every morning there are memes to cosign
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 01:48 (eight years ago) link
"California" is an earworm. I like "Kill V Maim" it feels very early 2000s Hot Topic rock.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 16 November 2015 01:49 (eight years ago) link
― Tim F, Sunday, November 15, 2015 8:48 PM
waiting on the desk for my signature
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 16 November 2015 01:49 (eight years ago) link
I like to imagine that there is some perfect late 90s / early 00s psueudo alterna-rock-dance chick album that has the perfect precedent for a lot of the stuff on here but which we're all too terrified to go back and listen to. Like, buried on some Bif Naked or Poe or Vitamin C album.
I briefly considered the first Imogen Heap album but when I went back to reskim it wasn't on-point.
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 02:04 (eight years ago) link
Please, continue on your hunt for the Grimes rosetta stone!
― μpright mammal (mh), Monday, 16 November 2015 02:33 (eight years ago) link
the vocals on the new realiti are better almost across the board though
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Sunday, November 15, 2015 2:46 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this opinion is really different from mine.
― Treeship, Monday, 16 November 2015 02:38 (eight years ago) link
i love the new album for what it is but the realiti demo has that visions-era vocal style which for me is still grimes' trademark
― Treeship, Monday, 16 November 2015 02:40 (eight years ago) link
do you critic-types think artangels is going to produce a top 10 single? belly of the beat and pin seem like contenders
― Treeship, Monday, 16 November 2015 02:42 (eight years ago) link
man, i like this record a lot
― thwomp (thomp), Monday, 16 November 2015 02:44 (eight years ago) link
― Treeship, Sunday, November 15, 2015 9:42 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
not a chance
― flappy bird, Monday, 16 November 2015 02:59 (eight years ago) link
yeah no
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 16 November 2015 03:00 (eight years ago) link
what about that california song
― Treeship, Monday, 16 November 2015 03:09 (eight years ago) link
it's about california. that's a pretty mainstream state
― Treeship, Monday, 16 November 2015 03:10 (eight years ago) link
they'll love it in pomona
― crime breeze (schlump), Monday, 16 November 2015 03:24 (eight years ago) link
I don't think the broader public typically embraces such ostentatious displays of weirdness until they're already familiar, and feel comfortable, with the artist in question. Gwen's "What You Waiting For" is allowable because it was from a singer whose band had been troubling the charts for some 9 years prior, the persona she displayed was just a more oddball version of what listeners already expected from her. Even Gaga had a full album of hits under her belt before she started actually living up to her art school rhetoric.
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 03:51 (eight years ago) link
Would love to see Grimes in the pop charts.
― Austin, Monday, 16 November 2015 03:56 (eight years ago) link
my mom asked the other day if i knew who grimes was
still loving this album.
― denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 16 November 2015 04:02 (eight years ago) link
It would be great to see her on the charts but yeah, no. I would be pleasantly surprised but no way. Tim F has an interesting insight, I'm trying to remember 'weird' avant artists that hit the charts without a more traditional single first. Laurie Anderson? Then again, weird was cool in the 80s.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 16 November 2015 04:29 (eight years ago) link
This album makes Visions a hard listen for me now. New realiti also better.
― the grimes of claire boucher ('90s on) (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 November 2015 04:30 (eight years ago) link
lol. Been playing this nonstop pretty much myself
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Monday, 16 November 2015 04:31 (eight years ago) link
Laurie Anderson definitely the big exception but she also feels very exceptional ("O Superman" doesn't even try to be pop except in the broadest sense).
New wave produced quite a few exceptions to my rule even as early as 1979 - "Rock Lobster", Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number" etc.
But I think that's more reflective of an entire genre movement pushing a fetishisation of a particular strain of weirdness into popular consciousness, and in that regard is more similar to e.g. the Busta / Timbaland / Missy / Hype Williams moment in rap/r&b.
Perhaps not surprising that The Weeknd is mayble the closest example in recent times.
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 04:47 (eight years ago) link
and even "What You Waiting For" wasn't a hit in America.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 16 November 2015 11:41 (eight years ago) link
I think her management said they wanted to try to get a song on pop radio in the next few months but I don't know anything would get much traction
― ufo, Monday, 16 November 2015 12:32 (eight years ago) link
yeah it's just not a matter of "will the public embrace it?" -- it has to be pushed first
― jaymc, Monday, 16 November 2015 14:39 (eight years ago) link
Since I’ve been anticipating this album since Visions, I hate that I’m “meh.” It isn’t bad. But it lacks the wonkiness of Visions.
It sounds like it’s produced by Butch Vig. It could be a Garbage album.
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 16 November 2015 14:41 (eight years ago) link
It’s certainly pop. I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of quirky pop songs from the 90s:
Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)” Bran Van 3000’s “Drinking in LA”White Town’s “Your Woman”
etc. etc. etc.
were on her Zune.
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 16 November 2015 14:44 (eight years ago) link
I don't think the broader public typically embraces such ostentatious displays of weirdness until they're already familiar, and feel comfortable, with the artist in question. --Tim F
there aren't any ostentatious displays of weirdness in the potential singles though
― flopson, Monday, 16 November 2015 14:59 (eight years ago) link
I don't really see what's so weird about these songs.I mean, nothing more than nikki minaj or lady gaga.
