Holy Crap, she's back!

[HunterGather]

I agree, but i suppose the excitement is that it's the first official (and probably promoted) release by them.
They never plugged or advertised the fact that all their songs are available on itunes and amazon.
I'm hoping there's some neat extra shit on the DVD and not just the 9 KIN videos.

*waits for In Concert Part 2...and IDLE TALK in a few hours*

[HunterGather]

Oh, and someone pointed out to me that JOHN, CLUMP, and the telephone song that was in the Way Out West phone ad (and they did it live), are songs to mark a transition from the BOUNTY/TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN era to KIN era.

If thats the case, I want a EP of those 3 songs, damnit!

Or, i'll just change the mp3 tags for KIN and add JOHN and CLUMP to the track listing as the first 2 tracks.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Yeah, if there's extras then it's totally worth it. I totally believe that an artistic endeavor this brilliantly conceived and executed deserves to be rewarded, but I've already bought the legit mp3s through amazon, so I think I've made my contribution for now.

Wait. What's happening in a few hours? Are you serious???

[HunterGather]

They have been releasing a new video/single every 2 weeks since SEVER.
IDLE TALK comes out at some point today.

I posted the 30 second snippet already, but here it is again (sounds like another awesome track. I played this over and over already).

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Oh got that. I thought you were also anticipating a second concert video in a few hours.

[HunterGather]

Fucking finally. Was supposed to be up this morning!

[HunterGather]

LOVE IT.
The end reminds me of the end of John.

edit: A person who made a comment on YT pointed out that the girl at the end of JOHN (who is topless and puts her bag of clothes in the hole) probably is the "character" we know from all the KIN era videos (and you'll see the connection at the end if IDLE TALK).

So maybe KIN era is a prequel and that maybe theres 2 characters Jonna is playing? Or then she turns into the weird lady of the forrest...
*waits*

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Yeah, see what you're saying about the ending, Hunter. I can spot the connections these days but have absolutely no idea what they mean. Things definitely feel more open-ended than they did during the first videos. Once you knew the mythology of the mandrake plant you could kind of piece things together. Oh, man, the birds circling her (hungrily?)... that got creepy.

I thought the song was nice. Nothing spectacular. But it maybe one of those songs that has to slowly worm its way into your brain.

[HunterGather]

Maybe the remaining 3 songs on the album are going to be John, Clump and the phone song (?)
And yes, things connect now, but nothing makes sense yet.

[HunterGather]

Rascal - May 9th



Incredibly excited to see if this strings right to John or something.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Nice.

[HunterGather]

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Oh good find, Hunter.

[HunterGather]

Rascal preview

[HunterGather]

I wonder if the new stuff will be as equally disappointing as the old.

What the fuck is this bullshit?

Hah, looking at old posts. Hawking REALLY doesn't like her/them.


Anyhow; Tame.

[hawkingvsreeve]

Well here was the thing- I was so fucking excited for this when the videos first started popping up. The sonic aesthetic, the structuring of the short clips, the mystery of it all, the quality of the presentation- it was fun. It was exciting and new. In fact I have the most posts in the original thread. Sometimes I still go back and watch those original clips, which, by the way, absolutely put to shame everything that has come after them. This was my favorite one:



And then once the curtain was pulled back and the songs were revealed, it was just run of the mill boring electro-pop. No great production, sequencing, arrangements, song structure... None of that shit like from the first videos. Yeah, the tracks had hooks and were fun enough, but there was a real opportunity to do something interesting with this project and they chose the lowest common denominator route instead. I was invested and it didn't pay off, which I found disappointing.

[HunterGather]

I suppose.
I came into it a little bit late, shortly before the "live" concert, so I wasn't expecting anything else.
The way the music is presented is neat, too.
Do you still keep up with all the videos/songs that come out anyway?

----

Rascal preview 2:

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Ooh. Like the sound of this one.

[HunterGather]

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Well here was the thing- I was so fucking excited for this when the videos first started popping up. The sonic aesthetic, the structuring of the short clips, the mystery of it all, the quality of the presentation- it was fun. It was exciting and new. In fact I have the most posts in the original thread. Sometimes I still go back and watch those original clips, which, by the way, absolutely put to shame everything that has come after them. This was my favorite one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rpD_...layer_embedded

And then once the curtain was pulled back and the songs were revealed, it was just run of the mill boring electro-pop. No great production, sequencing, arrangements, song structure... None of that shit like from the first videos. Yeah, the tracks had hooks and were fun enough, but there was a real opportunity to do something interesting with this project and they chose the lowest common denominator route instead. I was invested and it didn't pay off, which I found disappointing.

I get what you're saying. I was sad to find that some of those initial audio snippets weren't developed into full songs, but I don't share the sentiment that the full songs were just "run of the mill boring electro-pop". The songs can be deceptively simple; there's a lot going on under the surface. I wouldn't call the music that adventurous, though. I'll give you that. But I think that's quite purposeful. I usually hate, hate, hate narrative music videos. You know the kind -- in which the director tries to cram a movie into 3 1/2 min video. But iamamiwhoami clearly is an a/v project in which the narrative (whether we "get it" every time or not) is essential--perhaps more so in the older videos than in the current releases. I think if the music were too complex or, say, too ornate then the music would dominate and they simply wouldn't be able to tell these elaborate tales based upon this crazy obscure mythology.

I think that it really serves the project well, but it's also perhaps one of the reason why the stuff doesn't make for a very compelling live show. At least as evidenced by their one concert performance thus far (the festival appearance; not the forest "concert" with the kidnapped kid)

Ooh. I really liked it. Nice and spare. Appropriate for the setting too. I've never been to Sweden, but I'm guessing this one wasn't filmed there. Do you know what the lyrics were at the end when she turned to the camera? "I'm taking all"?

[HunterGather]

Yeah, I'm not sure what she's saying at the end.
And I wonder if it's just simply a well angled/shot/tamed beach or if they really went out to some desert.

Anyhoo, after Tame in 2 weeks, Kill:



I really do hope the DVD has more than just the KIN videos, and the physical release has neat artwork and shit

[hawkingvsreeve]

I suppose.
I came into it a little bit late, shortly before the "live" concert, so I wasn't expecting anything else.
The way the music is presented is neat, too.
Do you still keep up with all the videos/songs that come out anyway?

Every now and then I'll take a look but it doesn't do a ton for me. I think Play has some cool stuff going on.

[HunterGather]

Kill preview

[HunterGather]

They are going to play Berlin Festival in Germany! If my family wasn't already coming in October to visit, I'd go back to see them.
I'll just wait til they come to the states.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Interesting. Maybe Coachella is a possibility. Frankly, I'd rather see them at somewhere like Hollywood Forever.

[HunterGather]

I'm assuming their biggest fan base is in the states, so that will surely be forthcoming.

[mmsk123]

[HunterGather]

Well, that didn't answer anything. And why is her outfit black in some parts. Arg.
Rly good song, though.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Oh, man. I loved that. So dreamy. This feels like far too conventional an explanation for iamamiwhoami, but the last 5 or 6 videos seem to be dealing with depression, bipolar behavior and the hazy line between reality and imagination. But, man, I don't really know. So many questions. Is this the last video we're expecting for this particular series, Hunter? I forget..

[HunterGather]

There's one more song left from Kin.
I also read there will be 2 additional songs/videos on the DVD.
But we'll just have to wait and see.

Oh, and vote for iamamiwhoami for Digital Genius award here:

http://www.omusicawards.com/vote/digital-genius-award