Micachu & The Shapes

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