Au Revoir Simone - Night Light

(original source on Soundblab.com)
Moshi Moshi

Released: Monday 5 July 2010

Night Light, by Au Revoir Simone, is an album of remixes of songs from their original album, Still Night, Still Light. Au Revoir Simone is an all-girl threesome from New York. They are one of a group of girl bands who were seemingly inspired by Sofia Coppola's, 'The Virgin Suicides'. Their look is also reminiscent of the girls from the intriguing 1975 movie, 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'.

Now, the original album did what it said it would; it was graceful and reassuring but 'Night Light' does seem to bring an extra spring to the step of those 2009 editions. Jensen Sportag's remix of, 'All or Nothing' is pepped-up with some nice trumpets and drum beats, which certainly bring a more Mediterranean feeling to the song as opposed to the Church-organ-accompanied narcoleptic track from the first outing.

Still Night, Still Light contained keyboards and melodies which were synonymous with the 2009 summer in trendy, American Apparel-wearing New York but the remixes truly offer a good reason to re-visit theses tracks at a new time for music.

Lead singer of Au Revoir, Erika Foster, has also featured on a brilliant Aeroplane remix of Friendly Fires' record, 'Paris', a track with more kick than those of her own making. Not to say that Au Revoir's style is any less valuable. There is room for all good music around the dinner table.

If you already knew about Au Revoir Simone, I would definitely recommend picking up a few tracks off this album, if not all of them. If this is the first you have heard of them though, I would suggest experiencing the joys of the original, Still Night, Still Light, first.

If Still Night, Still Light was the perfect soundtrack to an afternoon dosing under the sun then Night Light is a warm and rousing way to wake up and chill with some friends and some drinks.

Tracks

1. Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)
2. Shadows (Jens Lekman Remix)
3. All Or Nothing (Jensen Sportag Remix)
4. Knight Of Wands (Dam Mantle Remix)
5. The Last One (Mack Winston Dub Remix)
6. Trace A Line (Montag Remix)
7. Only You Can Make You Happy (Deradoorian remix)
8. Take Me As I Am (Max Cooper Remix)
9. Anywhere You Looked (Your Twenties Remix)
10. Organized Scenery (Bass Clef Remix)
11. We Are Here (Silver Columns Remix)
12. Tell Me (Clock Opera remix)
13. Another Likely Story (Aeroplane Remix)

Alan Pownall cover at Dot 2 Dot Festival -MCR, 31/5/10

Alan Pownall - The Strokes - Someday cover

Now, I was actually there at the Deaf Institute when Alan Pownall played this cover. There weren't a lot of people in the room but enough to create an atmosphere. Dot 2 Dot, before this, had been underwhelming, just something fun to do and maybe I would find out about some good bands who I hadn't heard of before. I saw the Mystery Jets after Alan Pownall, at the Academy but they seemed exhausted, their voices were weak and strained and they played a lot of songs from their new album, Serotonin, which I am not very familiar with yet (I will be though). Anyway, this acoustic performance was sublime, surprising and sad. The video is very enjoyable but you probably won't have the same experience as I did. It was a moment of musical euphoria for me.

A lot of new bands look the same and sound the same and when you see another band who looks the same as the last ten bands you have seen, you expect this band to sound the same as them as well. However, Alan Pownall, is not one of these bands. A lot of young men make bands out of a dream of stardom, of being mobbed by girls and living a rock 'n' roll lifestyle, but if you do not have one of or several of a certain group of ingredients, then you just are not going to be any good. The first thing you notice about Alan Pownall, after his good looks, is his rousing, tender voice. Almost any band can write a catchy pop song but Alan Pownall is a singer. Now, if you have a voice to sing with, then you really are one big step on the way to being good. 

'...the long-held vowel sounds which he draws out reach towards you like someone with a broken heart.'

Furthermore, I know that it was a cover he did that really impressed me but his own words are strong too. His song, Colourful Day, makes the most of his powerful voice and the long-held vowel sounds which he draws out reach towards you like someone with a broken heart. He sings, 'I'm telling you a story, so look at me when I'm talking to you'. I know this is a simple line but the emotion in the line really resonates with me. It is everyday stuff, yeah, and we experience these emotions. 

I think we might be seeing more of Alan Pownall and, with his lyrical ability and genuinely great voice, he deserves the success which is coming his way. 

Au Revoir Simone

Hey. A bit of an update for anyone reading. I will be posting a review of the American alternative girl-group, 'Au Revoir Simone', (which is quite appropriate for me) this week so look out for that :]

A Place To Bury Strangers (gig review)

The Deaf Institute, Manchester, Sunday 23 May 2010 (original source - 
APTBS Review - www.soundblab.com)
I posted some photos from this gig about a month ago and here's the review to go with them (can't think why I didn't upload this as well).

