Archive Archive

Thus:Owls – The Queen Of Fragile Hearts

Thus:Owls - Cardiac MalformationsFirst drama-loaded album from Swedish quintet Thus:Owls, Cardiac Malformations is a masterly directed, dark and poignant, sad yet heart-warming pop record.

The velvet curtain slowly unfolds. Still in a vast desertic plain stands the dark tent of a macabre circus. Swedish ringmistress Erika Alexandersson has convoked her gifted troupe, while the demons of Danny Elfman and Sufjan Stevens glide and twirl in the distance. The bluesy guitar of Erika’s sweetheart Simon Angell (from Patrick Watson’s excellent Wooden Arms) fades in winds and woods. Grief is heavily palpable, though we ignore whom or what is mourned. “I’m so very far from home”. Where’s home anyway? Montreal? Stockholm? Asgard? Dragging drum rolls, choral laments. Even when colors get brighter, the tone remains grave. Hearts burn with love.

Listen to “Climbing The Fjelds Of Norway“:

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Sometimes” hands clap, moods swing. Erika ushers, playfully squeaks, heartily screams. She’s a child again. “Sometimes I find myself shrunk half my size, screaming things I never meant to.” As she grows up again, she kindly proposes: “leave your head in my knee, leave your thoughts in my knee, and let your shoulders rest from the weight.” Isn’t she lovely? Sweet lullaby. Gling Gló?

Halfway through the experience, a strong, straightforward piece: “When She Arrived”. Who’s “she” anyway? Woman, child, seducing, caring, feeling, acting and telling stories, sneaking away just when you think you could catch her. While it’s more than easy to be charmed by the frontwoman’s great vocals, Thus:Owls really is all about the symbiosis of its 5 accomplished musicians. Erika’s choirs are just one of the fine ingredients at play, just as is the pulsing double bass of Martin Höper or the piano of Cecilia Persson. Backed by the low percussions of Ola Hultgren, the whole slowly build up to a brass momentum.

While electricity has been unleashed on “Let Your Blood Run”, tormented spirits are eventually eased by a gentle xylophone that nicely weaves an enthralling pattern with the bass drums and a bowed double bass. “A Volcano In My Chest” (Cardiac Malformation?)– Where the worlds of Sidsel Endresen, Björk and Heliogabale collide. Beware of the ashes! Thus:Owls obviously have a stunning ability to swing from sweet jazz ballads to pinches of harsh noise to cabaret in no time. And to elevate themselves again into pathos-loaded fields again. “Once you left this land, you arose to the gods.” Final scene – The wind loudly whispers, caresses the waves and vanishes in “The Atlantic”. The curtain slowly falls, exorcised demons have gone back to Muspelheim, you can lay your head back on my knees and rest in peace.

Buy Cardiac Malformations from Almost Music (Digital) or from your usual record store.

Woman On Fire: “The Calcination Of Scout Niblett”

After almost ten years of career and four full-length albums, British-born singer-songwriter Emma Louise Niblett paired up with Steve Albini once again to record some of her darkest and most straightforward tracks, thus radically parting with the folk tag that caracterized her early works.

The Calcination Of Scout NiblettWith Scout Niblett’s newest album, pressing play feels much like stumbling upon PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me and 4-Tracks Demos some 16 years ago. “Just Do It” slithers in like a slow and heavy wave of raw energy. Unrefined arrangements, unpolished voice, and heavily saturated guitar. No drums, like on most of the album, but hell this is rock’n'roll. The title track continues in the same direction. Greasy and rusty, bowels and lead, dust and saliva, this is the lady’s “self-made sweat box / This is where (she) takes it all off”. “Cherry Cheek Bomb”’s Hallelujah will make your hair stand on your head before providing the opus’ most advanced drum part. Grunge roots obviously, but a distinctive attitude, a grain that cannot be heard or felt anywhere else.

Listen to “The Calcination Of Scout Niblett”

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From “Kings”‘ throbbing rhythm to “Lucy Lucifer”’s mind-numbing linearity, from the disenchanted lyrics of “Ripe With Life”, to the deafening immensity of “Strip Pluto”, each track will cut you a little more from your civilized self and lay another layer of plastic wrap between your fishy eyes and the rest of the world. With its lo-blues feel and roaring guitar riffs, finale “Meet and Greet” is as heady and intoxicating as a dark nightly road movie. Think Lost Highway. Uncertain, deconstructed, and oppressive. “When you gonna learn to play that thing?” The answer is a shapeless guitar solo that ranges from soft indigo vibratos to flashes of purple sustained chaos. And then silence.

