Alt Pop 2020 Rate | #38 Higher than a motherfucker, dreaming of you as my lover

This one just hurts and I'm very unhappy it ended up far below its potential...










Mírame a la cara cuando me hables
Y no me digas nada si no quieres
Pero no me falles, me duele




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HIGH
10 (@Oleander @soratami @TéléDex @CorgiCorgiCorgi @Phonetics Girl @Cotton Park @Trouble in Paradise and Yours Truly), 9.5 (@Ana Raquel)
LOW 4 (@Hurricane Drunk), 5.5 (@2014)

Lido Pimienta, one super interesting member of the Independent Latinx music scene. Plastic artist, composer, producer, TV host, director, musician, academic, mother of three, Colombian and Canadian. Music journalists have been doing her a disservice by calling her "the Latina Björk" in a manner of praise, something that she has rejected for the same amount of time (one of my Björk stan best friends would definitely be guilty of this, he loves comparing each of his faves to her dd).

Her debut album Color in 2010, then her self-produced 2016 release La Papessa (The Woman Pope) which awarded her the coveted Mercury Prize, put her on many's eyes, yet it's until Miss Colombia, boasting textures in pop, electro, cumbia, indigenous Colombian music, and just about everything to add to Pimienta's rich soundscape, that she has fortunately taken off. As someone who didn't "get" this track initially, but instantly fell in love with Nada, a collab with legendary 1/2 of Bomba Estéreo Li Saumet that was nearly included in its placce, as well as her impeccable sense of traditional yet forward-thinking, camp fashion and visual tastes, it's great to see.

Eso Que Tú Haces (That Which You Do) is a loving but firm confrontation with a lover - but it can very much apply with perspective to any interpersonal relationship - that is battling their own demons at your own expense. They avoid openness, ignore you and don't look at you in the eyes when you bring up your concerns or needs in this relationship. However, the caring aspect is just as present, because you are finding a way to get through to them, although it is making you lose yourself in the process. These conflicts, which start with this softer percussion and keyboard melodies, climax with the titular "That which you do / Is not love" hook, in which Pimienta flexes her belting muscles in an orchestrated sea of brass and synths. It's eclectic, but makes so much sense in its pairing. After all, a huge part of her artistry has been putting two, three or four seemingly disparate influences in a blender and producing magic out of them.

@Cotton Park (10), for one, is very happy that Lido has secured funds from the government and the aforementioned Polaris Prize: "Transcendant. Canadian Arts Grant Money well spent". @godspeed (7.5) is experiencing Shabrang all over again: "Underrated album!". This comment/score pairing is making me think I really should've given Nada, @Phonetics Girl 's other pick, a chance! But who knows.

@Trouble in Paradise (10) is flexing that Duolingo license: "Una canción perfecta! Para mi, Lido es la artista más interesante en la escena Indie en Español. Su habilidad para escribir y presentar su visión distinta con la parte visual, la voz y las letras me emociona. ¡Espero que el resto lo esuche también!". Oh si pudiera, habría hecho toda esta redacción en español, cielo. No digo que en wayú, la otra lengua ancestral de Lido, pero de hecho me encantaría que, como ella ha dicho, la practique y pueda incluirla en su siguiente álbum. Por cierto, ¿imagina que también tenga colaboraciones con Nelly Furtado en camino? Siendo tan comadres, tiene que volverse una realidad. Not far behind is @Oleander (10), who wants to drag the HAIM rate host and our favorite controversial natural disaster-named figure in the low scorers: "Pura excelencia. A esos qué sé atreven a darle a esta canción una calificación baja, pues......solo puedo decirles una cosa.....eso que tú haces es una desgracia". Y la que apriete. Watch the beautiful video, directed by the artist herself, as well as two magnetic live performances of the song below.



 
This one just hurts and I'm very unhappy it ended up far below its potential...










Mírame a la cara cuando me hables
Y no me digas nada si no quieres
Pero no me falles, me duele




46
QKTjNY5.gif

XFJEr3Q.png


HIGH
10 (@Oleander @soratami @TéléDex @CorgiCorgiCorgi @Phonetics Girl @Cotton Park @Trouble in Paradise and Yours Truly), 9.5 (@Ana Raquel)
LOW 4 (@Hurricane Drunk), 5.5 (@2014)

Lido Pimienta, one super interesting member of the Independent Latinx music scene. Plastic artist, composer, producer, TV host, director, musician, academic, mother of three, Colombian and Canadian. Music journalists have been doing her a disservice by calling her "the Latina Björk" in a manner of praise, something that she has rejected for the same amount of time (one of my Björk stan best friends would definitely be guilty of this, he loves comparing each of his faves to her dd).

Her debut album Color in 2010, then her self-produced 2016 release La Papessa (The Woman Pope) which awarded her the coveted Mercury Prize, put her on many's eyes, yet it's until Miss Colombia, boasting textures in pop, electro, cumbia, indigenous Colombian music, and just about everything to add to Pimienta's rich soundscape, that she has fortunately taken off. As someone who didn't "get" this track initially, but instantly fell in love with Nada, a collab with legendary 1/2 of Bomba Estéreo Li Saumet that was nearly included in its placce, as well as her impeccable sense of traditional yet forward-thinking, camp fashion and visual tastes, it's great to see.

