Imogen Heap, "Lifeline" and "Propeller Seeds," New Music From an Exceptional Artist

Imogen Heap has shown herself to be someone who doesn't take what a singer-songwriter is supposed to do for granted. She is, to mangle and corrupt the cliche, a thinking AND FEELING person's musical artist. The spiky quality of her first album, the supremely lyrical and rhythmically moving Frou Frou, some of the sublime vocal soundscapes of recent albums, her tour where she invited audiences at each stop to name musical parameters and proceeded to create spontaneously a song on the spot (see reviews on this blog), the results of which were released as downloads and the proceeds donated to various worthy charities, she has always done things a little differently.

She's working on a new album, cut-by-cut. As she does so she offers expanded singles downloads of the songs at www.imogenheap.com. There are four so far but I've been checking out the first two.

The first, "Lifeline" is a product once again of on-line input from her fans about what should go into it. The results are very Imogenesque, with a vocal inimitability and a lyrical bent. The download includes an unplugged version from the release party.

The second, "Propeller Seeds" is more ambitious. It's a kind of video for the ears, a story about an emotional-experiential slice of Imogen's rich imaginative life. It's haunting and sonically fascinating. The download includes software to install so that, when listening with earphones, you get a kind of 3-D effect. I didn't try it yet. What counts is that the beauty of her vocalisms are matched by some musically extended, electronically-symphonic sounds that go way beyond what is expected from a "popular" artist today--vis-a-vis some of those formula pop things out there now.

A drummer friend of mine yesterday alluded to the idea that her music has lost some of the rhythmical thrust she has had, especially on Frou Frou. He's right, there. I do miss that and hope maybe she can bring it back a bit more. As it is though she is a beautiful soul, a wonderful voice, a songwriter of great originality. So there we are. She to me is an important artist for the time in which we live, someone that makes me think that great music can be created in the square of the marketplace, even today.

Pyeng Threadgill's "Portholes to A Love" Shows Artistic Depth

If I have not reviewed vocalist-songsmith Pyeng Threadgill's Portholes to A Love, Other Short Stories (self released, no cat #) until now, it was mainly a logistics situation. I did not have a copy until now. And I am glad I finally do!

I am glad because this, her third solo effort shows her artistry in its most developed state. Her voice is like no other and it is a most compelling instrument. Her songs are in the art realm. This is not pop, r&b, rock or what-have-you. It is art song with the serious demeanor and substance of jazz, with afro-funk-progressive musical clothing. Like a small number of her better-known elders, she takes the music in the air around her and transforms it into her own music. This is music that emerges from an internal conviction that this is what sounds right for her right now, and she bends the conventions of idiom to create a highly personal statement that goes beyond its roots, rather far beyond.

The lyrics tell of a personal journey through life experiences, a journey of growth in a time we all know has been a discouraging one on some levels and encouraging on others.

All this becomes grist to Pyeng Threadgill's mill.

I would hardly say this about some vocalists out there, but with Pyeng it is clear that she doesn't just sing. She has a total musical vision that is fully formed and comes across in her musically rich songwriting and arranging.

Pyeng is one original in a world where cloning is the norm. She is so original that it is not all that easy to describe that complex of "somethings" that make it so.

So I'll just say this: Portholes To A Love must not be missed by anyone who values original music. Categories mean little when the music goes beyond them. Ms. Threadgill does that, in ways that show she is an important voice, a masterful weaver of tale and tone, an artist for our todays and tomorrows.