(the) Penelope[s] - Priceless Concrete Echoes

Name: (the) Penelope[s]

Album: Priceless Concrete Echoes

Year: 2009

Style: Indie Pop, Electronic

Similar Bands: New Order, Daft Punk, old Depeche Mode, Bryan Ferry, Human League, Joy Division, Air, the Drive soundtrack, Tricky, LCD Soundsystem.

One Word Review: Pleasant, Funky Synthetic Washing

Based Out Of: Paris, France - London

Label: Citizen, Module, Le Plan

Priceless Concrete Echoes: Cover, Notes, CD

Priceless Concrete Echoes: Liner Notes, Back

Priceless Concrete Echoes: Lyrics

Priceless Concrete Echoes: Liner Pictures

Priceless Concrete Echoes: Lyrics

Priceless Concrete Echoes: Liner Notes

Priceless Concrete Echoes (2009)

1. Stuck in lalaland (feat. Morpheus) 4:39
2. Demian (feat. Dierdre) 3:30
3. Licked by Love (feat. Morpheus) 3:46
4. Circle of Seasons 4:46
5. Saved (feat. Morpheus & Malka Spigel) 4:21
6. Joey Santiago 4:50
7. Sabotage (Beastie Boys) 3:58
8. Long Black Fly (feat. Morpheus) 5:02
9. The Heat Goes On (feat. Morpheus) 4:33
10. Concrete 4:04
11. Your Plan For Happiness 5:04

Album Rating (1-10): 9.0

Members & Other Bands: 

Axel Basquiat - Vox, Composition, Badd, Gutiar, Keyboard, Programming, Larsen, Lyrics, Mixing

Vincent Tremel - Beats, Keyboard, Sounds, Treatments, Programming, Larsen, Lyrics, Mixing

Morpheus (Samy Birnbach) - Vox, Writing Composition (Earth, The Gruesome Twosome, Minimal Compact, The Morphtwins, Oracle)

Dierdre Dubois - Vox (Ekova)

Malka Spigel - Vox (Earth, Githead, Host, Immersion, Intens, Minimal Compact, Oracle)

Arnaud Rebotini - Producer (Black Strobe, More, Sartrouville, Krell, Grand Crue, Swamp)

Benjamin Beaulieu - Drums (Animal Machine, Black Strobe)

Mr. Claude - Reworking, Mastering

Jean-Francois Sanz - Illustrations

Yann Le Marec - Sleeve

Peggy Baunay - Photographs

Oliver Martinez - Photographs

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of them, but from the names, and the liner notes, it seems like it will be electronic produced dance music (programming, treatments, etc) or rap (all the featuring spots). I like the simple design and yellow and blue color scheme, and it looked quite indie when I bought it. Plus the name comes into play too, sounding bouncy and fun, yet the album title sounds deep and complex. It will be interesting to see what is on this 25 cent album.

Album Review: The Penelopes are a French indie-pop band that incorporates electronic and disco into their mix. This record of theirs is listed as a side project collaboration with Morpheus, as he is featured on almost half of the album. They have been spreading out their talents lately, remixing other popular songs (Pet Shop Boys, Lana Del Ray, David Bowie, the Cure) and scoring films (La Contribution, Misunderstood) that were featured at the 2014 Cannes film festival. They use the vocals to carry melodies, but the effects surrounding and used upon them render them unintelligible. The music creates a general white washing feel of pleasantry over the listener, in a somewhat slow motion pace.

