I have her first album from 1998, "I, Megaphone", and I really have to go dig it up from the vault, especially now. Then she became part of Frou Frou, which I liked, but not enough to keep a copy. Never knew of another solo until this one. Intrigued enough to tag it for future referral but never quite found the time to do so...until she wins the Grammy for best non-classical engineering. That did it. And it is pure genius. I have always been a fan of "construction production", Trevor Horn one of my favorites, and "Ellipse" at times reminds me of Art of Noise and Propaganda. Toss in some Eurythmics, too. Heap doesn't have the power of Annie Lennox or the histrionics of Bjork, but this is voice as an instrument. Knowing she was trained in classical piano makes the comparisons to Tori reasonable. There, you should have enough reference. And since this blog is for my musical family of friends of the last thirty-plus years, the old stoners among you who loved to retreat under a big ol' pair of headphones, this one's for you.Sunday, April 4, 2010
Imogen Heap "Ellipse"
I have her first album from 1998, "I, Megaphone", and I really have to go dig it up from the vault, especially now. Then she became part of Frou Frou, which I liked, but not enough to keep a copy. Never knew of another solo until this one. Intrigued enough to tag it for future referral but never quite found the time to do so...until she wins the Grammy for best non-classical engineering. That did it. And it is pure genius. I have always been a fan of "construction production", Trevor Horn one of my favorites, and "Ellipse" at times reminds me of Art of Noise and Propaganda. Toss in some Eurythmics, too. Heap doesn't have the power of Annie Lennox or the histrionics of Bjork, but this is voice as an instrument. Knowing she was trained in classical piano makes the comparisons to Tori reasonable. There, you should have enough reference. And since this blog is for my musical family of friends of the last thirty-plus years, the old stoners among you who loved to retreat under a big ol' pair of headphones, this one's for you.
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Dug up "I, Megaphone" (in the last box of CD's...figures) and gave it a spin this afternoon. More Alanis Morissette and Tori than Bjork. More vocals up front, less construction. She still wrote some good hooks for a then 21 yr old.
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