La mécanique du cœur
Encyclopedia
La mécanique du cœur is the sixth studio album by the French
band Dionysos
, released on 5 November 2007. The title can be translated as the mechanics of the heart; the album complements the book of the same name
written by Mathias Malzieu
, the band's frontman. The album has sold over 75000 copies, making it a Gold Disc, and there are plans for a film adaptation with the participation of Luc Besson
.
, an album telling the stories of various monsters imagined by the band. There are several references from this album to the one that preceeeds it.
A lot of the band's oeuvre has been inspired by the work of Tim Burton
, and the artwork from this album has strong influences from Corpse Bride
. The music video from the first single ("Tais toi mon cœur") is animated in the same style. Some of the songs are in French, others are in English and some switch between both languages.
This album features many guest appearances from prominent French stars: Eric Cantona
narrates the epilogue, Olivia Ruiz
(the lead singer's partner) appears on several tracks, Grand Corps Malade
co-writes two tracks, Jean Rochefort
sings on one song to mention but a few.
The band's violinist Babet (Élisabeth Maistre) only appears on the track "Cunnilingus Mon Amour!" because she was busy working on her solo career whilst the album was being recorded. However, she is scheduled to appear on the March 2008 tour promoting the album.
). It tells the story of Little Jack, a child born in Edinburgh
in 1874 on the coldest day in the world. He is born with a frozen heart which the midwife, Docteur Madeleine, replaces with a cuckoo clock
- it works, but means that he must "not touch the hands. Control his temper. And most importantly, never ever fall in love" or else the clock will explode through his skin.
Alas, he falls in love with an Andalucian singer Miss Acacia on the streets of Edinburgh which makes his heart malfunction. Docteur Madeleine fixes him but restates he must never fall in love.
In an attempt to find her again, he enrolls at school where he meets his nemesis Joe, who has also fallen in love with Miss Acacia. Joe threatens Jack so that he won't look for her. For Jack, school for the next four years is torment, being humiliated by Joe and bullied because of his clockwork heart. On his last day of school, Jack is desperate for Miss Acacia and asks Joe where he could find her. They fight, and Jack pierces Joe in the eye with the hands of his clock. Thinking he might be dead, he runs home to Madeleine and tells her what's happened.
Arthur appears saying the police are coming, so Jack is sent on his way to escape, with not much to his name and instructions to find a clocksmith, not a doctor, to look after his heart.
He travels first to London where he meets Jack the Ripper
who comes close to killing him due to his overcuriosity. Jack flees, leaving London to cross the channel to Paris
. In Paris, Jack searches for a watchmaker. The first he meets is disgusted by his disfigurement and sends Jack away; the second man he meets doesn't fix him but sends him off to the 'magician' Georges Méliès
. Méliès looks after not only his heart but gives him advice in love, and accompanies him on his voyage to Andalucia.
In Andalucia Jack searches for Acacia, seemingly to no avail, until they are guided by someone to some kind of carnival. Jack sees her for the first time since they first met, and is still in love. He creeps into her caravan after the show and gives her a bunch of glasses, and they agree to meet again. Jack gets a job working on the ghost train, with an evil employer Brigitte Heim - he is not particularly good at his job because people often leave the ride giggling.
After several years, Miss Acacia has become more famous, but Joe returns. He is at first unrecognized, but due to his missing eye is far better at scaring people so takes Little Jack's job at the ghost train. One night he goes to see Miss Acacia perform, where Jack encounters Joe. Joe slowly seems to be winning her away from Jack, and he becomes so jealous he breaks his own heart, jamming a knife into the gears.
Three years pass as Jack sleeps in a coma. Méliès has promised to replace his old wooden heart which he does before returning to Paris, leaving Jack in the care of a nurse he once womanized. Jack wakes up and tries to deal with his new body, which is hard even for himself to recognise due to the changes and developments - this gives him the chance to visit L'Extraordinarium to see Miss Acacia without her knowing his true identity. After some time he reveals who he is, presenting his old heart to her in a box. She realises it is him, and, believing him to have died three years previously and that his reapperance confims her earlier suspicions of deciet, rejects him.
Jack's new body keeps growing - he becomes a giant (Giant Jack from the previous album Monsters in Love
). In the epilogue he travels back to Scotland where he meets Arthur, who reveals the secret of Jack's life: he needed his clockwork heart to survive for the first few months of life, but after that his heart of flesh and blood functioned normally. Madeleine kept this a secret because she wanted to shelter him.
in March and April 2007, and mastered in Paris
in May. The CD of the album is an Opendisc
, which allows access to exclusive content including a video about how the album was made.