“Stuck in lalaland (feat. Morpheus)” shimmers as it begins with guitars and synthetic drums. A watery melody is added and “heys” punctuate the song. The vocals begin, and have a dark wave sense about them, although the song is quite cheery. A bass and drum breakdown slows the song almost to a halt, before monotone, computer-ish voices build the song back up, and accompanied by the repetitive melody, the song returns. The song ends with a dark wave beat.
“Demian (feat. Dierdre)” starts with a rolling alarm like keyboard hook. The smooth, pleasant female vocals throw a pop hook over the electric backing track, reminding me a little of Stereolab & Belle & Sebastain. The track really grooves like ocean wave vocals where the bass line functions as the undertow. The repetitiveness in the bleak breakdown sucks the air out of the song, and loses all momentum. So the beat is brought back, and the song returns to its harmonized, layered melody and pleasantness.
“Licked by Love (feat. Morpheus)” sets the tone for a futuristic driving song. The vocals remind me of Joy Division at first, and they have a very Peter Hook bassline, but they transition into something prouder and content. The synth beat is vibrating just beneath the surface, giving the song support to build from. Another synth alarm is added in the background, and it repeats over and over. The vocals are somewhat deep, and rather nasally.
“Circle of Seasons” starts with a steady cymbal beat, and a smooth running bass line. The wavering, deep nasally Male vocals are paired with female vocals that sound like they are strained in trying to reach for the microphone. At first, the song was trying to find its place, but it really comes into its own by the 2 minute mark as a steady driving duet. The song finishes out with the female vocals morphing into a cartoonish growl, singing “It’s so brutal” on repeat. The bass line and one hit drum beat finish the song out.
“Saved (feat. Morpheus & Malka Spigel)” is airy and spacey-futuristic, and feels like it is right off of the Drive Soundtrack. It grows in spirit, and blossoms in slow motion with a chorus of harmonized, ethereal vocals that are barely intelligible. This is one dimensional, feel good, waking up music.
“Joey Santiago” is named after the Pixies’ bass player. It brings back the funky fun, with a dynamic bassline harkening back to old school hip hop. Effects are added to the track one at a time, including bubbling synths, and shockwaves of sirens zooming from ear to ear. Miniature walls of sound crest and then fall away in this instrumental track. Synthetic power tools pick up the rising and falling melody and give a new take on the hooks.

“Sabotage” is a cover of the Beastie Boys hit. It takes the guitar and strips it down into a synthetic, 8-bit hook. The drums are synthetic pinpoints of percussion, rather than the crashing real sound. The original’s energy is frozen in this version, and a Tricky-like loopy trip-hop glaze is extracted with their version. Even the build-up of “Listen all-o-yall itza sabatoge” is muted here.
“Long Black Fly (feat. Morpheus)” has a heavy, static-zipper bass line, and the vocals are Parliment-funky. The static bass changes over to a richer, yunkier sound. And the pause and start up, accompanies with the “Ohs” reminds me of what it would be like for LCD Soundsystem to cover Funkadelic. A bit of chaos is created at the end with all the elements building up together, including yells, the chorus, the bass beat on repeat, and a soaring wall synth that is poised for complete sonic take over.
“The Heat Goes On (feat. Morpheus)” starts with synthesized vocals (SFA), and a cold-yet-pleasant, computer melody. The vocals then become drowned out in echo, and the synth elements rise up all around them, enveloping the vocals and drawing them back down.
“Concrete” fades up vocal chorus of “Ah-oh, oh-Ah-oh’s” with an accompanying vocal mixed low to create a minimal dark wave vibe. This reminds me a little of the Fad Gadget stuff I’ve reviewed earlier. The verse is reserved, but building energy, which lifts off into the chorus. The vocals are again the deep nasally style, that reminds me of Chuck Mosely (singer of FNM before Patton) “Your Plan For Happiness” is a smooth slice of futuristic synth pop, with spoken word dialogue like Pulp over the cruising melody. The sexy smooth French vocals, are juxtaposed against a female giggling uncontrollably. There is a New Order breakdown of synthetic industrial beats, and it picks right back up into the soaring synth-phony. It is a techno song that could theoretically go on forever, continuing jumping from tonal scale to the next before resetting and starting over. 

Stand Out Track: Demian (feat. Dierdre)

Licked by Love (feat. Morpheus)

Links:

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Allmusic

Grimaldi / Zeiher - Recidive

Name: Grimaldi / Zeiher
Album: Recidive
Year: 1980
Style: French West Coast
Similar Bands: Ween, Foriegner
"One-Word" Review: Relaxed & Airy Prog-Age
Based Out Of: France
Label: RCA, Victor

Recidive - Cover & Sleeve

Recidive - Back & Sleeve

Recidive - Record

Recidive (1980)

1. Sidonie 5:54
2. Dernier's Moments 3:44
3. Une Porte au Fond d'Un Couloir 3:34
4. Plus Comme Avant 3:30
5. Cache-Toi 4:00/
6. Debout en Haut du Toit 4:10
7. Recidive 4:16
8. Melo Dans la Tete 4:30
9. La Califusa 4:48
10. Think Twice 1:42

