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2010-09-03
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Emilie Simon, a French born, New York living avant-garde pop beauty who possesses the feminine and demure aesthetics of indie darling Zooey Deschanel, the musical influence of Kate Bush, the operatic quality of Kate Miller-Heidke, and a personality akin to the early years of David Bowie. Her third album 'The Big Machine' boasts epic and pertinent tracks that move and avoid monotonous repetition, using a mixture of traditional Chinese instruments with keyboards and various other new technology devices.
Known for her effervescent, engaging and sometime offbeat performances, Emilie Simon is hitting Australian shores for the first time since her sold-out shows back in 2007, and after more than 300 shows in recent years, Emilie is truly magic on stage.
In support, fellow French chanteuse Melanie Pain, who while better known in these parts as the lead vocalist for Nouvelle Vague, will be joining her on stage.
Emilie and Melanie are touring nationally later this month, check www.cartellmusic.com.au for dates and tickets.
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Latoyah Forsythe & Lisa Andrews |
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The core of Soulwax are brothers - and avid club geezers - David and Stephen Dewaele who, along with the odd turntablist buddy that likes to drop in occasionally, combine elements of rock, pop, soul and dance to create the most memorable of sets live on stage and in the studio. Pretty much responsible for the invention of The Mashup, you might otherwise know them as 2ManyDJs, and you only need do a quick search of this moniker on Limewire to see dozens of excellent bastard pop titles fill your screen. Cream catches up with David Dewaele to discuss festivals, samples and new ‘mash’ artists that just don’t quite get it. INTERVIEW BY ANTONINO TATI
CREAM: Soulwax are touring for Parklike, right?
DAVID: This is correct.
CREAM: Will we be hearing DJ sets as well as live delivery of some of your own original compositions?
DAVID: As far as I’m aware it will only be only our original compositions, but of course there’ll be sampling involved.
CREAM: What is it you most like about playing festivals?
DAVID: The people are on drugs…
CREAM: Do you think festival-goers need drugs to enjoy themselves?
DAVID: No, I don’t think they really need drugs, but it is interesting to see so many people on so many different levels, enjoying themselves. Some on it but some sober I’m sure.
CREAM: Do you find illicit substances often help you with performance?
DAVID: I don’t know, I’ve never tried it. I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs…
CREAM: Mmmm. Is there anything you don’t like about the festival circuit?
DAVID: Over here in Europe, festivals can be a nightmare. It can be muddy, rainy, unhygienic, hard to get to, there’s a lot of competition for food... But your festivals [in Australia] are a little different to ours, especially Parklife. And I’m not just saying that because we’re playing it. It’s very well organised, very user-friendly, if you will. Easy to get to, reasonably good food, usually good weather…
CREAM: It’s good to hear such great feedback. You guys, yourself and Steven, are a renowned remixing duo as well, having made official and unofficial mixes for everyone from Daft Punk to Gorillaz, Gossip to Robbie Williams. Do you get positive responses from these artists?
DAVID: I’ve never heard negative feedback, but then maybe people are just being too polite. Generally when people give you a lot of cash, so that’s a good sign that they like your work! The funny thing is we’re well-known as remixers, but really it’s something we don’t do that often. We’ll do maybe two a year. Or sometimes we’ll make our own mix tapes.
CREAM: Are you and Steve a tight-knit team or are there plenty of arguments in the studio?
DAVID: We’re a tight team but we have some arguments, usually just about me being late…
CREAM: And you’re late because?
DAVID: Well Steve thinks of it as a massive disrespect to him, and really it’s just because I have a house to sit.
CREAM: So work is mostly done from a studio outside the home?
DAVID: Yeah, we have a studio over in Kent, and we also have a small studio in London.
CREAM: Do you think the concept of mashing has gone too far when, for example, the cast of ‘Glee’ start putting on musicals that feature medleys they refer to as mashes?
DAVID: I don’t know about ‘Glee’, but I do think it went too far when Linkin Park and Jay-Z got together and did a mashup. When we started doing them, it was novel. We’d take really disparate music to put up against each other. Now it’s become like a sport; very quick, sometimes sloppy.
CREAM: Your mashes were first heard back in 1999…
DAVID: Yeah around 1999 and 2000. We did maybe 10 of them and for us it was about balancing the music scene: marrying Destiny’s Child with Nirvana, or what have you. Now people are just slapping an Eminem or Missy Elliott acapella over a track, and not being very creative.
CREAM: Have you ever gotten into legal dispute for using samples without permission?
DAVID: As 2ManyDJs we’ve only released one record and because it included a few mashups it became a bit of a legal precedence where a lot of major labels who had given us permission to use their music [initially] now started to change their minds.
CREAM: It could only mean more original great stuff from Soulwax, then, and we look forward to hearing some of it at Parklife.
DAVID: Thank you. See you there.
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2010-07-01
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With a powerful, seductive voice and exotic film starlet looks inherited from a Greek father and Welsh mother there is no doubt Marina Diamandis is a star in the making, although on principle, she’d be the last person to admit it. Calling herself Marina & The Diamonds (a little like Florence & The Machine where the Machine is rarely in sight), Marina’s main subjects in song are fame, identity and the trappings of celebrity culture. These are what make up her debut album ‘The Family Jewels’.
“I’m not famous and I don’t want to be,” claims the singer-songwriter. “I sit in my house working all the time. I don’t go out to parties; I’m not interested in them. I’ve got too much to do and achieve.” Despite such a strong work ethic, surely this gorgeous single lass gets out on weekends, at least?
“Nope, I stay indoors,” she says resolutely. “On Friday nights I’m usually in bed with a cup of cocoa,” before confessing, “but if I’m at home in London I’ll eat or try and write a bit. I read, usually it’s something on psychology or feminism. Sometimes I might make strawberry laces or I’ll cook stir fry and noodles.”
Despite a lack of craving for fame, the remarkably down-to-earth singer desires success as much as any other performer. But she wants that success to be defined entirely by her singing; measured by the recognition of her peers and not by how many paparazzi shutters click in front of her on a red carpet. “I am ambitious and I have drive, but my music questions what success really is,” she says. “I don’t feel like my goal in life is to be famous or own a big house and a big car. I want to challenge how people see the culture of celebrity. My goal is to change people’s thinking.”
The thinking Marina is determined to change is one of a society enamoured with being famous just for the sake of it. Revealed in song titles from the uplifting album opener ‘Are You Satisfied?’ and its camp follow-up ‘Shampain’ [it’s like ABBA on steroids] to ‘I Am Not A Robot’ and ‘Numb’, most of the songs reinforce her social critique while showcasing an extensive vocal range. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “TV taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal” and “I’m obsessed with the mess that is America” reveal her view of a culture without substance. The reference to the “Polish girl in America, tall, tanned, blonde and hot” in the song ‘Hollywood’ came from catching an episode of reality TV.
“It was just this girl called Anya. I was watching depressing TV about girls who were looking for rich guys to latch onto and I thought how sad is that? I felt so far away from them. I like to sing about the decline of culture and of moral values in society. Not just in America but also in the UK [where she resides] and in Australia too perhaps. No-one has patience anymore and everything is too fast at the expense of quality. That goes for food to furniture and houses to cars. No-one wants to wait.”
However fervently Marina believes in the condemnation of popular culture she promises it won’t extend any further than ‘The Family Jewels’. “The theme from this album has now ended. There will be no follow-ons.”
Of course if the success of her second LP equals her first then the temptation of buying expensive cars and attending extravagant parties instead of staying in bed drinking cocoa might start to prove a little too strong. That’s just one other reason to keep your eye on Marina Diamandis. |
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Patrick Lewis |
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