's production company EuropaCorp has bought the rights for a film adaptation of the accompanying book. Mathias will script and co-direct with Stéphane Berla, director of several of the band's music videos. Joann Sfar
, cover artist, will help transfer the story from book to screen as artistic director. The current plans are for an animation in the style of the music video for "Tais Toi Mon Cœur", directed by Stéphane Berla.
Mike Ponton – guitar, 'scratches', programming, ukulele
Eric Serra-Tosio – drums, percussion, whistle
Olivier Daviaud – cello, piano, melodica, glockenspiel, mellotron, keys, piano, arrangements
Stéphan Bertholio – banjo, keys, bass, glockenspiel, ukulele, baritone guitar, lapsteel guitar
Emily Loizeau – plays the part of Docteur Madeleine, Jack's guardian
Arthur H – plays the part of retired alcoholic policeman Arthur
Olivia Ruiz – plays the part of Miss Acacia, the love interest who also features on the previous album
Rossy de Palma – plays Luna, a prostitute who teaches Jack things (including the word 'Cunnilingus
', which he names his hamster)
Babet (aka Élisabeth Maistre) – plays another prostitute, Luna's friend Anna
Grand Corps Malade – plays the part of Joe, singing and writing the two relevant tracks
Jean Rochefort – plays Georges Méliès
Alain Bashung – plays Jack the Ripper
Eric Cantona – plays Giant Jack, a character from Monsters in Love, who narrates the epilogue
Martin Saccardy – trumpet, bugle
Guillaume Garidel – double bass, bass
Gérard Tempia Bonda – violin
Michel Schick – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
Stéphane Blanc – double bass
Bertrand Belin – banjo, theremin
& Karim Friha – cover art
Flammarion Studio – calligraphy
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
band Dionysos
Dionysos (French band)
Dionysos is a French rock band formed in 1993 in Valence, Drôme; they formed at their lycée. They perform songs in both French and English, and have released six studio albums. They are well known in France for their surrealism and eccentricity....
, released on 5 November 2007. The title can be translated as the mechanics of the heart; the album complements the book of the same name
La mécanique du cœur (book)
La mécanique du cœur is a book written by Mathias Malzieu, lead singer of the French rock band Dionysos . The book has sold well in Malzieu's native France.-Synopsis:The book opens in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1874...
written by Mathias Malzieu
Mathias Malzieu
Mathias Malzieu , the lead singer of the French band Dionysos, co-founded the group in 1993 when he lived in Valence in Drôme. Three of his school-friends , comprised the original band membership.-Books:Malzieu has written the following books:* 38 mini westerns avec des fantômes * Maintenant qu'il...
, the band's frontman. The album has sold over 75000 copies, making it a Gold Disc, and there are plans for a film adaptation with the participation of Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
.
Background
The album follows on from Monsters in LoveMonsters in Love
Monsters in Love is the fifth studio album by the French rock band Dionysos, released 29th August 2005 and produced by John Parish. The album features songs in both English and French.-Background:...
, an album telling the stories of various monsters imagined by the band. There are several references from this album to the one that preceeeds it.
A lot of the band's oeuvre has been inspired by the work of 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...
, and the artwork from this album has strong influences from Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride, often promoted as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It is set in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe. Johnny Depp led an all-star cast as the voice of Victor, while Helena Bonham Carter ...
. The music video from the first single ("Tais toi mon cœur") is animated in the same style. Some of the songs are in French, others are in English and some switch between both languages.
This album features many guest appearances from prominent French stars: Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...
narrates the epilogue, Olivia Ruiz
Olivia Ruiz
Olivia Blanc known as Olivia Ruiz is a female French pop singer of partial Spanish origin belonging to the nouvelle chanson genre.-Biography:...
(the lead singer's partner) appears on several tracks, Grand Corps Malade
Grand Corps Malade
Fabien Marsaud better known by his stage name Grand Corps Malade, often abbreviated GCM, born on July 31, 1977 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France is a French slam poet-Biography:...
co-writes two tracks, Jean Rochefort
Jean Rochefort
Jean Rochefort is a French actor, with a career that has spanned over five decades.Rochefort was born in Paris, France. He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen He was 19 years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National...
sings on one song to mention but a few.
The band's violinist Babet (Élisabeth Maistre) only appears on the track "Cunnilingus Mon Amour!" because she was busy working on her solo career whilst the album was being recorded. However, she is scheduled to appear on the March 2008 tour promoting the album.
