Yvalain, you are one of the best new artists I've found on Jamendo. I do not often give reviews. My family is busy moving to Virginia, right now, and my personal time is very limited.
However, when I find someone who's music is really new and worthwhile, I feel I have to say something. Like you, I came to Jamendo because I didn't feel there was really a place out there for "non commercial" music. I was surprised at the reception, and incredibly grateful.
But moreover -- here I've found the type of music I've always been looking for. Odd thing is, I never can explain just what that is, until I hear it. I don't go by genre. I go for "something new and different."
Your guitar and bass work is awesome, and I hope to learn a bit from it by studying some of your compositions.
(J'aurais dû savoir que la belle minette88 est déjà ici. J'ai appris à faire confiance à ses recommandations immédiatement :D Si vous lisez ceci, je vous remercions de votre travail aussi.)
I love this album. On my first listen, I was suprised at every turn -- and all the surprises were pleasant. The music transforms from texture to texture, color to color, yet always remains part of the same unit. In a way, it's like a Chameleon. Or maybe like a Prince of Amber shifting through related Shadows. If you are a fan of JT Bruce or Derek, you should like this album.
J'adore cet album. J'ai trouvé une surprise à tout instant; la musique est riche en texture. Je vous recommande d'écouter chaque morceau avant de juger -- simples mots ne peuvent pas peindre le portrait exact.
Unfortunately, punctuation ( ? !! ) is all I have as far as 'in two words' goes -- all I can say otherwise is 'just listen'. I really wasn't expecting to get hit that hard by the music, but it was just right.
Jusqu'à présent, j'écris tous mes critiques en deux langues. Mais Jamendo Orange ne reconnaît pas moi! Ces mots seront "en français", mais pas en "français". ;-) Néanmoins, c'est un excellent album.
Depuis ce matin, je pratique ma musique --- quelques nouveaux morceaux. J'ai devenu fatigué, alors j'ai fait une pause. Trouvant cet album ce soir, je suis rechargé: cet album est plein de couleurs de ton et de la texture des sons. Toutefois, il est lié par les mélodies, et aussi par la percussion qui correspond bien à chaque chanson. Mes favoris:
Sweet Rock -- D'accord! Le titre dit tout.
Sambraxas -- À 2:04-2:10, le contraste entre les deux rythmes est parfait.
Mais dans un autre sens, les deux morceaux qui partagent le même rythme (#4 et #9) semblent comme des frères. Ils sont comme des parenthèses de musique, et ils offrent une dernière connexion.
J'adore aussi "Jingo Star" et "Eto Vlke" :D
En bref, super!
[English Translation -- just in case I made more than a few mistakes above! I had to look up a lot of phrases in the dictionary, so in case I've accidentally crashed and burned, here's the intended meaning.]
Since early this morning, I've been practicing my music -- a few new tunes. But I got tired, and so I took a break. Finding this album this evening, I feel recharged: this album is full of tone colors and sound textures, yet is held together by the melodies, as well as the carefully chosen percussion. My favorites:
Sweet Rock --- Yep, the title says it all.
Sambraxas --- at 2:04-2:10, the contrasting rhythms are perfect.
But in another sense, the two songs which share the same rhythm (#4 and #9) seem like brothers. They are like musical parentheses, and provide a final connection.
I also like "Jingo Star" and "Eto Vlke" :D
In short, great!
La plus forte morceaux: "Aliens, where are you?", "J'ai vu", et "Rentrée dans l'atmosphere." J'aime les sons que vous avez utilisé! Aussi, vous avez l'oreille pour la mélodie. L'album, il faudra beaucoup de l'écoute!
The strongest tracks: "Aliens, where are you?", "J'ai vu", et "Rentrée dans l'atmosphere." I like the sounds you have used here. Also, you have quite an ear for melody. This album will require a lot of listening!
Il faut dire que je connais cet musician longtemps, sur un autre site-Web. Peut-être le trait de ses morceaux lequel est le plus distinctif est la suivante: le son est énorme. Quand on écoute, cela remplit la salle. Je ne sais pas son secret. Il suffit que Martin est tellement créatif; mais sa musique trouve le bon mélange et devient puissant.
I have to say that I have known this musician a long time on another website. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of his work is this: the sound is enormous. When it's played, the sound fills the room. I don't know his secret. It's enough that Martin is so creative; but his music finds the right mix and becomes powerful.
