Death is probably the thing which haunts the most artists who assume their spleen. Some singers use metaphors, but on his first album, french duet Mendelson treats this subject frankly.
Released on Lithium (the label which discovered Dominique A), famous for his jansenist aesthetic (productions of the label were often sad and slow), and itself closed, “Je ne veux pas mourir” describes a nocturnal anxiety : dying.
The narrator exposes all the reasons he has not to die : he is young, in good health. So why is he so anxious ? Probably to create the lyrics of a very slow and dark-spirited french song.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Mendelson Website
Mendelson Myspace
Buy Personne Ne Le Fera Pour Nous on Amazon.com
Joseph Maurice Ravel was born on March 7, 1875 in Ciboure, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, France. He is a french composer and pianist, perfectionist to the extreme extent influenced by the pioneers of jazz and Jean-Philippe Rameau. According to Le Robert (french dictionnary), his music combines “the most subtle intelligence games” and “the most secret heart effusions.”
He has produced relatively few works unlike prolific composers like Amadeus Mozart or Frédéric Chopin, only eighty-six original works and twenty-five works choreographed or arranged.
The piece Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte composed in the first place in 1899 for piano, was orchestrated in 1910. The one for piano is one of his most played pieces by amateur music lovers, although Ravel does not appreciate it because he feel it being too much influenced by the works of Emmanuel Chabrier.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Further information on Wikipedia [en]
Buy Complete Works for Solo Piano on Amazon.com
Jacques Brel was born in the district of Brussels, at Schaarbeek, on April 8, 1929. He is not interested in school, so his father gives him a job in the family’s Cardboard factory. Finding no more interest in the cardboard than in school, he thinks about taking a fresh start, in singing or in breeding chickens.
1954: he left alone Brussels to move to Paris, leaving behind him his wife and two daughters. His family doesn’t support him and stops giving him money, he then lives under the roof of the hotel Stevens, Pigalle.
1966: he decided to leave everything and to stop singing. He gave his last recital on May 16, 1967, in Roubaix.
1974: already suffering from lung cancer, he left Paris and his family. He left on a boat to the Marquesas with Madly Bamy. He works there as a taxi-plane between Tahiti and the Marquesas.
1977: he was back in France, despite the progression of his cancer. He decided to record a new album which is released under the simple name: Brel. He finished the album, as well as his career, by the song Les Marquises, which was recorded in one take and which ends as follows: “Veux-tu que je te dise / Gémir n’est pas de mise / Aux Marquises”.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Further information on Wikipedia [en]
Buy Les Marquises on Amazon.com
M83 is a group of electronic music formed in 2001 by Anthony Gonzalez in Antibes. He is quickly joined by Nicolas Fromageau, guitarist and drummer from his first rock band. The M83 influences range from Sonic Youth to Mogwai or even My Bloody Valentine and Tangerine Dream. He is the worthy heir of Shoegaze style. In addition, we can’t miss the massive use of persistent electronic sounds which reminds us the tracks of Vangelis.
On Saturdays=Youth album released today, Anthony Gonzalez has worked with producers Ewan Pearson (who also produced for Ladytron and The Rapture) and Ken Thomas (also known for his work with Cocteau Twins or Sigur Rós). The voices are much more present than on previous albums, which do not make the album less gliding. We keep being carried away by these beautiful melodies fueled by melancholy.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
M83 Official Website
M83 Myspace
M83 Facebook Page
M83 YouTube Directory
Further information on Wikipedia [en]
Buy Saturdays=Youth on Amazon.com
Morphine is an alternative rock band formed in 1989 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, by the bassist-singer Mark Sandman (who previously played in the group Treat Her Right) and Dana Colley (member of the group Three Colors Boston) on saxophone. They are accompanied by Jerome Deupree playing percussion from 1989 to 1993, then Billy Conway from 1993 to 1999.
The composition of the group is unique for a rock formation because it does not use any guitar. Sandman plays a bass that has only 2 strings, usually tuned on the same note and played with a slide. Colley brings his hoarse saxophone. The singing, on its side, is cynical and ironic.
The album Yes, the third conducted by the group and produced by the Rykodisc label, is released in 1995, at the top of their success. Notoriety helping, their contract was bought by Dreamworks in 1996.
On July 3, 1999, during a concert in Rome, during the tour to accompany the release of their fourth album, Sandman collapsed, victim of a heart attack, aged of 47.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Further information on Wikipedia [en]
Buy Yes on Amazon.com