Introspective without being hermetic, direct without being exhibitionist, The Calcination Of Scout Niblett is as obsessive and addictive as it is disarmingly unelaborated. Nothing is forced out and nothing is changed, even though her previous releases may have sounded lighter, if not naiver. Howling and strumming with the heated and apathetic sweet-fuck-it-allness and looks of a rebel teen, Niblett simply delivers her strongest album so far.

Buy The Calcination Of Scout Niblett from Drag City.

Scout around for Scout on tour through Europe:

May 9, 2010 in Brussels (Botanique)
May 10, 2010 in Amsterdam (Bitterzote)
May 11, 2010 in Schorndorf (Manufaktur)
May 12, 2010 in Gent (Vooruit)
May 14, 2010 in Frankfurt (Yellowstage)
May 15, 2010 in Bremen (Spedition)
May 16, 2010 in Aachen (AZ)
May 17, 2010 in Cologne (Subway)
May 19, 2010 in Oslo (Cafe Mono)
May 20, 2010 in Stockholm (Hornstrull Strand)
May 21, 2010 in Malmo (Debaser)
May 22, 2010 in Berlin (Hebbel Am Ufer)
May 23, 2010 in Munich (59t01)
May 24, 2010 in Vienna (Arena)
May 26, 2010 in Lucerne (Suedpol)
May 28, 2010 in Barcelona (Primavera Sound Festival)
May 29, 2010 in Averio (Teatro Aveirense)
May 31, 2010 in London (Borderline)
Jun 1, 2010 in Glasgow (Stereo)
Jun 2, 2010 in Manchester (Ruby Lounge)
Jun 3, 2010 in Nottingham (Spanky Van Dykes)
Jun 4, 2010 in Bristol (The Fleece)
Jun 5, 2010 in Brighton (The Freebutt)
Jun 7, 2010 in Paris (Point Ephémère)
Jun 8, 2010 in Dijon (La Nef, cour intérieure)

Dec 3, 2010 at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas curated by GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR (feat. Neurosis, the Ex, Tim Hecker, Marissa Nadler…)

Picastro’s Well Kept Secrets

With the release of Become Secret on Canadian label Polyvinyl (Monotreme in Europe), Toronto-originated band Picastro deliver their fourth album of avant-folk. Drawing inspiration from Cormac McCarthy The Road, they manage to turn the throbbing, obsessive cry of memory into a strikingly lively gallery of unravelled secrets.

picastro-become-secret-300pxA few notes on an ill-tuned piano, distant and bleak like a ghost, leads you into Picastro’s secrecy. “Twilight Parting”, a phrase repeated over and over still conveys an impression of instability: a chain whose link are constantly about to break. Liz Hysen’s voice may at first sound blank, atonal, colorless. Yet, with tracks like “Split Heads”, it soon declines every possible shades of whites, with glints of icy blues, faded yellows, and opalescent flesh, reminding at times of early Chan Marshall or Lisa Germano. A vivid humanity immersed in a world of decaying memories. The voice maintains a dialogue of Glissandos and approximate tones with Nick Storring’s cello, often reaching the frontier of sinister. Dusty strings and keyboards circle into a macabre waltz with “A Dune A Doom”.

The specter of Eastern European folk music is a relevant influence in the light of their discography. On the other hand, drawing inspiration from Cormac McCarthy’s bestseller The Road may seem an opportunist choice for an indie band. But with little technique, a taste for minimalist arrangements and arpeggios played on a loop, Picastro illustrate their gift for creating intricate atmospheres. They translate the despairing, almost stifling feeling of loneliness of the novel, accurately – though not literally – depicting the overwhelming mist of smoke and ash that cover, isolate, and humiliate all.

Centered around singer and multi-instrumentalist Hysen, the Toronto band was founded 13 years ago and started recording in 2002. Although they have encountered definite critical success, collaborated with various artists, including Owen Pallett, and toured alongside Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Cat Power, or Elliott Smith since then, their fourth album still finds them almost unknown, even to the indie-aficionados.

