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.

Inspiration post: Emilie Autumn

Today's vid: Rose Red by Emilie Autumn.



Why this band? Well, I've mentioned Lady Emilie on this blog before. (In a post full of fangirlish squealing. Shhh, pretend you didn't hear that.) Many of my favorite musical acts are ones that mix up genres, and Emilie's no exception. She's coined the term "violindustrial" to describe hers. She's a classically trained violinist and has a naturally pretty singing voice. So you might think she would produce lovely soft string-laden tunes, and sometimes she does... but more often than not she shreds on her customized e-violin and uses that pretty voice of hers to scream like a beast. She's a little bit crazy, and for that I love her all the more.

Why this performance? These days, she doesn't play her violin live quite so much anymore, which seems like such a waste of talent. She produced a whole album full of interesting e-violin pieces right after Opheliac, called Laced/Unlaced, but she rarely uses those songs in her set lists. So I like this performance because it's all instrumental. The song, Rose Red, is off her first album, Enchant. The album version had vocals and I like that one too, but this just flat-out rocks. It makes me want to jump up and down just like she does!

Inspiration post: Within Temptation

All right, so lately things have been getting a bit stale for me music-wise, so every day this week I'm going to post a video of a musical performance that inspires me. Today's video is Mother Earth by Within Temptation, from the Black Symphony DVD.



Why this band? Within Temptation is one of the few bands that I picked up in high school and continued to stick with over time, simply because they do what they do really well. They consistently produce great symphonic metal and they also sound good live. The Heart of Everything, their most recent studio album, is (at least in my view) a return to form for them. On The Silent Force they didn't sound quite like themselves--I think maybe because they were trying to reach a wider audience. But The Heart of Everything sounds to me like Mother Earth would have if they'd had the kind of production capabilities then that they do now. Also, Sharon den Adel is one of my favorite frontwomen ever. Period. She's beautiful, sweet, funny and has an incredible voice.

Why this performance? Really, pretty much everything from this show is great, but I have a soft spot for this song. It's the first I ever heard from them, and finally being able to hear it with a live orchestra and choir is spectacular. Definitely beats the old keyboard effects and one-guy-layered-to-sound-choral on the album version. Sharon's voice is in fine form as usual, and I love the way she punches into those high notes on the chorus. (Also, fire. Oooh.)

In which there is a rat on my head

Okay, time to take off my objective-and-sensible hat and squeal with glee like the mad girl I am. On Wednesday night after her show at Bourbon Street in Baltimore, I was finally able to meet the wonderful and talented Emilie Autumn, along with about twenty other fans who had bought VIP passes.

At the meet and greet, she showed us some illustrations from her upcoming book, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, and we had a group singalong of My Fairweather Friend. But most of the time was taken up with signings and photos and hugs (lots of those). I was struck by how well she connects with her fans--she really takes the time to talk to each person, and she seems genuinely happy to see everyone. They say you should never meet your heroes, but Miss Emilie is truly a lovely person.

But, to take my fangirl hat off and put my objective-and-sensible hat back on, I was a tiny bit disappointed with the show. It wasn't so much a musical performance as a theatrical spectacle set to music. I find the Bloody Crumpets entertaining, but at times it seemed like their act took away from the music, which I think should be the heart of a performance and not the background. True, Emilie did sing everything, but I would have loved more violin and harpsichord. The constant use of prerecorded tracks killed it a little for me. However, to give her credit, she did tear through Unlaced and Face the Wall on her signature striped violin. And I did actually enjoy most of the show, particularly the antics of Captain Maggot, who manages to be cute and creepy at the same time. She has the facial expressions of a mime and moves like a demented marionette. Also, how can you not like a show where they throw cupcakes at you?

The audience was pretty good as well. EA shows always draw a colorful crowd, attired in a combination of corsets, bustles, artfully ripped and torn garments, and stripey stockings. I met lots of interesting and friendly people in the queue, two of whom were kind enough to walk me back to my hotel after the show was over. I never got your names, guys, but I owe you. I wouldn't have wanted to encounter that one creepy dude on my own.

Lastly, the sillier photo to which the title refers can be found on my Flickr. Now, off to have some tea.

Tori at Tower

Last night I went to see Tori Amos perform at the Tower Theatre. My dislike of the latest album notwithstanding, she still puts on one hell of a show. My impressions, somewhat jumbled:

-Choirgirl got a lot of love this time around with three songs ("Black-Dove," "Hotel," and "Northern Lad"), which made me happy as it's still my favorite album of hers.
-Neat idea to follow up "Northern Lad" with "Cars and Guitars." Admittedly I was never over the moon about the latter, but it's a cute lyrical tie-in to go from "guess you go too far when pianos try to be guitars" to "but it never was the cars and guitars that came between us."
-I discovered hearing "Starling" live that I actually like it. Who ever would have guessed?
-The biggest surprise of the night was easily "Strong Black Vine." How she managed to turn an unimpressive three-minute song into a blazing eight-minute epic is beyond me.

