Tag Archives: Imogen Heap

by

Higher Plain Music’s Top 10 Artist Albums of 2012

In 2012 I felt that actually some of my usual favourite artists played it very safe and therefore when I came to look at whose made the top 10 albums of the year, there are four completely new artists to me and two that I’ve only known since last year. That’s exciting for my ears for the years to come.

A few self-imposed rules are in this time round. Tori Amos’ Gold Dust (not that it’d have made it) and Patrick Wolf’s “Sundark & Riverlight” (could have done) are reworks of older music that I’ve chosen to ignore them. Also Atticus Finch & Imogen Heap, despite making some of my favourite music, have done only singles in 2012 and therefore isn’t included as there’s no album yet. A separate top 10 for game soundtracks will feature later.

 

Honourable Mentions: Jesca Hoop, A City on A Lake, Module, Garbage & Sunday Lane.

arcana

10) Arcana – As Bright As A Thousand Suns

Arcana have been around for years and I preferred the more melodic and percussive band effort compared to the melancholic Peter Bjargo solo album. It’s one of those albums you feel like you’ve already known for ages with the beautiful mesh of different instruments from aeons passed.

Try Out: As Bright As A Thousand Suns

Anathema09) Anathema – Weather Systems

I had never heard of the band before a “You may like” on Amazon presented their album to me. From just the samples I felt like I’d been on a journey. The guitar work, the way the tracks just build and build into life defining climaxes and the vocal and string arrangements are simply amazing.

Try Out: Lightning Song

soap&skin08) Soap&Skin – Narrow

The wonderfully detuned and mumble happy Soap&Skin returned with a short but beautifully formed second album fusing her piano and industrial bleep roots together. What was made see’s her ripping her heart out and smearing it over your speakers. Her screams are like yelps and the quiet moments are like lullaby’s for the lost.

Try Out: Boat Turns Toward the Port

clatter07) Clatter – Garden of Whatever

Rifftastic bass/drum duo Clatter blasted back onto my speakers in 2012 with their best album to date mixing nutty percussive chops, strong vocals and euphoric choruses to mosh to. I still feel like I have to tell everyone there’s only two in the duo as there’s so much sound coming from them – it’s my favourite rock album of 2012.

Try Out: Strawberry Park

Alt-J06) Alt-J – An Awesome Wave

Yes, they are an indie rock group but I don’t think of them as a rock group – they’re like a spacious story group. Alt-J go out of their way to make sure no song follows a well trodden path and their lyrics are cryptically awesome. I’m so glad they got the Mercury Prize this year although I hope that doesn’t mean doom like so many others before them.

Try Out: Breezeblocks

iamamiwhoami05) Iamamiwhoami – Kin

Internet sensation for her music video strangeness, Kin marked her first full album release. It’s dirty, filthy, emotive and like you’re freaking out in slow motion. I personally love the way it all feels together as one seamless piece in a way and when played with the barmy DVD of continuous music videos telling a story of sorts, it only draws you further into the world of Kin.

Try Out: Drops

W13904) Lila Rose – Heart Machine

Such an early release in 2012, Lila Rose became my favourite album in 2012 for a lot of it until some later releases pushed it down. The mix of pop beats along with mature alternative slants, minor keys and Lila’s very downbeat vocal delivery that suggests knowledge beyond her years all merge perfectly to make easily the best radio playable album of 2012. It’s like she’s found her own mini percussive piano pop genre for herself.

Try Out: Casting Shadows

carinaround03) Carina Round – Tigermending

Recently reviewed a few weeks ago, Carina Round’s latest album is such a repost to clean-cut music. Messy, harrowing, haunting, unleashed and furious in places, Tigermending’s synth alt-rock mash-up goes out its way to tell you stories from the bottle of every bottle and alleyway. Carina has never sounded so good and she can still push out anthemic ballads too.

Try Out: Weird Dream

fionaapple02) Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Fiona’s output is slow at best but it is always worth the wait. In many ways The Idler Wheel is her most direct and simple to date but with the purity comes the undistilled emotional impact of each song. Her vocals rasp and growl, her melodies stay stuck in your head for days and way the album comes together as a whole is phenomenal.

Try Out: Anything We Want

deadcandance01) Dead Can Dance  - Anastasis

After thinking for many year it would never happen I was delighted to have Dead Can Dance back together and their album proved that sometimes when two people work together magic happens regardless. An exercise in music of period and territories, each track pushes off into different versions of the Middle East. The instrumentation is rich, the melodies are sumptuous, the vocals of Brendan and Lisa are as strong as ever and although the album feels like they are separate in many ways, you can feel looking deeper how each has effected the other. Mesmerising.

Try Out: Kiko

And there we have it. My favourite albums of 2012.