Listen to “Twilight Parting”

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Indeed it is not the most welcoming music. It verges on gothic folk with tracks like “I Know My Time”, while Storring’s untidy bows come out with palpable textures: rosin powder floating in the half-light and wood, lots of wood. Oil varnished wood, creaking wood floor and doors, patinated banister. A whole house – not so distant neighbor to Black Forest/Black Sea’s or Elfin Saddle’s – made out of the woods of cellos, violins, guitars and piano, assembled with the rusty strings and metal parts of a scarce electric guitar. A labyrinth clutter. A story is told in every room: that of a haunting past, that of renunciation with the lo-fi incantations of “Suttee”, stories of witchcraft with the vocal chaos of “A Neck In The Desert”. Cello and binary guitar pattern back up Liz’s voice on “The Stiff”. According to Hysen, this last track synchs up seamlessly with the final scene of Antonioni’s The Passenger. Let us know if you try, but regardless of the anecdote, there is in “The Stiff” a sense of timelessness, of fulfillment and soothing melancholy that clearly surpasses its stark instrumentation, and that is enough to make you press play again as soon as the 29 minutes – only?! – LP is over.

Behind the mist of smoke and ashes, each song in Become Secret brings their ghosts back to the flesh, and the forlorn rooms eventually perspire with intimacy. A vivid humanity that makes every painful note worth lending an ear.

Buy become secret on Bommkat

GoodMorninCaptn parlour gig: Thomas Mery passe au salon

CLOSING THE WINTER ON A HIGH NOTE, GOODMORNINCAPTN HOSTED A GIG “AU SALON” LAST SUNDAY. FOR OUR FIRST EVER LIVING-ROOM SESSION, WE HAD THE GREAT PLEASURE AND HONOR TO INVITE THOMAS MERY IN AN OLD MONTMARTRE BOUTIQUE TURNED INTO AN APARTMENT, AND – ON THIS SPECIAL OCCASION – TURNED INTO AN INTIMATE CONCERT VENUE. THIS IS NO SECRET THAT WE HAVE BEEN STRONG SUPPORTERS OF THOMAS FOR YEARS, FROM BOTH HIS ALBUMS WITH PURR TO HIS LATEST SOLO MUSICAL WANDERINGS (SEE OUR 2005 INTERVIEW HERE), AND MR MERY REWARDED US WITH A DELIGHTFUL OVERVIEW OF HIS SOLO WORK FROM A SHIP, LIKE A GHOST, LIKE A CELL TO HIS LATEST EP DES LARMES MÉLANGÉES DE POUSSIÈRE, AS WELL AS COVERS AND A COUPLE OF UNRELEASED SONGS.

ThomasMeryPasseAuSalon

Paris, Sunday March 14 – A quiet cul-de-sac on the south side of Montmartre staged the first GoodMorninCaptn parlour session, simply entitled « Au Salon ». Behind the blurred window glass of a reconverted boutique, furniture was moved and a buffet table set. The happy few guests were welcomed into the cozy apartment with their contributions of cakes and drinks, and soon ushered onto sofas and cushions for the first set.

Mr Mery and his faithful Guild guitar quietly seated on a white wooden chair, set against a bare background of beige and off-white. But within a few guitar chords, his palette filled the room, and with his first words, the audience was mesmerized.

Starting with songs from his 2006 solo debut, A Ship, Like A Ghost, Like A Cell, he let the sense of intimacy underlying his work fully bloom into the ears of the selected group. Yet he interpreted tracks such as “Real Shift” or “The Red of The Shoes” with unsettling propriety, uncomfortably twisting his legs and modestly bending over his guitar.

Newer tracks from his EP Des Larmes Mélangées De Poussière included “Aux Fenêtres Immenses”, in which Thomas allows himself more freedom than ever, trying out more melodious lines, shifting languages and directions through more than 11 epic, magnificent minutes.

Thomas Mery Passe Au Salon – “Aux Fenêtres Immenses”

ThomasMery-DesLarmesMelangeesDePoussiere

The three tracks on the EP, fully illustrate his progress in the past few years. Technically to begin with. Thomas is turning to French again on two of them and handles his mother tongue with impressionist skills that are quite unique on the scene. Evocative and mysterious, literate yet unpretentious, his lyrics still vehicle the same melancholy, the same sadness. Nevertheless, the almost stifling emergency that sometimes characterized his past work is slowly giving way to maturity. Where you could hear “live and ache” you may now understand “live and learn”. His guitar playing seems to have followed quite the same direction. Still deeply rooted into folk, and yet of unquestionable modernity. Patiently destructured and reconstructed, his guitar lines fade and morph unpredictably and seamlessly. Instrumental storytelling. Patterns overlay like veils, and echo each other like the surfaces of some imaginary landscape. Shades of nude with sparks of ice-blue fading into the deep greens of the undergrowth contrasted with the red of blood.

