Marty's Album Of The Month, December 2005

You may have noticed that the Major hasn't posted any Albums of the Month for quite some time. Really, my only excuse is that I haven't found much music to insipre me to elevate any albums to this status for quite some time (I believe Royksopp's The Understanding was the last to receive this honor in July).

I was recently turned on to Imogen Heap while cruising in my automobile with XM's UPop station cranked high. At first, I asked myself if Frou Frou had put out another album because the haunting voice sounded just like the one I heard on Details. As it turns out, Imogen Heap is a British chick with a funky name...an amazingly talented British chick. She's been around for a while, and in 2002 because the other half of Frou Frou, the band most people discovered after they heard them on the Garden State sountrack (our local indy station in Oxford, OH was a bit more progressive than most in playing them in 2002). She's recently put out her new solo album, Speak For Yourself - which is my pick for Album of the Month.

So, why should you listen to Imogen Heap's Speak For Yourself? Because it does...speak for itself. The weaving of electronic melodies and her voice sends a chill down the back of my neck - and that is the best measure for me of whether or not an album makes it to the "Album Of The Month". A friend once advised me that the best way to listen to an album for the first time was to lay in your bed, turn off the lights, and listen to the album all the way through, in order, without stopping. Everyone should do that at least once with Speak For Yourself. It has a tendancy to make you reflective, even if you have no reason to be. And if you only have time for one track, I'd recommend "Hide And Seek"...even though it's criminal not to listen to the whole thing.