rock en seine poster
MASSIVE ATTACK
Massive Attack has a gift for translating the ominous tartness of tripped-out electro music — Ecstasy’s teeth-grinding paranoia rather than carefree euphoria. Seven years after their textured but less tuneful 100th Window, the Bristol duo returns with a potent dose of their psychedelic boom-bap. With these new songs, the two musicians shows that they remain one of the most fascinating, extraordinary bands of the moment.
ARCADE FIRE
Written by the Montreal band’s founding singers, Win Butler and his wife, Regine Chassagne, the songs of Arcade Fire have got something in common: the simple, infectious melody; the singing-telegram lyrics. But the songs take off like an army of Harleys on a dirt track, that’s why we like it!The arrangement is atomic melodrama - strings, brass and refugee-choir vocals ringing in Grand Canyon-like echo. It’s strange that such a big band - now seven members, playing a symphony’s worth of instruments among them - can sound so distant and also so warm. Balkan-dance-band sometimes jump in an early-Eighties New wave atmosphere that perfectly suited Butler’s neo-operatic tenor.
BLINK 182
The trio emerged from Southern Californian skate-punk culture with a high-energy stage show heavy with slapstick and fart jokes. In 2010, after 5 years of hiatus, Blink-182 have announced they are to reform for a tour and new album, and will make a stop at Rock en Seine for an exceptional gig.
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Queens of the Stone Age make hard rock music that sounds like nothing else on the sonic landscape. Combining metal and punk but filtering it through a trippy stoner vibe, the music feels monstrous and mysterious, bending genre rules to its will. Frontman Josh Homme incorporates a collection of different vocalists for a suite of songs that make a loud ruckus while conjuring a spell of genuine weirdness.
CYPRESS HILL
Cypress Hill is undeniably one of the most influential and durable names in the world of hip-hop. The American crew is a beacon at the crossroads of hip-hop and alternative music, an ongoing testimony to the lasting power and ever-evolving qualities of this music. Cypress Hill was formed by Muggs, an Italian-American transplant from New York City, B-Real, a South Gate native of Mexican-Cuban extraction and the Cuban-born, Sen Dog.
They have the largest crossover following of any rap group this side of the Beastie Boys, which has led to a heated dialogue within the hip-hop community. “What people don’t understand is, if we take the music as high as we can,” says B-Real, “we’re not leaving it behind to do another kind of music. We’re taking with us.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Several magazines and newspapers would eventually declare James Murphy, the man behind both LCD Soundsystem and DFA, to be one of the coolest people on the planet. His music is a very original mix of electro and rock. Murphy’s also legacy to dance music will be his production sense. He’s an analog obsessive with a general aversion to software, and the sound of LCD Soundsystem reflects that. Far removed from the compressed, trebly, and overmastered paradigm that’s gripped electronic music in the last decade, the music of the American band sounds deep, spacious, and full-blooded… like an old rock song!
THE KOOKS
The Kooks are an English indie pop band formed in Brighton, East Sussex, in 2004. A self-described “pop” band, their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s British Invasion movement and post-punk revival of the new millennium. With songs described as “catchy as hell” The Kooks have experimented in several genres including rock, Britpop, pop, reggae, and ska, at times being described as
“a less severe Arctic Monkeys”
EELS
The dominant singing and songwriting third of Eels, called E, is a tormented person. Lost his father at six, mother died from cancer, sister committed suicide, close friends died the 9/11, E. had to transcend himself through music to get over this.
Songs like “Novocaine for the Soul” of “f.n.t” make you travel into the different worlds of E., between hell and heaven. His latest heartache, “End Times”, demonstrates his willingness to break-up with reality and shows what happen when you lose the one you love. Despite his past, this 7th album is not a hopelessly gloomy record, it is as startlingly direct and melodically assured as ever, even showing humor from moments of despondency. The mix of the profound authority of his grief in his music with his words, direct and concise, will fascinate you and affect you deep inside.
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
Somewhere between the five full-length albums and a decade-long road test across the highways of the world, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club found their way. The seed that became the band was planted in 1995, when Robert Turner and Peter Hayes met while attending high school in San Francisco.
Inspired by early-’90s U.K. bands like Ride, the Stone Roses, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine, the band creates a music that stands on the edge of darkness, but never dives in. The sound of the band comes from everywhere and nowhere- it draws a map and embarks on a sonic road trip through American music; from howling front porch stomps on the Chattanooga and beer sloshing Texas roadhouse rockouts, to swaggering proto-punk sneering in NYC’s basement bars.
ROXY MUSIC
Roxy Music is an English art rock group formed in 1971 by art school graduate Bryan Ferry, who became the group’s vocalist and chief songwriter. The other members are Phil Manzanera (guitars), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe) and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Former members include Brian Eno (synthesiser and “treatments”).