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 16 November 2015 15:09 (eight years ago) link
i could see one of these being a pop hit. the album may be "weird" but the songs and melodies are very pop
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 16 November 2015 17:56 (eight years ago) link
the album certainly tries to be 'very pop' but i think it misses the mark most of the time and more generally isn't very compelling. (grimes's last album didn't click with me either so it's possible i just don't 'get' her.) not sure if her management will legit be going for radio play with one of the songs but i would say there is almost no chance of that working out.
i do really like a few of the songs on the album though, "realiti" included. i find it hard to believe now that "realiti" was just some tossed off afterthought demo as she suggested -- i mean, it was premiered with a music video that clearly took more than just a little bit of work, and to these ears it's much better than most of the songs that ended up on the 'real' tracklist. i don't think the final version changes things that much but yeah, the first version, perhaps from sheer familiarity, is the one i like better.
― dyl, Monday, 16 November 2015 19:23 (eight years ago) link
i do like 'realiti' a lot
hoping this will grow on me.
dont mean to beat this dead horse but i think her vocals should be more foregrounded, im less interested in her ideas about what is or isnt pop (feels like a creative cul de sac frankly, i like how young thug just transcends that shit)
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Monday, 16 November 2015 19:26 (eight years ago) link
feel like these songs a really very pop. i wish she was as popular as the other pop stars. she should produce some britney spears.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 16 November 2015 19:39 (eight years ago) link
the album certainly tries to be 'very pop' but i think it misses the mark most of the time and more generally isn't very compelling.
Sometimes I can't tell whether this is a Pop album or a "Pop" album. That said, I could totally hear FWB being played on top 40 radio, even if it's just slightly outside the typical radio single.
Is it getting radio play? Is this even a meaningful question anymore?
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 16 November 2015 19:48 (eight years ago) link
it's most definitely "Pop"
― flappy bird, Monday, 16 November 2015 19:51 (eight years ago) link
"Oblivion" was her slow burn sleeper hit, nothing on here comes close
― flappy bird, Monday, 16 November 2015 19:52 (eight years ago) link
I thought "Go" sounded like a huge hit and it wasn't, nothing on Art Angels sounds as current
― Leonard Pine, Monday, 16 November 2015 19:53 (eight years ago) link
seem to recall that "Oblivion" was instantly loved by all when gr8080 posted the video in some thread many moons ago and is not a slow burn sleeper anything
― the grimes of claire boucher ('90s on) (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 November 2015 20:06 (eight years ago) link
the way she sings "uncontrollable" in flesh without blood is sooooooo good
― Karl Malone, Monday, 16 November 2015 20:32 (eight years ago) link
I'm really into the part where she sings "baby believe me"
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 16 November 2015 20:51 (eight years ago) link
I'm not saying these songs could never be hits, just that the public typically require an in for anything that doesn't sound utterly familiar at the outset; an artist they know, a sound they're already fond of or interested in, a soundtrack appearance. This last really should be a priority for Grimes' label/management if they want her to cross-over, but even then I suspect it would have made more sense with Oblivion (perhaps Lena Dunham at a party) than anything on this album.
Which doesn't change the fact that this album is totally brilliant.
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 21:25 (eight years ago) link
I'm not saying these songs could never be hits, just that the public typically require an in for anything that doesn't sound utterly familiar at the outset; an artist they know, a sound they're already fond of or interested in, a soundtrack appearance.
― Tim F, Monday, November 16, 2015 4:25 PM (32 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this isn't quite true -- the public typically requires a marketing apparatus, but if there is one then almost anything will fly. this year "I'm an Albatraoz," "Honey, I'm Good" and other songs, all of which would seem hilariously unlikely, were all accepted without question
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 16 November 2015 21:27 (eight years ago) link
― Tim F, Sunday, November 15, 2015 9:04 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
katy rose's "candy eyed"?
I suspect it would have made more sense with Oblivion (perhaps Lena Dunham at a party) than anything on this album.
― Tim F, Monday, November 16, 2015 4:25 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Stevie D complained that they were playing Ke$ha and not grimes in the S2 bushwick party scene IIRC
― flopson, Monday, 16 November 2015 21:28 (eight years ago) link
was listening to this in the office today and a coworker asked if they play this music on the radio. I said no, she said they should. so i looked at her like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Monday, 16 November 2015 21:30 (eight years ago) link
"Easily" is nice, i could see that in a commercial
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 16 November 2015 21:30 (eight years ago) link
I agree that if Grimes ever did anything as monomaniacal as "Honey I'm Good" or "I'm an Albatroaz" she'd have a much better chance of crossing over.
Even "Go" ultimately sounds a bit too deep for the audience it purportedly courts.
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 21:35 (eight years ago) link
I wouldn't call them "monomaniacal," I'd call them "fucking weird"!
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 16 November 2015 21:38 (eight years ago) link
Those kinds of songs don't need a contextual framework because the listener "gets" them within five seconds basically - whereas Grimes' current songs flit and dart all over the place.
― Tim F, Monday, 16 November 2015 21:38 (eight years ago) link
grimes needs to soundtrack a youtube of squirrel suit people and get with that caffeine beverage $$
― the grimes of claire boucher ('90s on) (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 November 2015 21:40 (eight years ago) link
there's even a doppler effect sound in Kill V. Maim. Maybe have a squirrel suit person fly by the camera at that part. it will be huge.
― the grimes of claire boucher ('90s on) (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 November 2015 21:41 (eight years ago) link