Two yet untitled tracks following the same path should be released later this year. Fully written in French, they convey the same cinematic elegance, the same know-how in song-writing. The same but different: the richness of nuances, the colors, the sceneries. Different. Need we say we are looking forward to the next full length?

Thomas Mery Passe Au Salon – De l’amour, de la colère

While many singers feel the need to go lower down the scale as they advance in their career, Thomas is finding more comfort for his voice in pushing his guitar capo to the higher frets.  His brilliant interpretation of Costello’s “Shipbuilding” best demonstrated his mastery of the heights. His vocals fluently curved around the living room and entangled with his traditional folk arrangements. Other covers included his disarming rendering of Paulinho Da Viola’s, fetured on Des Larmes Mélangées De Poussières, and his now classic “Running Up That Hill”, which retains all the tension and high energy of Miss Kate Bush’s original, while remarkably stripping it down to minimalism.

As the concert ended, records were frantically purchased, and wine, beer, and vegan canapés (and cigarettes) were cheerfully shared. The opportunity for initiates and newcomers alike to approach his work from another angle, and discover that the shy, talented – and often sad – man on stage is also a kind and funny man on the sofa. Quite expectedly, Miao Miao the house cat stole Mr Mery’s thunder for the rest of the evening. The story does not say if she was hired to play for the next parlour gig, and if she would be able to hypnotize her audience for more than an hour like Thomas did, so… stay tuned.

Read more about Thomas Mery.

Purchase Des Larmes Mélangées De Poussière here.

Read our 2005 interview here.

The Story Of Nest Shall be Told On A Loop

Nest - Retold (Serein)With Retold, British-Norwegian duo Huw Roberts and Otto Totland become experts in monochrome impressionism and gift 2010 and the Serein label with a solid debut.

Minimalism is the first word to come. From the faded bluish seashore cover picture of the white digipack to the singsong piano lines of introduction title “Lodge”, layered with digital pads and sampled breath, the impression is almost that of coldness and sadness. “Four notes into Kyoto”, and the richness in arrangements and crystal clear mixes bloom in all directions through the stark instrumentation. Plucked strings, a few electro treats, and field recordings shape out an intricate three-dimensional web. Or rather a lace, infinitely delicate and fragile. Piano again on “Marefjellet”, bass notes pounding like a clock, waves of white noise washing in and out. There is know-how in evoking a fully structured yet entirely fantastic soundscape. “Charlotte” fuzzy intro sets the bed for a haunting melody. A couple of notes only, skilfully enveloped, surrounded, underlied, take on the breathtaking radiance of a cloudless midsummer day.

Listen to Charlotte”

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It is not accidental if one is reminded of the sound of Miasmah Records here. Otto Totland and Huw Roberts both earned their stripes working there. Totland even partnered with present head of the imprint, Erik Skodvin, as duo Deaf Center (Type records). Roberts, on the other hand, is also founder of Serein records. Formerly devoted to free dowloads, Serein was rebuilt and revamped in 2009, turning to commercial CD releases, primarily to distribute Nest. A risky choice maybe. But a blessing for our ears and CD collections.

The duo’s unquestionable expertise in neo classical and dark ambient becomes more obvious with the fifth track. “Gad Goddeu” offers a more conventional atmosphere for the genre, but also introduces a broader, deeper sound. With a strictly specialised palette ranging from sound effects similar to Elegi’s Tommy Jansen on “Trans Siberian”, to the almost romantic, Max-Richter like piano phrase on “The Helwick”, the inherent variety never jeopardises the whole’s integrity and consistency. There is beauty, if not majesty, in “Far From Land” and “The Twelve”. Bowed strings, pads and sweeps build giant, monstrous, but quiet waves, only to be found in the high sea. Eroded mountains of water, rolling out to horizons, one after the other, endlessly, moving glints on the surface, fugitive shadows disappearing into the vertiginous depth.

Listen to “The Twelve”

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Eventually, the drones of “Amroth” will bring the listener back to the shore, slightly dazed, as if awakening from hypnosis. Indeed, very few records are able to depict such complex sceneries with that little colours. Every nuance in the spectrum is suddenly conveying a unique significance and the world could be painted in all possible shades of blue with as much richness as if resorting to the full colour range, but with another perspective.

Far from discrediting the label, the fact that its founder is involved in this first gem is making us look forward to the next one, and to the unravelling of the Serein vision.