Roxy Music attained popular and critical success in the UK and Europe during the 1970s and early 1980s, beginning with their Top 10 debut album, Roxy Music (1972). The band was a significant influence on early English punk music, as well as providing a model for many New Wave acts and the experimental electronic groups of the early 1980s. The group is distinguished by their visual and musical sophistication and their “fascination” with style and glamour.
PAOLO NUTINI
Judging by his name, he should be from Italy. Judging by his sound, he should be from Southern California. Judging by his looks, he should be from North Hottieland. But blue-eyed soul sensation Paolo Nutini came from humble origins in Paisley, Scotland.
The former fry cook got his start in the biz as a roadie for a friend’s band. His break came in early ‘03 when he won a pop quiz and the chance to open for TV-approved singer/songwriter David Sneddon. Nutini -- only 17 at the time -- quickly picked up a manager, garnered buzz from local press, and moved to London to get serious with his music. He singed to Atlantic and released a debut album, These Streets, which hit UK charts at No. 3 and was released to great hype in the US in early ‘07. Around the same time, Nutini was nominated for a Brit Award for Best British Male Performer.
2 MANY DJ’S
The duo is a DJ unit composed of David and Stephen Dewaele, who are also known as the alternative rock/electronica band Soulwax. Originally from Ghent, Belgium, the Dewaele brothers have led the way in electronic music since they debuted 10 years ago. They are also one of the hottest headliners in the international music festival circuit. The 2 Many DJs concerts features variety of numbers from
Nirvana, David Bowie, Blur, Justice, Sonic Youth, MGMT as well as reworked record images with animation and other twists, bringing them to life on stage.
BEIRUT
Something of a musical prodigy, singer and multi-instrumentalist Beirut was making one-man D.I.Y. bedroom recordings by his early teens. The 21-year-old New Mexican Zach Condon’s first album Gulag Orkestar was one of the word-ofmouth
successes of 2006. Rooted in Balkan folk, its rousing swirl of accordions, mandolins and brass reeked of old world Europe and oozed a glorious, melodic melancholia, enriched by Condon’s astoundingly world-weary croon. Beirut combines a wide variety of styles, from pre-rock pop music and Eastern European gypsy styles to the alternately plaintive and whimsical indie folk of the Decemberists and the lo-fi, homemade psychedelic.
UNDERWORLD
Born in the end of the 80’s, Underworld is one of the most important bands of the electronic scene. With his acid house music for the post-drug scene, slinky, sensual and sinister, with as much of an eye applied towards skillful songwriting and a sustained melancholy mood as the de rigueur rhythm and groove. Languorous and taut at the same time, it is enough to place the group at the forefront of the burgeoning British electronic music scene, a position it enjoyed for the better part of a decade.
FOALS
Formed in Oxford, England, by longtime friends Yannis Philippakis (guitar) and Jack Bevan (drums), along with Andrew Mears on vocals, guitarist Jimmy Smith, bassist Walter Gervers, and Edwin Congreave, who introduced the group to techno, soon joined in on keyboards, despite the fact he had never played the instrument before! The quintet worked on poppy, jittery, upbeat, math rock/postpunk sound. At the heart of this band is set of pleasing contradictions. Aside from the unusual way
they marry melodic sensibilities with avant garde percussive noises and riffs that’d be at home on Battles. Certainly the lyrical concerns, which Yannis said were often related to dreams and visual ideas, ostensibly centre around destruction and desertion.
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB
Their music has been loosely compared to the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and Broken Social Scene but without a definitive capacity to be pigeon-holed. Melodic vocals, which hail from all three members of the outfit, infuse with guitar riffs that have been described as “oceanic” and rhythm described as “pulsing”. To get the symbolism out of the way, take your seats; it’s going to be a blockbuster!
SKUNK ANANSIE
Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009. The 1990s Britrock star is fronted by a veritable enigma in the shape of vocalist Skin. Skunk Anansie were a weird proposition, chunky of riff and provocative of attitude, but one that attracted mainstream attention. The band is fantastic echo of a period when domestic rock challenged the world, and often won it over. Not everything’s aged brilliantly, but that’s not the point – Smashes & Trashes is a most(ly) enjoyable artefact of 1990s rock nostalgia.
