The steadfast ‘Volatile Times’ title track follows but it is ‘Nightlife’ from ‘The Alternative’ that first lets some light in. It provides a spectacular opening crescendo as it speeds to infinity and beyond! Addressing the crowd in Deutsch, Corner has everyone in the palm of his hand as his frantic vigour hypnotises all who are present.īeginning with ‘Music People’, the backing track sounds like it was originally recorded on a tape machine with flattening batteries that has now been played back with voltage fully restored. Less immediate and more understated than its predecessor, ‘Volatile Times’ is Corner’s most introspective collection yet.īut the IAMX live experience concentrates on strong rhythmical tension and stark minimal lighting with the live band of Corner, Janine Gezang (synthesizers, guitar, percussion and backing vocals), Caroline Weber (drums) and Alberto lvarez (guitar, bass, percussion and backing vocals) all presented as shadowy figures against a backdrop of arthouse expressionist cinema. Largely ignored in the UK, the tour therefore focuses on Germany and Eastern Europe where IAMX’s following is strongest. New album ‘Volatile Times’ is coloured by the dark climes of the present and it is in support of this long player that IAMX are here tonight in Cologne. It’s interesting to note that a significant number of IAMX’s fanbase are female, the emotional drama obviously striking a chord, in a manner of speaking, like HURTS gone Emo. Now domiciled in Berlin, where Corner has found “the spirit to care less about the music industry and take an independent route”, his albums ‘Kiss + Swallow’, ‘The Alternative’ and ‘Kingdom of Welcome Addiction’ have captured an electro Gothic aesthetic that combines the theatrics of Weimar Cabaret with themes of sex, alienation and dependency in the best tradition of DEPECHE MODE and NINE INCH NAILS.ĭespite the lyrical and aural fervor, Corner’s songs are strongly melodic with an accessible grandeur. So the title of that debut indeed turned out to be quite prophetic. Since then, singer Kelli Ali has forged herself an acclaimed solo career while instrumentalist Liam Howe produced MARINA & THE DIAMONDS’ ‘The Family Jewels’.īut it is Chris Corner, who took on vocal duties after Kelli Ali’s departure on the albums ‘Splinter’ and ‘Bloodsport’ that has had the greatest success as IAMX. Labelled as trip-hop and featuring the hit singles ‘6 Underground’ and ‘Spin Spin Sugar’, this was the only album recorded by its original line-up of Kelli Ali, Liam Howe and Chris Corner. The I AM in IAMX may imply stasis, a fixed state of being, but the X signifies the variable in mathematics, and IAMX the person is in no way done evolving.In 1996, SNEAKER PIMPS released the highly acclaimed ‘Becoming X’. As a video artist, IAMX crafts stunning live visuals for himself and other acts, most notably close friend Gary Numan.
#Iamx live visuals how to#
IAMX is one of the most licensed artists on ABC TV’s, How To Get Away with Murder, with 16 of his songs on its soundtrack. The move yielded Metanoia (2015) and Everything Is Burning (Metanoia Addendum) in 2016, followed by instrumental album, Unfall (2017). In 2012, Corner suffered from depression and chronic insomnia, prompting a move to Los Angeles. Moving to Berlin in 2005, IAMX released The Alternative (2006), Live In Warsaw (2008), Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction (2009), Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (2010), Volatile Times (2011), and The Unified Field (2013). IAMX recently spent weeks in a trailer in a desert, engineering his new album, Alive In New Light (2018). Androgynous and visceral, he has metamorphosed from small-town kid to international pop star to creator of raw art that disrupts gender and genre.Fuelling electronic experimentation with punk energy and confessional lyricism, Corner’s dark sound, fashion, performances, videos, and persona are larger than life, iconoclastic, and shockingly intimate. Biography Ever since leaving 1990’s trip-hop group Sneaker Pimps in the early 2000s, Corner’s process of becoming IAMX has been theatrical, transcendent, and communal.
0 kommentar(er)