Buy Retold on CD or Digital release on Serein Records

New Year’s Label Interview: Asthmatic Kitty

Asthmatic Kitty 2009>2010

OUR 2009>2010 LABEL INTERVIEW SERIES WAS SUPPOSEDLY OVER, BUT TODAY BEING THE LAST DAY FOR 2010′S NEW YEAR’S WISHES, WE COULDN’T BUT OFFER YOU THIS LATE YET WORTHY CONTRIBUTION FROM ASTHMATIC KITTY. I’M NOT SURE THE LABEL THAT RELEASED THE FINEST RECORDS BY MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND OR DM STITH, AND WHOSE CO-FOUNDER AND “MINISTER OF AESTHETICS” IS NO OTHER THAN SUFJAN STEVENS, NEEDS ANY INTRODUCTION, SO LET’S HEAR OF WHAT MADE 2009 A MEMORABLE YEAR FOR ASTHMATIC KITTY ACCORDING TO ITS A&R MICHAEL KAUFMANN.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Asthmatic Kitty?

I am not sure they would have been right for Asthmatic Kitty or not, but some of my favorite releases of 2009 were:

These Are Powers – All Aboard Future
Micachu & The Shapes – Jewellery
Serengeti And Polyphonic – Pterodactyl
Richard Swift – The Atlantic Ocean
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Julianna Barwick – Florine

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in  2010?

Julianna Barwick, Slothpop, and the Burnt Ones.

C) What are you the most proud of for Asthmatic Kitty in 2009?

Fol_Chen_Part_I_John_Shade_Your_Fortune_s_MadeDM Stith - Heavy Ghost

Hermas Zopoula - Espoir

Helado Negro - Awe OweOsso - Run Rabbit RunShannon Stephens - The BreadwinnerRoyal City

Sheer volume of releases, we put out more records in 2009 than we ever have. it was exhausting, but we are very excited to have expanded our roster with such lovely folks as Fol Chen, DM Stith, Hermas Zopoula, Helado Negro, Osso, Shannon Stephens, and Royal City.

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Fol Chen “The Believers”, from Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made

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DM Stith “I Heart Wig” (feat. I Heart Lung), from Braid Of Voices EP

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Osso “Enjoy Your Rabbit”, from Run Rabbit Run

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Shannon Stephens “In Summer In The Heat”, from The Breadwinner

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Continuing to be long term focused, investing in careers as opposed to buzz!

New Year’s Label Interview: Clapping Music

New Year's Label Interview: Clapping Music10 Years of Clapping Music, Paris, March 9-10LAST BUT NOT LEAST IN OUR 2009>2010 LABEL SERIES: PARIS-BASED CLAPPING MUSIC. NAMED AFTER THE 1972 PIECE BY STEVE REICH, CLAPPING MUSIC HAS ASSEMBLED A NICE CATALOGUE OF FOLK, INDIE ROCK AND LO-FI ELECTRONICS, RANGING FROM THE FINE ARRANGEMENTS OF ENCRE TO THE STRAIGHT-FORWARD MELODIES OF YETI LANE. BEFORE HE CELEBRATES THE LABELS’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY THROUGH A FESTIVAL IN MARCH, LABEL-MANAGER JULIEN ROHEL TELLS US OF THE RECORD THAT BLEW HIS MIND IN 2009, OF HIS FANTASIES, AND OF HIS NEW-YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR CLAPPING MUSIC.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on the label?

Sister Iodine - Flame Désastre (Editions Mego)There would only be one: “Flame Désastre” by Sister Iodine, which is the most brain-whirling stuff I got to listen to this past year. A ultimate blast of free-psych-noise-rock, just as furiously primitive as ferociously avant-garde. This record came out in vinyl only on the new label Premier Sang, and we considered releasing it as a CD on Clapping Music. I plagued them to do that, and right when I was about to achieve my ends, Editions Mego came in, and as they are better developed internationaly than us in extreme / experimental music networks, they eventually grabbed the deal. This is all the better for Sister Iodine, but it’s been a great disappointment for me as a “label manager”. I would have loved to release this album first and foremost because it’s an absolute killer record; besides it would have been a great opportunity to carry Clapping Music away towards new musical horizons, outside of the indie-rock/folk spheres -to make it short- which we have been known for lately. Better luck next time!

Listen to Sister Iodine’s Flame Désastre on Deezer.

Buy the album on Boomkat (now on sale for £7.95).