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands (many artists are session musicians, thus have played with many):
Drums - Jeff Porcaro (TOTO), Jim Keltner (Steely Dan)
Bass - Abraham Laboriel, Leland Sklar
Electric piano, organ - Mark Gibbons
Acoustic piano - Victor Feldman (Steely Dan / The Crusaders)
Synthesizers - Mark Gibbons (Captain Beefheart), Mike Boddicker
Electric guitars - Steve Lukather (TOTO), Larry Byrum, Larry Carlton (Steely Dan / The Crusaders), Dean Parks, Mark Goldenberg
Cythar - Larry Carlton
Acoustic guitars - Billy Walker, Bernard Zeiher
Horns - Chuck Findley (Steely Dan), Steve Madaio, William Reichenbach, Pat Rizzo
Trumpet - Chuck Findley
Sax - Phil Kenzie
Percussions - Victor Feldman, Paulinho DaCosta, Jim Keltner
Backing vocals - Bernard Grimaldi, Bernard Zeiher, Norbert Taillole, Marty McCall, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Andrea Robinson, Ann White, Matt Vernon, Bill Bowersock
Recorded and Mixed by Mallory EARL.
Producer: Bernard GRIMALDI.
Words & Music by Bernard GRIMALDI and Bernard ZEIHER

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of these guys and by the name & album title, I still don’t know if they are truly French or just trying to pull off a foreign look. But after you check out the song titles, it can be assumed they are French. I like the cover and the “story-line” follow-up on the back. Not knowing the song titles makes it tough to get a grasp on what the songs will sound like, and the cover art does not really give any insight either. This makes it all a mystery package that I’m excited to check out.

Album Review: I did not know what the French West Coast scene was, and still do not completely know, besides a group of French bands trying to recreate the sound that came out of LA in the 70's, but I get the feeling that Weens has attempted style borrowing this genre in some of their later songs. Unfortuantely my record skipped during a couple of songs in the recording, but I was still able to get a good idea of the songs.

“Sidonie” begins with tinkling bells and a neo-spacey atmosphere. Its very smooth (although my record skips throughout the song). It feels like a disco come-down, after a coked up roller-dancing night. Aside from the straight forward 70’s electronic and steady bass beat, there are hints of electronic in the background that set it apart, and wades a big toe into prog, but only if you are looking hard enough.
“Dernier's Moments” is a light bouncy 70’s pop rock song. It reminds me of Ween’s borrowed style song, something like “Bananas and Blow” mixed with “Your Party” and a bit of “Stallion pt 5” too. (there is another song that is better, I can’t place it, though)
“Une Porte au Fond d'Un Couloir” begins with classical piano and continues in a sad, longing new age spirit.“Plus Comme Avant” shifts gears and starts with an island ska/reggae groove. The chours-bridge is straight up Bee-Gees disco.
“Cache-Toi” feels like a dulled down disco number. It is not flamboyantly disco, but it has that rushed, shoulder shuffle feel to it.

“Debout en Haut du Toit” skips per the bad edge to my record, but it sounds like more prog, actually like Foriegner covering “Stallion Part 5” again. It has that metal guitar edge, but it does it without being heavy metal.
“Recidive” feels like AOR filler. It has a sly melody, but is really just power pop toned down a bit. It does have a nice prog-style chorus, though.
“Melo Dans la Tete” is a slow, somewhat bluesy journey through the lighter side of prog. From somewhere, I’m getting a bit of a Sting-reggae vibe from this, but really, I’m just back on the “all-I-can-compare-this-to-is-Foreigner” kick.
“La Califusa” is a quiet walk by the sea at sunset. For some reason, it reminds me of Ween’s “Fluffy” I guess once you get it in your mind who a band sounds like, all connections lean in that direction.
“Think Twice” just get more new-agey and lighter. This final track, mostly instruemental, is light and airy, the soundtrack to a medieval romantic scene.

Stand Out Track: Dernier's Moments

Links:

westcoast from france
Steve Lukather.net
Jeff Porcaro Sessions

French West Coast Music

Official Toto Website

Bernard Grimaldi site
Tower Records
Drums World (Porcaro)

Benjamin Diamond - Out Of Myself

Name: Benjamin Diamond
Album: Out of Myself
Year: 2005
Style: Electro-Pop
Similar Bands: Cornelius, Lightning Seeds, Marxy, New Order-Lite
One-Word Review: Smooth-Engineered-Bubblegum-Pop
Based Out Of: France / Panama City
Label: Diamondtraxx, !k7

Out Of Myself - Cover, Back, CD

Out Of Myself (2005)

1. Mr. Fate 3:49
2. Let's Get High 5:08
3. Lights In The Sky 4:27
4. I Wish 4:32
5. Give Me The Grace 5:03
6. Out Of Myself 4:33
7. These Emotions 3:44
8. No One Knows 4:51
9. There Is A Girl 4:03
10. She's Away 4:50
11. Sun Is Shining 4:34

