The Importance of the Vocal Loops From 10cc's "I'm Not in Love"

The Importance of the Vocal Loops From 10cc's "I'm Not in Love":
Via Bobby Owsinski
One could argue that 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” has been one of the major inspirations for a helluva lot of 21st-century indie music—especially that in the chillwave, neo-R&B, and night bus subgenres… an animating force for all your Young Ghost Shadow Beaches and Black Twin Crystal Whales, etc. etc. burning up the college-radio airwaves.
In the video below, the clusters of sound that emanate from this recording of “I’m Not in Love”’s densely layered vocal loops (an overdubbed virtual choir of 256 voices, according to Wikipedia) generate a profoundly moving mix of elation and resignation, with an undercurrent of religious solemnity. That feeling of emotional ambiguity is one of the defining elements of contemporary music. 10cc nailed it just about better than anyone—and took it to #2 in the US charts—in 1975.

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