Eso Que Tú Haces (That Which You Do) is a loving but firm confrontation with a lover - but it can very much apply with perspective to any interpersonal relationship - that is battling their own demons at your own expense. They avoid openness, ignore you and don't look at you in the eyes when you bring up your concerns or needs in this relationship. However, the caring aspect is just as present, because you are finding a way to get through to them, although it is making you lose yourself in the process. These conflicts, which start with this softer percussion and keyboard melodies, climax with the titular "That which you do / Is not love" hook, in which Pimienta flexes her belting muscles in an orchestrated sea of brass and synths. It's eclectic, but makes so much sense in its pairing. After all, a huge part of her artistry has been putting two, three or four seemingly disparate influences in a blender and producing magic out of them.

@Cotton Park (10), for one, is very happy that Lido has secured funds from the government and the aforementioned Polaris Prize: "Transcendant. Canadian Arts Grant Money well spent". @godspeed (7.5) is experiencing Shabrang all over again: "Underrated album!". This comment/score pairing is making me think I really should've given Nada, @Phonetics Girl 's other pick, a chance! But who knows.

@Trouble in Paradise (10) is flexing that Duolingo license: "Una canción perfecta! Para mi, Lido es la artista más interesante en la escena Indie en Español. Su habilidad para escribir y presentar su visión distinta con la parte visual, la voz y las letras me emociona. ¡Espero que el resto lo esuche también!". Oh si pudiera, habría hecho toda esta redacción en español, cielo. No digo que en wayú, la otra lengua ancestral de Lido, pero de hecho me encantaría que, como ella ha dicho, la practique y pueda incluirla en su siguiente álbum. Por cierto, ¿imagina que también tenga colaboraciones con Nelly Furtado en camino? Siendo tan comadres, tiene que volverse una realidad. Not far behind is @Oleander (10), who wants to drag the HAIM rate host and our favorite controversial natural disaster-named figure in the low scorers: "Pura excelencia. A esos qué sé atreven a darle a esta canción una calificación baja, pues......solo puedo decirles una cosa.....eso que tú haces es una desgracia". Y la que apriete. Watch the beautiful video, directed by the artist herself, as well as two magnetic live performances of the song below.




Oh.

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I knew when I saw a Mon reference in the title it was bad news for me. Sigh.....talent lost.
 
Kinda forgot this person was even in this rate to be honest.










I'll make it to heaven even if I
Have to climb the clouds and learn to fly




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HIGH
10 (@Cotton Park), 9.5 (@Oleander @TéléDex @sfmartin)
LOW 4 (@Trouble in Paradise), 5.5 (@Phonetics Girl)

It's been decades since Miss Anthropocene last stepped onto the stage, which is a fitting narrative since Grimes has never performed any of these tracks. But anyways. We have another quite explicit track dealing with suicide, but this time Grimes says that it is from the perspective of "an angel who kills herself and then she wakes up and she still made it to heaven. And she’s like, what the fuck?". Well that is certainly an explanation. It's not surprising that this is one of her accessible tracks, since this is the artist who made assault into a left-field dance pop jam in 2012 after all. Such dichotomy is noted by @sfmartin (9.5), who says this provides: "more grungy 90s vibes. The ideation is dark and the motives are bleak but the beat is bouncy an intriguing combination".

Yeah the thick bass running underneath gives quite the mood, plus the modern beat and bleeps and bloops make for a jarring but effective combination. Ultimately, the perseverance in the narrator's tone is strangely hopeful in a twisted way. Like, rather than staying with the idea of revenge suicide because others will feel guilt once you're gone, you move towards thinking that maybe aiming for heaven isn't a bad idea after all. @Trouble in Paradise (4) is not a fan of it: "Her vocals let this down completely. It sounds like a demo where she’s bored and already over the song. Trust me, I won’t miss you and your anti-anti-imperialist ways". I think they're quite fitting? She's giving you bleak, tired, but still somewhat carrying on with decision. She's hardly in New Gods territory here.

You'll miss me received a green screen video of Grimes in slow motion handling a sword and sporting a pair of mobile mechanic wings, portraying herself as the song's angel. The video came along a Grimes Art Kit campaign, in which she provided raw footage, stems and shared audiovisual tools so that fans could make their own video and remix of the song during lockdown, and share on YouTube. The best of them are of course the not-so-serious takes, so here's Grimes living an Animal Crossing fantasy, as well as featured in Brazilian and superimposed stan twitter (including Charli's claws) meme videos. Which speaking of, if I had a nickel for everytime an artist in the Alt Pop 2020 rate released green screen fotage of their video, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice. Enjoy!