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

I will already get down to following and supporting those we have already signed who will have news in 2010: Clara Clara, Karaocake, Red, My Jazzy Child, King Q4, Yeti Lane… this will be quite nice already! Apart from Sister Iodine, I don’t see any artist I would have liked to sign recently, other than in our biggest fantasies: Animal Collective, Sunroof!/Skullflower, Portishead, Broadcast, Mark Hollis, Converge, Steve Reich, Gargouillax, John Coltrane, Domotic & O.Lamm, Captain Beefheart

Yeti Lane – “Lonesome George”, directed by Antoine Lepoutre.

C) What are you the most proud of for the label in 2009?

“Proud” might be exaggerated as there is still much to be done, especially regarding international distribution. There is still much work to accomplish before we can boast. But I’m simply happy to have released such good records by Lauter, Centenaire and Yeti Lane and happy to have given them some exposure, even if in this regard too, the margin for progress is still huge. That being said, I think our label’s catalogue is really starting to look nice :)

Clapping 2010 preview

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Make it through the winter, release new albums by Clara Clara, Red, Karaocake and My Jazzy Child, put up a nice festival in Paris on March 9 – 10, sell more records despite a more and more disastrous situation in the industry, widen the label’s audience, develop our international distribution network… 2010 promises to be the most important year for the label since it started 10 years ago!

Visit the Clapping Music festival in Paris with Lauter, Karaocake and Reveille at L’International, and Clara Clara, Yeti Lane and Centenaire at Point Ephémère, on Last.fm: March 9 / March 10 and Facebook: March 9 / March 10.

Previously in our new year’s label interview series: Collectif Effervescence, Own Records, Bella Union, and Erased Tapes Records.

New Year’s Label Interview: Collectif Effervescence

Collectif Effervescence - 2009 > 2010 New Year's label interview

COLLECTIF EFFERVESCENCE IS A FINE YOUNG TEAM FROM NANTES WHO’S BEEN DOCUMENTING THE UNDERGROUND FOR ALMOST A DECADE. WITH A ROSTER NOW INCLUDING PAPIER TIGRE, LA TERRE TREMBLE !!!, THE PATRIOTIC SUNDAY, PERCEVALMUSIC, AND MY NAME IS NOBODY AMONG OTHERS, THE COLLECTIVE HAS PICKED UP QUITE A FEW OF THE MOST INTERESTING FRENCH ACTS IN INDIE ROCK TODAY. ALONG WITH 2 OF HIS PROTEGES, MY NAME IS NOBODY, AND OUR PERSONAL FAVORITE LA TERRE TREMBLE !!!, EFFERVESCENCE HEAD JULIEN LOOKS BACK AT 2009 AND UNVEILS SOME OF THE LABEL’S PROJECTS FOR THIS NEW YEAR.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Collectif Effervescence ?

Julien:

Effervescence is not the kind of label that is always after THE discovery. This perpetual discovery-game can get very boring and is merely a journalistic pretext. Most artists are actually discovered quite late and have already been recording and touring for a while before they are brought into light. I’d rather keep a close eye on a few selected artists for some time than get all excited on the « new stuff ».

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)Mansfield Tya - Seules au bout de 23 secondes (Vicious Circle)Dominique A - La Musique (Cinq 7)Alexandre Desplat - Un Prophete OST (Naïve)Clues - Clues (Constellation)That being said, I think Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective was a brilliantly exhilarating record. I have played it a lot this year…

On the French scene, Mansfield.Tya’s second album Seules au bout de 23 secondes was striking with sensitivity, and texts so dark they are almost ineffable. And yet they were recorded… I have also been following Dominique A with special care -especially since his album “Remué”- and once again his latest “La Musique” is just another great achievement. Such mastery of the French language in writing is quite rare, even in France. I have nothing against French artists venturing into English – and we are not in the right place to decry it – but if some of them learned how to handle their mother tongue, they might not need to turn away from it. I fear storytelling is getting lost in translation.

I also enjoyed the tense strings in composer Alexandre Desplat’s soundtrack to Jacques Audiard’s Un Prophète, and Clues‘ 11 hyper energizing tracks on their Constellation Records self-titled album.

My Name Is Nobody:

Vic Chesnutt - At The Cut (Constellation)Vic Chesnutt - Skitter On Take Off (Vapor Records)Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (Drag City)Lee Fields & The Expression - My World (Truth & Soul)Vic Chesnutt At The CutandSkitter on Take-Off“. Two albums in two-month time. The first, much orchestrated, with the dream team of Guy Picciotto and Silver Mount Zion. The other, produced by Jonathan Richman, more minimalist… He was not in great shape, but still had the same quirky tone and realism that I enjoyed about him. I was very sad on earring about his death on December 25.

