My introduction to Imogen Heap was in one of the huge center's to my geekdom in my senior year of college. After my laptop and DVD collection were stolen from my room one fateful Christmas break, I was forced to purchase a new laptop, and I was wooed into the world of Apple, by my friend Ozzie. After having a such a horrible time with my Gateway laptop, my G4 Powerbook was a godsend.
I began to stockpile movie trailers from the Apple website. One of the most impressive was the initial teaser trailer for Zach Braff's indie darling Garden State. With my filmic eye at its zenith from all of my film studies classics, I was wowed by this wordless film trailer that relied solely on its impressive film shots and the haunting Frou Frou track "Let Go." Ozzie laughed in my face when I informed him what I had discovered about Frou Frou following the viewing of the trailer. He informed me that he was aware of the artist before seeing the trailer and geeked out when he heard the song in the theater. He had a play count for "Let Go" in his iTunes over a hundred.
I've largely championed Garden State as being one of my favorite films, but its trendiness has softened some of its largess in my minds eye in the years following its release. Much of its hipness has turned sour due to cliche. More than any of the awards it garnered; I was most satisfied with its Grammy win for Soundtrack Compilation, and I felt that the Frou Frou track had much to do with that.
Zach's music choices were eye-opening to me. I was introduced to artists like The Shins, Zero 7, Iron & Wine, Remy Zero; and I was forced to take a second look at artists like Coldplay and Colin Hay. As I entrenched myself in the films songs I noticed a glaring ommission in the film soundtrack (much like in Dazed and Confused with "Hurricane"). Alexi Murdoch's "Orange Sky" which played over the hamster Jelly's funeral was nowhere to be found. I quickly found that the song was a part of first soundtrack compilation for the TV show "The O.C.", and therefore couldn't be legally included in the Garden State soundtrack.
I had avoided "The O.C." like the plague because it was so immensely popular. But this was now two songs on that first compilation that I really dug (The first being "The Way We Get By" by Spoon, that I had on a mix CD) so I decided to seek out the rest of the compilation. And thus the hook was set, and I was slowly drawn into a cheesy teen soap opera.
I was able to justify my dedication to the show because of the music (damn you Stephanie Savage, Josh Schwartz, and Alexandra Patsavas). In the second season they introduced a live music venue called The Bait Shop, where they were able to showcase up and coming artists. Here I was introduced to Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers,
Another big player in the second season was none other than Imogen Heap. No longer a part of Frou Frou, her song "Goodnight and Go" was featured early on the show, and garnered a fair bit of mainstream play following the show's airing. Then her song "Hide and Seek" became the centerpiece of the Season 2 season finale, first backing the funeral, and then being called back for the show's cliffhanger open-mouth ending.
They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery...and there's no better example than the SNL spoof of that very scene. Because I was such a fan of the show the "Dear Sister" digital short made me laugh out loud.
This track cuts me to my core. Imogen's voice by itself is spectacular. The harmonized vocals seem to be the only thing with which you could logically pair it. This haunting song rises and falls beautifully. I used to associate synthesizers and harmonizers with soulless house music, but this song broke down those prejudices.
But what's most amazing is that Heap produced this whole album "Speak for Yourself" by herself. Dissatisfied with how the previous Frou Frou album was mishandled; she took matters into her own hands, and the result is earth-shattering.
Of course then Zach Braff chose to include "Hide and Seek" in the soundtrack for his next film "The Last Kiss." The film came out two years after the songs release, and it had been almost played to death. While the music on the compilation was stellar again, I was disappointed to be familar with the majority of the artists already. Coldplay, Cary Brothers, Remy Zero, Imogen all made their second Braff appearances. But again there were some musician revelations
Snow Patrol - Chocolate -- the song featured in the trailer...almost engineered to feature heavily in a romantic movie; I've since latched tightly to Snow Patrol
Fiona Apple - Paper Bag -- revitalized an interest in someone I dismissed as a one-hit wonder (when I saw her at Vegoose in 2006 she killed it; a much better perfomer live)
Joshua Radin & Schuyler Fisk - Paperweight -- Radin I knew through following my Braff appreciation to Scrubs; the real revelation was Fisk, who I remembered vaguely as Sissy Spacek's daughter who was in that terrible Orange County movie with Tom Hanks son. Being the daughter of The Coal Miner's Daughter, the fact she can belt out a tune comes as no surprise, her being a darling redhead is just icing. I've constantly sought out any and all of her music since. She's currently working on her first album, and her singing has appeared in two other films I'm Reed Fish an Penelope)
So the cycle continues...Thanks Imogen I await your new album as well as Schuyler's first.
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