ENGLISH TEXTS
MUSIQUE
MAES- TRO!
� PAGE 119
By Serge Okey
Feu Chatterton!“ Labyrinthe In music as well, the studbook is essential. In this case, the“ children” of the late Thomas Chatterton descend from a prestigious lineage. On the fathers’ side: Gainsbourg, Ferré, Bashung, all the way to Brel. On the mothers’ side: Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Chet Baker. Draped in a dandyism between pop and rock, Feu Chatterton! has become one of the beacons of French chanson. Announced on September 12, Labyrinthe is a new creation in which one loves to get lost. Amid soaring lyricism, Arthur Teboul muses on children, the race against time, the course of life, the false promises of eternity... It is learned, well-written and beautifully narrated, as in Mille vagues. Yet, at times, one struggles to find again that heartfelt cry that marks these erudite musicians. An epilogue in the style of Air( Sous la pyramide) thus closes this uneven maze. What remains is poetry:“ O you beautiful child, who weep in the crowds, come onto my horses and die to their swell.”
Brad Mehldau Ride into the Sun After the Beatles, Radiohead or Nick Drake, the jazz piano virtuoso takes on a new rock myth: Elliott Smith. A tortured songwriter, worshipped by Gus Van Sant, he himself admired his idols, and you are urged to dive into his Because by the Beatles if that sublime a cappella cover has remained stuck in the stalls of your faithful hi-fi system. For this tribute, Brad Mehldau had the brilliant idea of inviting, among other talented musicians, Grizzly Bear’ s guitarist( the cream of indie rock) Daniel Rossen to join the session, alongside a chamber orchestra. Another fine surprise: the timbre of mandolinist Chris Thile( one would swear hearing Peter von Poehl on Colorbars). With Ride into the Sun, Brad Mehldau lifts Elliott Smith out of his smoky taverns to let his genius rejoice in a jazz club.
Mac DeMarco Guitar This Canadian is the epitome of“ coolness.” In his own way, he is a sire of the 2010s. Countless indie rock bands, ever since“ 2“ and“ Salad Days“, his first two albums, have tuned their guitars and amps to that high-pitched sound of seemingly out-oftune strings. To credit him with the paternity of these chords may be an exaggeration, but he popularized them like no one else. It’ s hard to get trendier than Mac DeMarco, the unavoidable background sound of hipster and boho cafés. Between the Beatles and the Smiths, it’ s no surprise to find Neil Young among his spiritual fathers, and it’ s toward that register that these twelve laid, back tracks lean. An album in which the gaptoothed artist sublimates laziness with newfound sobriety, without ever reaching the heights of his beginnings. Guitar will not mark the history of indie rock. But there is nothing here to discard either.
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