Don’t forget you can also listen or even buy my latest studio album here too which I would be blessed to be considered in anyone elses top 10 of anything :-)

The top 10 game soundtracks of 2012 will feature soon.

by

Imogen Heap on The Dewarists

Imogen Heap and Vishal-Shekhar collaborate for the fantastic track “Minds Without Fear” – a fantastic song for what will hopefully end up on the third album. A whole programme has been made about the process of making the track and is the first in a series that follows artists around the world making music together. It’s a really interesting concept and programme. Watch and see!

by

Imogen Heap Behind the Scenes – Making of “Lineline” Video

The awesomeness that is Imogen Heap has compiled a great video about the process of her new album Heapsongs (working title) and documented the whole public process of writing and recording from snippets of stuff send in by her fans. It’s such a fantastic concept – here’s “Lifeline”

by

Imogen Heap: New Album Starts With Audience Participation!

Imogen Heap has started the process of making her new album as of today and this time she wants all our help! #heapsong1 will be the first song made for the album and Heap wants us to send her musical samples, lyrics, images,videos – anything to get creative juices flowing! She’ll be on Ustream daily to catch up with too for the next two weeks. If you want to get involved head over to her website for more details.

by

Imogen Heap – “Everything Inbetween” DVD Review

It’s been a long time coming, I’d forgot I’d preordered it but when it arrived on my doorstep when I came home from work, it was the first thing I did – and wow what a DVD.

“Everything Inbetween” covers the making of the album “Ellipse” from the very first ambitious plans of travelling around Asia and the Pacific writing a song a week, to building her recording studio, glimpses into the recording process and plenty of fun homely stuff for good measure.

What comes across in this documentary is that Imogen is an artist through and through. Her creative processes soar and dive, she worries, she doesn’t always have full confidence and she is absolutely driven to create what’s spinning inside her head. When its working, she’s absolutely heleriously delerious and your busy getting excited with her as she discovers new sounds and harmonies. When its not working at all your also with her feeling her annoyance and solitude. It’s really captivating to go on such an epic journey with an artist you thought you know quite well and constantly discover new things.

It also makes you go back and appreciate Ellipse even more. I’ve been a massive Immi fan since 1998 when I saw Come Here Boy on the TV (actually I only saw the second half of the song and was so entranced I begged my mum to take me to the record store that week to buy the album with my pocket money) but I felt like now I really got to know her, and it was like hearing Ellipse for the first time again.

It also struck me that even the very first versions of the songs that you hear snippets of were phenominal before they recieved the Immi treatment. That’s the sign of a quality singer/songwriter.

“Everything Inbetween” is an emotional rollercoaster that any fan of Heap, music production or just documentaries in general would absolutely enjoy. It’s captivating from start to finish and as a struggling singer/songwriter myself its great to know someone else feels the same things I feel too.

by

Imogen Heap – “iMegaphone Live” Review

Imogen Heap performed a one off iTunes concert whereby she played her entire debut album iMegaphone (still my favourite of her four albums she’s released including Frou Frou) on piano. The result is something that showcases Imogen live and offers a new insight into old material.

Having what was a piano based album that was drenched in guitars, noises and preluding synth extras taken down into bare bones shows each song in a different light. “Getting Scared” changes from a building pulse to a rip roaring stop/starter with passion and energy, whilst “Sweet Religion” slips and slides at such a speedy rate, my favourite song from the original album takes on a superhero plight. Little Heap anecdotes into what the songs about also give you new insight into the tracks too.

“Oh Me, Oh My” feels much more desperate and less like a devine moment and “Shine” gives you a complete Immi freak out! Her story about Shine also makes me laugh because she talks about having water in her ears when she was crafting the song and when you go back to hear the start of the song on the album, there’s a nautical opening throbbing. “Shine” really sounds like a completely new song and is utterly amazing.

“Whatever” is transformed too, while “Angry Angel” loses none of its feriocity with its guitars stripped away. With Heap’s tendancy these days to play songs with all kinds of instruments all at once, it’s a beauty to hear her just alone with piano again sometimes. “Candlelight” is one pure example of a beautiful track that deserves more attention. So emotive and simple, it’s a timeless piece. “Rake It In” is utterly nuts! The original was like a manic fairground ride, and this version see’s Immi screaming and moaning like a cheesy hammer horror movie. It’s so dark and delicious all at once!

“Come Here Boy” is the one song really carried forward from this era and is faithfully recreated. “Useless” is completely revamped and sounds brand new and “Sleep” is just as pretty and sparse as the original.

In addition, some b-sides are included including my favourite b-side scorcher “Leave Me Here To Love” which is fantastic to finally hear live in all its raw glory – a real personal highlight. “Blanket” is an unusual choice as it was her collaboration with Urban Species and includes a rap! Finally “Kidding” closes the set with a flowing channel of emotion through voice to fingers to ivory and out again.

Some people aren’t fans of stripped down performances. Going from this iMegaphone Live album, I have no idea why. Each song is organically revolutionized into something new and indulgent. With Imogen’s new sound, she gets to experiment with everything and that’s great, but with this more intimate side, you really get the best of both worlds.

by

Most Viewed: February 2010

Well February 2010 saw our busiest month ever at Higher Plain Music as we hit a record number of views on the website. Thank you so much to everyone that comes to visit. One man completely dominiated though with 3 threads in the top 10 viewed and that’s Brendan Perry as the anticipation of Ark reaches feverpitch. It was also the first month when game reviews really notched up the hits with both winter games reviews grabbing 4th and 5th on the most viewed chart. Also with the new way the stats are made, I have over 700 unaccounted views, so please remember to click the actual posts for views to count!  Here’s the top 10 artists and top 5 games of February.

