Emilie Autumn’s “4 o’Clock” EP

Emilie Autumn loves her EPs, especially when she has been riding the Opheliac horse since 2006, and has toured three times with it; I know, because I went to all of them.  It seems as if the EP format is a way to get out more material for her die-hard fans to rip their teeth into.

Comparisons with her previous EP are inevitible, and this EP is the clear winner, for there are no ‘repeats’ (unless you put ‘Organ Grinder’ in that category, but this could only previously be found on the Saw III soundtrack) and this EP flows and makes more sense as a whole. Far more atmospheric than the Liar/Dead Is The New Alive EP. Generally speaking, this EP follows the exact format as its predecessor, giving us a few original tracks, some remixes from Opheliac and some random extras.

Emilie Autumn’s “Liar/Dead Is The New Alive EP”

This was the last CD I purchased from Emilie Autumn as the two songs were not the most special ones from the album Opheliac. Due to the extra tracks, though, I gave it a go, expecting the same quality that came with the second disc of Opheliac.  Remixes are never great at the best of times but these remixes are really rather good, especially the Manic Depressive Remix of ‘Liar’, which is possibly better than the original.  It is, however, still just an EP full of remixes, and unless that is your kind of thing, it is doubtful that you’ll appreciate this.

Emilie Autumn’s “Opheliac”

I found Emilie Autumn through Last.fm and the first album I bought was her classical/electronic violin album Laced~Unlaced. After listening to her original compositions, and her own renditions of classics such as ‘Largo’ it was obvious she was a very well accomplished classical musician. So what did I expect of Opheliac? Not this, that’s for sure!

It turns out that this album is pretty dark, and has elements of… well, I don’t know what of.  All I know that this album is one hell of a ride. Gone are her violin instrumentals, in with her vocals which range from beautiful, to bizarre, to down right terrible. Terrible in a good way. It appears that she doesn’t care much if she sounds good or not, rather, she just wants to get her point across. I should try to describe the sound to you. There is classical violin, acoustic violin, and electric violin, mixed in with heavy beats and electronic mixing. Any authentic sound is probably some form of a string instrument. She hasn’t the best singing voice in the world, but it’s hardly the point here, she can still sing okay, and she mostly sings straight, but she has some unique vocal techniques and interpretations too. It’s a dark but catchy album.

Emilie Autumn’s “Enchant”

When you come across Emilie Autumn fans, you may well find that many are divided. Many love THIS Emilie, the Emilie that they call the “Enchant Era” whilst others enjoy the “Victorindustrual” era. Bear in mind though, that there are not many people that enjoy the latter era and dislike Enchant; it’s a completely different type of music, but Emilie back then was still unique and this album provides us with music which is radically different to what she does now, but it’s also different compared to anything other artist due to the albums eclectic material.

Emilie Autumn’s “A Bit O’ This and That”

This album is exactly what it says it is. Not a complete album in the ordinary sense, but a collection of b-sides, remixes, live recordings, and random things Emilie Autumn recorded on a whim on a kitchen floor. Many of the songs are low quality due to the way they were recorded (not in a recording studio, put it that way). There are no songs here in the Opheliac style.

Many songs sound like cut songs from Enchant and there are two remixes from the Enchant album. She has done a universally terrible remix of ‘Chambermaid’ (something she confirms in the notes herself) which sounds like a complete mess, and it opens the album. The second song and the second remix is a rather sweeter version than the original ‘What If’ with a celtic edge and it appears to be a different vocal performance. ‘Hollow Like My Soul’ and ‘I Don’t Care Much’ are jazzy reject songs from Enchant. ‘I Know It’s Over’, ‘All My Loving’ (a Beatles cover) and ‘With Every Passing Day’ all have very poor recording quality.

Emilie Autumn’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun & Bohemian Rhapsody EP”

Still riding on her success of Opheliac and its style, Emilie Autumn has now released an EP with two covers of the most distinctive songs ever recorded: Cyndi Lauper‘s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and Queen‘s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

Two very difficult songs to make your own and two very difficult songs to sell different versions of as the originals are so culturally and historically well-known. Autumn’s attempt does not work with both songs.

This EP contains nine tracks. There are five versions of ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, one of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, two live tracks from her recent tour and an extra exclusive recording. Veteran Autumn fans will recognise the format easily enough, but for new fans this EP may be a bit baffling.

Emilie Autumn’s “Laced~Unlaced”

Considering the fact that many casual listeners, and even fans, of Emilie Autumn often criticise her vocals as somewhat off putting and can come across a bit trite, the Laced/Unlaced (2007) double disc album must be a dream come true.  This album is completely devoid of vocals, and focuses only on Autumn’s superior skills on the violin and her production wizardry.

Prolific and generous as always with her material, there are twenty-two tracks on this album. They come in two discs. The first disc is simply a re-release of the extremely rare first album of her On A Day… only, it has five unnamed live bonus tracks (though I name them below). This first disc is purely classical, based around her violin, most of which are compositions by well known composers such as Bach. Five of the tracks are her own compositions which sound very much like they go hand in hand with the other timeless classics on the album. These tracks were recorded when she was merely seventeen years old and showcases what a young talent she was.  Autumn throws her own arrangement and interpretation into the pieces. Whilst she plays the baroque violin with charm and style, she is backed up with her distinctive other sounds of the lute, harpsichord and the baroque cello – just to make sure you get the full Emilie Autumn experience. She is distinctive, even with pieces that have been played by so many others.