Cameron Mesirow (born 1983 or 1984), known professionally as Glasser, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer signed to
True Panther Sounds
True Panther Sounds (TPS) is a New York City-based independent record label founded by Dean Bein, previously owned by Matador Records and distributed by Beggars Group. The label began in 2004 in San Francisco to release a tour-only 7" by founders ...
. She released her debut EP, ''Apply'', on May 26, 2009, followed by debut studio album ''
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'' on September 24, 2010. Her second studio album, ''
Interiors
''Interiors'' is a 1978 American drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton, E. G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, and Sam Waterston.
Allen's first full ...
'', was released on October 4, 2013.
Early life
Mesirow was born in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. Her father is a member of the
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, and her mother, Casey Cameron, is one of the founders of
new wave band
Human Sexual Response. Following her parents' divorce, she relocated to the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
at age ten. She had some piano lessons as a child, and performed in musicals at school. Mesirow eventually studied
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and literature at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
, where she met
Foreign Born
Foreign-born (also non-native) people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically ...
singer
Matt Popieluch
Matt may refer to:
*Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
*Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
, who helped draw out her songwriting abilities.
Career
According to Mesirow, the name "Glasser" was inspired by "a midnight vision of a figure hovering over water".
In early 2009, Glasser's track "Apply" was featured on the eMusic compilation ''Selected + Collected'' and the song was later described by Pitchfork as "one of the disc's standouts
..a great mix of electronic drag and skyward pop
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
showcased Mesirow's impressive vocal range."
In May 2009, Glasser played her first show without prerecorded parts, in support of her first EP, ''Apply''.
At that point Mesirow and Popieluch were living in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles and the act was described as "LA-based."
Mesirow was at the time working in the studio of artist
Mike Kelley. Glasser's live shows featured performances by the dance troupe Body City and Mesirow wore custom outfits by local designer
Ida Falck Øien
Ida or IDA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter
*243 Ida, an asteroid
*International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station
Computing
*Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
. According to the
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...
, "'Apply' and its sister songs — the swooning 'Learn,' haunted shuffler 'Glad' or the Kate Bush–meets-Cluster 'Tremel' — do sport the built-in intimacy common to good bedroom recordings, but they also possess hints of grandiose and mercurial qualities."
The ''Apply'' EP was followed over a year later by Glasser's first full-length studio album, ''
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'', co-produced by Swedish producer Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid. According to
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
, "there isn't an easy descriptor for Glasser's sound-- she incorporates bits of tropical pop, tribal percussion, and a couple of different strains of electronic music. Her songs sidestep traditionally linear arrangements for a more open, circular approach-- they kind of swoosh around without pausing at verse-chorus intersections."
Glasser's second album, ''
Interiors
''Interiors'' is a 1978 American drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton, E. G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, and Sam Waterston.
Allen's first full ...
'', came out in 2013. The album was inspired, according to Mesirow, by Dutch architect and theorist
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...
' 1978 book ''
Delirious New York
''Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan'' is a 1978 book, written by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. The book serves as a ''retroactive manifesto'' for Manhattan between 1850 and 1960, analyzing the development of architecture a ...
.'' The album's themes and sounds reflected the artist's move from Los Angeles to downtown Manhattan. "The interiors Glasser explores," wrote Pitchfork, "most compellingly are, it won't surprise you at this point to learn, the ones within human beings. She applies the same ruthless precision to these ostensibly messier subjects, so that video selection "Design", an examination of physical desire that wields human breaths as percussion, is crystalline enough for a posh gallery. But the insides of people turn out to be at least as unknowable as those of buildings."
In 2018, Glasser resurfaced with the self-released, experimental EP ''Sextape'', featuring spoken word descriptions of a variety of sexual experiences over danceable beats. Pitchfork commended the project for engaging "directly with the thorniness of queer intimacy, the complications that arise when queer people seek each other out to dance, to flirt, and to fuck each other."
In 2022, Glasser again resurfaced with a single titled New Scars, released on One Little Independent Records.
Style
Glasser has been compared to
Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
,
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
and
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasser (Musician)
1980s births
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
American women singer-songwriters
Record producers from California
American synth-pop musicians
Living people
Musicians from Boston
Singers from Los Angeles
Year of birth uncertain
American women record producers
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts