Autumn 2010

On the turntables in Montpellier :
Grass Widow : Past Time (KRS).
The Corin Tucker Band : 1,000 Years (KRS).
Caro Snatch : Tiil You’re No Longer Blinkered
Mensch : Dance and Die (Self Released).

On the turntables in Oslo :

On the turntables in Paulhan :

What Babes in Boyland wrote about you.......

.Julie Peel : Near The Sun (Ocean Music).

We had discovered her in various compilations by American Landromat Records with amazing covers of the Cure, the Pixies and Neil Young. The French Canadian Julie Peel releases this fall her first album. An album in the season's spirit, melancholic, with shimmering colors and sweet melodies. Between folk and pop, here are ballads that speak of love, life, family and the passing of time... Nothing unusual, you might say? Sure, she hasn't reinvented that style but frankly the album deserves your full attention. And Julie will give you reasons... A beautiful voice, catchy melodies, the kind that will rest in your ear and soothe you ... crystalline guitar sounds, a cello, a ukulele and even a kazoo...
A little bit of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Sufjan Steven... wonderful influences ...
The album "Near The Sun" was released in 2009 in the U.S. but has been released in Europe on September 21th this year. It sways between the bouncy pop of 'The Piece Of My Heart', 'Alone' or the efficient 'The Greatest Story', and refreshing ballads such as 'Innocence', 'Sister' and the album's first single 'Once More With Feeling'. And, burried in the heart of this musical setting, yopu will find two real gems 'Unfold' and 'In Slow Motion'...
This is when you measure the talent of this self-taught songwriter and multi instrumentalist artist. Accompanied by Cyril Catois (bass, cello) and Andreas Dahlbäck (drums & percussion) Julie Peel delivers a beautiful album. And this will be the first in a long series, without any doubt! Aleks

.Au Revoir Simone : Still Night, Still Light (Moshi Moshi/Cooperative Music)

On m'a dit écoute le nouvel album de Au Revoir Simone... J'ai presque éclaté de rire... ça c'est un nom de groupe qui interpelle... Au Revoir Simone.... et le plus drôle dans l'histoire, c'est que, malgré son nom français, c'est un groupe New Yorkais, de Brooklyn exactement... Et qu'aucun de ses membres ne s'appelle Simone.
Mais qui est donc Simone? Bio du groupe, il s'agit de l'un des personnages du film de Tim Burton: Pee-Wee Big Adventure... Ca ressemble quand même à une grosse blague tout ça! Allez je jette une oreille...
Ben vous savez quoi? C'est surprenant Au Revoir Simone... Des synthés en pagaille, des boites à rythme, des voix douces et aériennes qui se mélangent assez harmonieusement....
Still Night, Still Light est leur troisième album et ce qui frappe à la première écoute c'est la légèreté de l'ensemble... une légèreté empreinte de melancholie sur la plupart des titres. Découvertes par David Lynch, on les place souvent dans la lignée du groupe Air dont elles ont assuré la première partie. Des chansons efficaces, des mélodies presque évidentes servies par un son vintage. 12 titres parmi lesquels se cachent quelques perles telles que Shadows ou All Or Nothing. Ne pas se fier aux apparences, ce trio aux visages angéliques propose une musique bien plus profonde qu'il n'y paraît. Et l'on se laisse porter par la poésie d'un amour un peu trop présent dans The Last One ou les boucles lancinantes de Only You Can Make You Happy. L'opus se termine sur le tempo sautillant de Tell Me, tempo qui accélère au fil de la chanson et nous laisse comme un goût de revenez-y en bouche...
Still Night, Still Light est un album frais que l'on savoure comme un verre de rosé quand reviennent les beaux jours... une douceur à consommer sans modération puisque c'est le printemps et qu'elles sont à l'affiche des Femmes s'en mêlent 2009...Aleks.

.Au Revoir Simone: Still Night, Still Light (Moshi Moshi/Cooperative Music).

When I was told to listen to the new Au Revoir Simone’s album, I nearly burst into laughter. What a name! Au Revoir Simone.... And although the name of the band is French, the band is from New York (Brooklyn to be more accurate), and none of its members are called Simone.
So who is Simone? According to their biography, it comes from Tim Burton’s movie Pee-Wee Big Adventure. There’s a character with this name in it. It really sounds like a joke! Anyway, I decided to give it a listen…
And you know what? Au Revoir Simone is quite surprising. You can find shambolic synths, drum machines, soft and atmospheric voices, all these elements combining very harmoniously.
“Still Night, Still Light” is their third album. What really struck me first was the lightness of it… Lightness marked with melancholy on nearly all the tracks. Discovered by David Lynch, they are often compared to the band Air whom they have supported. Their songs are efficient; their melodies, lead by vintage sound, seem obvious.
The album contains 12 tracks. Some of them like Shadows or All Or Nothing are real gems. But don’t let their angelic faces fool you; this trio delivers something deeper than what you could expect.

