Impressive Instant
"Impressive Instant" | |
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Length | 3:37 |
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"Impressive Instant" is a song by
"Impressive Instant" was met with positive critical reception. Many reviewers called it a highlight of the album and praised Ahmadzaï's production of the track. Released only in the US, it was a popular dance hit, reaching the top of the
Background and release
By 2000, Madonna was dating director Guy Ritchie, and was pregnant with their child. Wanting to distract herself from the media frenzy surrounding this news, she concentrated on the development of her eighth studio album, Music. Thrilled by the commercial success of her 1998 Ray of Light album, she was keen on getting back to the studio to record new material.[1] She was then introduced to French DJ and producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï by her manager Guy Oseary. Madonna instantly liked his pitch-shifting, pulverizing rhythms and his utilization of acid bass in his songs.[2] One of their collaborations was "Impressive Instant" which was described by Madonna as "downright silly".[3] She explained that they "were working on that song and I thought, 'Oh, fuck it, let's just have fun', Life would be such a drag if we were deep and probing all the time."[3]
The song was intended to be released as the fourth single off Music but
Recording and mixing
The recording sessions for Music began in January 2000 at
In Paris, Ahmadzaï worked obsessively to complete the recording of "Impressive Instant", applying his characteristic sound mangling. He used the Antares
I did all that stuttering in Logic. It's very, very complicated, slice by slice. You have to experiment a lot to make it work. I put Auto-Tune on individual syllables. Sometimes I use 40 tracks of audio just on one vocal track. Each has a different level and treatment, and then I do a composite. I couldn't do this with a normal analog studio setup. The starting and stopping thing, it's an idea I've had for awhile [sic].[5]
The final task was to create a
Music and lyrics
Larry Flick from Billboard described "Impressive Instant" as a "club-savvy stomper" containing futuristic keyboard lines, with Madonna's vocals changing from "distorted, robotic lines" to "playful, child like chants".[3] The song is a mixture of acid techno, pop-trance, electropop and electro house.[7][8][9][10] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Impressive Instant" is set in the time signature of common time with a moderately fast tempo of 123 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C major with Madonna's vocals ranging from A3 to A4. The song follows a basic sequence of Am–G–Am–G–Am as its chord progression.[11]
Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, explained that "Impressive Instant" began with the equalizer turned down, so that the amount of treble is very less initially.[12] Madonna's vocals are heavily processed and is accompanied by a crackling sound, which has a "tactile roughness" therefore making the mix sound "like a musical sandpaper", Rooksby wrote. The vocals are often isolated and are backed by laser noises and an octave bass. A "burbling" synth arrives at the 2:30 mark, and then the chorus of "I'm in a trance" is repeated, ending the song with a solo vocal phrase.[12]
The song has lyrics like "I like to singy, singy, singy, Like a bird on a wingy, wingy, wingy", as electronic keyboard riffs and dance beats swirl the whole composition.
Critical reception
"Cher's 'Believe' and Christina Aguilera's 'Genie in a Bottle' both used some of the same electronic fillips as Madonna does on Music. But Mirwais and Madonna push the cybervocals further. In 'Impressive Instant', a bouncy electro outer-space travelogue, Madonna is filtered, repitched, compressed, echoed and edited into sudden leaps; she slips in and out of the hallucinatory electronics with whimsical ease.
