4AD
GRIMES - Art Angels LP
$39.95
California is Grimes by the numbers: technopop that balances between the eastern ballet and the 80's Madonna anthem. Some grit is added to the Missy Elliot-esque rap "Scream" (with magnified synthetic noise currents), but "Flesh Without Blood" shows that her specialty remains the electropop cheerleader song. It is a sound that wears thin on "Belly of the Beat", weak on arrangements and weak on hooks. Boucher here betrays her roots and opts for mainstream acceptance. As one can see on "Kill V. Maim", Boucher chooses to become the Cyndi Lauper of the 00's. As "Artangels" demonstrates, the biggest casualty of this new phase is the loss of her production and arranging skills. "Pin" and "Venus Fly" sort of make us remember what she's capable of: vibrant arrangements, vibrant melodies, vibrant structure, but we've heard this before in better form in her previous albums.
