Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

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spacecadet
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Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by spacecadet » Sat Nov 11, 2017 11:09 pm

A while back somebody here posted a Fazerdaze video asking if the Mustang she was playing was Japanese:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nEaODPWoFY

I answered that yes, it definitely was. But I became curious and eventually a little enamored with this song and its singer, so I looked her up. I pretty quickly bought her latest EP Morningside and eventually got to see her live in NYC this past week (and this is the best pic my cell phone could take):

Image

She says her music is not 90's inspired but if it isn't, then she found that sound on her own. (I swear I hear a few actual melodies from Chapterhouse and The Sundays, though.) I think a lot of people here would like her. And she does play a Japanese Mustang almost exclusively! (She's got one video with a Telecaster, but she only played the Mustang when I saw her live.)

Live, I really thought she both looked and sounded like a cross between Miki Berenyi and Harriett Wheeler (I've seen both of them live too). On her recorded stuff, she buries her voice in reverb, which I sometimes wish she wouldn't, but it does add to the Pale Saints-like sound.

So, thanks to whoever made that original post - you turned me on to someone really cool. And hopefully I will now too.

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by sammynb » Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:57 am

She does great clips as well.

How was she live Spacecadet?
I had tickets to see her back in September, it was on my birthday but I was so sick I was bed ridden and missed it.

And likewise, I'd like to say thanks to starflower who's post I found in the song of the day thread introducing me to fazerdaze.

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by starflower » Sun Nov 12, 2017 3:20 am

sammynb wrote:
Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:57 am
She does great clips as well.

How was she live Spacecadet?
I had tickets to see her back in September, it was on my birthday but I was so sick I was bed ridden and missed it.

And likewise, I'd like to say thanks to starflower who's post I found in the song of the day thread introducing me to fazerdaze.
Happy to oblige, though I'm likely not the first to appreciate Amelia's work here ;)

Also curious how I agree with spacecadet about the Pale Saints' vocal bit as well, the oddly almost androgynous pairing of Ian and Meriel on In Ribbons has really done a number on my heart and mind after 25+ years, and I've been trying so hard over the years to recreate that airband sizzle on backing vocal tracks like what Hugh Jones did on tracks like Thread of Light.
Sound Director & Composer at Sangwha / General Manager at Moollon Guitars. https://soundcloud.com/andi-roselund

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by spacecadet » Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:10 am

sammynb wrote:
Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:57 am
How was she live Spacecadet?
I had tickets to see her back in September, it was on my birthday but I was so sick I was bed ridden and missed it.
That sucks! She was actually better than I expected live. I thought it was going to be kind of low energy and laid back, which for the most part it was, but I was expecting that to translate to kind of a boring show and it definitely was not. It was a pretty good value for $10!

First, she's much more technically proficient live and has a lot more stage presence than I expected. She doesn't really have a history of playing live in bands and she records all her stuff by herself in her bedroom, so I went in with kind of low expectations of how well she'd sing and play on stage, and how much of a connection she'd make with the audience. But she sang and played perfectly and she's just so charismatic that she had everyone eating out of the palm of her hand from the start.

She also didn't really use the reverb that's on her recordings, or at least not as much, so it sounded a lot more natural. I think I liked that better. It made some of the songs sound more traditionally indie rock, which maybe loses a little of the uniqueness but probably works better live.

She did one song solo with a looper that I didn't know; maybe it's on her first EP. But it was really cool and creative; she built a whole song out of layered riffs. I've seen others do something similar but not so well; usually something gets a little messed up and by the end it's all kind of fallen apart. But everything she did, including the guitar riffs and her vocals, just layered perfectly. And she ended up with something like 20 unique layers.

She kept saying how quiet we all were, and I couldn't figure out if she was unhappy about that or not. At one point she did thank us for being quiet during that loop song. I felt like people were cheering a good amount after each song, but in between songs she seemed a little unnerved by the quiet because she felt like there was pressure on her to find things to talk about. I think people were just being really respectful and were just interested in hearing her talk; she has a really cool speaking voice too, especially if you're an American. She said when it's quiet like that she has a tendency to blast through the set and finish in like 30 minutes. I think she played for an hour at the NYC show.

She actually seemed happy when people did shout things out at her because it gave her something to respond to. At one point someone just shouted "What's up??" and that made her and everyone else laugh. She replied "not much, what's up with you?"

The last song was "Little Uneasy" and I did think the whole band seemed a little tired by then. It felt a little slow. But up to that point, everything was perfect. She did say they've been touring for 3 months and I think they're probably not used to that, so they may not have the stamina of other bands yet.

They supposedly were going to go to the merch table to meet the fans afterwards, but they weren't there when my wife and I got up to it and there was not really an obvious place to stand and wait (Mercury Lounge is a tiny little place) so we left after buying the Morningside vinyl. That's my one regret of the night, not waiting.

She posted her own pic of the show to her Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fazerdazemusic ... =3&theater

You can see me there, I'm the tall guy with his head sticking up about middle top third of the photo, next to the guy holding up his cell phone.

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by wrath » Sun Nov 12, 2017 8:52 pm

I came across fazerdaze through Spotify. I love the personalised mixes, I've found so many artists I've become enamoured with that I wouldn't have heard otherwise.

Her track "Lucky Girl" is a terrific little ear worm, the clip accompanying it is great too.

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by amplituden » Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:17 am

Hey there, I saw her last week in Toronto.

They were really good I really like that album too.

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by spacecadet » Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:47 pm

wrath wrote:
Sun Nov 12, 2017 8:52 pm
Her track "Lucky Girl" is a terrific little ear worm, the clip accompanying it is great too.
I really like her videos too and they all seem like they probably cost about $5 to produce.

I really like the trick ending at the end of "Little Uneasy": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szvFmW_oxeY

It took me until right now to see the little bump when somebody seems to "undock" the drone from the back of the car I assume they were previously shooting from. But it's still a pretty neat effect.

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by budda12ax7 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 3:53 pm

im digging this

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Re: Whoever introduced me to Fazerdaze, I thank you

Post by budda12ax7 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:10 pm

reminds me heavily of Little Big League and the grrrl singer from that band. Japanese Breakfast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COy9VLmkFKM

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