| Yann Tiersen — ∞ (Infinity) (2014) |
Yann Tiersen — ∞
∞ The whole album echoes and clatters, is washed in with the tide and the dragged back out to sea. »
Birth name: Yann Pierre Tiersen
Born: 23 June 1970 (age 43)
Origin: Brest, Brittany, France
Instruments: Piano, violin, accordion, guitar, toy piano, voice, and various others
Album release: May 19th, 2014
Record Label: Mute
Duration: 49:31
Tracks:
01 Infinity 2:59
02 Slippery Stones 4:18
03 A Midsummer Evening 4:14
04 A Maen Bihan 6:53
05 Lights 3:42
06 Grønjørd 5:24
07 Steinn 4:15
08 In Our Minds 5:13
09 The Crossing 5:44
10 Meteorites 6:49 Written by:
Ξ Yann Tiersen 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9
Ξ Emilie Quinquis / Yann Tiersen 4, 7
Ξ Tórfinnur Jákupsson / Ólavur Jákupsson / Yann Tiersen 6
Ξ Aidan Moffat / Yann Tiersen 10
CREDITS:
Ξ Robin Allender Vocals
Ξ Hildur Ársælsdóttir Musical Saw, Violin, Vocals
Ξ François Bergot Language Advisor
Ξ Stéphane Bouvier Drum Engineering, Vocals
Ξ Felix Classen Vocals
Ξ Dave Collingwood Drums
Ξ Ólavur Jákupsson Composer, Vocals
Ξ Tórfinnur Jákupsson Composer
Ξ Gareth Jones Mixing, Sequencing
Ξ Gaëlle Kerrien Vocals
Ξ Lionel Laquerrière Vocals
Ξ Daniel Miller Mixing
Ξ Aidan Moffat Composer, Vocals
Ξ Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir Viola, Vocals
Ξ Émilie Quinquis Composer, Photography, Vocals
Ξ Yvon Salou Accordion
Ξ Paul Savage Vocal Engineer
Ξ Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir Violin, Vocals
Ξ Metig Simon Vocals
Ξ Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir Cello, Vocals
Ξ Paul A. Taylor Art Direction, Design
Ξ Yann Tiersen Analogue Synthesizer, Art Direction, Audio Manipulation, Celeste, Composer, Design, Digital Manipulation, Drum Engineering, Drum Programming, Engineer, Harmonium, Instrumentation, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Sequencing, Soloist, Strings, Tape Effects, Toy Instruments, Violin, Vocals
Ξ Neil Turpin Drums, Vocals
Ξ Sam Wilkins Image Manipulation
REVIEW
By RUTH SINGLETON, May 16th, 2014; Score: 8
∞ Anyone who’s seen Amelie will know how beguiling Yann Tiersen’s music can be. ∞ But, while that may still be the soundtrack he’s best known for, it’s time to stop tarring him with that brosse. From La Valse des monstres through to Dust Lane, here is an artist who is as experimental as he is revered, and who has created a miniature masterpiece in his most recent album ∞ (Infinity).
∞ On first listen the whole thing feels bitty and sporadic, the rhythms jar and the moments of discord grate on the senses. But it is in the challenge of the record that its intrigue lies. It feels like each track is a struggle, a transformation. Tiersen strips everything back to a single sound: birdsong, water, a bell. And then he builds from the soil up, seeking out new sounds, exploring a rain-swept labyrinth of tonal possibilities. ∞ Rhythms fall into place, snatches of melody break through the clouds like lightning. ∞ The music is harsh and ragged with a chill running to its core, but overlaid with something brighter, more optimistic. Tiersen has clearly borrowed a lot from the landscapes in which he wrote the album: the bitter cold of Iceland, the wilderness of Ushant Island, Brittany. And it is not only the scenery that seeps through; Tiersen makes a feature of using lyrics in Breton, Faroese, and Icelandic.
∞ Suffice to say the familiar warmth is gone. A lot of his previous records have smelt of the city, of rollups and a glass of beer on a warm night. In contrast, ∞ (Infinity) feels alien and uncomfortable. The whole album echoes and clatters, is washed in with the tide and the dragged back out to sea. Every track has something distinct to capture the imagination, but it is the vocal range that is particularly interesting. Each is warm in its own way, harmonious, pulling all the separate strands of sound into a unified whole. ∞ It is the singing, or at times talking, that makes sense of the disparity of Tiersen’s experimental style.
