In 2007, Imogen Heap showed up to the Grammys wearing the perfect outfit—for a garden party set in a Tim Burton movie. (We won’t lie. We totally loved it.) It was a fitting introduction for mainstream audiences to her quirky style.
In the time since that evening, Imogen hasn’t lost the off-beat edge to her style and ways of creating music. This year, she returns to the Grammys as a veteran. She’s conquered television licensing, blogs, and the infamous “Hide and Seek” even found its way in to US Pop charts, but she’s said that “Ellipse” is her most personal album yet. It’s also now her most successful, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200.
Imogen says that she attributes a lot of the inspiration for the album to taking a extensive trip to different parts of the world. She plotted a journey from Fiji to Thailand and many places in between and wrote the first “Ellipse” track during the first night of her trek.
“I signed my first record deal in 1996 when I was 18 and, for ten years or so, I felt like I was in a really fast race. I suddenly realised I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a holiday. So I decided to get away from it all, take my keyboard and a laptop, and go travelling on my own. I plotted the trip by spinning around Google Earth and decided, as a starting point, to choose the place with the most blue sea around it, because I wanted to get as far away from people as possible. That was Hawaii.”
The result is a record that has once again earned her a couple Grammy nominations, one of them being for Best Pop Instrumental. With arrangements and instrumentation that earn this much recognition, it’s also even less shocking that, for her last tour, Imogen wanted to find clever ways to recreate the songs live for fans.
Watch Imogen prepare for a performance in Los Angeles and explain the way she’s enhanced her shows this round:
She’s got a good chance of winning, too, according to Paste Magazine, who went through all of the Grammy nominees and gave a little bit of spotlight to the nominees they think are actually warrant a chance at the coveted gramophone.
After the Grammy Awards, Imogen will start the second leg of her her Ellipse World Tour, which includes live auditions for cellists to help her out on stage. (Do you play? Do you live in the UK? Hey, it could be you.)
This is not Common’s first Grammys ceremony, not by a long shot. If he manages to come out ahead of the competition for Best Rap Album (which, of course, includes another Embedded artist, Mos Def), it’ll be Common’s third Grammy win. He knows how this whole thing works. So it’s not really surprising that lately he’s just to continued to spend time blogging or exchanging notes with fan via Twitter about which movies he’s excited to see released.
Dantrel Robinson points out on the Grammys blog that “Common has evolved from an MC to Hollywood actor and community activist” since he started in 1992. Part of what makes his last record, “Universal Mind Control,” something to celebrate is the fact that he still managed to break new ground himself. This album shows Common changing his sound but proving that he can still top charts doing so, reaching #1 on US Billboards Top Rap Albums.
In this Embedded clip, Common explains that the inspiration for his album comes from riding through his hometown, Chicago:
However, Common’s not so used to doing well that he doesn’t know how to feel honored anymore. Instead, he told Entertainment Weekly’s Music Mix that the nominations still surprise him entirely.
EW: If I’m counting right, you were nominated eleven times before this year. Are you still excited when you get another couple of nominations?
COMMON: Yes, I was still excited to hear about it. It caught me off-guard. I was actually eating dinner with some of my friends in Washington, D.C. I got a text saying “Congratulations,” and I was like, “Congratulations? What’s going on? Did somebody say I’m getting married? Do I have a child out there I don’t know is coming?” [Laughs] So I asked the person — this was someone from my management team — “Congratulations for what?” and she told me, “Congratulations on your Grammy nomination.” Later, she texted me back, “You got two.” So I was very excited.
It hasn’t distracted him from working on the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated album. Currently titled “The Believer,” Common also tells EW that he hopes to have new music out by this summer. He’s set to work with longtime friend Kanye West again as well as producer No I.D. He’s also got a couple of his own movies for fans to be excited about, including “Just Wright” with Queen Latifah and “Date Night” with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, which hits theaters in April.
And don’t forget to also check out his full episode of Embedded here on Current.com:
As the Grammys get closer, we still can’t help but feel a little swell of pride every time a featured Embedded artist gets mentioned. We love Mos Def and Common and Imogen and Death Cab for Cutie, and we love that rooting for Silversun Pickups feels like rooting for the home team. We tried to tell everybody about how good they are, and then the Grammys backed us up by giving the band a Best New Artist nod.
This week they’ve been gearing up for the show Sunday night by staying buzz-worthy, thanks to playing Jimmy Kimmel Live and a long article in the Los Angeles Times that traces their shift from locals with a lot of promise to one of the biggest emerging rock bands in the US. From the piece:
Part of the Silversun Pickups’ formula seems to be the slow burn. “You can stare into those songs for a while and notice new things,” Cooley said.