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. I liked the preceding one, in which he almost sounded happy. He sounds sulkier now, but better than never at songwriting and arranging. We are lucky enough to be playing with him next February, during our tour with our friends Pillars & Tongues.

Lee Fields & The Expression My World, I bought it following the advice of my super record dealer in Nantes, and Lee Fields’ soul music is now warming up my home through the winter.

Also, The Jesus Lizard at Villette Sonique in Paris last May was simply the best gig of the year!

La Terre Tremble !!!:

Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor (Drag City)Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (Drag City)Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea - Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli)Jim O’Rourke The Visitor, in which he visits and reunites the infinitely large and the infinitely small.

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, a record with a soul, which is rare.

Hayao Miyazaki Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea. Yeah, we know, it’s a movie… But it is like some sort of harmonic dreams we used to do when we were kids, somewhere between anguish and appeasement. We still do this dream.

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

We are looking to Battles next release, to Thee, Stranded Horse new full-length album, to Marvin that should inspire many rock bands to come, and to the next Silver Mount Zion as well…

C) What are you the most proud of for Collectif Effervescence in 2009?

La Terre Tremble - Travail (Collectif Effervescence)

Let’s start with our newcomers La Terre Tremble !!! Even though we had already discovered them with their first work, we had lost contact, and crossed path again by chance. I am happy with what they have accomplished this year. Travail has reached out to a new audience, and has allowed them to join in some of the top music festivals in France: “les Transmusicales de Rennes” and “la tournée des Trans”, but also “Musiques Volantes” in Metz, “Nuits d’Hiver” in Marseille, and “SuperSounds” in Colmar… But let’s not misunderstand: they are not a « super festival band ». Quite on the contrary, I think smaller stages bring out the wilderness in their performing.

The Patriotic Sunday - Characters (Collectif Effervescence)

Characters by The Patriotic Sunday was also a key release this year. Four years after the first album, it was not easy for Eric Pasquereau to come back with a totally different follow up. “Characters” is fully autobiographic and very intimate. Production took almost a year and involved a lot of people from the recording sessions to the final mastering. Eric being also a member of Papier Tigre, and has been very busy touring in the past two years. We had to find the right time to introduce this record to the audience and, we were a bit scared that the production effort would no more sound up-to date… But in the end it was very well received by professionals and new listeners alike, and I’d like to reassure his audience: you will not have to wait for another four years for The Patriotic Sunday’s next release.

Percevalmusic & Laurent Chomette - Axes (Murailles Medias / festival Scopitone)We are also very proud of Percevalmusic who collaborated with video and graphic artist Laurent Chomette on “Axes”, a half-sculpture, half-concert installation, a multimedia work that obviously cannot compare with a standard release. It was screened for seven days in a nave of the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany in Nantes, during the Scopitone festival. I find it magic to see an artist you know well under a new light and see his work involved in a new space, approached from a different angle.

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

We’ll start the year with a format on the verge of extinction, namely a vinyl, with 2 songs by My Name Is Nobody, recorded in a few magical takes in Chicago as a souvenir from their major tour in the US where they had been invited by the American trio Pillars & Tongues.

As for all labels, the big challenge will be to ponder the relevance and significance of a full length release nowadays, after all that’s been said on the so-called death sentence of the album as a concept. But in the end, let’s look at things from the bright side. It will be more challenging for artists to gather their work in one big piece so we may be gifted with stronger albums, more generous and exciting.

In 2010 we will release Faustine Seilman’s second LP and possibly The Patriotic Sunday’s third full length, which we were not expecting that early. Stuntman 5’s Akolabuzi remixes are almost ready for a digital EP release. Something new from Papier Tigre maybe, if they take a break away from their endless tour to work on some new material.

We will also try and find the time to build a new website and stop lingering on 2.0 pages…

Previously in our new year’s label interview series: Erased Tapes Records, Bella Union, and Own Records.

