Posted by Ant on Nov 19 2006 to Alternative
Yet another French artist, but perhaps a little less known than Camille: Emilie is (seemingly) known in France (having received awards for her music and whatnot), but hasn’t had a great deal of worldwide exposure. Anyhoo, I found Emilie Simon through last.fm’s artist recommendations for Camille. Strictly speaking, the two artists have very little in common (apart from the fact that they’re both ladies and they both sing in French) as Simon’s music is a pleasing blend of rock, electronic and downtempo, all in the one bag.
Emilie Simon is the name of her debut record and it is quite the corker. She even sings a couple of tunes in English, so you can go ahead and sing along (if you know English and you don’t know French of course). Highly enjoyable tunes include Secret, Lise, Il Pleut and To the Dancers in the Rain. However, as is tradition for my posts, go ahead and check out the rest of her lovely debut album, as there is plenty of goodness under her pretty back (don’t take that the wrong way).
Unfortunately, her website seems to be rather borked at the moment, so I have no idea if she has media or not!
Posted by Ant on Jul 18 2006 to Electronic
OK, I admit it: I’m a Radiohead fan. So, when I heard that Thom Yorke was doing a solo album I become pretty danged elated! A few months later here, it is: The Eraser.
Despite the fact that Mr. Yorke is the frontman of Radiohead, The Eraser has a very distinct sound. Think of it, if you’re a Radiohead fan, as a more electronic Kid A. If you’re not a Radiohead fan, you may simply think of it as an electronic album. I shall take the persona of the non-Radiohead fan, as I probably don’t need to coerce the fans into getting this.
If you’re not a big listener of electronic music, then I suggest you steer clear. If you are, then you’re in luck: The Eraser is filled with the whimsicals delights of looped samples as well as the ever-pleasurable sound of Yorke’s voice. While many electronic tunes simply tack on vocal work at the end (which is, for the most part, drowned out by the music), The Eraser positions Yorke’s vocals right at the forefront, and with good reason: there are some extremely fantastic lyrics amongst the tracks, including:
- “A self-fulfilling prophecy of endless possibilty, you roll in reams across the street” (from Analyse)
- “You cannot kickstart a dead horse, you just crush yourself and walk away, I don’t care what the future holds” (from Black Swan) and
- “But you just move the hands upon the clock, you throw coins in the wishing well” (from The Clock).
While I do enjoy the occasional bit of computer produced music, I have my limits. The Eraser, however, demonstrated that not all electronic music needs to be trashy.
Accomplished, elegant and listenable. Need I say more?
Downloads
From The Eraser
The Clock [Acoustic] – (Live music video, SWF, 13.7mb)
