Au Revoir Simone
Encyclopedia
Au Revoir Simone is an electronic dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...

 band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard), and Heather D'Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboard). The band's name comes from a line Pee-wee Herman says to a minor character (named Simone) in Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...

's 1985 film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his full-length debut and starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman. Reubens also co-wrote the script with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol. Supporting roles are played by Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane...

.

History

Au Revoir Simone started life in the Fall of 2003 when Erika Forster and Annie Hart first became acquainted on a long train ride home to NYC from a weekend getaway with friends. Along the way they exchanged stories and ambitions, and discovered that they shared a common desire to form an all-keyboard band. When they returned to NY, they started meeting regularly to play music. Heather D'Angelo started joining in at these informal bedroom band practices, which also included former member Sung Bin Park (keyboard & vocals). Soon after, they started playing shows around NYC and Brooklyn. In January of 2005, Sun Bin left the band and the girls started anew as a trio.
In 2006 they did a Take-Away Show video session shot by Vincent Moon
Vincent Moon
Vincent Moon is an independent filmmaker from Paris mainly known for his field work music videos of indie rock related musicians as well as some notable mainstream artists like Tom Jones, R.E.M. or Arcade Fire. Besides making music videos he also makes experimental films and documentaries...

, and toured the US, Canada and Europe with We Are Scientists. The following year, they went on a US tour with Peter, Bjorn and John. In 2007, they played a concert at The Foundation Cartier, Paris for David Lynch's retrospective exhibition. The stage they performed on was a recreation of the one from his film, Erasurehead.
Au Revoir Simone played at both the Treasure Island Music Festival, the Monolith Festival
Monolith Festival
The Monolith Festival is a music festival held at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. The first festival took place September 14–15, 2007 on 5 stages, including the Red Rocks main stage.The 2008 Monolith Festival was held on September 13–14....

 in September 2007 and the Lovebox festival in London, UK in 2009. At the end of 2009 the group hosted their own headlining tour in Japan. In 2007, the band contributed a t-shirt design to raise money for Transportation Alternatives
Transportation Alternatives
Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which seeks to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease private car use...

. In 2010, they created one of the first interactive music videos for the song "Knight of Wands." In true coloring book style, the video lets the fan become a part of the creative process.
The band's debut album was named after a tiny book Annie received entitled 'Verses of Comfort, Assurance and Salvation'. The group felt that the name completely fit their music and the way it made them feel, so they chose it as the album's name.

Musical style

Au Revoir Simone's music has been described by The London Times as "A collision between the Waitresses, Stereolab and Kings of Convenience, their music has power from what it holds back rather than spells out, and is just waiting to be fallen in love with (or to)." British Vogue has said, “Eschewing the typical guitar-heavy band set-up for old-school synthesizers and vintage drum machines, [Au Revoir Simone] create dreamy synth-pop. Their soft ethereal vocals laid over spare homemade drumbeats are reminiscent of Air and Stereolab." Pitchforkmedia.com has said their music is "feather-light electro-pop that's not to be taken lightly."
David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...

 called the group's music "innocent, hip and new." Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

 also gave a review of the group: "Powered by vintage keyboards, a lockstep beat-box, and gorgeous, wide-eyed warbling, the Simones create make-out music for your inner android." NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 had a lot to say about the indie group: "Au Revoir Simone [appears] onstage like the sisters from The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides is the 1993 debut novel by American writer Jeffrey Eugenides. The story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the suicides of five sisters. The Lisbon girls' suicides fascinate their community as their neighbors struggle to find an explanation for...

—[its] looks ranging from prim librarian, to hippy housewife to raven-haired art student. [The group] excavates the lost corner, joining Ladytron
Ladytron
Ladytron are an English electronic band formed in 1999 in Liverpool, Merseyside. The group consists of Helen Marnie , Mira Aroyo , Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu .Their sound blends electropop with New Wave and shoegazing elements. Ladytron described their sound as "electronic pop"...

 and Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura (band)
Camera Obscura are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band formed in 1996 and have released four albums to date.-History:Camera Obscura were formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the band before David Skirving joined...

: lush electronic hypno-folk that breezes from the speakers like chocolate melting over one of Latitude's many £5-a-crepe food stalls". In another NME article, the magazine went on to say that "Au Revoir Simone must have beamed in from a land where lace clouds breeze over crystal lakes and icicles grow from the warm earth. This New York three-piece's glorious synth-lead alt-folk will leave you crying on the stairs in the middle of the night." The group defined itself as playing "warm and electronic music with forthright female vocalists."

