For Folk's Sake » Au Revoir Simone

Brian’s Mixtape #37: Let The Sun Shine

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:23:52 +0000

Brian’s been having a lovely time at festivals over the past few weeks, and basking in the baking hot sun. Now the weather’s turned and he’s staying in to nurse his burnt feathers (not one for the factor 50, our Brian. Silly owl) he’s put together a nostalgic playlist for summers past. So kick back, crank up your Spotify speakers and remember those lazy, hazy days.

Listen on Spotify

Eels – Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues – Butch ‘n’ Joey Remix
Elbow – One Day Like This
Au Revoir Simone – The Lucky One
Noah And The Whale – 5 Years Time
Beach House – Used To Be
Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home
She & Him – In The Sun
Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost
The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – My Heart

Spotify is now freeeee. You can download it here for access to tons and tons of free music. FFS has just splashed out for Spotify Premium and sadly admits that you really do notice the difference in sound quality. Vandross and Jackson are a pair of filthy liars.

PS For those who can’t get Spotify, we’re trying out this new website, let us know if it is of any use to you: Listen on Playlistify.

Live: Au Revoir Simone @ The Scala

For Folk's Sake — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:10:18 +0000

Scala or ‘The Scala’ as I was recently corrected is not a welcoming venue. The stairs, railings and the DJ cage are all more than a little oppressive. Au Revoir Simone by contrast are in essence a simple trio of girls singing pretty music accompanied by their keyboards and a backing track to provide a drum beat. Emotional lo-fi synth music really needs a cosier venue in my opinion, maybe one with cushions. There is something about the trio that you want to take back to meet your mother, an air of lovely innocence and naivety that echoes throughout their music, leaving you dreaming of lazy days by the river with tea in a thermos and triangular sandwiches.

The three ladies of synth needed a few songs to get into their rhythm, clearly nervous as they took to the stage and thrown off early on by some deafening feedback during ‘Take me as I am’, whilst Annie was plagued by a loose mic stand that ended up being replaced halfway through the set. Although these hitches did provide a suitable setting for old war stories of iPod backing tracks and shambles past, the trio didn’t quite recovered their composure until the finale.

This was a shame because their music is simple and simply beautiful. While you could call it prosaic I prefer to think of having Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D’Angelo all providing vocals and keyboard as unobtrusive and free-spirited, making for a truly collaborative sound. You can imagine the trio taking great joy in the creative process, learning from each other en route to the finished article. For any of you who might find their band name somewhat theatrical or contrived I’d suggest going to the Au Revoir Simone Wikipedia entry to see where the inspiration came from. These girls are genuinely unassuming and clearly love what they do.

The setlist for the evening was in the main assembled from their recent album Still Light, Still Night but they wove in the odd classic and culminated in proving their unpretentiousness with a cover of ‘Boys of Summer’. Not what I expected musically, but a song about the Brooklyn Dodgers being sung by three Brooklynites should need little explanation and was met with enthusiasm from most of the crowd.

With a remix album based on Still Light, Still Night announced last month featuring the likes of Jens Lekman and the Dirty Projectors we can expect to hear a fresh approach to Au Revoir Simones’ dreamy vocals in the near future – ensuring we don’t miss them too much before they come back to our shores.

Words: Chris Gent

The Folk Artist Twitter Directory

Stephen W Thomas — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:30:09 +0000

Below is our attempt at a comprehensive directory of folk artists currently on Twitter – of course, we aren’t Twitter deities and as such will almost certainly have missed out on certain artists. Let us know if you can think of any tweeting folk musicians in the comments below.

Akron/Family

Angus and Julia Stone

Asthmatic Kitty (Label)

Brian: FFS’s Mixtape-Making Owl

Broadcast 2000

Caitlin Rose

Cherbourg

Colin Meloy (Decemberists)

Damien Rice (PR Account)

Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion)

Divine Comedy (PR account)

Efterklang

Emmy the Great

Fanfarlo

FFS (Official Account)

Kurran & the Wolfnotes

Laura Marling (PR account)

Lisa Hannigan (PR account)

Lisa Mitchell

Lissie

The Living Sisters (PR account)

Local Natives

The Low Anthem

Midlake

Monsters of Folk (PR account)

The New Pornographers

Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy)

Peggy Sue

Rebecca Taylor (Slow Club)

Rufus Wainwright (PR account)

She & Him (PR account)

St. Vincent

Sweet Billy Pilgrim

The Swell Season (PR account)

The Swell Season (Glen Hansard)

Brian’s Mixtape #20: The Big Freeze

Brian — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:33:11 +0000

Brr… it’s cold. Being a sensible sort of chap, Brian’s not going outside until all this horrid weather is over. You might think it’s better for owls, what with their ability to fly and all, but our poor mixtape maker faces the daily threat of having his wings frozen together and falling from the sky. Plop. Quite apart from being sore, it’d be awfully undignified, and Brian has a reputation to protect.