 
Let us keep reminding ourselves Grimes is in this rate










Oh silly love
Coming here
When I said go




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HIGH
10 (@Cotton Park @sfmartin @boombazookajoe @Remorque @Candy Perfume Girl @soratami), 9 (@Oleander @TéléDex @BubblegumBoy @Trouble in Paradise)
LOW 5 (@Jonathan27 @Hurricane Drunk @Attis), 6 (@CorgiCorgiCorgi)

At the time Grimes had realized she was ready for pregnancy, she had a dream that she was falling from space, pulled by Earth's gravitational field and ready to fight a mythological titan. With these two separate visions in mind, she set out to craft something in the vein of a hard Enya track, that mixed the existential and minimal lyrics nature of an ambient cut, not unlike Boadicea or Ebudae to give two examples, with the bassy electronic soundscape that she was developing for Miss Anthropocene. From those ideas, the 6-minute long opener was born - or 4 minutes, if you suscribe to the inferior shrunk down Algorithm Mix.

@sfmartin (10) provides a lenghty analysis, yet they have their own interpretation that ties it with the more dreadful side of the record: "This song starts off Miss Anthropocene not with a bang but with slow exhaustive moan. The sound of a planet imploding under the weight of its occupants and trauma. So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth a bold choice for opening but the album is all the more richer for it. Moody and atmospheric, Grimes' airy ethereal vocals puncturing a thick bassy void. I devoured the claustrophobic atmosphere as it was released about the time of an empty hopeless time of the December UK election. Every night I used to curl up in the echoes of a world rejecting hope and in my depressing chamber I was oddly comforted falling through the earth. I always look forward to how this six minute masterpiece ends with hope what sounds like the dawn of something beautiful". That closing minute with the "be be be" or "baby baby baby" chopped repetitions and further acoustic melodies do feel like a quiet sunrise in audio form.

@godspeed (8) describes an opera: "A trippy and immersive musical odyssey". C'mon Diva Plavalaguna voiced by Inva Mula-Tchako! Meanwhile, @Trouble in Paradise (9) hands his highest score for the artist, and explains: "Reminded me that Grimes still has the magic in her even if its under several layers of BS". Well, although So Heavy only ranks in the middle of Miss Anthropocene, it's my third most played, so I think there's truth to what you say!

 
I feel like Delete Forever could win though?

Well I'll show you something than won't!​

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I hate your mom
I hate it when she opens her mouth
It's amazing to me how much you can say
When you don't know what you're talking about




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HIGH
10 (@Oleander @Attis), 9.5 (@slaybellz)
LOW 6 (@Aester), 6.5 (@klow)

Phoebe takes a break from the ambience, the acoustic and the nocturnal, to provide the context for a classic breakup song from the perspective of someone with high functioning depression whose eyes lighten up and heart flutters everytime they get to be with their ex-to-be. In this case, the song is about to her relationship with longtime drummer Marshall Vore (what an... unfortunate last name through a contemporary lens) who's basically a right hand guy, best friend and confidant of hers. Hell he even plays in this song and album, and that is possible because, as Phoebe has said, making music is the pivot of their love and care for each other. Hence, the breakup has only made them more closely knit. She'll always hate his bigoted conspiracy believing mother though, count on that!

From now on, you will NOT blame @Ana Raquel (8.5) for tanking any of the remaining Punisher songs, and she provides praise to back it up: "GOOD BASSLINE! I like a good bassline. A good build-up! I love a good build-up. Electric Guitar! I tend to like electric guitars. Her songs lack the "power" from stuff I'm used to listening to (I'm more of a Hi NRG person). but this is basically a 300bpm speedcore song amongst the rest". Drag the 10 consecutive ballads a bitsy! I love it when someone is committed to their music do's and dont's and you've been consistent in that respect.

On the other end of the spectrum, @godspeed (7) is losing what seems to be his least favorite song of the record by far: " I love Punisher but I always forget that this song exists until it comes up when I listen to the album and it surprises me each time. Not in a bad way though, the record definitely needed something a bit more upbeat especially at this point in the tracklist". I mean besides the higher tempo, those plucky string arrangements are just whimsical and gorgeous! Don't blame us. But don't blame @Trouble in Paradise (7.5) either, who says this is: "The weakest link for me on Punisher and the song that feels the most Phoebe by numbers". It houses the least impressive and simplest lyrics of the album, I'll definitely give you that.

Simplicity does not necessarily carry over to the song's lyric video, which at this point functions just as well as a music video. It features shadow choreography, mainly from hands, that beautifully reenacts the breakup story behind the song whether it's ten pairs of hands making waves, three people making the face of the Trump supporter mother or one lonely hand in a monologue like Phoebe's while crafting the song. Below you'll also find a performance from Phoebe's car for diabolical James Corden's show as well as a nearly-empty stadium outing... and no, we're not looking at the RedRocksUnpaused streamed concert! This 50on50 series performance consisted of 50 lucky fans hearing the album performed for the first time in the LA Memorial Coliseum, way back in March 2020, then unbeknownst to the band or them, "the last time they’d see a live show for a long time".



 
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