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In praise of Immi and seeing old friends
I've been listening to Imogen Heap since her first album "I Megaphone", and finally got a chance to see her play live in LA on Tuesday. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of air travel - I do it when I need to, but it's certainly not something I go out of my way for. So it's pretty rare that I'll hop on a plane just to see a show. But that's what I did Tuesday, and it was well worth the trouble.
Imogen Heap is a tremendous talent. She reminds me of a young Kate Bush in a lot of ways. I actually like her material from "I Megaphone" more than some of her more current stuff in that it's more aggressive and gives her a little more to work with in terms of emotional range. But nonetheless, her new album is awfully good too - "Hide and Seek" in particular. If I had any complaint about the show it was that she only played one song from "I Megaphone" - but it was one of my favorites ("Come Here Boy") so I can't complain too much. If you haven't heard Imogen Heap and are a fan of female singer/songwriters, I strongly recommend checking out her work. You won't be disappointed.
As part of the same trip, I also got to see several old friends for the first time in a long time - including former Machines drummer Brad Kemp. Wow, it's been way too long but it sure was nice to catch up. How odd that I actually have more friends in LA than in Phoenix.
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I've been way into Speak For Yourself lately. It's such a good album, definitely one of my favourites from last year, with Hide and Seek being the obvious highlight (though I love how the last two tracks go together as well). I haven't heard I Megaphone yet, though I checked out Frou Frou and got quite into that album too. Imogen's vocals go a long way to making the album what it is for me, but it's a solid album nevertheless. In the end though, I prefer what she does on her own to her collaborative efforts. Just one of those artists, I guess. Good stuff that you got to see her live, I heard she's been rocking some weird gadgets (mostly to do with her piano/keyboard setup), but I wouldn't really know the details.
And in regards to the latest post - I am very very much looking forward to new ARF!
posted February 5, 2006 by
stevie
Frou Frou is nice, though I prefer the slightly heavier sound of I, Megaphone (but I guess I already mentioned that). Thing is, she has a lot of emotional range so the producer in me likes to hear her taking advantage of that. And while I like the Frou Frou material, it doesn't cover as much dynamic territory to my ears. Her newer material is more whispery than shouty, more contemplative than angry...but she can do all of the above very effectively.
I got a quick look at her setup in LA as the stage crew were disassembling it. She had two Electrix Repeaters in her rig, as well as an mbria (African instrument, sort of like a large kalimba). The Repeaters were certainly used to good effect, and if I were to put another live show together I'd definitely take a good look at one.
I think "Come Here Boy" is everyone's favourite Imogen Heap song but mine. I, Megaphone is awesome, though. Blanket, with Urban Species, is also nifty.
Do you know/like Regina Spektor? She's another girl-with-piano type weirdo I'll recommend to folks who like Imogen, Tori, Fiona. Bit weirder maybe.
posted March 10, 2006 by
Lena
Hm - haven't come across Regina Spektor. But I'll check her out for sure. Thanks for the suggestion.
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And in regards to the latest post - I am very very much looking forward to new ARF!