Micachu & The Shapes

Jewellery was one of the best records of 2009. This band (and this woman) are going places. Awesome musical aesthetic. Apparently Simon Reynolds said something about them. I don't care. I only wanna listen to the songs. The frisky, engaging songs.

Also, the art of the short album is alive and well!

lex is basically right about these doofs

Relevant quote plz.

I think the album's wicked.

Wish I'd nominated "Eat Your Heart" or "Guts" to the 2009 poll. Of course Lex hates them; he runs away at the first sign of dissonance.

Also, my two favourite albums of 2009 were both written and helmed by women! I feel like hegemonies are bein' challenged.

actually forget i brought lex into this, sorry. ima let you guys have your fun, it's a new year.

xp congratufuckinlations imo

I haven't composed an official favorite 09 list or anything, but I'd guestimate it's at least 60% women (or more).

hahaha kevin take a chill pill, did a dog eat yr lunch or something?

I think my list stops being female pretty sharply after Micachu and St Vincent but I'm still willing to hear more before casting my BALLOT

lol no but my dog did get mud all over the house tho

funny you should say that, because track 12 of 'jewellery' features a vacuum cleaner as its main hook

does the St Vincent album feature a teeth solo?

It has a neck solo.

There was a video on the TV for a really short song with a weirdo guitar lick that I liked a lot. Can't remember what it was called. Totally charming attitude on that kid, tho.

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

^ this?

Yeah that one.

That little grin at the end

Something a bit Captain Beefheart about that riff.

i like them they're good fun

nice ppl as well

FEMALE MARK E SMITH

nice ppl as well

lol ok maybe not

Couldn't get the album to stick like I wanted it to stick. But I hope she's going places. There's a naturalness (like The xx) that stands out, even if the stuff doesn't always hold together. Still admire Prinzhorn Dance School's recordings more than either of Micachu or xx, but I can't imagine them going places.

this is from the opposite end of the musical spectrum to the xx! one all controlled, restrained, harmonious and boring as fuck 'sophisticated', and one, well, challenging, dissonant and mercurial.

How do you get 5 Micachus in a Mini?

i lost all faith in this stupid band when i found out she didnt call herself michachu after pokemon

morelike michapoo and the shits imo

Joke still works imo

don't get it

Poke 'em on

-_-

That's one of the top 3 jokes of all time. OF ALL TIME.

ok fine `v`

for posterity: a lot of ILX posters talk absolute horseshit about micachu and terminologies and whatnot here simon reynolds: classic or dud when starting a nice thread like this would have sufficed

i like the kitchen sink feel to this album, all those pots & pans as percussion.
louis have you heard Tune-Yards? she has a similar sort of ascetic, but less dissonant & more soul based.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqV5KzbNYIQ

dammit slow connection load quicker

ok that was decent enough but not in the same ballpark as micachu - also more likely to reach a wider audience on account of being less abrasive?

Jewellery was my favorite album of 2009.

Missed these dudes here an hour ago due to their stage running late and Roots Manuva overlapping their entire set - but saw the gear being bumped out and there was no miced-up Dyson. get yr cv in quickly imo lj.

I never expected to read these things on ILM

ok that was decent enough but not in the same ballpark as micachu - also more likely to reach a wider audience on account of being less abrasive?

― Electric Universe (wherever that is) (acoleuthic), Saturday, January 9, 2010 11:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark]

there is some really dissonant shit on the tune-yards album, the clip posted is not very representative of what she's all about and kind of blows tbh. the album is all samples she recorded and mixed with a minidisc recorder, not schnazzy studio musicians in black shirts. check it out, it might be your third favourite female fronted record of the old year.

seeing as the ebony bones record was little more than decent, quite possibly XD

i can't stand the tune-yards record, some may take that as a recommendation

ha, the reason i checked out the micachu record was because certain people were hating on it so much on that other thread.

:D

fuck ME!!! tune-yards is shaping up MIGHTILY

dammit the first two tracks are EPIC, the next two less so. please recapture spirit of first two tracks

i don't know if anything bangs (as in BANG!) as hard as the first two until "fiya" but there are some other great tunes.

yeah it's not bad at all! 'fiya' starts in like 10 seconds so

i oughta listen to the st vincent album

with haste. and bearing in mind that the first 7 tracks are without exception booming

ok re: 'fiya' was gonna say 'a bit too graceland for me' but the last two minutes are rectifying issues (even though things have gotten even more graceland...hmm)

still not quite...there imo, although this will get further chances

"Hatari" is my favourite.

It was for a while my favourite record ever and it's still way way up there, I listen to it a lot. She's also a great DJ

these two songs are yoga jams 4alltime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_vh6Gjdhyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6pSU7ug0JE

love the aesthetic of her videos. every single track on the album has one. possibly the best way to experience the album

whole-album video stream:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5FCF8E26A1A4B2A4&feature=edit_ok

it's all wondrous but if anything the second half is stronger, bear in mind

nah listening again the whole thing is complete brilliance.

anyway, the song upthread. get to it.

As of right now, Never is the one album from last year I most regret sleeping on

The Tirzah EP is my favorite 10 or so minutes of music this year. a little more direct and pop-focused than some of the Micachu stuff with vocals that are more approachable. still plenty weird. here are some links so you can check it out.

