Imogen Heap has been one of my greatest musical discoveries. She is one of very few artists that I can always be in the mood for. I remember first hearing the song, “Let Go” and thinking that it was so different than anything else I had ever heard. I realize now, since we have been doing this blog, that she is not quite as out there as some of the other artists we have looked at. She does however seem to have more of an appeal to the masses. I was also quite surprised after playing her music for Thomas that he took such an interest in her as well. Since Thomas and I have quite different taste in music, it is a rarity to actually find someone we both enjoy. This may be my main reason for picking her this week, I feel if Thomas and I can both agree on something musically there has to be something special about it.Imogen is known for using manipulated electronic sounds. She said in a 2005 interview, "I just love crafting and shaping sounds. Actually, many of the sounds that I work with start off as organic instruments - guitar, piano, clarinet, etc. But I do love the rigidity of electronic drums... I would record live drums, and then I would spend a day editing them to take the life out of them. I like to breathe my own life into these sounds, and I do try to keep the 'air' in the music. Some people think electronic music is cold, but I think that has more to do with the people listening than the actual music itself." I think it is also important to note that she can play almost any instrument, and has self taught herself most of them. As you listen to her music this week, you will definitely be hearing sounds unlike anything you would normally hear. One of the other reasons she appeals to me so much is that her music is very atmospheric as well. I notice a progression of this through her albums, she seems to be getting better and better at painting a picture of what she wants you to see.
I thought I would go ahead and list a few of my favorite tracks off each album. I.E. the song 2-1, makes me think on a deeper level, especially if you listen to the lyrics and the mood that Imogen presents in the song.
Frou Frou- Let Go, Psychobabble, Shh
Speak for Yourself – Headlock, Have You Got it in You, The Walk
Ellipse – Canvas, 2-1, Wait it Out
Beth, I just wanted to say I've been looking forward to this week since you let me know you were picking her! "Let Go" is probably one of my all time favorite songs (at least top 5 when it comes to most played on repeat)... Needless to say, I've got high expectations! Anyway, I have already listened to Speak for Yourself like 4 times all the way through. So far it's looking good.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that! I think it will be interesting to see what David and Justin think of her.
ReplyDeleteImogen Heap has one of the most unique and intriguing sounds out there today. I remember hearing ‘Let Go’ and enjoying it, but was skeptical due to all of the hype it got from the Garden State soundtrack and the extremely homosexual name of the group. Upon stumbling upon ‘Shh’, I was hooked and decide to give the ‘Details’ a try. I came to find that this was a very solid album. Each song is unique and has a sound that I have never heard before. To me this is a mix of pop music and crooning. This an album that, as Laura stated, is one that you can put on repeat and never get tired of it. My other favorites are Psychobabble, Must be Dreaming, and Breathe In.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing Hide and Seek on an episode of Scrubs and thinking, my god that sounds like Frou Frou. But I couldn’t find anything on the internet indicating that they had a new album. Beth then picked up Speak for Yourself and I finally learned that Imogen went out on her own. Instantly with Headlock, I was sucked in by that unique sound and couldn’t eject the album until I went through the whole album three times. This album is excellent from top to bottom and is filled some of my favorite tracks. The lyrics are relevant and tell a story in such a tantalizing manner. Imogen shows off a very deep bag of tricks with her vocals and creativity on the synthesizer and piano. Her amalgamation of a dark tone with a refreshing vocal is really quite extraordinary. My favorite tracks are The Walk, Have You Got it In You?, Clear the Area, Hide and Seek, Daylight Robbery, and The Moment I Said It. Needless to say, this is one of my favorite albums.
For many months I kept checking her website searching for word of a new album. She originally stated she would release a new one in May of 2007, but kept pushing it back 3 months at a time and eventually released one 4 years after Speak for Yourself. I had very high hopes for Eclipse and probably unfairly expected another Speak for Yourself. After the first listen through this album, I was extremely disappointed and didn’t feel a single track stood out. Upon several more listens, I was able to pluck out some tracks that I actually grew to like, but overall, this album lacked the depth and creativity of her previous efforts. Tracks like First Train Home, Wait it Out, Between the Sheets, and Half Life are very generic and quite bland. My favorite tracks are 2-1 and Canvas. Earth and ‘Aha!’ are standouts with some new sounds, but Bad Body Double is probably the worst song she has ever recorded.
ReplyDeleteI really love her style and her attitude. After seeing her outfit at the 2004 Grammy’s and hearing all of her music, it is quite obvious that she is one of the ‘leaders’ that I mentioned in my Rise Against follow-up. She is going to put together the music she wants to and wear what she wants without a care in the world what anyone thinks. Her music contains that innocence that today’s pop industry lacks as discussed in our N’Sync discussions.