Story
The album follows a strong concept, based around the book of the same name (written by the band's lead singer Mathias MalzieuMathias Malzieu
Mathias Malzieu , the lead singer of the French band Dionysos, co-founded the group in 1993 when he lived in Valence in Drôme. Three of his school-friends , comprised the original band membership.-Books:Malzieu has written the following books:* 38 mini westerns avec des fantômes * Maintenant qu'il...
). It tells the story of Little Jack, a child born in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1874 on the coldest day in the world. He is born with a frozen heart which the midwife, Docteur Madeleine, replaces with a cuckoo clock
Cuckoo clock
A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum-regulated, that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo's call and typically has a mechanical cuckoo that emerges with each note...
- it works, but means that he must "not touch the hands. Control his temper. And most importantly, never ever fall in love" or else the clock will explode through his skin.
Alas, he falls in love with an Andalucian singer Miss Acacia on the streets of Edinburgh which makes his heart malfunction. Docteur Madeleine fixes him but restates he must never fall in love.
In an attempt to find her again, he enrolls at school where he meets his nemesis Joe, who has also fallen in love with Miss Acacia. Joe threatens Jack so that he won't look for her. For Jack, school for the next four years is torment, being humiliated by Joe and bullied because of his clockwork heart. On his last day of school, Jack is desperate for Miss Acacia and asks Joe where he could find her. They fight, and Jack pierces Joe in the eye with the hands of his clock. Thinking he might be dead, he runs home to Madeleine and tells her what's happened.
Arthur appears saying the police are coming, so Jack is sent on his way to escape, with not much to his name and instructions to find a clocksmith, not a doctor, to look after his heart.
He travels first to London where he meets Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
who comes close to killing him due to his overcuriosity. Jack flees, leaving London to cross the channel to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In Paris, Jack searches for a watchmaker. The first he meets is disgusted by his disfigurement and sends Jack away; the second man he meets doesn't fix him but sends him off to the 'magician' Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...
. Méliès looks after not only his heart but gives him advice in love, and accompanies him on his voyage to Andalucia.
In Andalucia Jack searches for Acacia, seemingly to no avail, until they are guided by someone to some kind of carnival. Jack sees her for the first time since they first met, and is still in love. He creeps into her caravan after the show and gives her a bunch of glasses, and they agree to meet again. Jack gets a job working on the ghost train, with an evil employer Brigitte Heim - he is not particularly good at his job because people often leave the ride giggling.
After several years, Miss Acacia has become more famous, but Joe returns. He is at first unrecognized, but due to his missing eye is far better at scaring people so takes Little Jack's job at the ghost train. One night he goes to see Miss Acacia perform, where Jack encounters Joe. Joe slowly seems to be winning her away from Jack, and he becomes so jealous he breaks his own heart, jamming a knife into the gears.
Three years pass as Jack sleeps in a coma. Méliès has promised to replace his old wooden heart which he does before returning to Paris, leaving Jack in the care of a nurse he once womanized. Jack wakes up and tries to deal with his new body, which is hard even for himself to recognise due to the changes and developments - this gives him the chance to visit L'Extraordinarium to see Miss Acacia without her knowing his true identity. After some time he reveals who he is, presenting his old heart to her in a box. She realises it is him, and, believing him to have died three years previously and that his reapperance confims her earlier suspicions of deciet, rejects him.
Jack's new body keeps growing - he becomes a giant (Giant Jack from the previous album Monsters in Love
Monsters in Love
Monsters in Love is the fifth studio album by the French rock band Dionysos, released 29th August 2005 and produced by John Parish. The album features songs in both English and French.-Background:...
). In the epilogue he travels back to Scotland where he meets Arthur, who reveals the secret of Jack's life: he needed his clockwork heart to survive for the first few months of life, but after that his heart of flesh and blood functioned normally. Madeleine kept this a secret because she wanted to shelter him.
Tracklisting
All songs: music by Dionysos, lyrics by Mathias Malzieu except for where stated.- "Le jour le plus froid du monde" – with Emily LoizeauEmily LoizeauEmily Loizeau is a French author, composer, and singer. Her debut album, released in 2006, was titled L'autre bout du monde .- Biography :...
- "La berçeuse Hip Hop du Docteur Madeleine" – with Emily Loizeau
- "When the saints go marchin' inWhen the Saints Go Marching In"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is an American gospel hymn that has taken on certain aspects of folk music. The precise origins of the song are not known. Though it originated as a spiritual, today people are more likely to hear it played by a jazz band...
" – with Arthur HArthur HArthur Higelin , better known under his stage name Arthur H , is a pianist, songwriter and singer. He is best known in France for his live performances - four of his albums were recorded live - and remains relatively little-known in the English-speaking world.-Career:He is the son of the French...