Album Rating (1-10): 9.0

Members & Other Bands:
Benjamin Diamond - Music & Vox (Chicken Pox, The Party, Stardust, Hushpuppies)
Jean-Michel Tixier - Art Direction & Design

Unknown-ness: This, along with a couple of other albums, is sort of an anomaly to my self-imposed rule. True: I did buy this CD at a thrift shop, but I did so only after I wrote the name down, went back to work, researched it, and came back to buy it. So I liked it, because I bought it. But I do not remember what I liked about it, or what it sounds like because I never really listened to it. I do like the block letter font of the title and name, and the cropped cartoonish eye/face. I like the simplistic color scheme, and it comes of as young, but with energy. I read a bit about this performer, and it seems like it will be electronic music from a guy with rock/punk roots. Sounds like it might be good.

Album Review: “Mr Fate” begins the record with driving drums and guitars. There is a bit of synthesizer in the background, but it is predominately a rock song. His vocals are quiet, smooth and very melodic. There are overlaid vocals too, distorted to a “drive thru speaker” quality. The production is very 80’s. But there is not much structure to the song. It is basically all chorus and does not diversify from the one rhythm and hook. “Let’s Get High” is another smooth vocal number. The music is relaxed and very mellow. Even when the music picks up a bit, it is still a euphoric cruise, like sitting on a comfy couch with scenery zooming by all around. The minimal production of the verse reminds me of Cornelius. “Lights In The Sky” begins with alternative sounding guitars and bass. There is a synthesized string section floating by in the background. The vocals are again smooth, but higher in pitch, reminding me a lot of the Lightning Seeds mixed with a touch of New Order. All the songs so far have been very good and catchy. The alternative sound gives way to a great poppy acoustic presentation of the same melody. “I Wish” begins with a quiet singing vocal and piano accompaniment. Then a polite dance beat kicks in for the chorus. The song rollercoasters back and forth between the quiet vocals and the dance track sections. “Give Me The Grace” begins like a slow piano ballad. But there is a hint of energy with the bass beat in the background. The song simply glides along with tinges of electronic effects, never taking away from the solemn vibe of the song. A deep sounding string instrument is added to increase the content feeling of the song. The title track, “Out Of Myself” begins with feedback, and then a bouncy guitar. There is lots of energy in the vocals, but the song feels like an attempt at making an all-purpose radio friendly track. It falls short of what has been presented before it. Some of the effects in the background are interesting, but the chorus leaves the listener wanting much more. Spacey sound effects bleed into the next song “These Emotions.” The effects end, and we are carried through ever-changing landscapes on the comfy couch again, with a spacey smooth pop ride. Once again I am reminded of the Lightning Seeds, with its vocal style, slick production and minimal, simple dance beat. “No One Knows” begins with an synthesized orchestral section. It is followed by an acoustic singer/songwriter section. Odd electronic effects are added to the background intelligently not detracting from the catchy acoustic feel, but somehow adding to it. There are some good anticipation / delivery moments in the song when the rhythm stops and picks back up perfectly. “There Is A Girl” presents a great bass line, played in New Order’s style. The smooth vocals are so clear and sound so close that they could be whispering right against your ear. This is the most rocking song, and as the production picks up, fuzzy feed back is added in the chorus, and is not as smooth as the rest of the song, or the album for that matter. But that is not bad. The melody reminds me of early Ash songs. “She’s Away” starts with acoustic strumming. And the usual smooth vocal is added. This song reminds me of Sondre Lerche. The deep strings are added bringing sorrow to the driving acoustic guitar. The final song, “Sun Is Shining” starts as the last song ended; with acoustic guitar. But here, electronic effects fill the background and eventually take over creating a lazy dance beat. The selection of bubbling watery computer effects is quite mesmerizing, but also amazingly cohesive. This song is somewhat anthemic. The song ends at 4:30, but there is still time left on the track. At 6:03, alien electronic effects, like numbers computing, begin. There is a slowly played piano and a mixture of effects and sounds creating a soundscape of what it must be like to wake up on Mars. And the effects fade out and the album ends with quiet.

Why have I not listened to this album more??? I really like it loads and loads. This album represents one of my favorite musical styles. Right behind evil carnival music and 70-80’s new wave rock lies this smooth electro pop genre that is so famously made by the likes of Lightning Seeds and Pet Shop Boys. It sounds so simple and so slick, but it is so head noddingly catchy, that you cannot hate it, and can barely sit still enjoying it.

Stand Out Track:
There Is A Girl

Links:
BD - Allmusic
BD - Myspace
BD - Updated Myspace
BD - Website
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