I'm doing this totally backward, so I want to apologize up front - but "Speak for Yourself" was a logical place for me to start this week. OK, so it was a selfish choice, because it was the one I was most excited to hear. We all know I listen to pop radio, so I can admit my interest in Imogen Heap was re-sparked by the Jason DeRulo song, "Whatcha Say." Plus, David and I went through an OC phase, and "Hide and Seek" was used there as well. I listened to this album at least 8 times on the first day, and many times throughout the week. I have obviously payed most attention to this of the albums we were assigned (actually, probably since we started MT, outside of my own picks).
ReplyDeleteFor me, nothing really stands out on this album as something I have to listen to on repeat, but that's the thing. The ALBUM itself is repeat worthy. There are few weak links here as far as I'm considered. If I had to pick a few favorites, I'd say "Just For Now," "Clear the Area" and "Daylight Robbery."
For me, this music is surreal in its ability to create a certain mood - it's kind of muffled, almost medicated, in that it feels good but muted. I love Imogen's voice, and I think it's funny how a lot of people who listen to pop think of T-Pain when they think of the auto-tuner, when it sounds better on her ;)
More later...
I am very picky about my female vocalists; she has to really standout to get my attention. I can probably name a bakers-dozen of singers that I would listen to on a regular basis, and that’s it. “Let Go” is about all I know about Imogen Heap, who I’ve probably mistaken as Regina Spektor for I know nothing of her work either and they both have interesting names. It’s good to throw some ladies into our mix, as there are a few I’m selecting between for one of my weeks.
ReplyDeleteFrou Frou has that electronic feel that alludes to influences from Stereolab and Zero 7. I know lots of girls who enjoy Frou Frou because let’s be honest it’s chick music. Imogen draws her comparisons to contemporaries like Dido but she has her own style and unique voice. The trip-hop/electronic elements in “Must Be Dreaming” and “Psychobabble” keep me intrigued and define a style that suits Imogen; I really feel that a stripped down more acoustic album from her would wear thin with me. “Pschobabble” has a darker slower feel almost inline with something off Bjork’s Homogenic album, which is one of my bakers-dozen ladies I love to listen to. Correction, I have heard “Shh” on a Beth mix before, not one of my favorites. “The Dumbing Down of Love” is a highlight for me with the lyrics “music is worthless unless it can make a complete stranger cry” the sentiment being that music that doesn’t stir some sort of emotion in you is without value, which I completely agree.
Speak For Yourself has a playfulness to it with opening tracks “Goodnight and Go”, and “Headlock” that would probably be a number 1 hit if it were a Lady Gaga song. “Loose Ends” hints at an industrial sound and shows that Imogen is not afraid to explore genres. “Hide and Seek” immediately reminds me of the SNL skit where people keep walking into a room and shoot each other, which is making fun of the O.C. The autotune in “Hide and Seek” works well and accentuates the mood she aims to set. Frou Frou was more linear musically whereas this album takes chances and doesn’t get too comfy within just one soundscape. Apparently, the last song on all of her albums are my favorite because “The Moment I Said It” has a resonating effect on me.
ReplyDeleteThe layered vocals are becoming more prominent with every successive album “Earth” and “Little Bird” especially on Ellipse. Nothing really stands out until “2-1”, a song that leaves the breezy girly tunes for more of an orchestral/Celtic sound that could have been a good theme for a whole album. “Aha” once again is dramatic and weird and that is where Imogen excels; being different is what I think endears her to her fans. The last half of Ellipse was great and makes me wish the beginning was a little more adventurous with its approach. I’m not sure if Imogen is exactly my kind of female artist, but she is creative and that goes a long way.
Imogen Heap is definitely one of the more unique musical artists around today. I like to compare her voice and vocal style to that of a butterfly....her voice is constantly flitting around the scale and is really hard to pin down, but still at times is quite beautiful. It's hard to come up with another artist that sounds even remotely similar (the closest I can come to is Bjork, but even that feels wrong to me), and being able to say that about a musician in the present day is pretty uncommon.
ReplyDeleteLike most people, I'm sure, the first time I ever heard Imogen Heap (or Frou Frou, in this case) was with the song "Let Go" that was played during the ending credits of the movie Garden State. Like most of her music, this song is heavy on what I like to call the 'bleeps and bloops' type of electronic music, which takes much of it's sound from the form of electro music known as glitch. I remember thinking that the music reminded me of a female voiced version of The Postal Service, and after hearing the rest of the first album I think that comparison is still pretty apt, albeit a bit more dark than The Postal Service ever was. Overall, 'Details', the only Frou Frou release, is a good but definitely not great album. Most of the songs are pleasant to the ears, but just don't have that thing that great music has that causes it to stick in your head for the rest of your life. There are a few standouts on the album, of course, most notably "Psychobabble" with it's ominous string section (which reminds me of Bjork more than any other song in Heap's repertoire), and my favorite song on the album, "Shh". I don't particularly love Heap's vocal performance on the song, but I absolutely love instrumental behind it. It really reminds me of the music made by Jimmy Tamborello (of The Postal Service) when he was recording under the name Dntel, and this is definitely a good thing. If anything does stick with me off of this album, that song will be it.
