Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Jewellry, the Matthew Herbert-produced debut album by Micachu and the Shapes:
• “Micachu’s album has all the markers of quirky chic-an unusual voice, a fairly well-known producer, and a distinctive approach centered around pastiche-which for some will be enough to keep from digging any deeper. Those detractors won’t just be missing out on a fun, inventive debut from a talented young artist, they’ll be missing out on a genuinely affecting pop record.” [Calum Marsh, Coke Machine Glow]
• “Somewhere among the almost random beats, noises, and odd samples (clearly influenced by Blectum from Blechdom’s glitchy absurdism), it even swings (the brief, playful ‘Sweetheart’) and occasionally blindsides you with a striking melody (the bhangra-flavored ‘Just in Case’).” [Jason Gross, Spin]
• “It’s light years removed from the glossy careerism of Lady GaGa.” [Stephen Dalton, Times of London]
I saw these guys at Piano’s on 3/25 on this site’s recommendation; they were awesome, but they didn’t play my favorite song from the album, Turn Me Well. The album is so so good and worth buying. The melodies and lyrics remind me of the Blow, in a way, although the instrumentation not nearly as much.
Idolator’s post about Micachu set me off on a quest. For an artist this young it’s perhaps premature to do all the next-big-thinging that’s tempting to music journalists, but she is original, she writes good songs. If you strip away the clonks and Hoovering, she also has a brilliant singing voice — a dark-toned alto, reminds me a bit of Joan Armatrading.
Curious Idolator Readers should know they can stream the whole CD here [www.mbvmusic.com]
Easily one of the better releases this year.