Eau Forte: c'est un bon nom. Dans cet album, le son de la basse coule comme les eaux souterraines. Aussi, comme l'eau peux emporter des objets, cet musique m'a transporté loin.
Eau Forte: an apt name. On this album, the sound of the bass flows like water underground. Also, just as water can carry things away, this music transported me away.
Peut-être que c'est la meilleure surprise que j'ai reçu le mois. Si je polissais une lampe et un génie soit sorti, et ensuite, j'aurais souhaité pour l'album parfait, il est ici! (Mon prochain souhait serait que l'album soit plus long.) C'est exactement le type de musique que j'aime.
Perhaps this is the best surprise I've gotten this month. If I polished a lamp and a genie emerged, and I wished for a perfect album, here it is! (My next wish would be for the album to be longer.) This is exactly the type of music that I like.
[English]
Permit me to recommend a great way to use Jamendo:
1. Open the Jamendo player.
2. Go to "Other playlists."
3. Go to "Jamendo Radio (random)."
Jamendo is gigantic now. If it hadn't been for this method, I would never have found this album; it was released more than a year ago.
The first song I heard from this album was "Lise." The beautiful guitar work got me to listen.
If you like a song you find, from the Jamendo player you can click a link to the artist or album page. After I listened to the album, it wasn't long until I downloaded it.
[Français]
Laissez-moi vous recommander une bonne méthode pour l'usage de Jamendo:
1. Ouvrir le lecteur Jamendo.
2. Allez à "Autres playlists."
3. Allez à "Radio Jamendo (aléatoire)."
Jamendo est devenu colossal. S'il n'était pas pour cette méthode, je n'trouverais pas cet album; il a sorti plus que il y a une année.
La première chanson que j'ai écoutée de cet album était "Lise." Le beau travail de guitare m'a incité à écouter.
Si vous aimez une chanson que vous trouvez, du lecteur Jamendo vous pouvez cliquer un lien aux pages de l'artiste ou de l'album. Après que j'ai écouté le reste de l'album, je l'ai bientôt téléchargé.
(J'apprends le français -- n'hésitez pas à me corriger.)
OK, I meant to make this a bilingual review as I have in the past, but what I am about to say is as far beyond my French abilities as going to the Moon is beyond cavemen.
I believe I have found need for a new tag on Jamendo. I'm just going to go ahead and use it. Don't like it? Don't use it. But it's here now.
The tag is "Ecto." As with most of my stories, there is a long story behind this. However, I'm not the one who wrote it or came up with it. Check out the following links for more of the story:
The Ectophile's Guide to Good Music:
http://ectoguide.org/
The Ecto Home Page
http://www.smoe.org/ecto/
[Je fais des excuses à mes amis français ; ces sites ne feignent pas pour être internationaux :( et ils sont en anglais seulement.]
The definition of "Ecto" is, unfortunately, self-referential and circular. An "ecto" album is one which ectophiles tend to like; and ectophiles tend to like ecto albums.
LOL, internet.
A better definition is to define by example: "ecto" artists include Beth Orton, Eleanor MacAvoy, Tori Amos, Sarah MacLachlan, Joan Armitrading, Cocteau Twins, Dido, 10000 Maniacs, the Indigo Girls, Innocence Mission, Kirsty MacColl, Animal Logic, and so on.
There are a few guys -- ecto also includes Peter Gabriel and Frank Zappa, for instance -- but the vast majority of "ecto" artists are female.
Now, how did I find all this out?
Simple. The list I just gave you is not from their website, it's from my CD collection! I was an ectophile before I even knew what the term meant!
In the case of this album, the vocalist SharashkA / Jayne Hartman clearly sounds as if she belongs on my CD shelf. Her voice is very similar to Deborah Holland from the band Animal Logic.
I really like this album, and it almost made it to 10 out of 10. However, there is one minor point:
Tempo. This album needs a barn burner, a song that just finally rips it. As it stands, it's pretty, but after listening to the entire album, one ends up aching for a bit of contrast. When I played it in the car, on the way back from Jacksonville airport, I found my eyelids were getting sort of heavy. It can't all be lullabyes. The closest to an uptempo song is "Aurora."
Nevertheless, if you've never heard of the term "ecto" before, let this album be your introduction. It was good enough to immediately remind me of all the above artists -- and that's saying a lot.
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