Coming next: Clapping Music…

New Year’s Label Interview: Own Records

Own Records New Year's InterviewLUXEMBOURG-BASED OWN RECORDS, ALREADY RESPONSIBLE FOR INTRODUCING EUROPEAN AUDIENCES TO THE EVOCATIVE SOUNDS OF GREGOR SAMSA, UZI & ARI, OR TAUGHT ME OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, HAVE HAD THEIR BUSIEST YEAR SO FAR. NO LESS THAN 6 ALBUMS WERE RELEASED IN 2009, MOST OF THEM BY ARTISTS WE HAD BARELY HEARD OF A YEAR AGO: SQUARES ON BOTH SIDES, TROUBLE BOOKS, CHARGE GROUP, TALONS’, FIREKITES, AND THE GREEN KINGDOM. AFTER ERASED TAPES AND BELLA UNION, UNKNOWN-SOUND-TREASURE-HUNTER HELIO CAMACHO FROM OWN IS 3RD IN OUR NEW YEAR’S LABEL INTERVIEW SERIES.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on the label?

Martin Herterich - Silent FieldsHélio: We really cannot complain, since we released all the records that we wanted to and that we could possibly release in 2009. We would not have had the time and energy to release any 7th record. But if I had to pick one record, I think I would choose “Silent Fields” by Martin Herterich on Kalligrammofon/KESHHHHHH.

B) Which artist you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

Mombi, who aren’t much known yet… (Captn’s note: very little information to satisfy our curiosity indeed on this Denver, Colorado band)

C) What are you the most proud of for the label in 2009?

We have succeeded in releasing 6 records that we are proud of. No matter their style, they all have a kind of common aesthetic which will sound obvious to the “sensitive souls”

“Autumn Story” by Firekites, from “The Bowery – Chalk animation by Lucinda Schreiber.

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Chihei Hatakeyama - Ghostly Garden 5Own Records, Feb 2010)Go on releasing records that move us despite of our busy schedule, starting with Chihei Hatakeyama in February.

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Chihei Hatakeyama – Voices II, from “Ghosty Garden”, out Feb 1, 2010 on Own Records.

Happy new year!

Feel free to have a look at Hélio’s personal 2009 playlist.

New Year’s Label Interview: Bella Union

New Year's Eve Label Interview: Bella Union
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Bella Union) MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER IT WAS CREATED BY THEN COCTEAU TWINS MEMBERS SIMON RAYMONDE AND ROBIN GUTHRIE, ENGLISH LABEL BELLA UNION HAS KEPT PRETTY BUSY LATELY ON THE FOREFRONT OF INDIE ROCK, POP AND FOLK ADVENTURES, WITH 2009 RELEASES INCLUDING ANDREW BIRD, WAVVES, VETIVER, ABE VIGODA, AND J. TILLMAN OF FLEET FOXES‘ FAME, WHILE PETER BRODERICK‘S 2008 “HOME” REMAINED ONE OF OUR MOST PLAYED RECORDS THIS YEAR. AS THE NEW YEAR HAS ALREADY STARTED, MANY OF US ARE EAGERLY EXPECTING THE FORTHCOMING ALBUMS OF BEACH HOUSE, LAURA VEIRS AND MIDLAKE. SIMON TELLS US WHERE HIS OWN EARS HAVE BEEN WANDERING IN 2009 AND WHERE THEY ARE HEADING TO NEXT.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Bella Union?

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino) Fever Ray - s/t The Antlers - Hospice

Simon: I loved Fever Ray’s album and Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” but I wasn’t so bothered about them not being on my label.
I tried to sign The Antlers“Hospice” but couldn’t work it out in time.

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

Simon: I don’t have regrets really but I won’t be signing Beth Jeans Houghton and I will be keeping an ear on what she does.
I will be listening for Mai’s new album, Kira Kira, and anything new from Loney Dear.

C) What are you the most proud of for Bella Union in 2009?

Beach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop/Bella Union, Jan. 2010) Laura Veirs - July Flame (Raven Marching Band Records/Bella Union, Jan. 2010)Simon: Having such great people working for me, Mark and Luke, continuing my working relationship with Duncan who looks after all our press (he has since 2000) and still working with our bands like Dirty Three, and re-signing Beach House after our deal expired, deciding to work again with Laura Veirs, and starting to record again myself with my band snowbird.

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Beach House – Norway (from “Teen Dream”, Sub Pop / Bella Union, Jan. 2010)

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Laura Veirs – “July Flame” teaser (Raven Marching Band Records / Bella Union, Jan. 2010)

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?
Simon: Just getting better at what we do, promoting more events, making more special one-off packages, box sets, improving the quality of the packaging and vinyl, offering better online services, and staying in business another year!

Visit Bella Union’s blog to read the full list of the label’s staff picks of 2009.

Read our New Year’s Eve interview with Erased Tapes Records.