Glasser: the newest LA diva

daughter on a Blue Man Group father and Human Sexual Response mother

Images in brain...

i think the key diff between b4l and glasser for me is that when i listen to b4l, i can tell what she's trying to do - i can tell what and who she likes, i can see where the sounds she makes stem from. it's all rather...if not obvious, then certainly laid out in plain sight. it's comfortingly familiar signifiers of mystique rather than genuine mystery. with glasser, it's just, like, holy shit, where did some of these ideas come from? there's so much in those arrangements and beats, but they don't seem to specifically draw on anything else.

i am always at a loss to describe how this album sounds to other people

Lex - very well said, and for me when it's all laid out, I find it derivative as opposed to innovative, or at least surprising, which Glasser most certainly is. And it's wonderful to still be surprised by music!

holy shit, listening to "Mirrorage" on Myspace right now and this is amazing

"mirrorage" is seriously next-level - from 2:20 to 2:42 my jaw drops every time at the way everything comes together

Just got this yesterday but i'm loving it. What else is worth tracking down that isn't on the album? I see a 3 song tour EP, a couple bonus tracks from iTunes or somewhere and a few singles. Besides the remixes, are there any originals worth tracking down not on Ring?

holy crap this is gorgeous

suits this wintry apocalypse well

and yeah, mirrorage: come the fuck on

Right???

hell yes

Proud of this gal

"Auerglass, 2009

The Auerglass is a two person pump organ created by Tauba Auerbach and Cameron Mesirow. The instrument cannot be played alone. Each player has a keyboard with alternating notes of a four octave scale. Each player must pump to supply the wind to the other player's notes."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFvdKk6u3Ao

(performance at deitch last year)

damn that's cool

with glasser, it's just, like, holy shit, where did some of these ideas come from? there's so much in those arrangements and beats, but they don't seem to specifically draw on anything else.

― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, November 19, 2010 8:47 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark

not denying this, but i do think that the knife are pretty prominent in glasser's sound

I like Glasser, and that clip of the Auerglass, but I couldn't help thinking of this (around the 1:55 mark) throughout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhw1ufT04fY

hah, i almost posted that auerglass clip here the other night

really liking the Jamie XX remix of 'Tremel': http://www.thefader.com/2010/04/14/stream-glasser-tremel-jamie-xx-remix/

So this is really good.

yep. setting aside the songwriting, it just sounds great, too.

And O_O at that Fader photo upthread...she's beautiful.

Okay I've listened to this basically all evening, and I'm pretty certain it's the best thing I've heard all year. Way to go finding your AOTY with two weeks left..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/aug/06/new-band-glasser

"Her two biggest loves are apparently Jim Henson and prog rock"

Okay, I need to marry this woman.

Yes, love this album!! =D

yep. setting aside the songwriting, it just sounds great, too.

OTM, there's this kind of huge swell to every track, the vocals sound massive at all times.

i was listening to the lp version of "Apply" last night, and i almost lost it. so fucking good

also, lol at that guardian piece namechecking enya--- it's like they've been reading stevie d.'s posts here!

yeah "Apply" is probably my favorite song on this, besides "Treasury of We" and maybe "T" - I love how rich it all sounds, it's just overflowing with ideas and instrumentation and gorgeous melodies. It's "opulent" in the true sense of the word, like.. you don't have to have strings and pianos and shit to sound opulent

yeah, i would love to hear "Apply" really loud on a good sound system

okay I am officially really into this

whew, glad other people dig 'apply' as much as me. those fucking drums!!

I am thrilled to have found something that feel genuinely different, or at least a path far less taken, than most indie rock that gets hyped up these days. Huzzah! Tour?

This is so great

I can't figure out just what it is, but I'm having a hard time truly loving this. Songs like "Apply" and "Treasury of We" do sound so wonderful, but I'm having a hard time finding something in this record that I'm not liking better on either of the two Bat For Lashes or the Warpaint album.

seems like Bjork is the big ref point - altho she seems to have excised a fair amount of Bjork's inscrutability/harshness

hmmm apparently I should check out Warpaint then...?

I will say that I like Glasser's voice a LOT more than I like Natasha Khan's, and NK is pretty damn good.

also "Mirrorage" is basically an audio orgasm

Glasser doesn't really sound anything like Warpaint, not sure why that comparison was made. Actually if you like the Glasser album the next 2010 release you should be going for is probably the School of Seven Bells album.

No, they don't sound exactly alike, but there are quite a few shared traits - the stark minimalism to some of the tracks, the gorgeous vocal melodies, I don't think its THAT much of a ridiculous comparison.

yeah there really is zero (0) reason for me not to own So7B already

Dan, have you listened to any Zola Jesus yet? It's got the minimal electronic thing going and a big voice over the top, but quite a bit more gothy than Glasser or BFL in tone. Overall the last album is kind of a drag imo, but she's got at least three songs on there that are total winners (Night, I Can't Stand, Sea Talk).

I've see the name tossed around but haven't knowingly heard; possibly as a random song on Pandora...?

i'm not really into ZJ, but it seems like she might be tailor-made for DJP

what's a good school of seven bells song? all i know of them is that they're on ghostly and that shigeto (beatmaker dude) plays drums for them live.

Glasser doesn't really sound anything like Warpaint, not sure why that comparison was made. Actually if you like the Glasser album the next 2010 release you should be going for is probably the School of Seven Bells album.

I know ilm can't stop giving SoVIIB critical handjobs and all, but people who like this type of stuff might also like Warpaint, thats all I'm trying to say!

btw "Night" by Zola Jesus is definitely making me want to investigate more

altho the youtube comment "Florence Welch meets Siouxsie Sioux!" is a little terrifying

like how much stridency can you hear before your head implodes?

Yeah, she's a pretty good fit for the 'LA diva' title.