Grimes/Claire Boucher thread

fascists don't just come out and say "we appreciate power." <--- honestly not sure this is true anymore

What if it's a concept album?

xp

xp they definitely don't say "we appreciate power." maybe "we love power." but appreciate it such a weird word to apply to power.

I assumed the "we appreciate power" part was where grimes was trying to emulate moranbong -- their songs translate to stuff like "we call him father"

(wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be an actual repurposed lyric but I'm not going to google this at work)

Nah, I think Mordy's right, 'appreciate' is too soft-hued for today's alt-right. If anything, they've made a point of 'rehabilitating' more obvious fascist signifiers. 'Appreciation' doesn't even make the dog-whistle cut.

xp

the "no fascist is going to listen to it and feel represented" part at least is true -- they have their own musical taste and artists, the year in kanye didn't get them to listen to kanye

soft hues are helpful when you're cloaking your sentiment, though? (not accusing grimes of anything here, just pondering alt-right language patterns)

Apparently the 4ÆM demo has leaked and it sounds good and has a drastically different style from “we appreciate power”, is this the first time she uses a drum n bass beat?... the production sounds really good so wouldn’t be surprised if the album version is practically the same as this demo.

http://grimeslife.tumblr.com/post/180622337146/grimes-4æm-demo

I think this song fails insofar as it relies upon its audience being familiar with the concept of Roko's Basilisk for the joke to land

"We Appreciate Power" is the same joke as "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords"

I think this song fails insofar as it relies upon its audience being familiar with the concept of Roko's Basilisk for the joke to land

maybe, maybe not -- being familiar with the concept probably has an equal chance of making the lyrics seem "oh god, this again" (source: me)

lol

yeah that was my reaction too katherine

soft hues are helpful when you're cloaking your sentiment, though? (not accusing grimes of anything here, just pondering alt-right language patterns)

Sure, but it seems to me that even in their most underhanded uses of language, they tend to steer clear of potentially 'feminine' words such as this one, unless they need a) neutral filler for purposes of diplomacy or b) to demean the object of 'appreciation' (Trump 'appreciated' McCain, for instance).

I agree that Roko's basilisk is boring af, as is the trolley problem and the thankfully mostly defunct brain-in-a-vat thought experiment.

WTF is Roko basilisk

Courtesy of the somewhat insufferable Rational Wiki: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko%27s_basilisk

Roko's basilisk is a thought experiment about the potential risks involved in developing artificial intelligence. The premise is that an all-powerful artificial intelligence from the future could retroactively punish those who did not help bring about its existence, including those who merely knew about the possible development of such a being. It resembles a futurist version of Pascal's wager, in that it suggests people should weigh possible punishment versus reward and as a result accept particular singularitarian ideas or financially support their development. It is named after the member of the rationalist community LessWrong who first publicly described it, though he did not originate it or the underlying ideas.

ooh good this shitty song comes with homework to boot

Rokos basilisk is a thought trap for aspie programming bros and it’s hilarious

Think about it tho.

such b.s.

Roko's basilisk-isk-isk-isk-isk-isk
Roko's basilisk-isk-isk-isk-isk-isk
Roko's basilisk-isk-isk-isk-isk-isk
Roko's basilisk!

I think the kindest thing I can say about this song is it sounds like something they'd use to introduce a new villain on the powerpuff girls

song needs a larry david drop with "do you appreciate power?"

i...do not like this

actually, my references upthread were off; what this really reminds me is the lucy nation

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

thanks gbx, we appreciate pooh-poohers

i'm just a little disappointed! really like a lot of her other stuff, this ticks a lot stylistic references (late-90s stuff mentioned upthread) that i didn't like then and am not thrilled to see return. that's ok!

p4k: We Appreciate Power May Be Grimes' Most Divisive Song Yet

def not, that's still "Go"

Did people like "Go"?

i'm loving this song, it's a good earworm. also being a fan of POP-era U2, it gives me "Mofo" vibes. ymmv considerably as to whether or not you find that a compliment.

I took "appreciate" to be used in the sense of appreciating a fine wine -- Grimes is saying "We appreciate power (in a way you stupid masses never could)." It's about the fascist mindset where power is desired as an end in itself, something to be savored, something that the fascist deserves because only the fascist can appreciate it and properly wield it. Kind of an Italian Futurist style of fascism (and this song does fit with their lust for technological development too).

Given that Grimes recently went through a lot of public scrutiny for dating a technofascist billionaire, I don't think the song is satire. I think she's making a conscious heel turn to embrace the darkness.

yea it's def a heelturn, and tbh? i'm here for it

While a technofascist weirdo pop-star singing about AI is about the most 2018 thing I can think of, I find it pretty repulsive myself.

if it IS a genuine heelturn then I...don't like that? I'm only marginally more OK with fashy tech fetishists than I am with NSBM types

Come on, you're not even alive
If you're not backed up, backed up on a drive

it's super twisted that she really sincerely believes this but there it is, in her own words

haha

sincerity really is scary

this doesn't sound enough like fear factory

doesn’t doomsday science fiction about AI predate the online rationalist community by like a century?

sad that grimes has succumbed to irony poisoning

I'd prefer irony poisoning to sincerity in this case

this doesn't sound enough like fear factory

there's only one band in the world for whom this is not the case, tbf

https://theoutline.com/post/6717/grimes-we-appreciate-power-review-elon-musk?zd=1&zi=c32c35rx

Poppy Breaks Down New Album 'Am I A Girl?' And Says She Was 'Bullied' By Grimes

She also worked with Grimes on “Play Destroy,” which she says is one of her favorite songs on the record despite a behind-the-scenes process she “could have gone without.”

“I was kind of bullied into submission by Grimes and her team of self-proclaimed feminists,” she says. “We planned the song coming out months ago, and she was preventing it. I got to watch her bully songwriters into signing NDAs and not taking credit for songs that they were a part of. She doesn't practice what she preaches. It's really upsetting to work with a female that is very outward about a topic, but behind closed doors, it's the complete opposite. It's actually very disheartening to people that are actually feminists and supporters of other females.” (Billboard reached out to Grimes’ representatives for comment.)

ok, poppy

"I was kind of bullied into submission by Grimes and her team of self-proclaimed feminists"

Iconic sentence of 2018

fwiw grimes also followed mars argo recently

(background on that, which is a whole thing, and I'm not sure what to make of it besides the fact that virtually every dude involved in this either is or seems terrible https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/16/17346050/poppy-lawsuit-mars-argo-titanic-sinclair-youtube-explained)

Here’s a brief lesson in how context works.

*closes tab*