55. St. Vincent by St. Vincent
During my freshman year at Ricks College, there was a girl on campus with long blonde hair that was so beautiful that all of the guys in my dorm were terrified of her. We'd could talk about her all day long, but no one had the courage to actually talk TO her. I had her in one of my English classes, so I got to see her briefly three times a week. I say "briefly" because I would only risk a glance every now and then, except when we were having a class discussion and she started to talk. If I looked at her for more than a second, then I'd be risking looking like some sort of pervert. Fortunately, whenever she spoke up in class discussions, I had the perfect excuse to let my inner pervert loos and get a wonderfully long look at her face and hair--until she stopped talking. Then I had to force myself to turn my attention back to the teacher, and while he was talking, my inner pervert was still only thinking about was that girl. I did this for 15 weeks until the last day of class, and I never talked her once before, during, or after class.
Then during finals week, I had to go to the class to have a grade conference with the instructor. I showed up early, as I really liked the instructor and did not want to be late. And while I was waiting, the girl showed up to wait for her conference outside the door. I then had a choice. I could either wait in uncomfortable silence with her, or I could talk to her. Since my inner pervert wanted another excuse to look at her up close, I chose to talk with her. And that's when I had the best 15 minutes of my entire freshman year. She wasn't just unbelievably beautiful. She was also just as smart and funny as she was pretty. She was impressed that I was going to Sweden on my mission, and when my time for the conference came up, she wished me good luck. And if I hadn't been less than two weeks away from becoming sequestered in Provo, I swear I would have asked her for a date. But what's the point in dating when you're about to leave the country for two years?
After the conference, I went straight to my dorm and told everyone that I'd talked with her. They didn't believe me at first, but when I started telling them the details of our conversation and what I'd learned about her, they realized I wasn't lying. I had actually spoken to her. They were all jealous--except for Chris--and were quite pissed that they hadn't ventured to talk with her before, as it was very clear that if I could do it, then they would have been able to do it as well.
So what does that college experience with a blonde Aphrodite have to do with the St. Vincent album? Annie Clark--who goes by the stage name "St. Vincent"--is kind of like that girl that everyone was terrified of speaking to. If you've ever seen her play guitar and sing on television, you'd think she was an off-her-rocker rocker. She does a kind of freaky performance art in all of her videos and television appearances, so it's tempting to dismiss her as one of those musicians that does weird stuff to get everyone's attention away from the crappy music that they're playing. But Annie doesn't play crappy music. She is an exceptional guitarist and singer. She studied music for three years at Berklee College of Music--one of the top music schools in the world--before dropping out to start her music career. She didn't graduate from Berklee because she felt like she had learned everything she wanted to, and she was ready to start playing and recording music. She had a couple of albums before releasing St. Vincent, including a collaboration with David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. But it was the 2014 album St. Vincent that really brought her national attention. She performed on SNL (where I saw her first), as well as on Late Night with David Letterman and all the other late-night shows. St. Vincent then won the 2015 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. Annie has also won the 2019 Grammy for Best Rock Song "Masseduction."
Annie calls what she does "Art Rock," and she characterized St. Vincent as "a party album you can play at a funeral." I'd characterize it as "Freaky Car Surround-Sound Theater for Driving Through Oregon," because the sound mixing creates a complex three-dimensional listening space that is best experienced through at least four stereophonic speakers enveloping the aural space around you, so...yeah...in the car.
Following the success of St. Vincent, Annie collaborated with Music Man guitars to make a St. Vincent signature guitar.
To me it looks like what you'd get if Rosie the Robot had a love child with Eddie Van Halen. Annie plays this guitar when she performs now, so in case you're in the market for a rock guitar with three pickups that can produce a variety of tones, here are the links.
I think the way Annie approaches her music is really smart. She looks at what she's doing as a more holistic form of artistic expression, not just "playing music." And from the design decisions that she made with her signature guitar and her music videos, I have to admit that I'm impressed with her overall understanding of the design process.
You'd think from the lyrics on St. Vincent, as well as the strange videos that came out with some of the songs, that Annie is a deeply disturbed woman that takes life way to seriously. But that's all part of the show. She is capable of recognizing and expressing strong and sometimes disturbing emotions--like in the song "Severed Crossed Fingers." But she also has a lighter side and can be quite funny, as evidenced by her performance in the following comedy videos.
Also, in January of 2020, the Sundance Film Festival featured Annie in a mockumentary film with Carrie Brownstein (of "Portlandia" fame) called "Nowhere Inn." I haven't seen the movie, nor could I find any clips that were ripped off from it on YouTube, which leads me to wonder if the film was actually made, because ripping off scenes from movies is what makes up 97% of YouTube content. Either way, it shows that Annie has a sense of humor about what she does.
Knowing all of this about Annie makes it easy for me to be a fan of St. Vincent (both the band and the album), because I know that even though the music and the videos and the Art Rock performances are a bit odd, Annie's sense of humor provides enough grounding in reality for me to say yeah, that looks kind of freaky, but she knows it looks freaky too, and part of her is amused that she's even doing it. And like the blonde Aphrodite from college, I find Annie's particular mix of beauty, intelligence, and humor quite irresistible.
When I look at and listen to St. Vincent, I think of the similarities between her and Prince. They're both a little different, a little artistic, a little weird, a little skinny, and undoubtedly talented. Back in the eighties, I decided I couldn't stand Prince because of his oddities. (And yet, I still liked some of his songs. I mean, "Delirious" and "Let's Go Crazy" are undeniable.) But, now, I am able to look back at Prince and better appreciate his talent, and his individuality.
ReplyDeleteAs a more mature adult, I'm better able to appreciate the goodness of St. Vincent, without letting her strangeness be a deterrent. Dang, she's talented. She can do things with a guitar that very few others can. She's odd, but she can rock. (Check out "Regret.") She can be insightful. (Check out "Digital Witness.") And, she can come up with stuff worthy of Donuts For Everyone. (Doesn't "Severed Crossed Fingers" sound like the title of a DFE song?) Thanks for introducing me to this delightfully talented weirdo. (Or should I say, this delightfully weird talent?)