When in Manila and you’re a fan of electronic music, we’re sure you were part of the massive crowd at Hard Rock Cafe on March 14 for the Grimes concert.
Grimes came for a one-night only engagement for her Filipino fans, and the crowd didn’t disappoint. Everybody jumped and danced, and my friends formed a giant mosh pit at the back of the crowd. The energy was thick, and I found myself lost in the music.
Grimes, or Claire Boucher, does not make your ordinary music and is in a genre of her own. Her official genre is indietronica, but The Guardian once said that “by sounding a little like everything you’ve ever heard, the whole sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard.” Her sound is “post-internet,” a mix of synthpop and a breathy and ethereal voice that mixes perfectly to create an electro dream. She sounds a bit like Björk and a bit like Enya.
Her latest album Visions is a work of art. It has been lauded by The New York Times as one of the most impressive albums of 2012. The single Oblivion is Grimes’ most successful release so far, and was named #1 song of 2012 on Pitchfork. Much of the album is just as great, with favorites Genesis, Vowels = Space And Time, and Skin providing a solid backbone for the type of music Grimes plays. Curiously, she made the entire album on Apple’s GarageBand.
