![]() Since appearing on the scene with her self-titled debut in 2005, Harris’ prolific solo output is only rivaled by her collaborations with acts like Xiu Xiu and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma. ![]() Let’s talk about Grouper! Are you a fan? What’s your favourite album? (Mine is AIA Alien Observer.There are few experimental artists who can compete with the breadth of Grouper’s Liz Harris. I see it was a perfect amalgamation of all her styles on one record - that makes it feel a little disjointed, but the sound and songs are powerful enough to more than make up for that. The most recent Grouper album, Shade, released just last week. The atmosphere created by her music spoke for itself. She left just as sharply as she came on, to an extended round of applause. She walked on swiftly and played for an hour exactly, to a dead silent audience, with a black cap pulled low hiding her eyes and no audience interaction, switching between a keyboard and guitar with numerous pedals at her feet. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Grouper live. Liz’s wonderful voice has potent emotion, and her lyrics are thoughtful and poetic. By contrast Liz’s songs often have a clear beginning, middle and end and sometimes even hooks - Alien Observer, Vapor Trails and Headache are perfect examples. I find many ambient artists become lost in the aesthetic, and lose the song. What makes her music special to me, compared to other ambient artists, is the strength of the songs themselves. Her music is sometimes influenced by folk and dream pop, but is almost always characterised by her faint, distant vocals and slow, drawn-out instrumentals. Grouper (real name Liz Harris) is a contemporary ambient artist.
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