“o” by iamamiwhoami
The Floria Sigismondi wet dream that is iamaiwhoami (Jonna Lee?) has finally taken the next step in her personal YouTube evolution, from feral avant garde video antihero to fully-fledged electro chanteuse, and she is lovely.
It’s fairly straightforward –albeit spooky– electronica. The song’s driving melody is even a bit reminiscent of those daffy chugging synths Limahl used for the Neverending Story theme song, with an added dash of Deep Breakfast. And yet? “o” is putting the same loamy glow in my bones that initial exposure to Goldfrapp, Julia Frodahl, Karin Dreijer Andersson, Björk, Julee Cruise and female surrealists like Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington once did. I remain intrigued as ever.
How about you?
April 13th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Hey, to clarify, I mean no offense to either Limahl or Ray Lynch. In fact, feed me a pot cookie and plonk me down in front of iTunes Visualizer, and nothing would make me happier than listening to the Neverending Story song and “Celestial Soda Pop” on repeat. Wheeee!
April 13th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I love it.
Did you see what it linked to this time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJv-eVxcPEg&feature=PlayList&p=BAC4580F733AB47F&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=14
April 13th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Hahahahaha!
April 14th, 2010 at 3:37 am
As much as I’ve liked her output thus far, this performance seems a bit too self-consciously weird. It may be lovely to look at, but the beats are really pedestrian. I really liked the chanting/sighing stuff that took over at the end ‘tho. Shame the whole song wasn’t based around that. Still, it’s much better than the jaw-droppingly awful new Goldfrapp CD…
April 14th, 2010 at 4:19 am
the wait is over and what a relief to find it’s just as awesome as i dreamed it would be.. can haz double bill with Fever Ray plz
April 14th, 2010 at 5:28 am
I love this whole phenomenon and am always fascinated to watch it play out. However, I’m not sure if we should be attaching a female-gendered pronoun to it. (Also, I’m not sure the neuter or male is any better.) Am I to assume that because there’s a female figure in the video and a voice that iamamiwhoami is female? I’m not sure I buy it. The identity presented to us (in this case a youtube username) is one without gender. In fact, it’s without any attached physicality or person. It’s a very weird transgression. Almost like a ghost in the machine.
April 14th, 2010 at 6:26 am
I love this campaign! And if it’s not Jonna Lee, it’s someone who looks exactly like her. Oh, and the dead guy corpses in this video…creepy. Though I’m sorta sad this is going in a more pop direction than the earlier films suggest, I’m still happy with the music.
April 25th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I loved this. A lot.