Instead he’s going to stay in with a delicious bowl of mouse soup and listen to the lovely tunes he’s cobbled together. Some about the cold and a couple that are just songs he’s discovered and loves.

Ella Fitzgerald – Baby It’s Cold Outside
Au Revoir Simone – Fallen Snow
Idlewild – Bronze Medal (Acoustic)
The Beach Boys – Cuddle Up
JayMay – Blue Skies
Liam Frost & Martha Wainwright – Your Hand In Mine
Pickin’ On Series – New Slang
Midlake – It Covers The Hillsides
The White Stripes – In The Cold, Cold Night
The Cranberries – The Icicle Melts
Headless Heroes – The North Wind Blew South
Efterklang – Cutting Ice to Snow

You can listen to the whole thing on Spotify. Brian’s Mixtape #20: The big freeze

If you’ve not got yourself registered on Spotify have a look at their website to learn more. And, if you need an invite (so you can use Spotify for free) let uncle Brian know in the comments section below and he will bestow one on you.

Have a snoop around our mixtape section to find Brian’s previous efforts.

Brian’s Mixtape #18: Christmas is Coming

Brian — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:24:55 +0000

We’ve held him back as long as we could, but the Christmas spirit’s fit ready to burst out of old Brian now and the first (of many) Christmas playlists is ready to go. He’s been working on them since May, so don’t be surprised at how astoundingly wonderful they are.

If, by some miracle, you’ve not yet gotten into the saltdough, glitter, ribbon and wreaths yet, this week’s selection will boot you into the right frame of mind smartish.

Also, it has come to our attention that some of you are without Spotify access. We’ve instigated a bit of an invitation amnesty on Twitter (@forfolkssake) so if you’re in need we’ll sort you out with an early Christmas pressie. If you need one, or you have spares you’d like to share, get in touch!

Here’s this week’s playlist, for your delectation:

Brian’s Mixtape #18: Christmas is Coming

Johnny Cash – Blue Christmas
Ben Kweller – Rock if Ages
Au Revoir Simone - Christmas Time is Here
The Pogues – Fairytale of New York
Hefner – The Little Baby Hefner’s Xmas Song For Holland
Eels – Christmas is Going to the Dogs
The Beach Boys – Santa’s Beard
Parenthetical Girls – Festive Friends (Forever)
Blitzen Trapper – Christmas is Coming Soon
Kate and Anna McGarrigle – Il est né/ Ca Bergers
The Beach Boys – Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town
Sufjan Stevens – Get Behind Me, Santa!

Also, for those of you still woefully out of the loop, here are Brian’s previous offerings (I’d listen to the Christmas one first, mind, seeing as it’s DECEMBER).

Brian’s Mixtape #1: Salad and Twilight

Brian’s Mixtape #2: Pick of the Scmercuries

Brian’s mixtape #3: imitation and flattery

Brian’s mixtape #4: Conkers and Blusters

Brian’s mixtape #5: heroes and villains

Brian’s mixtape #6: Birthdays and Remembrances

Brian’s mixtape #7: End of the Road

Brian’s Mixtape #8: From A to B

Brian’s Mixtape #9: Yellow Bird Project

Brian’s Mixtape #10: Nymphs and Harpies

Brian’s Mixtape #11: With a Little Help from Dolly

Brian’s Mixtape #12: Swning

Brian’s Mixtape #13: Openings and inroads

Brian’s Mixtape #14: Hatchings and Hotchpotches

Brian’s Mixtape #15: The Wind and the Rain

Brian’s Mixtape #16: Up the Rainbow

Spotify – Brian’s Mixtape #17: The Laurel Canyon

FFS Exclusive competition: Win a T-shirt designed by Rilo Kiley, New Pornographers, Bon Iver and more

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:18:10 +0000

For Folk’s Sake have teamed up with The Yellow Bird Project, which asks indie artists to design t-shirts for charity, to offer two FFS readers the chance to win a t-shirt by their chosen band.

Artists involved in the project include Bon Iver, The New Pornographers, The Magic Numbers, The Shins and Au Revoir Simone. For a full list of artists see The Yellow Bird Project’s website.

To be in with a chance of winning one of the the t-shirts just follow this link and sign up to The Yellow Bird Project’s mailing list before midnight on 26th July.

Good Luck!

Album Review: Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:54:07 +0000

Au Revoir Simone. Super Mario. Two seemingly unrelated phrases. However, ever since the bouncy Casio stylings of the band’s first album, I’ve always connected the two. Now, their latest release has ditched the Italian plumber soundtrack for something dreamier and just slightly ominous.

