Souvenir (indie rock band)
Encyclopedia
Souvenir are an indie pop
/electro-pop band formed in 1999 in Pamplona
, Spain, who have released six studio albums.
in 2000, which was reissued in America by Shelflife Records
, displaying Euro-pop and bossanova influences. Their popularity spread to the Asian independent market, and in 2001, their first full-length album, Points de Suspension was released. Special editions of the record were released in Japan (on Tone Vendor records) and the United States (on Shelflife).
Their second album, Recto/Verso, was released in 2003, and the band were featured on several international compilations
including a tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg
.
Cristóbal was commissioned by French chanteuse Françoiz Breut
to write songs for her Une Saison Volée album, which included his song Ciudad del Mar. Souvenir's third album was released in 2005 - Des équilibres featured pop
songs with piano
s, mellow guitar
s and lap steel guitar
s. In 2006, they collaborated on the Brian Wilson
tribute album
Caroline Now!, which also featured Belle And Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub
, Saint Etienne
, The High Llamas
, and The Pastels
. The album Des équilibres 82006) followed, with songs in the vein of the Nouvelle Chanson genre.
For their fourth studio album, 64, issued in 2007, the band took a radical turn in their sound into electro-pop. The record was followed by an album of remixes by Johan Agebjörn and other artists. In a Stylus Magazine
review, Dom Passantino opined "Souvenir give us an austerity, poise, and hautiness of tone that would convince anyone they were born the wrong side of the Pyrenees". In 2009, Souvenir released their fifth album, Drums, Sex and Dance, which includes their first song in English (The Sun Goes Out).
On February 21, 2011, the new Souvenir album Travelogues was released.
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
/electro-pop band formed in 1999 in Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Spain, who have released six studio albums.
History
Souvenir perform their songs in French, sung by Patricia de la Fuente, and mainly written by multi-instrumentalist J'aime Cristóbal. They debuted with a 6-track self-titled EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 2000, which was reissued in America by Shelflife Records
Shelflife Records
Shelflife Records is a Portland and San Francisco based independent record label run by Ed Mazzucco and Matthew Bice and has produced such bands as Days, Acid House Kings, and The Radio Dept.- History :...
, displaying Euro-pop and bossanova influences. Their popularity spread to the Asian independent market, and in 2001, their first full-length album, Points de Suspension was released. Special editions of the record were released in Japan (on Tone Vendor records) and the United States (on Shelflife).
Their second album, Recto/Verso, was released in 2003, and the band were featured on several international compilations
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
including a tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
.
Cristóbal was commissioned by French chanteuse Françoiz Breut
Françoiz Breut
Françoiz Breut is the stage name of Françoise Breut, a French illustrator and chanteuse of moody and melancholic pop. Breut got involved with music when her then-fiancé, French pop star Dominique A, asked her to contribute vocals on three songs of his 1993 album, Si Je Connais Harry...
to write songs for her Une Saison Volée album, which included his song Ciudad del Mar. Souvenir's third album was released in 2005 - Des équilibres featured pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songs with piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s, mellow guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s and lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
s. In 2006, they collaborated on the Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Caroline Now!, which also featured Belle And Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
, Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
, The High Llamas
The High Llamas
The High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
, and The Pastels
The Pastels
The Pastels are a group from Glasgow, Scotland, UK.Their early records for labels like Whaam!, Creation, Rough Trade, and Glass Records, had a raw and immediate sound, melodic and amateur, which seemed at odds with the time...
. The album Des équilibres 82006) followed, with songs in the vein of the Nouvelle Chanson genre.
For their fourth studio album, 64, issued in 2007, the band took a radical turn in their sound into electro-pop. The record was followed by an album of remixes by Johan Agebjörn and other artists. In a Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
review, Dom Passantino opined "Souvenir give us an austerity, poise, and hautiness of tone that would convince anyone they were born the wrong side of the Pyrenees". In 2009, Souvenir released their fifth album, Drums, Sex and Dance, which includes their first song in English (The Sun Goes Out).
On February 21, 2011, the new Souvenir album Travelogues was released.
Albums
- Points de Suspension (2001) Jabalina/Shelflife
- Recto/verso (2003) Jabalina
- Des Equilibres (2005) Jabalina
- 64 (2007) Jabalina
- Drums, Sex and Dance (2009) Jabalina
- Travelogues (2011) Jabalina
Singles, EPs
- Souvenir EP (2000) Jabalina/Shelflife
- Premier essai (2001) Jabalina
- Présage de l’hiver (2005) Jabalina
- Extras 64 (2007) Jabalina
- Aime-moi (vinyl) (2010) Jabalina