Top 10 Artists

01. Brendan Perry (^)

02. Naoyuki Hiroko (Halo Legends crew)  (NE)

03. Cris Velasco (NE)

04. Lisa Gerrard (^)

05. Garry Schyman (NE)

06. Jesper Kyd (RE)

07. Yoko Shimomura (NE)

08. Imogen Heap (v)

09. Panda Transport (NE)

10. Akira Yamaoka (v)

Top 5 Games

01. RTL Winter Sports 2010 (PS3)

02. Vancouver 2010 (PS3)

03. Musaic Box (PC)

04. Numblast (PS3)

05. Zoocube (PS2)

The next week may be a bit sporadic due to my own album being released this week but after that its back to usual!

by

Imogen Heap: iMegaphone Live Download Album Out!

Imogen Heap celebrates grabbing her first ever grammy for best engineered non classical album with Ellipse (Congrats and well deserved!) by releasing the live concert of iMegaphone, her debut album (still a favourite of mine) where she played solo versions of the album plus some of the b-sides of the era. It’s on iTunes and so this webmaster is finally biting the bullet and downloading iTunes after years of never doing so. Any new versions of Rake It In, Sweet Religion and Shine must be consumed!

by

Most Viewed: January 2010

Well first month of the new decade is behind us and it certainly was a busy one! Just about averaged a post a day (phew – new years resolution not broken immediately!) and site traffic rose after a quiet December back to normal figures again. However, top of the bill was a certain Lisa Gerrard with the news of The Black Opal’s release and the review of “Balibo” really setting the readers alight. Here’s the top 10 artist’s and top 5 games of the month.

01) Lisa Gerrard

02) Brendan Perry

03) Jesper Kyd

04) Musashi Hamauzu

05) Imogen Heap

06) Utada

07) Mike Reagan / Cris Velasco

08) Akira Yamaoka

09) Yasunori Mitsuda

10) Sarah Slean

—

Games

—

01) Battle Tanks (PS3)

02) Winter Sports 2010 (PS3)

03) Vancouver 2010 (PS3)

04) Hyperballoid (Ps3)

05) .detuned (PS3)

by

Most Viewed For 2009

Well the year is out and so we leave 2009 with our top  10 most viewed artists and here they are:

01) Lisa Gerrard: With more posts getting more than 150+ views than any other artist, Lisa Gerrard topped our most viewed list and she looks to stay high in 2010. Her Balibo soundtrack was amazing, and we’re still waiting for her 2009 album “The Black Opal” to arrive to review. Well done Lisa

02) Vienna Teng: Vienna went under the radar for me and is a surprise second. Her fourth album Inland Territory is absolutely stunning and we got our hands on her live DVD from a while back and loved that too. Hears hoping to more in 2010!

03) Brendan Perry: The anticipation for Ark continues and Brendan continues to clock up hits while we wait. Ark looks like hitting early 2010 and rest assured, HPM will be buying it on release day!

04) OverClocked ReMix: Well the biggest game music remixing project chalked up several releases but it was the FF4 project that really exploded over here grabbing the most viewed interview in 2009 with the project managers. 2010 will no doubt see tons of remixes for all and I’ll drink to that *glug*.

05) Akira Yamaoka: Well HPM did a lot of reviewing of Silent Hill soundtracks in 09 and that’s because the reviews always seem popular. Now Akira has left Konami (although Shattered Memories is still composed by him) it remains to be seen when we’ll hear of him next. Not too soon we hope!

06) Imogen Heap: Imogen actually had the most viewed post of 2009 with over 700 views of bizarrely the tracklisting for Ellipse. Sadly not as many read the review so that’s why Immi is down in 7th. 2010 looks like a year of touring so expect Heap to appear in the live vault!

07) Utada: This Is the One was one of pop’s best albums and was the third most read music review of 2009 and top of the non-game music reviews. Utada’s groove is definately on and maybe we’ll hear some more Japanese work in 2010.

08) Tori Amos: Tori strangely didn’t feature highly on the most viewed threads lists but constantly propped up just outside the top 10 and so ended up 8th overall. Abnormally Attracted to Sin and Midwinter Graces were fantastic albums that deserve much love and so 2010 should see Tori enjoy a break for a few months!

09) Hiroki Kikuta: The most read review of 2009 belongs to Hiroki and the Secret of Mana + Review that clocked over 500 hits. Hiroki was kind enough to send over one of his more obscure soundtracks which will be reviewed in 2010. Thank you Kikuta-san!

10) Christopher Tin: Sneaking in by just 2 views over Sarah Slean, Christopher Tin’s Calling All Dawns is simply devine and snatched the final spot on our top 10. Chris is a genuinely nice guy and deserves all the credit the albums recieved.

Top 5 Game Reviews

01) Battle Tanks (PS3)

02) Trash Panic (PS3)

03) Numblast (PS3)

04) Shatter (PS3)

05) Magic Ball (PS3)