—Jon Pareles from The New York Times on the song.[15]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic listed "Impressive Instant" as a top track from the album.[16] In a review of the album, Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani hailed it as "a joyous composition".[17] Michael Hubbard of musicOMH called the song "pure pop genius," saying the track "steals the show".[18] Gary Crossing from Dotmusic described the track as a "Sexy, bass-heavy monster of a floor-filler with cheesy synths, robotic voices and whispers aplenty" while complimenting the line "I like to singy singy singy".[19] This view was shared by Victoria Segal from NME who complimented Ahmadzaï's production technique and blending disco sounds with vocoder effects.[20] Barry Walters from Rolling Stone called the song "improvisional", and described it as "[roaring] like a rock rocket ship, then [purring] while a digitally tweaked [Madonna] squeaks".[21] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly felt that the verses of "Impressive Instant" has Madonna's "dippiest lyrics in ages", and also complimented Ahmadzaï's fusion of hard disco beats and contorting vocals.[22] Greg Kot from Chicago Tribune credited Madonna for paying homage to dance music with "Impressive Instant" and explaining that:
Though Madonna is often overshadowed by her producers, she has her moments, and she is never more inspired than on the so-silly-it's-great 'Impressive Instant', yet another homage to the music that leaves her and legions of followers 'spinning, baby, out of control'. She deserves credit for allowing her latest interpretation of that music to be bent, folded and so lovingly mutilated by her collaborators, and when she chirps, 'I like to singy singy singy/Like a bird on a wingy wingy wingy', I can envision discos from Stockholm to Sacramento going bonkers with her.[23]
Gary Mullholland from The Guardian felt that Madonna's indomitable persona was mostly hidden beneath the layers of electronic and vocoder effects, except in songs like "Impressive Instant" with the lines like "'I like to singy singy singy', making the first half of Music interesting.[24] BBC's John Hand noticed Ahmadzaï's "quirky" influence in the production of the track; he also called it a club and dancey song.[25] Michael Paoletta from Billboard found "Impressive Instant" as "vibrant and uplifting in tone".[26] Alex Pappademas from Spin noted the difference of Madonna's endeavors with Ray of Light and its introspective mood and the fun-filled, joyous nature of songs like "Impressive Instant" in Music.[27] The Village Voice's Ben Dellio complimented the alliteration and the elastic bassline of the song, saying that it would have been a better album opener than the title song.[28] Ben Greenbank from Sputnikmusic gave a mixed review, saying that although "Impressive Instant" and "Runaway Lover" from Music were decent songs, they did not have anything special about them.[29] In 2019, Queerty listed "Impressive Instant" as one of the "14 most bizarre, most batshit crazy songs ever recorded" by the singer.[30] Samuel R. Murrian from Parade ranked it at number 99 on his list of Madonna's 100 greatest songs, calling it a "bizarre, trance-inducing electronic symphony".[31]
Chart performance
"Impressive Instant" was not released commercially and was not promoted to radio; therefore it did not appear on any
Live performances
Madonna first performed "Impressive Instant" during the promotional tours for Music.[40] The first of these, was on November 5, 2000, at Roseland Ballroom in New York City, and the other on November 29, 2000, at Brixton Academy in London. Accompanying musicians performing with Madonna included Ahmadzaï on guitar and longtime backing singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory.[41] Roseland's secondary stage was used for the performance and was decked as a neo-Western wonderland, with bales of hay, yellow-lit horseshoes and silver cacti throughout the lobby and entrance.[42] The stage was draped in an American flag. As the music started, the flag lifted to reveal a white Ford pickup truck from which Madonna emerged, singing "Impressive Instant". Bare-chested male dancers encircled her, as she posed on the hood of the truck and danced.[40] The vocoder effects on Madonna's voice was removed for the live performance, which Jennifer Vineyard from Rolling Stone felt made the singer's vocals sound "less ridiculous".[42] A similar performance was enacted at Brixton Academy.[43]
When Madonna embarked on her
Biographer
Track listing and formats
- U.S. promo 12" single (PRO-A-100771) [33]
- "Impressive Instant" (Peter Rauhofer's Universal Club Mix) – 9:39
- "Impressive Instant" (Peter Rauhofer's Drowned World Dub) – 8:25
- U.S. promo 12" single (PRO-A-100773-A) [34]
- "Impressive Instant" (Peter Rauhofer's Universal Dub) – 6:41
- "Impressive Instant" (Peter Rauhofer's Universal Radio Mixshow Mix) – 5:32
- "Impressive Instant" (Peter Rauhofer's Drowned World Dub Part 2) – 7:25
- Both of the above 12" Singles were released also in the U.S. with a PROMOTIONAL CD-R counterpart with the same catalog numbers.
Credits and personnel
Management
- Recorded at Sarm West Studios, Notting Hill, London
- Mixed at Olympic Studios, London
- Mastered at Metropolis Studios, London
- Webo Girl Publishing, Inc., Warner Bros. Music Corp (ASCAP), 1000 Lights Music Ltd, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
Personnel
Credits and personnel adapted from Music album liner notes.[6]
Charts
Chart (2001) | Peak position |
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US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[57] Peter Rauhofer's Universal Club Mix |
1 |
See also
- List of number-one dance singles of 2001 (U.S.)
References
- ^ O'Brien 2008, p. 338
- ^ a b O'Brien 2008, p. 339
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ^ a b DJ Sasha. Denis Zaharov (May 21, 2003). Monte-Carlo 102.1 FM (in Russian). Moscow. 23 minutes in. Radio Monte Carlo. 102.1 FM.
Well, it's a bit complicated when the choices of the artist and the ones of the record company don't match ...
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rideout, Ernie (February 9, 2001). "Mirwais On Music". Keyboard. Archived from the original on February 10, 2001. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ^ a b Ciccone, Madonna (2000). "Liner notes". Music (CD booklet). Madonna. Sunset Boulevard, California: Maveric, Warner Bros. pp. 12–13. CDW 47598.
