Au Revoir Simone Albums (4)
'Still Night, Still Light'
Release Date 4/24/2009
Tracks 12
Label Cooperative
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What The Critics Say
On their third album, Still Night, Still Light, the dreamy trio Au Revoir Simone don't do anything too differently than they did on their previous release, Bird of Music. The basic structure of the sound (vintage synths/keyboards and drum machines) and voices (winsome leads and rich harmonies) is firmly in place. The palpable feeling of introspection and melancholy is still there, the gentleness of the melodies and sweetness of tone is present also. What has changed is that they seem to crank the melancholy and sadness up just a touch; there are no songs as bright and lovestruck as "Stars" here. Even the uptempo songs with cheerful-sounding melodies like "Anywhere You Looked" and "All or Nothing" have heartbreakingly bleak lyrics. That's not to say the album itself is bleak by any means. The warmth that the group wrings out of its keyboards is enough to dry up the tears, and the fuzzy blanket of sound producer Thom Monahan wraps their sound in gives you a strangely peaceful feeling that makes the sadness seem OK. It also helps that they keep things interesting sonically by changing up their sound throughout the album, with the disco sheen of "Another Likely Story," the unlikely junkshop glitter groove of "Only You Can Make You Happy," the motorik groove of "Shadows," and the doomy synth pop of "Organized Scenery" being most impressive. The straight-ahead ballads like "We Are Here" and "The Last One" are made better by the wide range of sounds that surround them. Thanks to Monahan and the strength of the songs the trio wrote for the album, this stands as Au Revoir Simone's best work so far. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
'Reverse Migration'
Release Date 11/11/2008
Tracks 13
Label Our Secret Record Company
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What The Critics Say
As the remix album format has become increasingly popular, it has also come to encompass a wider array of approaches towards the communal editing of one artist's pre-existing material. There's no better example than the digital-only Reverse Migration, on which Au Revoir Simone's The Bird of Music gets scrambled up by a collision of different methodologies that largely flounder and fail to recapture the cohesion of the originals. As a basis for the remixes, the all girl synth pop group's shimmering 2007 album at first certainly seems ripe for further development; immersed in washes of layered keyboards, their charmingly gorgeous songs provide a wealth of great hooks and melodic invention while maintaining a simple consistency that suggests the potential for sonic expansion. Unfortunately, these remixes only end up revealing how essential the simplicity of the initial instrumental approach is to the success of the material. Reverse Migration opens with what is apparently the band's own remake of "The Lucky One," reduced to a simple acoustic ditty which senselessly revs up into a hyperactive workout towards the finish. "Don't See the Sorrow" is an out-and-out acoustic cover by Keith Murray, and it's not the only place where a song is completely re-recorded by the remixer: Mark-Anthony Tieku's take on "The Way to There," for one, is a complete overhaul which only samples the original at the end. On the other hand, "Sad Song (Pacific! Remix)" doesn't stray too far from its source, essentially adding a bouncy bassline that accentuates the song's poppy chord structure. Montag's remix of "A Violent Yet Flammable World" lends the song an air of dreamy trepidation, cautiously building on a bed of chimes and plucked strings, but halfway through it abruptly flies hell-bent into bland rave-up territory which undermines the whole thing. Ideally, a remix should bring something fresh to the table that makes it compelling in its own right, and not just add needless embellishments and pointless rhythmic turnarounds. Only several of these tracks succeed in that regard: the innovative "Night Majestic (Matt Harding Remix)" strips away the bubbly synths in favor of a fractured, guitar driven sound, while Alexis Taylor brings his distinctive Hot Chip flavor to another version of "Sad Song." The song is more or less his own extended composition until the last several minutes, when he takes the original music and turns it into a remarkably affective acoustic lament. In general, few amidst the recent flurry of remix albums actually succeed, with Nine Inch Nails' Y34RZ3r0 R3mix3d being a particular exception. Most others, like Stars' Do You Trust Your Friends?, fall way short of the mark. Reverse Migration falls primarily in the latter camp, turning a remarkably substantive synth-pop album into a far more typical affair. ~ Ben Peterson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The first full-length by Brooklyn's all-girl Au Revoir Simone enchants in a way the trio itself once captured best: the music is the perfect soundtrack to "exploring a secret garden at night with a flashlight," as they told British Vogue in 2006. Though that description made its way to newsstands before this album took shape -- the girls were discussing earlier tracks and sessions -- it holds: The Bird of Music presents dreamy, image-mad synth pop with a sparkly magic quality; it's the perfect album for contemplating unicorns to. Vocally, there's a sweetness to the songs that's nicely tempered by honesty -- when Au Revoir Simone sing "You make me wanna measure stars in the backyard with a calculator and a ruler, baby," on the infectious "Stars," for instance, you believe them, even if you find the idea a little odd. Musically, they make a mountain of sound out of three keyboards and a drum machine, but it's a mountain of sound you'd never attach the word "quirky" to. Au Revoir Simone are serious if highly idiosyncratic musicians. Their album should find favor with listeners who love Stereolab and the Waitresses but don't mind a little Bananarama thrown in the mix, either. ~ Tammy La Gorce, All Music Guide
'Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation'
Release Date 1/1/2005
Tracks 8
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Singer and keyboardist Erika Forster left the dream pop outfit Dirty on Purpose after their debut album to concentrate on her own project, but that loss is twee indie pop's gain. Not since the sole album by Dusty Trails, the one-off collaboration between Josephine Wiggs of the Breeders and Vivian Trimble of Luscious Jackson, has an album blended minimalist synthesizers and cinematic minor-key melodies with only the very slightest of Stereolab influences. Indeed, the closest comparison for tunes like the simply lovely opener, "Through the Backyards," is a synth-oriented version of Yo La Tengo circa And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out -- a similarly placid feel with hushed, delicate vocals floating over a bed of gently murmuring keyboards. The more uptempo tunes, like "The Disco Song," have a playful feel with a hint of '80s pastiche. But dreamy tunes like the haunting "Back in Time" are where Au Revoir Simone shine: blending contrapuntal vocal lines and a hypnotic beatbox drone out of the Young Marble Giants playbook, the song develops an epic quality out of the simplest of instruments. The instrumental "The Winter Song" is even more effective, blending music box synth lines and toy xylophone plinking with a subtly propulsive rhythm that transforms the song from a minor exercise to a fully formed pop song. The only flaw of the outstanding Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation is that at eight songs in 27 and a half minutes, it's too short. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