Dangerbird Records co-owner Jeff Castelaz, who signed the Silversuns in 2005, also points out an “elegance that’s creeping into their music.”
“These guys are always going to be chased — by rock stations, by kids just discovering them,” Castelaz said. “And the thing is, no matter what the music industry may look like, they’ll be just fine because they’re real. They would be doing this no matter what.”
LAT’s blog predictions have the award going to MGMT, but Silversun are acknowledged as big contenders this year.
While waiting for the final pronouncement, check out how the Grammys social media site includes Silversun in the their We’re All Fans visualizer. The site rounds up posts across YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr, in a cool portrait that weaves together all of the online fan excitement about Silversun in real-time. You can add yourself to the network and show support as the week winds down.
If you missed it, take a look back at their episode of Embedded. We joined them for the band’s most anxious week ever, as their album “Swoon” hit stores and they performed it live for the first time.
This week is a great time to be a music lover in Los Angeles, as major artists swoop into town for pre- or post-Grammy performances and promotion. That includes Best Rap Album nominee—and Embedded tour guide—Mos Def, who has a small club show tonight.
His Key Club performance follows a wild set in New York City last week, where Mos pulled Diddy onstage, as well as Jay Electronica and the other half of Black Star, Talib Kweli. A few other special guests could show up with Mos tonight, or he may just hold it all together himself. Either way, it’s proof that he continues to show more excitement for hip-hop than most emcees out right now. He might even be more enthusiastic than a lot of fans, considering he had no problem gushing about his love for rap and the work of some of his peers with Current.
In this Embedded Outtake, Mos admits he’s not too cool to geek out about getting Slick Rick to appear on “Auditorium”:
It’s that kind of energy and excitement that’s probably gotten him the recognition he has. The Canadian National Post’s pop culture blog, The Ampersand, is doing a week-long run-down of GRAMMY nominees and giving their predictions. For best rap album they’re betting the award goes to Eminem but think Mos Def’s “The Ecstatic” deserves the win. Prefix mag predicts that the same, but they think Mos might have a better chance at best rap solo performance. AZ Central says the real letdown, though, is that “The Ecstatic” should have been nommed for Album of the Year, being such a strong return after three years without. (We were bummed not to see in that category ourselves.)
Whether or not he does take home an award on Sunday, Mos still comes out on top. Doom, another one of Mos Def’s favorite emcees, has scheduled co-headlining dates for February. He’s also one of those rumored to appear on the Gorillaz next album, not to mention the “Ecstatic Moments” exhibit opening in LA this weekend, featuring moments captured during the making of Mos Def’s Grammy-nominated album, as photographed by Cognito.
So, let’s amend that beginning statement: It’s a good time to be a Mos Def fan. Check out what he’s been up to recently, and then watch his special hour-long episode of Embedded, right here on Current.com.
Imogen Heap gets wired up before a show on Embedded
As computer technology has evolved, so has electronic music. The majority of music distributed today is digital, and electronic music continues to embrace the equipment and possibilities digital audio provides, from the initial rise of synthesizers and drums machines during the 80s to the overabundance of auto-tune and the unspoken rule that every song ever released gets to have a techno remix. Electronic music has revitalized pop music, hip-hop, and indie alike, but the real challenge comes when musicians need to take their creations from the box to the stage.
Some choose to save themselves the headache of trying to figure out how to adapt by bringing the computer to the live show. A group of Princeton students took it a step further, creating the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (or PLOrk) in 2005. A couple dozen participants serve as performers, composers, and programmers simultaneously, seeking to develop new ways use digital instrumentation and then impress audiences with their findings. Other electronic musicians found that while bringing samples and loops to live settings might have been interesting for a moment, it’s hard to keep audiences engaged if they’re spending an hour or more just watching some dude in a t-shirt push buttons.
Daft Punk, one of the most successful electronic teams out today, have refined their live sets over the years, culminating in their now-infamous pyramid spectacle. Thomas Bangalter told Pitchfork that they now spend as much time working on their multimedia elements as they do the music.
Our setup is very different than the live shows we were doing in 1997. Instead of many of the old drum machines, synths, and sequencers we were using at the time, we created similar virtual kits in a software-based environment, controlling the music computers that are offstage via ethernet remote controls inside our pyramid, with moog synthesizers alongside. We have always been thinking about different ways to perform electronic music, i.e. music made with machines. In the end, we really consider ourselves operators of the system that we built for this show.
