Inspiration post: Imogen Heap

Today's vid: Just for Now by Imogen Heap.



Why this band? I have to admit that at the moment I don't actually own any of this talented lady's albums, but I've been interested in her stuff sort of peripherally ever since I fell in love with the song Hide and Seek from her 2005 release, Speak for Yourself. (Yes, the one that Jason Derulo stole sampled from for his symphony in autotune song Whatcha Say.) Quite simply, it's a beautiful song and I like how, especially performed live, it's a cross between acoustic and electronic. On the one hand you have her natural voice at the center, and then you have the choir of computer-generated voices surrounding it. This kind of synthesis seems to be her main approach to creating and performing music. She is primarily an electronica artist, so naturally much of her music relies heavily on synthesized, programmed effects, but she doesn't take any cheats or shortcuts when playing live. That's something I really admire.

Why this performance? See what I just said up there about how she doesn't take any shortcuts live? Take a look at this for an astounding example. No instruments, no other singers, just herself and a looper. She's creating samples of her own voice and arranging them on the fly, interspersing it with layers of clapping and snapping. The first time I saw this video, my jaw dropped. Every time you think, okay, that's all, she throws in another trick, adds another layer. I love the shot near the end where the camera pulls back a little and then it really hits you—wow, all that sound is coming out of one person. Brilliant.