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

The song writing seems to exist as a pretext for the high concept and visual aesthetic and the sound design. Or is that harsh?

Yeah, this does not get me super excited about the new one, but hard to imagine I won't like some of it considering how much I love the rest of her catalog. I mean, it feels increasingly like leaning into the high concept/visual aesthetic thing is just as big as the new music she's making with each cycle.

The song writing seems to exist as a pretext for the high concept and visual aesthetic and the sound design. Or is that harsh?

maybe but that's been my sense with her stuff for a few cycles now

Prob need to investigate her more, and probably hear her live, but what I've heard just sounds like an 80s prince side project production.

I love her and I'm very excited for this record

extremely blatant bowie/prince homage, misses the mark

could grow on me though. wonder what the rest of the album sounds like

young americans is my least fave classic bowie era

here she comes to clog up the EOYs again

“The song writing seems to exist as a pretext for the high concept and visual aesthetic and the sound design. Or is that harsh?“

Not only is it not harsh its most music these days, with low budget types relegated to Instagram for their visual concepts. Music is just a vessel for individual personality: all artists have been reduced to influencers/content creators

other than the outfit it doesn't sound like young americans, it seems more Lodger-ish to me. But what it mostly reminds me of is Midnight Vultures which is an album I never return to.

tbh I never cared for Lodgers much, lol and I do not like Midnight Vultures either

The Beck comparison is apt, I think they share they same tolerance of the vapid where it aligns with the haircut. But then probably people said that about Bowie, and particularly his plastic soul iteration.

what i did hear of her, she made me think of what prince protege jill jones might have made if she made more albums.

but also kinda over produced. a lot of 80s production touches i dont need to be brought back.

all of this makes me want to check her out properly though.

im a sucker for people with agreeable references that align into something vapid.

the single cover looks like Tina Fey's character from Date Night when she's pretending to be a Russian prostitute

the song itself is all right

"other than the outfit it doesn't sound like young americans, it seems more Lodger-ish to me."

It's a pretty straight 'Fame' pastiche, no?

I like it. Seems shaggier and looser than she usually works.

Concept seems to be veering into US Girls territory.

My FB friends seem to all love it.

I'm 100% on board with it. Let it play on a loop about 15 times earlier, but I still haven't watched the video, which I gather might be a distraction.

also idg all the Bowie name-dropping people are doing. This sounds like Sly Stone and Eurythmics and a smidge of Nikka Costa.

again, that's mainly driven by the aesthetics of the video which look like a slew of videos bowie made in the very late 70's

i think, anyway

and the fact it sounds like Fame.

I've listened to Fame a thousand times. These two songs don't sound like each other.

Fame is a tight guitar driven song. This sloshes around a bit. Actually reminds me of 'All I Wanna Do' by Sheryl Crow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGr6i5Sar5s

...and throw in a word or two that rhyme with "fame".

It sounds like "Fame"

She looks a LOT like a well-known blonde actress in this video, but I can't think of whom. Cathy Moriarty? idk

The first few notes of the bass synth sound like 'Sweet Dreams'. But the lyrics are about what exactly? I suppose they make as much sense as Lou Reed's 'Lady Day'. But the comparison I keep coming back to is Muse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rf1Sj6EIFE
Lyrics that sound weighty but mean nothing (Bellamy is singing about his guitar yeah right), instrumental twiddlyness, style over substance, appearance over communicating anything.

FB ads are informing that she's offering online classes on prepared guitar techniques these days??

Do you mean the Masterclass course?

i'm not much of a fan of her but this new song is a definite improvement from the last album which was pretty dire

Oh I see that there's a whole Masterclass course on creativity and songwriting. In the ad I saw, she was demonstrating some prepared guitar techniques, e.g. approximating a ring modulator by weaving paper through the strings.

Really don't like anything about the new single. New York and Birth In Reverse weren't the best songs on the last two albums, but they still had me hyped for the release. Hopefully this doesn't represent the new album at all.

I hope it does. I crave this kind of kitchen sink alt funk.

the single cover looks like Tina Fey's character from Date Night when she's pretending to be a Russian prostitute

― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP)

The song itself also sounds like it. Top comment on r/indieheads is: “ this has such drunk aunt at a family gathering vibes”.

the single cover looks like Tina Fey's character from Date Night when she's pretending to be a Russian prostitute

― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP)

The song itself also sounds like it. Top comment on r/indieheads is: “ this has such drunk aunt at a family gathering vibes”.

Which is considered the best of her work among the ILX hardcore fans? The self-titled album seems to be thought of as some kind of peak elsewhere. I saw a festival warm-up type date in Cambridge toward the end of the last tour (2018) which was pretty great but eleven songs of the then-current album was a bit much.

self titled > actor > marry me > masseduction > ... stuff i don't remember

I think she's so talented, but has become increasingly exhausting. I don't really hear much in the direct way of Prince or Bowie (maybe a little bit of Iggy's "Idiot"), but as far as Beck goes it's very much in that "Midnite Vultures" mode.

Midnite Vultures >>>> Mellow Gold > Odelay > stuff

feel like i should like St V more than i do but oh well

She's obviously an immensely talented guitarist at the very least, but I do not like her production style at all and I can't shake the feeling she's not up to much conceptually either

I agree totally on all three points.

am i the only one getting betty davis vibes from this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf5NUBIcEyU

I don't call myself a hardcore fan, but I have heard all her records except the Byrne collaboration. I'd pick Strange Mercy as the best, though I could see a case being made for any but her debut.

Her lead singles aren't always the best songs on the albums, but this song has a little less of the compressed, squashed synth sound of the last two records, which wasn't always successful.

Strange Mercy is still my favorite

As a non-expert, I agree w those who say she's most compelling as a guitarist, and live: When NPR live-streamed her SXSW around the time of Actor, the very studied approach (they also put up video of rehearsals for the show), of the songwriting, the orchestration the stylized movement, the lights, the hair, the makeup, the costumes, the vocal manner---all worked as a set-up for her gettin' down on the edge of the stage, shredding, for what seemed like quite a while, but not too much---also for instance elsewhere encoring with "Smells Like Teen Spirit"---look around the 'Tube if interested---the whole style-is-content, flash-is-substance, even works pretty well in such instances, I think.

This might expose me as a basic rockist but that video of her covering Big Black's "Kerosene" is still my favorite thing I've seen of hers

I’ve seen her live twice. She’s certainly a better than average guitarist but I also think she has been set up as a kind of standard bearer for Women Who Play Guitar and maybe that’s a burden.