Musical influences

According to the Web site of the band's European label, the group's musical influences could be "likened to a dutifully mined musical thrift store." Alongside the racks and railings of sometimes mismatched but wholly treasured records occupied by Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...

, Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...

, the Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....

, Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...

, and Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...

, the likes of the Beach Boys, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, Broadcast
Broadcast (band)
Broadcast are an electronic music band, founded in Birmingham, England. Original members were Trish Keenan , Roj Stevens , Tim Felton and James Cargill . Various drummers played with the band, including Keith York, Phil Jenkins, Jeremy Barnes, Steve Perkins, and Neil Bullock...

, Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...

, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, the Bee Gees, and Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...

 also take their place. Erika Forster harbors a love of German label Morr Music
Morr Music
Morr Music is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany, founded in 1999 by Thomas Morr. Most artists on the label fall into the categories of intelligent dance music, electronica and dreampop, but all reflect Thomas Morr's personal taste...

, specifically artists such as Guther, Lali Puna
Lali Puna
Lali Puna is an experimental electropop band from Weilheim, Germany . Founded in 1998 by Korea-born Valerie Trebeljahr , other members include Markus Acher , Christoph Brandner and Christian Heiß . The latter joined Lali Puna in 2003, after keyboard player Florian Zimmer had left the band...

, and Ms. John Soda
Ms. John Soda
Ms. John Soda is an indietronic band from Weilheim, Germany. Their members are Stefanie Böhm singing, and Michael Acher the main composer and programmer of the songs.A side project of sorts, Ms...

. Joe Jerome Newman from UK band FILMS lists Au Revoir Simone as being one hell of a heavy-weight influence on their JUMP-FOLK style. FILMS based the sound of Au Revoir Simone's haunting track 'Stay Golden' on their 2009 hit 'Matilda'.

In popular culture

One of Au Revoir Simone's songs was featured on the 100th episode of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...

, and, in 2009, Au Revoir Simone's song "The Lucky One" was the closing song in Season 3 Episode 12 of Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...

, as well as the background music for a Cheerios cereal television commercial. In addition, the group performed "Stay Golden," "Sad Song," and "Dark Halls" live at Robert Normand's fashion show in Paris for Fall/Winter 2007. In 2007, the band's song "Sad Song" was featured on the German blockbuster movie Keinohrhasen (English: Rabbits Without Ears). "The Lucky One" and "Don't See The Sorrow" can also be heard in the 2008 Japanese movie
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...

 "Kimi no Tomodachi" (English: "Your Friends"). "Another Likely Story" was the closing song in Season 1 Episode 10 of Covert Affairs
Covert Affairs
Covert Affairs is a USA Network television series starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The one-hour drama premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The show concluded its first season on September 14, 2010 and was renewed for a second season on August 19, 2010. The second season began airing on...

. Their song "Sad Song" is featured on the soundtrack of the 2011 movie From Prada to Nada
From Prada to Nada
From Prada to Nada is an American romantic comedy film directed by Angel Garcia and produced by Gary Gilbert, Linda McDonough, Gigi Pritzker and Chris Ranta. The plot was conceived from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility...

.

Discography

  • Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation (Europe: Moshi Moshi Records
    Moshi moshi records
    Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label that has released music by bands such as The Rakes, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, Hot Club De Paris, Kate Nash, Junkboy, Architecture in Helsinki, Tilly and the Wall, Slow Club, Yeti, and Au Revoir Simone...

    , North America: Our Secret Record Company, Japan: Rallye Record Label, 2005)
  • The Bird of Music
    The Bird of Music
    The Bird of Music is the second album by Brooklyn indie pop trio Au Revoir Simone. It was released on March 5, 2007, through the Moshi Moshi label.- Track listing :# "The Lucky One" - 4:30# "Sad Song" - 4:07# "Fallen Snow" - 3:45...

    (Europe: Moshi Moshi Records
    Moshi moshi records
    Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label that has released music by bands such as The Rakes, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, Hot Club De Paris, Kate Nash, Junkboy, Architecture in Helsinki, Tilly and the Wall, Slow Club, Yeti, and Au Revoir Simone...

    , 2007; North America: Our Secret Record Company, 2007; Japan: Rallye Record Label, 2007)
  • Still Night, Still Light
    Still Night, Still Light
    Still Night, Still Light is the third album by Au Revoir Simone. It was released on May 19, 2009.-Track listing:# "Another Likely Story" - 4:39# "Shadows" - 4:03# "All or Nothing" - 4:28# "Knight of Wands" - 3:49# "The Last One" - 4:42...

    (North America: Our Secret Record Company, 2009)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK