Grimes (CA)

傳奇獨立名廠4AD在2012年裡做得最帥最酷的一件事，肯定就是簽下Grimes這位原名Claire Boucher、來自來自加拿大魁北克的年輕全能創作女歌手的第三張個人專輯《Visions》做全球發行。

第一眼望見《Visions》的封面設計風格以及藝人名字，若被誤認為是一張龐克或重金屬搖滾作品也不足為奇，但事實上《Visions》在Grimes那帶點飄渺空靈的嗓音演繹下，卻是天馬行空地將Pops、New Jack Swing、R&B、Glitch-Electronica、Witch-House、New Age、Dream-Pop…等風格共冶一爐而來，無怪乎被形容為有如Björk與Gang Gang Dance的混合體；甚至整張作品所帶來的音樂聆聽樂趣，某些時候還會讓人聯想到曾幾何時的怪趣女子組合Cibo Matto。而甫揭曉的NME年度最佳名單中，《Visions》不但高居最佳專輯亞軍，當中的一首作品〈Oblivision〉更躋身十大單曲之列，這張專輯在2012的年度代表性可見一斑。

至於講到Grimes被拿來與Björk作比較，值得一提的是，前段時間Grimes在時尚大師Hedi Slimane掌鏡下登上Dazed & Confused雜誌封面，同時也為英國品牌KTZ拍攝形象照，可謂與時尚圈有著相當出色的密切互動，而相信大家也不會忘記當年Björk曾穿著Alexander McQueen為她訂製的服裝登上《Homogenic》專輯的封面，甚至Alexander McQueen還為她執導了〈Alarm Call〉單曲MV而為樂迷/時尚愛好者所津津樂道。

總之，我現在已經開始無比期待Grimes登上THE WALL舞台後，會綻放何等迷人的現場魅力。（文: DJ Mykal a.k.a.林哲儀）

BIO
There is a powerful harmony in Grimes. It is a project which is both musical and visual, embodying the arts of 2D, performance, dance, video and sound. Claire Boucher weaves these together to a strong rhythmic effect, “the marriage between the voice of a human and the heartbeat of a machine” [Bullett Magazine].

Boucher, born in Vancouver, Canada, came to Montreal in 2006. Her experience as a performer is deeply embedded in the illegal DIY loft culture of Montreal, where Grimes was one of the prominent figures in the scene surrounding Lab Synthèse – a 4600sq ft re-appropriated textile factory. She developed in a scene where punk ethos and pop music collide, resulting in a distinct sense of community, religiosity and psychedelic revelry.

She describes her work as “the only means through which I can be fully expressive. It is both an ethereal escape from, and a violent embrace of my experience. The creative process is a quest for the ultimate sensual, mystical and cathartic experience and the vehicle for my psychic purging.”