Within the first few seconds of her first solo album, 'Speak for Yourself', you can tell that Imogen Heap hasn't strayed too far from her previous work in the duo Frou Frou. The 'bleeps and bloops' are there in full force, but there is also a much fuller sound on the opening track "Headlock" than on anything on her previous album. This song reminds me of the type of music they play on Grey's Anatomy, and I'm sure it's been on there at some point. Overall, the songs on this album have much more memorable pop hooks, and for what generally amounts to a unique pop singer, this is obviously a good thing. I was very interested to learn in reading about this album that Jeff Beck, one of the guitarists for the 60s band The Yardbirds (that at one time or another also included Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page), contributed a guitar solo to the second track, "Goodnight and Go". It's impossible for me to ever hear "Hide and Seek" again without picturing the SNL skit in my head, and this is a good thing because the skit is hilarious.....the song itself is just pretty good, until the 2:50 mark when it just takes off and finishes very strongly. The real highlight of the album and of the entire week is "Clear the Area". I love everything about this song, and as a matter of fact it JUST missed the cut on my 250 favorite songs of the last decade. Unfortunately, the greatness of this song causes everything that follows it to pale in comparison, even though there still are some pretty decent songs yet to come. The several highlights, though, make this an album worth listening to.
ReplyDelete'Ellipse' is the only album this week that was new to me, and as a whole just doesn't do a whole lot for me. While she still sounds unique as an artist, she seems to have lost the creative spark that allowed her to create some pretty great songs in the past. Other than "2-1", absolutely nothing on the album stood out to me. Actually, one other song did stand out, "Bad Body Double", but it wasn't for it's good qualities....it didn't have any. Hopefully she just hit that sophomore slump with her second solo album, and can return in a couple of years with something worth listening to again.
In all, Imogen Heap is definitely an unusual and unique artist with a very idiosyncratic sound. The vocal acrobatics she's able to perform at times are really captivating, and while not all of the instrumentals backing her are great, every now and then the mix between the two is perfect and you get a great complete song. While definitely not being my favorite female artist around, Imogen Heap definitely falls into the class of those that are pretty good.
Back to Frou Frou, I had high expectations going into this album because I enjoyed "Speak for Yourself" and even more than that, the song "Let Go." None of the songs on "Details" really rose to those expectations, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy this album, just not as much as "Let Go." "Must Be Dreaming" sounded similar though. I guess it was one of the highlights for me on this album. I didn't like it as much as "Speak for Yourself" but it was pretty similar for me. Maybe a little more upbeat. Maybe a little less... muted I think is the word I used before. But enjoyable nonetheless.
ReplyDelete"Ellipse" had the same feel, and her voice is still beautiful on the album, but none of the songs quite could reach the bar she set with "Speak for Yourself." Nothing stood out to me on this album because of that. I don't know what part is missing for me, maybe the songwriting isn't as good on this one as in the previous albums. The movements in her voice just don't quite do it this time.
A couple other things -
ReplyDeleteWhat stands out to me the most about Imogen Heap is that her voice is used more like an instrument than as a way o convey lyrics or a message in her songs.
It's funny that the jumping point for all of us this week was "Let Go." It's interesting to see how the use of that one song has opened our minds (and certainly hundreds of thousands of others) to the rest of her work. It also speaks to what movies and shows like "Grey's Anatomy" (the theme song of which is sun by similar artist Psapp) and "The OC" have done for getting this kind of music known to the masses.
Justin and David both mentioned the SNL skit "Dear Sister," (hilarious! http://www.idkwtf.com/videos/latest-videos/dear-sister-snl-digital-short) which I'm sure did wonders for sales on "Speak for Yourself" as well. "The OC," popular enough that SNL deemed the scene where Marisa shoots Trey (sorry, spoiler) widely known enough to parody it, did similar things for other artists as well. For me, "Grey's" was the show that sparked my interest in this kind of music.
On another note, I saw Imogen Heap is rumored for Coachella 2010, which got David and I talking, something along the lines of what I think Justin was trying to convey when he mentioned that her music stripped down might not have the same appeal. I agree. So much of what makes her music is the electronics and the whole production aspect, whereas, as pretty as her instrument (voice) is, I'm not sure that would translate live very well. Regardless, I think that would be interesting to check out... I might have to see if there are any live performances on YouTube...
On her Wikipedia page, I see that it says she's done work with Jeff Beck, who is at Bonnaroo this year. I might have to check that out as well. Not that that means he sounds similar at all (because I am sure he doesn't) but this piques my interest in him a little more...
I hope "iMegaphone" is available somewhere online to hear. Have you heard that one Beth? I wonder if I'd like it since I liked her earlier two this week.
Anyway, thanks for helping us get a closer listen to this week's artist, Beth.
P.S. You HAVE to watch the SNL skit.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.idkwtf.com/videos/latest-videos/dear-sister-snl-digital-short
Here's the clip from "The OC" it was taken from as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3umNk9nVxbQ