Archive for November, 2009

Thomas Mery Invites Purr Mates On 2010 EP

Thomas MeryLater this month, Parisian folk singer-songwriter Thomas Mery will head to Brittany in order to record all-new material with engineer Miguel Constantino (Papier Tigre, Centenaire, La Terre Tremble !!!).

Thomas will welcome his former Purr fellows Stéphane Bouvier and Jérôme Lorichon (Berg Sans Nipple) to play bass, clarinet, drums, and trumpet on new songs such as “Ca” and “Aux Immenses Fenêtres”, which Thomas recently started playing live in Lille and Paris. The 4 to 5 tracks, mostly sung in French, will be released in early 2010 as a vinyl and digital EP.

You may already listen to some of those new songs in Dr Adams’ session streamable here for one month. Thomas recorded this French radio show prior to a home gig set up on November 1st by Dr Adams. Thanks to the latter’s kind invite, we were lucky enough to attend this lovely intimate show, where one could get hypnotized by the smell of Tartiflettes and the swirling sparkles of a disco ball while Thomas sang his new songs along with older ones from 2006’s A Ship, Like A Ghost, Like A Cell. A nice night with nice people in the North countryside of France.

In other Purr-related news, Berg Sans Nipple’s 3rd album should be expected soon, as the duo has finished recording.

Read Thomas Mery’s 2005 interview on GoodMorninCaptn.com.

Garneau The Hobbit

Chris Garneau, who is currently touring in support of “El Radio”, his 2nd and more uplifted full length, just released a new video for Fireflies, where he’s seen running and running through Middle-Earth. A surprising art direction change from Daniel Stessen, the same director who previously shot Chris Garneau’s “Relief“.

Chris Garneau - El Radio I have to admit this video puzzles me… Is Chris openly applying for a role in the next instalment of the Chronicles of Narnia or in Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit? If he does get a role in the latter, let’s pray he brings his drummer along to New Zealand and abandon him somewhere. Or at least ban Ben from ever playing again on “Castle Time” and “Relief”, as he was heard spoiling both songs in Paris last month.

Buy Chris Garneau – “El Radio” special edition, only on FargoStore.com

Ben Frost Grabs You “By The Throat”

Ben Frost By The ThroatAn Australian-born producer and founding member of the Icelandic label Bedroom Community along with Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson, Ben Frost releases his 4th full length, “By The Throat”.

The follower to 2007’s “Theory of Machines” features performances by musicians as diverse as Amiina, The Arcade Fire’s drummer Jeremy Gara, Swedish grindcore band Crowpath, and label mate and hip composer Nico Muhly, losely disseminated through its 11 pieces. And the result is at least as surprising as those contributors themselves. With ambiences ranging from the abstract beats of Ryoji Ikeda to a gothic version of Murcof’s “Versailles Sessions”, the freezing soundscapes of Set Fire To Flames or a much richer, more cerebral turn on Fuck Buttons‘ noisy electronic drones, “By The Throat” synthetizes many seemingly incompatible genres in a dark modern chamber music, which stands on its own and is both challenging and emotionally powerful.

Ben Frost explores people’s deepest fears with this score to a heavily twisted mind. “By The Throat” is loaded with murderers (”Killshot”), wolves and vampires (”The Carpathians”), implores help of superior forces (”O God Protect Me”), but only receives intervention from Ghostbusters’ Peter Venkman (”Peter Venkman Pt. 1 & 2″, though the tracks themselves recel less humor than their title).

Choirs, concrete samples, bowed and scratched strings, piano, brass and hints of heavy guitars layer into this nightmarish soundtrack, as the danger comes closer, sneaking into your home (”Through The Glass Of The Roof”), into your own body (”Through The Roof Of Your Mouth”), perverting your view of the world (”Through The Mouth Of Your Eye”). As a matter of fact, you eventually cannot but surrender to Ben’s innovative music when it grabs you by the throat, surrounding you in an explosion of sound fractals, of which one can barely tell if they come from your own mind or from a frightening yet mesmerizing environment.

Bedroom Community’s WHALE WATCHING TOUR will feature the label’s complete band roster (Sam Amidon, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly, and Valgeir Sigurðsson); a great opportunity to catch those outstanding artists live if you’re close to one of the below European cities this November.

November 3, 2009: Centre Escorxador, Elche (Alicante), Spain, 9:30 PM, €5.
November 4, 2009: Museo MARCO de Vigo, Spain, 8:30 PM, €10.
November 5, 2009: Teatro Maria Matos, Lisbon, Portugal, 9:45 PM, €12.
November 6, 2009: La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, 8 PM, €3.
November 8, 2009: AB, Brussels, Belgium, 4 PM, €12.
November 9, 2009: Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 7:30 PM, €15.
November 10, 2009: UT Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany, 8 PM.
November 11, 2009: Stadtgarten Concerthall, Köln, Germany, 8 PM, €12-15.
November 12, 2009: Huset i Magstraede, Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 PM.