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Geidi Primes is the debut solo studio album by Grimes, released on January 10, 2010, by Arbutus Records.

In 2011, the album was released in the United Kingdom by No Pain in Pop Records on CD and LP, containing a slightly different cover art.

Grimes does not own the rights to Geidi Primes, and as a result she does not make any money from the the album in any form. In 2016 she gave "permission" to her fans to pirate the music, suggesting downloading the songs for free on Bandcamp.[1]

On March 1, 2024, coinciding with the release of Dune: Part Two, Grimes released a nightcore version of the album; however the track Shadout Mapes is not included, for unknown reasons.

Background[]

Inspiration[]

The album is a concept album based on the science fiction novel Dune, and Grimes wanted the songs on it to represent the sound of that universe.[2][3]

The first track, Caladan, refers to a fictional planet of the same name. The next, Sardaukar Levenbrech, refers to the military rank of "Levenbrech" — roughly in between a sergeant and a lieutenant — in the fictional army of the "Sardaukar". A "Face Dancer", as used in the third track's title Zoal, Face Dancer, is a type of human in the series who can shapeshift. Track six, Feyd Rautha Dark Heart, refers to the primary antagonist of the first novel in the Dune series, named Feyd-Rautha. Shadout Mapes, the tenth track, refers to a minor character of the same name. Track eleven, Beast Infection, refers to the "Beast" nickname of the character Rabban.

Name[]

The album's title refers to the fictional planet Giedi Prime, of the Dune universe in a series of novels by Frank Herbert, originating with the 1965 novel Dune, Grimes' favourite book.[4] She also picked the title because at the time she thought she needed an album title that rhymes with Grimes.[5]

Grimes did not expect that the album would be successful and so assumed that no one would ever hear it. She quotes this as being behind her reasoning for the album title and track names, though has since mentioned that the "decision has kind of haunted [her]". She has also stated that she now feels that the album was "naïve".[6]

Composition[]

Grimes said about the recording of the album:[7]

It all started because one day my friend and I did lots of speed, and then we were making music together, and then I guess he stopped being on speed but I was still on speed like all night so then I just went into my room and I made the song number three on the album – I forget what it’s called, and then I was like wow, this song’s so much better than anything I’ve ever made, and then I think I made song number two that night too, and then I made all the [other] songs probably within a month and a half. It made me lose inhibitions about singing and being weird.

She also told Voir:

I wanted to make a record that is a fantasy escape. I love music that makes me feel elsewhere, far away.

Writing[]

In an interview with DMY Grimes explained:[8]

Usually when bands have lyrics, they’re so much less than the music. I don’t like music to feel too literal… I like music that I can’t understand…mostly in other languages. [She simply sings whatever comes into her head, loosely swelling with the rest of the song.] I like the idea that the story…you can think it up yourself.

Production[]

The album was made solely with GarageBand, a violin, a synthesizer (using only the white keyboard keys), a ukulele, a friend's guitar, and sound effects.[9][10] Some of the drum effects were achieved by pencils being hit on a table.[11]

She told TheYYSCENE:[12]

I had the same synthesizer that I have now but I was obsessed with Chopin at the time [..] It was pretty pathetic. I basically just played the keys really fast and tried to memorize what I was doing so it sounded like classical music. From there I would record it and layer things using cassette tape. [..] I still don’t really know how to play any instruments. [..] I make all the samples myself but it takes hours and hours and millions of takes until I feel like I’ve played them right. I have the idea and I know how to do it but I just don’t have the co-ordination. Usually I’ll just play the same thing again and again until I get a good recording that’s in time and then I can make a loop.

In an interview with LOOKOUT, when asked about her recording process, Grimes said the following:[13]

I’m pretty technically limited, so I kind of make the music that I can make, if that makes sense? It’s really simple because that’s the only way I can make music. Like, every song is 4/4, most are 120 bpm and most are in the key of C. I’m trying to move on from that right now. I make music that I want to hear. Or I try to.