You will be seduced by the poetry of an overwhelming Love in The Last One as well as the haunting loops of Only You Can Make You Happy.
The opus ends on the upbeat tempo of Tell Me and speeds up till the end of the song. That will make you want to ear more of it…
Still Night, Still Light is a fresh album. You will appreciate it as much as drinking a glass of rosé wine when the sun is finally back
… And you will be able to enjoy it without moderation because it’s spring and because they are playing for French festival Les Femmes s’en mêlent 2009...Aleks (Translated by Riotmiloo)

.BAT FOR LASHES : Two Suns (Parlophone). avril 2009.

Il y a des albums que l'on n'attend pas et qui nous surprennent agréablement. Il y a des albums que l'on attend et qui nous déçoivent. Et puis il y a des albums que l'on attend impatiemment et qui tiennent leurs promesses. Le nouvel album de Bat For Lashes est à classer dans cette troisième catégorie. On y retrouve la voix cristalline de Natasha Khan, le piano, les instruments bizarres, les claps de mains et autres percussions tribales qui sont la signature de cette artiste originaire de Brighton (UK).
C'est drole, il suffit parfois d'une seule chanson pour que l'on ai envie d'explorer plus en profondeur l'univers d'un artiste. Pour moi cette chanson a été Moon And Moon. A priori j'avais déjà croisé Bat For Lashes mais pas vraiment accroché... Les plumes d'indien et le look Cléopatre c'était pas du tout mon truc... Mais les apparences sont souvent bien trompeuses... Je retrouve donc Natasha Khan à Rock en Scène, seule au piano pour une émission d'Arte, et là le choc... Moon And Moon... j'ai pris ça en pleine figure et j'ai couru écouter le premier album, Furs For Gold.
Moon And Moon justement que l'on retrouve sur ce deuxième album plus sombre que le premier, peut être un peu plus electro aussi ("Daniel", "Pearl's Dream"), mais toujours aussi expérimental ("Two Planets")... Natasha déclare qu'elle a voulu travailler sur la dualité: "two lovers, two planets, two sides of a personality"... Elle est aller puiser ses influences dans de nombreux endroits et l'album a été écrit et enregistré au rythme de ses escapades autour du monde (Désert de Joshua Tree et Big Sur en Californie, New York, Londres, Brighton et le pays de Galles). C'est un album aux mélodies parfois recherchées et pas toujours d'un abord facile... un album qui se révèle au fil des écoutes. Il s'inscrit parfaitement dans la continuité de Furs For Gold, la maturité et l'assurance en plus.
Natasha a co-produit Two Suns avec Dave Koshen qui était déjà dans l'aventure de Furs For Gold et l'on retrouve sur plusieurs titres The Blue Dreams, le groupe avec lequel elle a effectué ses tournées. Autres invités de marques, les Yeasayer, groupe New Yorkais de rock expérimental et un magnifique duo avec Scott Walker sur "The Big Sleep", le titre qui clôt l'album.
Two Suns est un second album très attachant, une bien élégante façon de patienter jusqu'au troisième car dorénavant il va falloir compter sur Bat For Lashes sur le devant de la scène indé britannique... mais ça, on le savait déjà... Aleks.

.BAT FOR LASHES : Two Suns (Parlophone). avril 2009.

There are unexpected albums that surprise you nicely. There are expected albums that disappoint you. And there are albums that you long for and that really please you. The new Bat For Lashes album clearly belongs to the third category. You can recognise Natasha Khan’s crystalline voice, their piano, weird instruments, hand clapping as well as tribal percussions that make the singularity of this band from Brighton (UK).

It’s funny how one song sometimes makes you want to find out more about a band and its world. The song that aroused my interest for them was Moon And Moon. I had heard of them before but always thought that they were not my cup of tea… The Indian feathers and the Cleopatra hairstyle didn’t really convince me. This shows that you shouldn’t go by appearances… While I was watching Arte (French TV channel), here is Natasha Khan again but playing piano on her own for the Rock en Scène French Festival. And my jaw dropped… Moon And Moon… It came as a shock to my face. Then I hurried up to listen to their first album, Furs For Gold.

You can find Moon And Moon on this second album, much darker than their first one and maybe a little bit more electronic too ("Daniel", "Pearl's Dream"), but as experimental as ever ("Two Planets")... Natasha said that she wanted to work on duality: "two lovers, two planets, two sides of a personality”... She drew her influences from many different places. This album was written and recorded while she was travelling all around the world (Joshua Tree Desert, Big Sur in California, New York, London, Brighton and Wales). It has complex melodies that you can’t always grasp easily. The more you listen to it, the more you understand it. It is a perfect following of Furs For Gold with more maturity and more confidence.

Natasha co-produced Two Suns with Dave Koshen, who was already involved in Furs For Gold. Also featuring, The Blue Dreams, who she toured with, play on several tracks. Other prestigious guests are New Yorker experimentalists Yeasayer, who perform an outstanding duo and Scott Walker on the last track of the album "The Big Sleep".

Two Suns is an extremely touching album and an elegant listen while we wait for their third album. We’ll undoubtedly hear more of Bat For Lashes, the talented newcomers of the UK indie scene (but we already knew about that, right?)… Aleks. (Translated by Riotmiloo)

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