Finally, a small note to the opening act, One Eskimo:

I liked you guys. You've got a nice mellow sound and the trumpet is pretty cool. However, you may want to rethink your set list. When you're the opening band and your song prominently features the lyric "can I have your attention pleeeeeease," especially when that line is voiced in falsetto, it just makes me giggle.

Sunny sounds from a paper raincoat

Now that that's out of my system, back to the subject I had intended to write about: The Paper Raincoat. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I first heard of them when they opened for Vienna Teng a few months ago, and now that I've seen them as headliners (upstairs at the World Cafe), I decided they needed a post of their own. Now, I quite understand if quirky indie "folktronic" (as CDBaby dubs it) isn't your cup of tea, but if it does sound appealing to you, then this duo deserves your attention. Why?

1. Alex and Amber are both already seasoned performers, and it shows. They're comfortable with each other on stage and their voices blend like they were always supposed to sing together (think Deb Talan and Steve Tannen of the Weepies, or Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of the Swell Season).

2. They're both experienced songwriters (Alex has a couple of albums as part of the Animators, among other things, and Amber's recorded two albums and an EP), and this shows in the quality of the lyrics. According to Alex, the idea for the song "Motion Sickness" originated with an inner ear infection that caused him to keep losing his balance (resulting in much hilarity on the part of his friends). And apparently he thought the experience was a good metaphor for any kind of transition. The hook is a simple phrase: "it just takes some getting used to." Simple, but it could apply to a whole range of experiences, so almost anyone can relate - that, to me, is smart songwriting.

3. Creative instrumentation, both recorded and onstage. On recordings, their sound veers a little more toward the electronic and is aided by string arrangements, but live shows are an interesting meld of acoustic and electronic elements. Keyboards, guitar and a drum kit form the base, but odd sound samples, xylophones, tambourine and a vast assortment of unidentifiable percussive things keep it from ever being boring. Audience participation is a big part of their shows as well. Expect to do a lot of clapping, singing, and (if they decide to grab you out of your seat during "It All Depends") playing tambourine.

Sound interesting? Check out their EP Safe in the Sound (at iTunes and Myspace) and be on the lookout for their first full release in October.

A caveat: If you want depression and rage, you'll have to look elsewhere. Their music is unavoidably and pretty much constantly cheery.

Why you should listen to the openers

So I went to see Vienna Teng last night, and she was great as usual. I'm really liking some of the rearrangements she's doing with her old stuff. Gravity sure sounded different the first time I heard her play it in 2003-ish... she's come pretty far since then. Now she's got openers instead of being the opener. Which leads me to my main point...

One of the openers last night was Ben Sollee, who I'd never heard of but turned out to be the kind of performer that makes you want to roll over and give up whatever you're playing because you will never in a million years be that good. Okay, so maybe that's just me. But seriously, the guy has scary skills on cello and a great voice to boot. Check it out:



People who do unconventional things with traditional instruments make me happy. :)

Check out Vienna's scrapbook for a look at how she and her crew met up with Ben.

Also go and check out The Paper Raincoat, Alex Wong's current project with Amber Rubarth, especially a charming tune called "Sympathetic Vibrations," which sounds like the quirky little cousin of Regina Spektor's "Fidelity." It's downright impossible to listen to without bopping your head. (This is what I'm currently doing, with a very silly face indeed.) I'm quite looking forward to their full-length album now... especially to this song, which they have said will be on it.

You know you're a musician when...?

Hello, internet. Long time no post. I've been busy with school and so not playing much lately. However, I figured that as long as I wasn't playing I might as well listen to other people play, so I've been catching quite a bit of live music at XPN's Free at Noon shows over the last few weeks. If you're in the Philly area, these shows are every Friday and also, as you may have noted from the name... free. So if you're like me and, well, everybody else in the country right now, trying to save money, scoot on over to one of these. It's a great way to find out about new music. (Case in point: Bell X1. Saw them a couple of weeks ago and wound up snagging a copy of their new album, Blue Lights on the Runway, which they very nicely signed for me.) And if you don't like what you hear, then at least you haven't wasted money on a ticket, right?

I've noticed recently that in certain hands anything can become a musical instrument. (If you're a drummer or you know one, you probably already know that a steering wheel is one of these things.) A couple of weeks ago I went to the mall with one of my friends and her younger sister. We stopped in Sephora to help said sister pick out makeup for the prom, and I figured I'd pick up a couple of things I was running out of while I was there. They were playing the sort of nondescript, booming gym music they always seem to play in mall stores, and while we were standing in line I absentmindedly started tapping the box I was holding against my palm in a kind of syncopated beat. You can take the instrument away from the musician, but you can't... never mind, that doesn't quite work, but you get the idea.