Grimes, Visions, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review

And now for something completely different.

"Oh my God.  What are you listening to?"

That was CoolMom upon hearing Visions emanate from my tiny home office.  I guess the Depeche Mode fan has become less tolerant of bleeps and bloops in recent years.  For me, it's kind of gone the other way.  For example, I believe LCD Soundsystem achieved, perhaps, the two greatest examples of album sequencing in the history of popular music with Sound of Silver's "Someone Great"/"All My Friends" and "All I Want"/"I Can Change" from This Is Happening.

Grimes, though, is a stretch for me.  No guitar ever got anywhere near Visions.  Grimes is Montreal's Claire Boucher and I took her for a run with me on this beautiful early spring day.

Visions was put together by Boucher in her bedroom with GarageBand.  The title is appropriate as the record is all layers of synth, electronic beats, and vocal effects working together to achieve kind of a spiritual ambience.  Many of the vocals are not all that intelligible and Boucher's voice becomes just another instrument in the mix.  It's easy to imagine several of the songs scoring the dream sequence in a film -- a 1980's cyberpunk film.  The attention to detail on all of the tracks is impressive and really exemplifies what a lone artist can achieve.

"Genesis" is an example of one of those songs on which most of the lyrics sound like they're just a bunch of syllables that Boucher chants along to the beat in her pixie-like voice.  Single "Oblivion" is probably the most accessible song on the record, making it probably the most accessible that Grimes has produced to date.  That Cylon voice you may remember from the original Battlestar Galactica begins "Eight," a short track that also includes an altered, super-high register version of Boucher's voice. "Be a Body" is the clubbiest track on the album (and that's coming from someone who's been to a club maybe once, in college) and owes a bit to early Madonna.  "Skin" eases along on kind of a Bossa Nova beat with some more Minnie Riperton-style vocals.

In all, Visions really isn't my thing, but I think it does show a dedicated artist and I'm sure I'll embarrass myself plenty when I get caught mimicking the vocal on "Genesis."  As a neighbor of mine once said, "There is no right way, no pure way, of doing. There is just doing."  So don't dismiss this just because it's all bleeps and bloops.

It's pretty good music to run to, anyway.

Grimes

"Genesis" on Later... with Jools Holland 

Over the last few years, one of the main reasons I find myself going to YouTube is to see the late-night TV performances by some of the acts that really interest me.  Even if the performances aren't available on YouTube, you can usually go to Hulu or to the show's site directly and just cherry-pick the ones you like, avoiding the monologues, the forced comedy bits, the movie sales pitches, and (most of) the commercials.  One of the best things, though, is that you get to see performances from shows that we don't even get here in the States like the great Later... with Jools Holland (Apparently, the Ovation channel broadcasts Jools in the States, but I'm not even sure I get that channel).

Later... has this great format that includes multiple bands playing songs to each other for most of the show.  Most of the time, the bands are all set up on the same stage and just take their turn after being introduced by Jools.  Last night's lineup included Jack White, Alabama Shakes, and Grimes.  Both Jack White and Alabama Shakes fall well into my musical comfort zone.  Recently, though, I bought Grimes's latest album Visions with the idea of reviewing something that, for me anyway, is kind of out there.  I'll hold back my opinion until I get the review up here, but here's Claire Boucher's performance from last night.  What do you think?