached place high in the sky, musing on contemporary existence and spleen or whatever, and the album version is more in line with what I hear as general playfulness of singing on album, which works great on the other songs but imo takes away a bit of the urgency on the demo delivery

I also like the demo instrumental better

I hear the "Welcome to reality" in the demo as very serious and almost zen, like bjork throwing rubbish off the mountaintop, whereas the deliberately cutesy performance of that line on the album is very ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Both work but they give very different resonances to the song.

The two versions of Realiti aren't very different as songs but the performance and arrangement leave a totally different impression. Like the album version is so much perkier, there's a sadness to the way she sings the chorus in the demo. It's also a good example of why technically 'better' production doesn't always improve a song - a lot of the elements that add the crunch and rhythmic distinctiveness to the demo are still there in the album version, but they're mixed way down and are just elements floating around in the overall swirl of sound.

I think what I mean upthread is that the newer vocal is kind of mocking the sentiment of the demo. This was one of the tracks left on the shelf when she decided the album draft was too depressing and not where she wanted to go, so it's kind of a parody reading as a means of putting distance between the new and the old. As several posters above mention, there is a lot of arch, playful, throwaway vocal work - "Kill V. Maim" is like four-way bickering between Disney and Pokémon characters.

What the album version reminds me of:

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

this album is god damn amazing

'california' tripped me up when i first heard it and some of the early neg reactions in this thread tempered my expectations. but now i'm just, completely hooked on this shit. i really needed this album to be good cause i overdosed on visions too hard & can't really listen to it anymore, so grateful its a masterpiece

The demo version has a lot more space and dynamics to it, and the rhythm tracks are done in a way that gives them more of a funky syncopation and push-pull, and the vocal performance has more of a melancholy tinge. Also yeah the video is incredible and makes me want to go to every single place featured.

the (demo) vocal performance has more of a melancholy tinge

Given the album has gotten mostly positive press I think Grimes' complaint was perhaps a little premature.

This could easily end up album of the year though my top 5 or so is now looking very clustered.

Not at the time she wrote that song, though. The reaction to her pop oriented material was pretty excoriating prior to Realiti.
I live this album too, but I'd be very interested to know what your other top 5 contenders are.

*love

Yeah I assume she was thinking of "Go" (though to me that song actually feels pretty sad anyway!).

Other top 5 contenders are Julia Holter, Vince Staples, Carly Rae Jepsen, HEALTH, Years & Years, Dawn Richard.

Thanks - like the Staples a lot and hadn't got around to HEALTH yet.

Go is great imo but took 3-4 listens for me to really get into, maybe that hampered its chances

can we talk abt how "Easily" sounds like some underwater shimmery late 90's William Orbit production and how it's so wonderful?

how great wd the instrumental middle bit be as the soundtrack to like a water level in Super Mario 64

how great wd it be if Grimes re-scored the soundtrack to Super Mario 64

or just make this game
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1484956/grimes%20only%20for%20n64.png

looks like a solid sequel to mischief makers