Rdio: http://rd.io/x/QBOgPnLtmA/
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0qm9bFqwd6IxeD36tC4sxw

ilx has form when it comes to trashing any sort of genuine art-pop

micachu obv >>> pc music in terms of compositional ability, but the battle lines are consistent and clear

this place is utterly stupefying sometimes

front cover of wire magazine this month

so so so so so so happy Micah is getting recognition she deserves

but hope she keeps making pop music and doesn't go full Zimmer

i'm just gonna do a lazy-journo categorisation thing w/this chick and throw her in with the rest of this era's pestilent Quirky Girls who think wearing bright colours and singing like a toddler are substitutes for talent

― lex pretend, Tuesday, January 5, 2010 5:06 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

never fucking forgive, never fucking forget

not that we didn't all say stupid things about music five years ago (ahem) but this attitude from the ongoing Campaign For Real Pop ensures that my work here is never done

not that into her pop music but i hope she releases more dance music & beats like she played on her Boiler Room set, for instance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3JPXQszhHA

I don't know how often I screamed this or if it was often enough but the Micachu mixtape from only two months ago is prettttty much the best thing in the world.

It is called "Feeling romantic, feeling tropical, feeling ill" iirc it is 53 minutes long and never stops serving aces

i really loved her under the skin score! would never have guessed. her early work itt is still pestilential

i wanted to hear that tape, couldn't find a legit digital version anywhere though.

wait

only just now understanding that micachu did the under the skin score

holy shit

Jewellery is such an perfect album I bought ten copies and gave them away to strangers. I wasn't as much a fan of Never as imago but I'm warming to it... re mixtape, Jordan and anyone else, msg me

have done so! cheers for the offer!

nice to see some reevaluations from certain ppl here, although yeah if they could go back and reevaluate the pestilential stuff too (or accept that it COULD to some ears be great) that'd be dandy :P

Never is seriously one of the best albums of the decade Iimo. Do still want to listen

Lol: *do still want to listen to the Under the Skin sdtk. & that mixtape sounds really cool.

not feeling the new one

feels like a retreat into…somewhere dark and uncomfortable where we don't really need to be. where are the good ideas, the cool sounds, the weird melodies, the manic euphoria amidst the sadness?

maybe more listens will open it up but it occasionally hints at growing into something mighty before pulling back every time, acting all inscrutable, hiding behind lo-fi mumbles & a blank refusal to sound appealing.

maybe this last quality is proof of its brilliance but for now i'm left cold

you means its even more shittier than the previous shit?

never is a towering masterpiece u goon

randomly decided to give them a listen for the first time today... (i think i just auto-dismissed any music where band members wore screenprinted tshirts in the 00s). four listens of both albums later... wow.

the highs of jewellery may be a bit higher but i really love the cohesiveness of never. everything flows perfectly from one track to the next and that strange pitchshifted silvery-metallic production all over everything.

what i love the most is how hooky everything is even when it's bursting at the seams with ideas and deviations. really quite smitten.

not feeling the new one

I've listened once so far to the new one and it just sounded so plain. I think "lo-fi mumbles & a blank refusal to sound appealing" describes it pretty well. I've loved most of what she's done since the start, and the Under the Skin stuff was as exciting as any of it, but I need to work with this one.

Never is def one of the great LPs of the decade, CS, what are you on about?

Lol I just posted that right before the break, nm

I loved Jewellery, and thought Lips was the best single of that year. I find the new one absolutely unlistenable.

oooh, can't get enough of those glissando strings: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/fyc/film/jackie/soundtrack/

^ I love the track "Children" from the OST. So gorgeous. Has anyone heard the new album she did with Oliver Coates?

No, is it good?

Early uniformed opinion: It's good if you're a fan of Mica's penchant for experimental classical music. First track has subtle similar warped cello effects to what can be heard on "Under The Skin". The album is quite short with 13 tracks, so the compositions lack the build up or sustained mood of something like "Love Theme" or even the work she did with London Sinfionetta. However, it contains engaging soundscapes, splayed beats and a playful approach to the avant garde.

And plenty of beautiful cello sounds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F00oI7iTXY

classic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WPpBWPVsphc

First thirty seconds of the new album (the band is now called Good Sad Happy Bad) are quite something...

did you listen to any more? the first tracked felt like a table setter.

there are some corkers on the record's second half, tho

*first track

Yeah I heard the whole thing! It's really good. Much closer to Never than GSHB on quality. Will enjoy relistening

Title-track especially stunning

title track was a definite highlight, "bubble" and especially "universal" were my other faves.

This has a shout at being their best album. Earphones have really brought it to something special

Whole second half is incredible

i really like the opener, im a sucker for that mac demarco lazy strummed detuned wet guitar sound

i haven't listened to any micachu music since the debut so idk if her singing style changed, but i like the singer on this better (even if she's a bit unremarkable)

it's cool that an artist with a reputation for being an avant-garde genius made a low-stakes post punk album w her friends; makes me miss playing in dumb short-lived bands w my pals :')

"shades" is trippy for sure

God it's so good. Reminds me of The The in places ('Bubble' especially).

Totally obsessed with this record, "Bubble" and "Star" are the standouts for me