issue 49 - AsiaLIFE Magazine

soundfixalbum reviewby Mai Lynn Miller NguyenGrimesVisionsPerfume GeniusPut Your Back N 2 ItMichael KiwanukaBreak It YourselfWZRDWZRDThe future is now. That’s thefeeling one has while listeningto Grimes, a one-womanproject of Montreal’s ClaireBoucher. Ethereal and heavilyelectronic, her new albumVisions is a haunting mergerof pop, disco and witch housethat sounds very 21st centuryindeed. Boucher loops herown falsetto vocals, layeredwith synthesised sounds. Herthroaty manipulated robotvoice on ‘Eight’ is strangebut eerily catchy. The danceworthybeats of ‘Oblivion’ and‘Genesis’ are sure to enjoy along career as remix material,and Grimes is fast becomingthe darling of in-the-know DJs.This is Boucher’s third album,and it seems to be the first oneshe gets just right.Melancholia is at the heart ofPerfume Genius’ music. Withdelicate piano and guitar accompaniment,lush wistful vocalsand dark lyrical content, singer/songwriter Mike Hadreas cannotbe considered cheerful byany means. Don’t be misguidedby the hip hop alluding title,Put Your Back N 2 It is emotiveindie music at its finest. This isthe type of music that’s like astormy day. Drops of rain batteragainst the windowpane, alllooks grim outside, but somehowit’s beautiful, poignantand - in a strange way - satisfying.The Seattle-based musicianproduces just this sort of bittersweet sound, channelling hisown vulnerabilities to create acompelling body of work worthyof Elliott Smith comparisons.From the first chords of thestirring single ‘Home Again’,Michael Kiwanuka proves he deserveshis spot at the top of BBC’sSound of 2012 poll. The singersongwriter’sdebut record fallswithin a growing appreciationfor the soulful and seeminglysincere. The vintage styled production,wise-beyond-his-yearslyrics and jazz flute flourishesmake Kiwanuka come across asmore mature than his 25 yearsof age, much like one of his apparentinfluences, Otis Redding.His vocals also bear comparisonto James Taylor, particularly on‘Now I’m Seeing’. His rejectionof the cool game and his frequentfaith references seem to makehim an unlikely chart topper, butsometimes it is worth placing abet on the underdog.One of the last times we sawKid Cudi he was goofingaround with Snoop Dogg inthe amusing video for ‘ThatTree’. Now the hipster hop artistbehind the addictive 2008single ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ is back toreveal his more serious side.WZRD, his band with Dot daGenius, gives Cudi the chanceto show off his electric guitarskills and lessons learnedwith his newfound sobriety.Like Cudi’s previous work,WZRD is heavily textured,electronic and doesn’t quite fitneatly within any one genre.‘Teleport 2 Me, Jamie’, whichborrows the melody fromsynthpop act Desire’s haunting‘Under Your Spell’, is oneof the standouts in an overallabsorbing collection.86 asialife HCMC