Album Visuals[]

Grimes told LOOKOUT she used "ink and food colouring" for her artwork.[13]

The hearts with an eye in the middle resemble Comme des Garcons logo, which is a copyrighted symbol that she unintentionally used because she didn't know that at the time, and also because "[she] was just really into roses at the time."[14]


The album art, in Grimes words, is: "It's like a demon with the universe in its hair."[22]

Tracklist[]

Geidi Primes
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1.CaladanGrimesGrimes2:26
2.Sardaukar LevenbrechGrimesGrimes2:06
3.Zoal, Face DancerGrimesGrimes2:36
4.RosaGrimesGrimes3:13
5.AviGrimesGrimes2:36
6.Feyd Rautha Dark HeartGrimesGrimes3:42
7.GambangGrimesGrimes1:34
8.Venus in FleursGrimesGrimes2:43
9.GrisgrisGrimesGrimes3:23
10.Shadout MapesGrimesGrimes4:32
11.Beast InfectionGrimesGrimes2:21
Total length:31:12

Note:
All songs have (Nightcore Mix) after their name, with the exclusion of Sardaukar Levenbrech, mispelt as Sardaukar Levanbrech, which is (Reverse Nightcore Mix). Shadout Mapes was not included on the album.
Geidi Primes
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1.CaladanGrimesGrimes2:10
2.Sardaukar LevanbrechGrimesGrimes1:46
3.Zoal, Face DancerGrimesGrimes2:19
4.RosaGrimesGrimes2:52
5.AviGrimesGrimes2:19
6.Feyd Rautha Dark HeartGrimesGrimes2:56
7.GambangGrimesGrimes1:30
8.Venus in FleursGrimesGrimes2:37
9.GrisgrisGrimesGrimes2:41
10.Beast InfectionGrimesGrimes1:59
Total length:23:09

Credits[]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Geidi Primes.[23]

  • Grimes – vocals, production, artwork
  • Erik Zuuring – design, layout
  • Sebastian Cowan – mastering

Trivia[]

  • Geidi Primes is the only Grimes album to not have any regional or deluxe tracks.
  • Grimes has never performed any of the Geidi Primes songs as she doesn't know how to play the songs live.[12]
  • Retrospectively Grimes told DMY: [I was] holding back… I was trying to be too… accessible or something… I had to do Geidi Primes because I had to like, spew out what was obvious. It had to be done before I could actually start making and learning. [..] I [had] just broke up with my boyfriend.
  • Grimes no longer has any of the raw files for the album, telling Connect Savannah: When I made those records, I never thought anyone was going to hear them. So when they were done I just deleted them so I could have space on my computer hard drive.
  • Grimes described the album's sound as "science fiction twee music" or "cyber twee" in her interview for Pitchfork, when asked to describe it in three words.[24]

References[]

  1. https://grimes-claireboucher.tumblr.com/post/137177684315/if-you-are-a-grimes-fanfanpage-please-reblog
  2. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=59
  3. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?si=eTSHovJAkUMsHefn&t=63
  4. http://www.earbuddy.net/871/grimes-geidi-primes-review.html/reviews
  5. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=78
  6. http://www.thestoolpigeon.co.uk/features/interview-grimes.html
  7. https://dmy.co/new-music/grimes-interview-so-many-worlds
  8. https://dmy.co/new-music/grimes-interview-so-many-worlds
  9. https://voir.ca/musique/scene-locale/2010/07/07/grimes-mal-eduquee-mon-amour/
  10. https://exclaim.ca/music/article/grimes_talks_medieval_times_of_halfaxa
  11. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=127
  12. 12.0 12.1 https://theyyscene.com/2010/08/12/ffwd-intergalactic-grime-spree/
  13. 13.0 13.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20100515184516/http://lookoutpresents.com/news/qa-grimes/
  14. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?si=h7UCwr-06Rs3lpjJ&t=40
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20100414025031/myspace.com/boucherville
  16. https://www.discogs.com/release/6536765-Grimes-Geidi-Primes
  17. https://www.discogs.com/release/3606227-Grimes-Geidi-Primes
  18. https://www.flickr.com/photos/claireboucher/4119067434/
  19. https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1215809988301508608
  20. https://actuallygrimes.tumblr.com/post/63543132208/a-poster-i-made-for-my-first-record-way-back-in
  21. http://cokemachineglow.com/records/grimes-geidiprimes-2010/
  22. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=39
  23. https://www.allmusic.com/album/geidi-primes-mw0002187926/credits
  24. https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?si=PFZdozTDn63cX2fq&t=23
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