- ^ a b O'Brien 2008, p. 342
- Idolator. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
...to electro-pop oddities like "Impressive Instant"...
- ^ Lynch, Joe (August 15, 2018). "The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ S. He, Richard (March 24, 2020). "Madonna in 2000: Reinventing Pop 'Music'". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ "Madonna Ciccone 'Impressive Instant'". Musicnotes.com. March 6, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- ^ a b c Rooksby 2004, p. 57
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (September 17, 2000). "Music; Madonna Encounters Virtual Earth". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (September 19, 2000). "Music – Madonna". AllMusic. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (August 20, 2001). "Madonna: Music". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Hubbard, Michael (September 12, 2000). "Madonna – Music". musicOMH. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Crossing, Gary (September 18, 2000). "Madonna – 'Music' (Maverick/Warner Brothers)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on October 17, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ Segal, Victoria (September 15, 2000). "Madonna: Music – Review". NME. Archived from the original on October 17, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ Walters, Barry (October 12, 2000). "Madonna: Music: Album Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ Browne, David (September 9, 2000). "Madonna: Music (2000)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- ^ Kot, Greg (September 20, 2000). "Raw-material girl". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ Mullholland, Gary (September 15, 2000). "Set adrift in a sea of skronks". The Guardian. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ Hand, John (September 17, 2000). "CD Review: Madonna: Music". BBC News. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
- ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- ^ Dellio, Phill (September 19, 2000). "Act of Contrition". The Village Voice. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- ^ Greenbank, Ben (January 21, 2007). "Madonna – Music". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ^ "B*tch, I'm Loca: 14 of Madonna's most bizarre, most batsh*t crazy songs ever recorded". Queerty. June 14, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- ^ Murrian, Samuel R. (August 16, 2019). "We Ranked the 100 Best Madonna Songs of All Time". Parade. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ^ Warner Bros. 2001. p. 1. PRO-A-100771.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ a b Impressive Instant (12" Vinyl 3-track liner notes). Madonna. Sunset Boulevard, California: Maverick, Warner Bros. 2001. p. 1. PRO-A-100773-A.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ^ "Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play: Week of November 3, 2001". Billboard. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ^ "Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play: Week of November 10, 2001". Billboard. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ^ Bronson, Fred (November 18, 2006). "Chart Beat: Bump For 'Jump'". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Trust, Gary (April 9, 2012). "Madonna Notches 42nd No. 1 on Dance/Club Play Songs". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- ^ Kemp, Rob (November 29, 2000). "Madonna Shatters Record For Most-Viewed Webcast, Producer Says". MTV News. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
- ^ a b Vineyard, Jennifer (November 6, 2000). "Madonna Gets Back Into the Groove in NYC". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
- ^ Sawyer, Miranda (December 3, 2000). "Madonna gets them in". The Guardian. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
- ^ Mancini, Robert (July 23, 2001). "Madonna – All Five Of Her – Invades Philadelphia With Tour". MTV News. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ Lecaro, Lina (October 7, 2001). "Accessorizing With Abandon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ McAlley, John (June 22, 2001). "Reign In Spain". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ a b Llewellyn Smith, Casper (July 5, 2001). "They want to hear more of the old material, girl". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ a b Needham, Alex (July 5, 2001). "Madonna : London Earl's Court". NME. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ a b c Lenig 2010, p. 146
- ^ a b Taraborrelli 2008, p. 383
- ^ a b Fouz-Hernández & Jarman-Ivens 2004, p. 81
- ^ Carioli, Carly (August 16, 2001). "Sophisticated ladies – Madonna at the FleetCenter; Destiny's Child at Tweeter". The Phoenix. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ Kot, Greg; Ryan, Maureen (October 7, 2001). "Audience drowns in Madonna mania". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (July 26, 2001). "Madonna (New York, NY – July 25, 2001)". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Ramlow, Todd (August 25, 2001). "Madonna Live: Drowned World Tour 2001". PopMatters. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ Trust, Gary (October 9, 2001). "Madonna's 'Drowned' Comes To Home Video". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ "Madonna Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
Bibliography
- Fouz-Hernández, Santiago; Jarman-Ivens, Freya (2004), Madonna's Drowned Worlds, ISBN 0-7546-3372-1
- Lenig, Stuart (2010), The Twisted Tale of Glam Rock, ISBN 978-0-313-37986-4
- ISBN 978-0-552-15361-4
- Rooksby, Rikky (2004), The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, ISBN 0-7119-9883-3
- ISBN 978-0-330-45446-9