Music For Robots

June 22, 2005 | Posted by Blair at 4:56 PM

I know its not been easy

Bonjour, meet my new musical friend Aswefall, a Paris-based pop/folk/electronic duo. The band is Clément Vaché, owner of the famous Daphonics record shop and head of the Tropism label, and Léo Helldèn, a producer who has worked with (among others) Jay Jay Johanson and Alexkid. Clément is also part of the Kill The DJ collective (which also includes Black Strobe's Ivan Smagghe, the boys from Optimo, and Joakim), who actually released the cd on their Kill The DJ imprint, with the help of the TigerSushi label.

As a band, the guys make these great poppy, electronic songs - at first listen they sound kind of 80s synth-y retro, but the more I listen to the album, titled Bleed., the more interesting and deeply layered they seem to get. The band calls the sound digital folk, and they're aiming at our collection of teenage memories - I feel like this might be a good song for a modern movie set, for no real reason, in the 80s (ie: Donne Darko).

I love the driving, bouncy bassline of this particular track, and I think the "ooh"s in the background (they start up about halfway though the song) are just about perfect - something about it (and a few other tracks on the CD too) is sparking memories and evoking moods that I'm actually having a hard time placing. Is it melancholy? Is it a particularly bad sunburn that one summer? Is it "Teen Angst" and alienation? Is it driving around the desert in the middle of the night? I dunno. I wonder how this music would have actually fit in with my teenage years.

Don't get me wrong here, Aswefall aren't a one-trick-pony. There's some real variation of theme across the album, both lyrically and musically - I almost posted a song called "Rocher" instead of this one that's slow and beautiful - there is also a handful of talented guests that make appearances, including Daniela D'Ambrosio (singer from Nouvelle Vague) and Parisian songwriter Edo, that makes for a fun and interesting listen.

Bleed. is available in Europe now, direct from the TigerSushi store, but will also be available in the US via Forced Exposure in a few short weeks.

Comments

This is a hair's breath from The Dylans or Spirea-X. Slinking back into the early 90's, yes?

Posted by: Greg at June 22, 2005 7:58 PM

Great blend of mythic music and haunting lyric. Like a moonlight ride in the desert on a breezy evening with the top down. The car too, duh...

Posted by: Ron Carswell at June 22, 2005 7:59 PM

i really love this record; i got it last week and have been listening to it non-stop since. the variation is one of its greatest strengths.

Posted by: jek at June 23, 2005 12:54 PM

Lead singer is strikingly reminiscent of the Lightning Seeds.

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