(traditional) - "Flamme à lunettes" – with Olivia RuizOlivia RuizOlivia Blanc known as Olivia Ruiz is a female French pop singer of partial Spanish origin belonging to the nouvelle chanson genre.-Biography:...
- "Symphonie pour horloge cassée"
- "Cunnilingus Mon Amour!" – with Babet in duet with Rossy de PalmaRossy de PalmaRossy de Palma, is a Spanish actress. Described by many as a Picasso come-to-life, Rossy de Palma broke the rules of beauty in 1988 when she starred in Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and became a model and muse for designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and...
- "Thème de Joe" – with Grand Corps MaladeGrand Corps MaladeFabien Marsaud better known by his stage name Grand Corps Malade, often abbreviated GCM, born on July 31, 1977 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France is a French slam poet-Biography:...
(written by GCM) - "L'école de Joe"
- "L'homme sans trucage" – with Jean RochefortJean RochefortJean Rochefort is a French actor, with a career that has spanned over five decades.Rochefort was born in Paris, France. He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen He was 19 years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National...
- "La panique mécanique" – with Alain BashungAlain BashungAlain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor.- Youth :Alain Bashung was the son of a Breton factory worker and French Kabyle father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to Strasbourg to live with his new stepfather's parents...
- "King of the ghost train"
- "Mademoiselle clé" – with Olivia Ruiz
- "Candy lady" – with Olivia Ruiz (written by Malzieu and Olivia Ruiz)
- "Le retour de Joe" – with Grand Corps Malade (written by GCM)
- "Death song"
- "Tais Toi Mon Cœur" – with Olivia Ruiz
- "Whatever the weather"
- "Epilogue" – with Eric CantonaEric CantonaEric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...
+ hidden trackHidden trackIn the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
"Hamac of Clouds (How romantic it could be)"
Production
This is Dionysos' first self-produced album. It was recorded by Mike Ponton (the lead guitarist) and produced by him with Mathias Malzieu (the lead singer). The album was recorded near ValenceValence, Drôme
Valence is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Drôme department, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseilles.Its inhabitants are called Valentinois...
in March and April 2007, and mastered in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in May. The CD of the album is an Opendisc
Opendisc
Opendisc is an Enhanced Music CD application for enabling multimedia content when a compact disc is played on a personal computer. Opendisc asserts that its technology conforms to the Blue Book specification and does not contain copy-protection functions...
, which allows access to exclusive content including a video about how the album was made.
Film adaptation
Luc BessonLuc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
's production company EuropaCorp has bought the rights for a film adaptation of the accompanying book. Mathias will script and co-direct with Stéphane Berla, director of several of the band's music videos. Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator and film director.-Life and career:Sfar was born in Nice. He is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by...
, cover artist, will help transfer the story from book to screen as artistic director. The current plans are for an animation in the style of the music video for "Tais Toi Mon Cœur", directed by Stéphane Berla.
The band
Mathias Malzieu – vocals, ukulele, folk guitar, glockenspielMike Ponton – guitar, 'scratches', programming, ukulele
Eric Serra-Tosio – drums, percussion, whistle
Olivier Daviaud – cello, piano, melodica, glockenspiel, mellotron, keys, piano, arrangements
Stéphan Bertholio – banjo, keys, bass, glockenspiel, ukulele, baritone guitar, lapsteel guitar
Guests
Each of the guests play the part of one of the story's characters.Emily Loizeau – plays the part of Docteur Madeleine, Jack's guardian
Arthur H – plays the part of retired alcoholic policeman Arthur
Olivia Ruiz – plays the part of Miss Acacia, the love interest who also features on the previous album
Rossy de Palma – plays Luna, a prostitute who teaches Jack things (including the word 'Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...
', which he names his hamster)
Babet (aka Élisabeth Maistre) – plays another prostitute, Luna's friend Anna
Grand Corps Malade – plays the part of Joe, singing and writing the two relevant tracks
Jean Rochefort – plays Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...
Alain Bashung – plays Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
Eric Cantona – plays Giant Jack, a character from Monsters in Love, who narrates the epilogue
Additional musicians
Blaise Margail – trombone, beatboxMartin Saccardy – trumpet, bugle
Guillaume Garidel – double bass, bass
Gérard Tempia Bonda – violin
Michel Schick – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
Stéphane Blanc – double bass
Bertrand Belin – banjo, theremin
Art
Joann SfarJoann Sfar
Joann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator and film director.-Life and career:Sfar was born in Nice. He is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by...
& Karim Friha – cover art
Flammarion Studio – calligraphy