JONSI
One of Iceland’s biggest pop stars Jonsi (born Jón Jósep Snćbjörnsson) got his start in the singing group Í Svörtum Fötum (Dressed in Black) formed in 1999. Jonsi’s role in the group earned him a nomination as Iceland’s Vocalist of the Year in 2003. With the solo project Jonsi, he creates a song which is naïve in its approach to life and succeeds with a flurry of childlike innocence. It grows and swells with warmth, imploring those lucky enough to hear it to enjoy life before it is too late. The
vocal harmonies collapse over each other in seemingly endless fashion, drums thunder and skip in equal measure, and flutes are playfully light as they flutter around the ever growing strings. Has ‘pop’ music ever sounded this wonderful?
FAT FREDDY’S DROP
Driven by the power of live performance, sheer hard work and savvy independent vinyl releases, Fat Freddy’s Drop has taken the world by storm with their hypnotic dub and future soul grooves. Awarded Best Live Act at the b-Net NZ Music Awards in 2004, the seven-piece family of musicians that is Fat Freddy’s Drop are first and foremost a live band, emerging through a multitude of incarnations, from funk jam bands to reggae sound-systems, jazz improvisation and live techno, to become one of the country’s most loved and respected groups.
CHEW LIPS
The English band Chew Lips is an interesting new comer in the electronic dance-pop arena. The front woman Tigs has received some acclaim for her live performance, with her approach and vocal style compared to everyone from Beth Ditto to Karen O. The band have crafted a truly unique, low-key and yet utterly captivating sound. The ten tracks are based around varying combinations of fluttering synths, big basslines, pianos, guitars, beats and strings; all intricately arranged to showcase the real standout element of this record – lead singer Tigs’ sumptuous vocals.
WAVE MACHINES
Wave Machines are an alternative rock band formed in Liverpool in 2007. The band released two singles, The Greatest Escape We Ever Made and I Go I Go I Go, with Chess Club Records before signing with Neapolitan Music Limited in 2008. Two further singles, Keep The Lights On and a re-recorded version of I Go I Go I Go, have since been released, followed in June 2009 by the band’s first album, Wave If You’re Really There.
MASSIVE ATTACK
Massive Attack has a gift for translating the ominous tartness of tripped-out electro music — Ecstasy’s teeth-grinding paranoia rather than carefree euphoria. Seven years after their textured but less tuneful 100th Window, the Bristol duo returns with a potent dose of their psychedelic boom-bap. With these new songs, the two musicians shows that they remain one of the most fascinating, extraordinary bands of the moment.
ARCADE FIRE
Written by the Montreal band’s founding singers, Win Butler and his wife, Regine Chassagne, the songs of Arcade Fire have got something in common: the simple, infectious melody; the singing-telegram lyrics. But the songs take off like an army of Harleys on a dirt track, that’s why we like it!The arrangement is atomic melodrama - strings, brass and refugee-choir vocals ringing in Grand Canyon-like echo. It’s strange that such a big band - now seven members, playing a symphony’s worth of instruments among them - can sound so distant and also so warm. Balkan-dance-band sometimes jump in an early-Eighties New wave atmosphere that perfectly suited Butler’s neo-operatic tenor.
BLINK 182
The trio emerged from Southern Californian skate-punk culture with a high-energy stage show heavy with slapstick and fart jokes. In 2010, after 5 years of hiatus, Blink-182 have announced they are to reform for a tour and new album, and will make a stop at Rock en Seine for an exceptional gig.
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Queens of the Stone Age make hard rock music that sounds like nothing else on the sonic landscape. Combining metal and punk but filtering it through a trippy stoner vibe, the music feels monstrous and mysterious, bending genre rules to its will. Frontman Josh Homme incorporates a collection of different vocalists for a suite of songs that make a loud ruckus while conjuring a spell of genuine weirdness.
CYPRESS HILL
Cypress Hill is undeniably one of the most influential and durable names in the world of hip-hop. The American crew is a beacon at the crossroads of hip-hop and alternative music, an ongoing testimony to the lasting power and ever-evolving qualities of this music. Cypress Hill was formed by Muggs, an Italian-American transplant from New York City, B-Real, a South Gate native of Mexican-Cuban extraction and the Cuban-born, Sen Dog.
They have the largest crossover following of any rap group this side of the Beastie Boys, which has led to a heated dialogue within the hip-hop community. “What people don’t understand is, if we take the music as high as we can,” says B-Real, “we’re not leaving it behind to do another kind of music. We’re taking with us.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Several magazines and newspapers would eventually declare James Murphy, the man behind both LCD Soundsystem and DFA, to be one of the coolest people on the planet. His music is a very original mix of electro and rock. Murphy’s also legacy to dance music will be his production sense. He’s an analog obsessive with a general aversion to software, and the sound of LCD Soundsystem reflects that. Far removed from the compressed, trebly, and overmastered paradigm that’s gripped electronic music in the last decade, the music of the American band sounds deep, spacious, and full-blooded… like an old rock song!
THE KOOKS