The Deaf Institute has three floors. The floor that you immediately face when you walk through the expansive Church-like doors is the groundfloor cafe bar - a relaxed and cosy but trendy place. Above this floor is the upstairs music hall. Walking up the two flights of wooden stairs in to this unusual venue is akin to climbing the stairs to Heaven. Gladly, the gods of music wrote my name unto the list and I was granted a place to see A Place To Bury Strangers, supported by Crocodiles and The Megaphonic Thrift. Was the music on offer heavenly, I hear you ask? Well, patience is a virtue and you will have to wait to find out.

If the venue was holy then the musical seismic waves which A Place To Bury Strangers produced had its focus at the devil's side. First up though, was The Megaphonic Thrift (TMT), presumably inspired by the use of the megaphone. TMT are a Norwegian indie band who are fairly unknown in Britain and this was shown by an almost empty standing area. The Deaf Institute has unusual cinema-like seating at the back of the room though and every seat was taken by those who are afraid of that which they call the Mosh. You know the ones. Probably friends of the band members who only come, because they are obliged to or would rather just sit down to watch, which is fair enough.

Those who did not choose to arrive early enough to see TMT, to my surprise, really missed out. Scandinavian bands have always produced interesting sounds and their use of guitars produces a cool, delicious atmosphere, much like the climate over there. TMT's sound is refreshing after years of the same college rock/ geek chic music. Pretty Linn Frokedal's harmonies make this band seem special and I, for one, will be following them for the foreseeable future.

As the lights were dimmed and the stage lights were creating reflections from the three-foot disco ball, Crocodiles entered the fray. I found Crocodiles somewhat annoying. Like the aforementioned college rock/ geek chic bands, this New York-production-line, Ray-ban-wearing bunch of wannabes made me cringe at their lack of originality and imagination. There are some brilliant bands from New York and Ray-bans can be pretty goddamn awesome but, despite looking a hundred times and looking back again, I could not see anything inspiring or enjoyable about their performance. I might have missed something though, because, lead singer, Charles Rowell's, attempt to dance like Mick Jagger ensured that I could not keep my eyes on centre stage for very long for fear of vomiting.

Asking Crocodiles to come on just before them could have been a huge stroke of genius from A Place To Bury Strangers (APTBS) as it would be difficult not to look at them positively after what the audience had just witnessed. Darkness came for APTBS' performance with only one bright spotlight lighting the face of the bassist, Dion Lunadon. By this point, the standing area was full and there were obviously a few real fans who eagerly anticipated each chorus and chord. APTBS have been labelled, 'the loudest band in New York', and we hear why as they turn their amps right up to the magic number 11, making it nearly impossible to hear the words Oliver Ackermann is singing. It is as if the wall from Pink Floyd's, 'Another Brick in the Wall', has been brought alive by musical notes and now it is hitting the audience in the face. Lucky then, that this wall is not made from brick.

APTBS' music is certainly interesting. The unusual sound that they create is a challenge for even the most well-listened fan to join in with. You can hardly sing along to the siren-like noises heard in the musical cry for help, 'Everything Always Goes Wrong', but that does not really make it any less entertaining. APTBS give a musical performance which can be enjoyed simply from standing and watching. You could question, then, if you could not be as equally entertained by just listening at home or on your mp3 player - my answer would be, "only if you have an orchestra of dock-off speakers", because they are very loud. In fact, my girlfriend complained of a headache little further than the second song. She is a bit of a hypochondriac though.

When you do hear Oliver Ackermann's singing voice, he is reminiscent of Kasabian's Tom Meighan, and in other parts, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. 'Keep Slipping Away' is a track similar to the anthems which Kasabian are famous for but they also have that droning Cobain vocal. As they play, APTBS just stand and let their instruments create the performance for the audience. The do not gyrate their hips or hump their amps, like Charles Rowell, from Crocodiles, but they have plenty of charisma.

Whether APTBS' wall of noise had hypnotized their fans in to a trance I am not sure, but, there was practically no moshing to speak of. The audience just stood and watched, like when a fierce-looking man is beating someone up and you are afraid to act. It is nice to go to a gig and sing along to catchy songs, like you would to Snow Patrol or The Maccabees but A Place To Bury Strangers proved to me that there is a lot more to live music than that. Good music can succeed on its own without the fuel given by a participating audience. To answer if their music is heavenly, it is certainly out-of-this-world and extraordinary but any angels in Heaven daring to play and sing to this kind of music would surely be banished to Hell.