Timbre Tantrum

The Creators Project recently profiled the usually reclusive Cameron Mesirow of Glasser to get insights into her creative process.  Find out how she writes music as a one-woman band, how those sounds translate to a live show, and hear her instrument invention, the “Auerglass,” created with fine artist/best friend, Tauba Auerbach.

Glasser also added additional tour dates in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, supporting T.V. on the Radio. 

Check out Glasser’s video interview with The Creators Project, plus the full list of tour dates, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

PHP Freelancer

Avant-garde ingénue, Glasser, made her American TV debut last night appearing on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” to perform “Mirrorage” from her debut LP, Ring.

The performance featured some serious Asian-inspired head gear and a stage lined with QR Codes, which are matrix barcodes that, once scanned by a barcode reader or camera phone, link to encoded information like text, a URL, or other data.  In this case, Glasser’s QR code, leads viewers to a 3D “lobby,” where you can watch the web exclusive performance of “Clamour,” download “Mirrorage,” and watch the “Mirrorage” music video.  If you are lacking a QR code scanner, head HERE to access the extra content.

See Glasser’s performances for both “Mirroage” and “Clamour,” below.

Glasser’s debut LP, Ring, is available now from True Panther Sounds.

PHP Freelancer

Photo by TImothy Murray

From the thundering opening drumbeats of Apply, Glasser’s Ring encircles you, squeezing you tight and never letting up.  Ring is the debut LP of “one-woman orchestra” Cameron Mesirow, recording under the nom de guerre, Glasser.  The album is replete with soaring vocals, hypnotic harmonies, and the lush and layered soundscapes of a full orchestra.  In fact, unlike Glasser’s Apply EP which was composed almost entirely on Mesirow’s laptop, Ring utilizes the rich sounds of real-life marimbas, chimes, saxophone, koto, and an array of heavy drums and synthesizers in its arrangements.

Ring is named for its adherence to a traditional “ring” literary structure, where ideas are arranged in a symmetric order for emphasis.  Mesirow also enlisted the help of Swedish producers Van Rivers and The Sublimimal Kid to create transitions between all of the tracks so the album can play in a continuous loop.  In the “ring” structure, the song T, serves as the album’s center, and is the only track without a partner.  “Eight of the nine songs are paired up and they share themes,” Mesirow shares with Fader Magazine.  “Home is the second song on the record and Treasury of We is the eighth song, and they share a disorienting factor.  They’re both about false stability.”  According to Mesirow, T is both the spiritual and literal center of the ring, and was written as a dedication to long-time best friend and visual artist Tauba Aeubach, who also created the album art for Ring.

T is the smoldering down-tempo ballad, reminiscent of Bjork’s Unravel, and serves as the ideal changeover center of an album filled with so many densely layered compositions.  Compositions such as Home, which ebbs and flows in warm waves with hand claps and layered choruses leading the way, Clamour, which features a menacing saxophone backbeat and ominous vocals, and the playful call and response marimba on Treasury of We.  Highlights are hard to single out on Ring, because all of the songs are consistently excellent.  Our only complaint is that the album ends too soon, and after nine tracks, we are left wanting more.  (If you purchase the digital album from iTunes, you will receive two additional bonus tracks, Temp On and Let Letter, but there is a reason they didn’t make the album cut)

Glasser’s debut LP, Ring, is available now from True Panther Sounds.

Timbre Tantrum’s rating 4 out of 5 stars.

PHP Freelancer

Photo by Aliya Naumoff

Ring, the debut LP from Glasser, a.k.a Cameron Mesirow, finally sees the light of day, when its performed in its entirety at Amoeba Hollywood tonight. 

Ring is named for its adherence to a traditional “ring” literary structure, where ideas are arranged in a symmetric order for emphasis.  For Glasser’s Ring, there is no finite beginning or ending for individual tracks, with one leading seamlessly into the next.  Quite an undertaking for the Amoeba stage!  For more artist info, check out our Underrated and Infuriated profile of Glasser.

At the record release show tonight, you also have an opportunity to pick up Glasser’s Ring, before it is officially released next Tuesday (9/28/10).  You can stream Ring in its entirety, below – just don’t expect a track listing (remember, no set beginning or end).

Glasser performs at 7 PM, TONIGHT, Friday (9/24/10) at Amoeba Hollywood.  All Amoeba shows are FREE and all ages.  For more information, check out Amoeba’s Live Shows Page.

Glasser’s debut LP, Ring, releases on September 28^th from True Panther Sounds.

PHP Freelancer

Photo by Aliya Naumoff

Glasser is Cameron Mesirow, a one-woman orchestra whose complex arrangements and angelic vocals finally have room to explore on her debut album, Ring. Glasser first came on the scene with her 2009 EP, Apply, and has since worked with producer Ariel Rechtshaid (of Foreign Born) on Ring, to incorporate the lush instrumentation of strings, woodwinds, and an array of percussion to her once-sparse recordings. Read the rest of this entry →

PHP Freelancer