Room for Wonder
Grimes and the joy of discovery, Luna Shadows reimagines Jimmy Eat World, and New York lights up—with seven new songs along the way.
Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, is a fascinating artist if you can look past some of her private life decisions. Flood Magazine asked her five questions about her work with the virtual pop star Hatsune Miko, her AI voice model, and how AI and human art can coexist. While she is not “super bullish” about AI art, she confronts it rather than wishing it away, as many others do. We need thinkers who envision a good future, not just lament that everything goes wrong.
I don’t know if we’ll ever see a “normal” Grimes studio album from her again, but it’s worth looking into her past work. I first heard about Grimes in May 2011 on a blog called DailyBeatz, which I subscribed to via Google Reader. Neither exists any longer, as straightforward feeds from music curators have been replaced by arcane algorithms.
The song was “Vanessa,” probably Grimes’ breakthrough. I looked her up on MOG1 and learned she already had two full-length albums, Geidi Primes and Halfaxa, out. I was on the fence – was it ramblings from someone playing around with her voice on GarageBand, or genius pop music? Listen for yourself.
Coincidentally, Grimes opened for Lykke Li at Webster Hall on May 17. We had tickets and made an effort to arrive in time to see her set. Again, her set was mind-boggling. She sang, played the keyboard, and operated a sampler in a performance that seemed to push her abilities to the limit- not just a well-rehearsed routine but truly sparkling! During the break, Claire stood at the merch booth, virtually unnoticed, so I could have a little chat with her.
We saw a few more remarkable shows of hers at different venues, and she was always present with her honest, unfiltered posts on social media, mostly on Twitter2. Again, these were different times, when social media was still new and emerging, not just a stream of messages crafted to maximize attention. But Claire’s posts were art in themselves, illustrating the life of a musician full of creativity.
Maybe the early 2010s were a unique period that was always bound to pass as the underlying technology became mainstream and was rigged to serve commercial interests. But maybe there is a way to bring back a time when artists like Grimes could rise and inspire us beyond manufactured publicity.
Discovery of the Week: Miku-Maxxing (with Hatsune Miku, Grimes, & さたぱんP)
This might not be your cup of tea; it is not exactly mine either. But the story is interesting: Hatsune Miku is a virtual character that sprang to life from the packaging of a voice model software plugin in 2007 – no AI involved – and became a cultural phenomenon in Japan. Her vocals sound as you might expect, but it is nice to hear Grimes’ voice, only slightly processed3.
Cover Song of the Week: Luna Shadows - Work
This Jimmy Eat World cover by Luna Shadows comes with a bittersweet story as per her YouTube:
When I was a teenager, my first bf wanted to exchange CDs. I gave him “Futures" by Jimmy Eat World. Three days later, he dumped me - I thought maybe it was bc he didn’t like the CD, but I found my answer when the following week he started dating the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I locked myself in my room and listened to this song on repeat.
It is hard to imagine Luna Shadows losing out in the looks department, so maybe it was indeed that her boyfriend was not into emo pop that was ubiquitous in the early 2000s. But the story explains how effortlessly she replaces the drama of the original with genuine emotions.
This Week in glamglare history
1 Year Ago: Ásgeir - Ferris Wheel
With this song, Ásgeir announced his excellent album Julia, released this February. “So it’s good to be able to dream again,” he commented on this song.
5 Years Ago: iamnotshane - Don’t Say That
Upbeat and catchy, plus a Britney Spears-inspired video – LA singer-songwriter iamnotshane is determined to help you have a good time. He released his latest single, “Call Me Back,” this July.
10 Years Ago: Noia - Love Hack
The shimmering, ethereal “Love Hack” appears on Noia’s debut EP, released on Cascine Records in 2016. Three years later, we saw her live at Union Pool, to our surprise. In 2023, she released her debut full-length, followed by a single a month ago.
Song Pick of the Day
Listen to all seven songs on YouTube, or follow our daily updated Song Pick playlists on YouTube, Apple Music, or Spotify.
- Margo Mann - The Worth Of It
- Marta Poti - Parallel Reality
- HAiiNES - Where the Light Finds Us
- Yndling - Shell
- Some Days Are Darker - Memorize You
- Kat Greta - I Know What This Is
- New Constellations - I’m Waiting Now
We publish one Song Pick of the Day every day. You can subscribe to receive them by email.
Light Art, Parade Blues, and Midtown Calm
New York’s premier light art festival, Illumination, transformed Wagner Park again this year for three consecutive nights. Now in its fifth year, the festival invited visitors to immerse themselves in music and light-inspired art installations. Like last year, we were mesmerized by what artists come up with and by all the things that become possible. My favorite may have been Experience Lab’s transformation of the on-and-off open Pier A (photo 4). The octopus’s appearance was nothing short of spectacular, so much so that I even forgot to snap photos.
On Saturday, we gathered again on 68th Street to march up 5th Avenue in the annual Steubenparade, the American-German parade. Rella’s Spielhaus participated again, and of course so did Oliver and I. We even showed off our brand-new T-shirts at the Metropolitan Museum afterward. We headed there for a quick visit and spotted that young beauty (photo 7) among all the antiques.
Last but not least, dear friends had invited us to a slideshow of their Alaskan cruise, complete with glacier-blue drinks, which we kicked off in a nearby restaurant. Who knew Midtown, around 50th Street and 9th Avenue, could look so peaceful? Enjoy our photo series!
Photos: Elke Nominikat