While their direction may have altered course, they still retain their precise, stripped back reliance on keyboards, drum machines and barely-there vocals. The tracks are almost mathematical, with each section of the music an A or B in a baroque pop equation, while prolonged intros often mean the vocals don’t enter the mix until well over a minute into the song. This lack of an overarching sense of pop sensibilities is surprisingly refreshing.

Still Night, Still Light chronicles lost loves, dark secrets and being trapped in suburbia, along with the associated loss of a sense of self, a longing for escape and disappointment at letting life slip by. The calm vocals, verging on the brink between singing and speaking, are well executed throughout the album, purposefully evoking the sense of disembodiment the lyrics express. They are at their most mesmerising when each band member contributes, particularly in the overlapping harmonies of ‘Knight of Wands’ and ‘All or Nothing’.

Firm favourites include the spooky organ-led ‘Knight of Wands’, which lulls you in with its sireny cries of ‘Oh joy’, punctuated hand claps, and spectral, synchronized vocals. The haunting single, ‘Shadows’, perfectly captures the sense of doomed love, with its eerie, lingering end to the last chorus. This succinctly leads into the trademark instrumental section, heightening the tension briefly before fading out. ‘Another Likely Story’, with its heartbeat drum and stirring synths, suggests a freedom akin to flying among the stars, or in Au Revoir Simone’s case, a revolving, mechanical planetarium.

The alarming, darker tracks play off against the more upbeat, poppy examples in an inspired combination. Although each song works individually on its own merit, the album as a whole evokes a sustained dreamy trance which sounds best when listened to as an entire piece.

Words: Jason Williamson

Single Review: Au Revoir Simone – Shadows

Lynn Roberts — Sat, 09 May 2009 10:42:37 +0000

Au Revoir Simone’s new single is many things; a massive change of direction it is not.

Nevertheless, this product of their precise, understated disco pop machine proves more than impressive. The sinister, hypnotic background bass and darting keyboards which urgently drive Shadows notably set the scene, while effortless vocals drift eerily over the top.

This definitely wouldn’t feel out of place in a film score, which isn’t surprising given their much-touted ‘favourite band of David Lynch’ label.

While it won’t shock long-time fans in the slightest, it’s likely to attract new ones.

Words: Jason Williamson

Au Revoir Simone’s Bird of Music remixed, covered by Slow Club

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:30:17 +0000

A remixed version of New York keyboardists Au Revoir Simone’s debut LP The Bird of Music will be released on November 11th.

The new album, entitled Reverse Migration, features a cover of The Lucky One by For Folk’s Sake darlings Slow Club alongside remixes by Jean-Benoît Dunckel of Air and Keith Murray from We Are Scientists. It will be released by Au Revoir Simone’s own label: Our Secret Recording Company.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Slow Club –The Lucky One
2. Sad Song (Pacific! Remix)
3. Fallen Snow (The Teenagers Remix)
4. I Couldn’t Sleep (Darkel Remix)
5. A Violent Yet Flammable World (Montag Remix)
6. Keith Murray – Don’t See the Sorrow
7. Dark Halls (Best Fwends Remix)
8. Night Majestic (Matt Harding Remix)
9. Stars (Disco Pusher Remix)
10. Lark (Ruff and Jam Remix)
11. The Way to There (Mark-Anthony Tieku Remix)
12. Alexis Taylor – Sad Song
13. The Lucky One (James Yuill Remix)

Words: Lynn Roberts

Au Revoir Simone

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:21:43 +0000

Au Revoir Simone: are specialists in bringing out the heart from within the machine, conjuring a gorgeous, child-like effervescence via pieces of plastic, metal and wire. And while their music is created through the medium of electronics, their songs resonate with an organic warmth that defies their instruments of choice: three keyboards and a drum machine.

Band Members: Heather D’Angelo, Erika Forster and Annie Hart.

Discography:

Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation (Moshi Moshi Records, 2005).

The Bird of Music (Moshi Moshi Records, 2007)

Au Revoir Simone have designed a t-shirt for The Yellow Bird Project. All profits go to Transportation Alternatives. For more about Yellow Bird Project, or to buy a t-shirt click here.

For Folk's Sake » Au Revoir Simone

Brian’s Mixtape #37: Let The Sun Shine

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Live: Au Revoir Simone @ The Scala

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The Folk Artist Twitter Directory

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Brian’s Mixtape #20: The Big Freeze

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Brian’s Mixtape #18: Christmas is Coming

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FFS Exclusive competition: Win a T-shirt designed by Rilo Kiley, New Pornographers, Bon Iver and more

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Album Review: Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light

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Single Review: Au Revoir Simone – Shadows

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Au Revoir Simone’s Bird of Music remixed, covered by Slow Club

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Au Revoir Simone

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