Check out a 2007 performance of Daft Punk’s hit “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”:
Other artists have started to swing in the other direction. Now that novelty of having laptops on stage has worn off, some musicians are seeking out ways to recreate synthesized sound with more interesting tools. Like Embedded artist Imogen Heap, British duo Fuck Buttons adopt whatever they can get their hands on to fill out their live show, including rewired childrens’ toys.
“Laptops on stage are like wearing shorts on stage,” Ben Powers, one half of the duo, said in an interview with Resident Advisor. “It makes sense practically, but it’s just wrong.”
Their methods developed gradually, and even Imogen Heap’s tendency to use more esoteric instrumentation is something that’s developed out first learning to command “her Starship Enterprise,” as Zach Braff put it during an interview with now-defunct Indie 103.1. The Mbira used to be the strangest toy she used on stage. For her most recent tour, Imogen has moved on to incorporating strange pipes, hand microphones, and even the waterfone. Ultimately, it depends on the artists and what makes them feel the most comfortable. Whether using laptops of other, more complex instruments to translate music from studio to stage, many electronic musicians still recognize that a huge part of what inspires them to move in one direction or another depends on audience response.
Los Angeles artist and producer Daedelus told Create Digital Music that the people watching are still the real guides for a performance, just like any live show. If electronic musicians just pay attention to what their fans respond to, they can easily figure out whether or not a laptop and cued samples cut it:
“They are the ocean currents. Fighting directly against [them] is useless. I mean, you can tack the ship against the prevailing winds, but you don’t get very far. I like having a direction, but also watching and listening and being willing to go elsewhere.”
Adaptability is really what makes a live electronic performance work.
Watch Imogen Heap pick out instruments for her tour in this Embedded Outtake, and then tune in to Embedded to see how she uses them to bring her show to life.
Canceling shows is always a last resort for bands. Most avoid it until the last possible minute, caught in the worst circumstances, but even rock bands get sick. One of the most inconvenient, but surprisingly popular, reasons for canceling is due to vocal damage. Last April, Nate of the Cold War Kidscame down with a throat infection that made his lymph glands swell. He isn’t alone in reaching a down and out moment due to unexpected vocal troubles, though. Singers all across the board have encountered complications are one point or another.
Vocal coach Brett Manning is one of the people in the world who make a living teaching vocalists how to take care of themselves. He talks about what happens when singers wreck their voices, and then shows that it’s possible to bounce back.
For busy frontmen and lead women, that can sometimes be nearly impossible. If singers don’t heed medical advice, however, the damage can have more permanent effects. While Emily Deschanel’s sister, Zooey, makes up one half of She & Him, it’s been rumored that Emily had to make a career shift to full-time acting after work in a musical led to severe nodule damage.
Some people do come out relatively unscathed, too. Cobra Starship used frontman Gabe Saporta’s surgery last year as material for a funny CobraCam.TV webisode.
After everybody from Julie Andrews to Justin Timberlake has had some kind of vocal infection or developed nodules, it starts to seem like vocalists just aren’t built to last. The damage gets sped up if singers don’t protect their voices, sing properly, and don’t curb their use of alcohol and some drugs. We can make fun of tea and honey-loving divas all we like, but maybe the methods work. Maybe the joke’s on us, in the end, when more “hardcore” singers have to cancel and we’re stuck dealing with all nine circles of hell at once, trying to get refunds from Ticketmaster. (Good luck with that.)
Kanye West likes to keep his band on their toes. Audiences don’t usually expect popular artists to direct their touring bands. It might have something to do with all of us getting used to assuming every pop concert is high-priced lip-syncing—there just aren’t many ways you can alter pre-recorded material. And with hip-hops acts in particular, until they reach a certain status, artists tend to keep things simple: one guy, maybe his hype man, and a DJ. Kanye has boasted about what makes him a special snowflake for long time, but when it comes live performance, he’s one of those who really doesn’t slack.
In the DVD release of his “VH1 Storytellers” performance from last February, Kanye blends a little of 2008’s Glow In The Dark Tour with fresher “808s & Heartbreak” material. On tour, he tends pick a band and back-up singers at the top if their game, and then he gets everything he can out of them. They play with the arrangements of songs a lot, and throughout Storytellers, fans can see that on film. We see the band following both direct and subtle vocal cues from Kanye, especially since VH1 Storytellers encourages artists to talk about how they’ve reached their success by nature, so Kanye even changes up everything mid-song when he feels like it.
Watch Kanye and his band make the most of “Stronger”:
The VH1 Storytellers performance makes a good argument for why it’s important to have a competent band, and then demonstrates how to use a competent band to the best of their ability.
