A Long Time Coming

When it comes to music, I have the attention span of a 12 year old boy with a Nintendo paddle in hand. I listen to an album on repeat until I can't stand the thought of it anymore, and then hate myself for ruining something I loved so much. There are very few musicians that have kept my attention over the years, but some have stood the test of time:

• The New Radicals, who wrote one album that even Joni Michell loved;
• Metric, who Robby thieved from me in an earlier post;
• And Imogen Heap, who I stole from Robby nearly 5 years ago.

Imogen Heap is an odd duck, but her music is some of the most aesthetically interesting around. A Grammy nominated artist, Heap is most well known for her work as part of the band Frou Frou, but the English born songstress has released two solo albums that are worthy of serious respect.

Heap's debut album, i Megaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was released in 1998 and garnered critical acclaim. However, when her record company sold to Universal she was one of the artists dropped, leaving her without a record contract.

I fall into the group of people who thinks this was kind of an OK thing to have happened. Frankly, though I like the album, I believe strongly that Heap really found her musical-self while performing as part of Frou Frou. The duo put out several hit singles including "Just For Now", "Let Go" and "Holden Out for a Hero" but most importantly, Heap took on the heavy electronic sound she refined in her second solo project, Speak For Yourself.

Described by Heap as, "more Madonna than Guns N' Roses, more Donnie Darko than Dirty Dancing...left of center, electronically sprinkled magic dust over orchestral strings, harps and things, with great lyrics," Speak for Yourself is one of the most enchanting albums to have appeared in the past decade. "Hide and Seek" is a favorite of most, whether they know the artist or not:

Its been nearly 5 years, but finally, Imogen Heap has released the first single of off her August-expected album Elipse.

The first single, "First Train Home" is a lot of the same, but its what Heap does best so you can't fault her for that. I'm hoping to see some musical growth on this album, but until its out, here are a few songs to get you going: