Chez Shaffner

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Imogen Heap @ Avalon, 11/11/2006

My introduction to Imogen Heap came by way of The Chillout Session 2006, a tremendous compilation set from The Ministry of Sound. (If you can get your hands on it, do. It sells out at Amazon pretty quickly, though they seem to get small batches every few weeks...) I was fortunate enough to stumble across this album last January at the now-defunct Virgin Megastore on Newbury Street. It has seldom left the five-disc turntable in my living room since…

SIDE NOTE: Among my favorite quirks of this import: not only does the José González version of “Heartbeats” open Disc One, but the original version of the same song (recorded by Knife) appears midway through Disc Two. (At first I thought I was imagining things, but they are indeed the same song…)

Anyhow, “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap is one of the stand-out tracks on the album. An odd song, it features a lone female voice, layered upon itself, with no supporting instruments or rhythm. Just her voice intertwined with itself. Months later, a friend from work recommended her album, suggesting it was right up my alley.

You might ask: “What exactly is your alley?” Golly, that remains a tricky answer…

I have passed through many musical phases over the years, including an unexpected six-week obsession with Dvorak in early 1998, and a misguided burst of enthusiasm for Country in 1993 (shivers run the length of my spine). When pushed to answer that simple-enough question, I have tended to provide a rambling response that one could reduce to: I have eclectic interests. As for my love affair with electronica…it began with Trainspotting and Underworld’s “Born Slippy” thumping into my ceiling from the upstairs apartment in college. But that’s another story for another day…

A downbeat electronica compilation brought me to hear Imogen Heap, but she’s an electronic artist only insofar as she employs looping machines and other electronic devices to manipulate her voice. Her music remains far from dancehall, glow-stick techno, trust me. Most people know her from several songs they included in The O.C. and “Let Go” (recorded with Frou Frou), from Garden State.

Her reliance on electronic gadgetry is apparent enough in “Hide and Seek” but when you see her live, it takes on a whole new gravity. After giving the audience some words of warning, she will pronounce a bar and stop, then repeat with a different non-verbal bar. You will hear those bars again, when she summons them from the white keys on her synthesizer. When such tricks are employed live, the effect is powerful. Studio magic is one thing, but such effects on stage are mesmerizing. The crowd rocks from side to side, watching for wires, trap doors, mirrors. (Although none of it is much more advanced than Stevie Wonder on The Cosby Show, I still think it’s pretty slick live.)

By the time she stepped from the crowd and onto the stage, we were already in a state of awe from Kid Beyond’s unique performance (more on that later this week). Her hair was teased into a Bride of Frankenstein do, and dressed with flowers. At her waist was a keyboard. We were a little confused at first, but she quickly settled down. When she sang, we heard her clear as a bell; when she chatted, I could only guess at her wit, because I caught only every third word. I gathered there had been some glitches at her show the previous night. Fortunately, the road crew seemed to have remedied whatever problems had marred her Philly set.

Speak for Yourself, released earlier this year, features an interesting mix of up-tempo and downbeat tracks. For the latter, a second player appeared at times to tap a xylophone, and for the former, opening acts Levi Weaver and Kid Beyond took the stage. Her entire set was strong, but the strongest moments came during “Headlock” and a powerful closing version of “Hide and Seek.”

Strange as this show may have been at times, I cannot give a strong enough recommendation to catch Imogen Heap if she visits your town…