Of course, the performance also features a lot of Kanye talking about why he’s awesome. But, really, it wouldn’t feel like people were getting their full money’s worth without that. Fans can grab the official CD/DVD, released today, through Amazon, and watch more at VH1.
More about Kanye West at Current.com and here on the blog:
Since the launch of MySpace in 2003 (and more specifically, the establishment of MySpace Records in 2005) musicians and social networking have gone hand-in-hand. Filmmakers, actors, actresses, and other kinds of artists have also gotten in on marketing themselves via the web, but bands and solo songwriters are certainly everywhere online. As the sales of CDs continue to drop, musicians are constantly looking for ways to promote themselves and their music. Embedded artist Amanda Palmer has conquered this year’s biggest internet phenomenon, Twitter, and used it to organize secret shows all over the country and connect with her fans.
Check out her exclusive performance of “Dear Old House That I Grew Up In” during her secret show in this Embedded Outtake:
After letting Current tag along as she orchestrated a surprise set at Smash Labs in Los Angeles via Twitter, Amanda Palmer proved that she could wield Twitter like no other yet again just a couple months later. Bored at home on a Friday night, Amanda turned some extra hours at home into a virtual flash mob. After just a couple hours of chatting with fans and creating a club logo for t-shirts using sharpie and paper, Amanda was able to make over ten thousand dollars in one night.
After the Twitter session was all said and done, she posted some final comparative numbers:
“total made on twitter in two hours = $11,000.
total made from my huge-ass ben-folds produced-major-label solo album this year = $0″
The next day, she blogged about the events from the previous night and sold even more shirts. Amanda Palmer made a few thousand more with a webcast auction and a Twitter-only guest list event, furthering cementing her position as a true Twitter and social-networking champion, and adding more weight to the idea that the best way for musicians to really make the most of their music and to reach their fanbase is by doing it almost directly.
Listen to Amanda explain how the hashtag #LOFNOTC took over Twitter unexpectedly in her own words:
“I’ve inspired a generation of bad writers,” Jay-Z told MTV in a 2007 interview.
When it comes to hip-hop lyricism, it seems that his name is usually the first to come up among young emcees trying to make it. Thanks to the man holding strong at the top of the rap game, a lot of other young, aspiring rappers assume that it’s the mark of true genius if they can come up with entire verses without having to write them down or edit them. After all, freestyling has earned a reputation in rap music for being able to help audiences discover which emcees are truly skilled with words. Cleverness at the drop of a beat has become the mark of someone who’s real and on point all the time—at least, that’s what a younger rapper like Lil’ Wayne believes—but there’s also been a lot of debate about whether or not that really sacrifice quality.
In Embedded, Common talks about how he stopped writing out lyrics in 1993, but for seasoned hip-hop artists like him and Jay-Z, forgoing the use of pen and paper happened as they got older, adapting to natural changes in their creative process instead of simply ditching conventions to prove something to other people. Jay-Z thinks that it’s important to practice first and develop a craft, and the good news is that even if some younger emcees might be missing that point, at least a few up-and-coming mainstream rappers, like Drake, still get it. He’s said that he has no qualms about pulling out something to write with in front of peers, even though he respects that approach.
He believes that the specifics of a rapper’s process shouldn’t be the only thing he or she is measured by. It’s about the caliber of the finished songs. “If it’s not quality product, [then] who cares?” Drake says. “We can tell.” Watch the clip with him here:
Listen to Common as he talks about when he stopped using pens and paper to write and why, on Embedded.
Pink Eyes, the band’s frontman, told NME, “It’s hard to find a balance between the song being a fun, playful holiday classic and the reason we’re putting it out, to benefit organizations dealing with a deadly, serious issue.” They might have found the right approach, though, enlisting a host of other artists to make the holiday track as lively as possible, including Andrew W.K., Tegan & Sara, and even GZA from Wu-Tang Clan
Portishead’s contribution to this year’s benefit songs isn’t specifically Christmas-related, but it did still hit the internet during prime holiday time. Its release comes complete with this music video, showing the band as they record the track. Fans can the single, “Chase The Tear,” from 7 Digital to support Amnesty International and their work to protect and campaign for human rights worldwide, helping Portishead get in on some of that seasonal, money-donating cheer.
December’s just started. We’re sure more benefit singles are on the way. In the meantime, don’t forget to pre-order The Flaming Lips‘ Silver Trembling Fetus ornament for your tree. It benefits no one, and someone’s probably already selling something similar through Etsy, but it’s out there for everyone, just in case you were looking for one.