∞ And not least a sudden Scottish male voice, breaking into the final track and walking us through the streets of London. The poetry snakes through the darkness, taking in snatches of sights in the night. Inviting us to look around, and look back across the album. And as we do, it is with a sense of half-won peace. It closes in on itself in a wave of calm, promising new and fleeting treasures when it is opened once again. (http://www.drownedinsound.com/)
Studio albums
Year • Album • Peak chart positions
BEL (Wa) • BEL (Vl) • SUI • FR
∞ 1995 La Valse des monstres
Featured performer: Laurent Heudes.
— • — • — • #139
∞ 1996 Rue des cascades
Featured performers: Claire Pichet, François-Xavier Schweyer.
— • — • — • #51
∞ 1998 Le Phare
Featured performers: Claire Pichet, Dominique A, Sacha Toorop.
— • — • — • #50
∞ 2001 L'Absente
Featured performers: Christine Ott, Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis, Lisa Germano, Anne-Gaëlle Bisquay, Bertrand Lambert, Yann Bisquay, Natacha Régnier, Dominique A, Christian Quermalet, Têtes Raides, Neil Hannon, Marc Sens, Sophie Naboulay, Sacha Toorop, Grégoire Simon.
— • — • — • #8
∞ 2005 Les Retrouvailles
Featured performers: Orchestre National de Paris, Elizabeth Fraser, Jane Birkin, Stuart A. Staples, Dominique A, Miossec, Jean-François Assy, Frederic Dessus, Guillaume Fontanarosa, Bertrand Causse, Anne Causse Biragnet, Armelle Legoff, Frédéric Haffner, Christine Ott, Elliott, Ludovic Morillon.
#40 • #96 • #48 • #6
∞ 2010 Dust Lane
Featured performers: Matt Elliott, Gaëlle Kerrien, Syd Matters, Dave Collingwood
#97 • #96 • — • #36
∞ 2011 Skyline
Featured performers: Dave Collingwood, Stéphane Bouvier, Gaëlle Kerrien, Matt Elliott, Syd Matters, Lionel Laquerrière, Neil Turpin, Robin Allender, Stéphane Bouvier, Ólavur Jákupsson, Daniel James, Efterklang, Heather Woods, Peter Broderick
— • — • — • #172
∞ 2014 ∞
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yanntiersen.official
Agent: Europe :[email protected]; US :
Gen. dir.: 
_______________________________________________________________
| Yann Tiersen — ∞ (Infinity) (2014) |
∞ The whole album echoes and clatters, is washed in with the tide and the dragged back out to sea. »
Birth name: Yann Pierre Tiersen
Born: 23 June 1970 (age 43)
Origin: Brest, Brittany, France
Instruments: Piano, violin, accordion, guitar, toy piano, voice, and various others
Album release: May 19th, 2014
Record Label: Mute
Duration: 49:31
Tracks:
01 Infinity 2:59
02 Slippery Stones 4:18
03 A Midsummer Evening 4:14
04 A Maen Bihan 6:53
05 Lights 3:42
06 Grønjørd 5:24
07 Steinn 4:15
08 In Our Minds 5:13
09 The Crossing 5:44
10 Meteorites 6:49 Written by:
Ξ Yann Tiersen 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9
Ξ Emilie Quinquis / Yann Tiersen 4, 7
Ξ Tórfinnur Jákupsson / Ólavur Jákupsson / Yann Tiersen 6
Ξ Aidan Moffat / Yann Tiersen 10
CREDITS:
Ξ Robin Allender Vocals
Ξ Hildur Ársælsdóttir Musical Saw, Violin, Vocals
Ξ François Bergot Language Advisor
Ξ Stéphane Bouvier Drum Engineering, Vocals
Ξ Felix Classen Vocals
Ξ Dave Collingwood Drums
Ξ Ólavur Jákupsson Composer, Vocals
Ξ Tórfinnur Jákupsson Composer
Ξ Gareth Jones Mixing, Sequencing
Ξ Gaëlle Kerrien Vocals
Ξ Lionel Laquerrière Vocals
Ξ Daniel Miller Mixing
Ξ Aidan Moffat Composer, Vocals
Ξ Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir Viola, Vocals
Ξ Émilie Quinquis Composer, Photography, Vocals
Ξ Yvon Salou Accordion
Ξ Paul Savage Vocal Engineer
Ξ Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir Violin, Vocals
Ξ Metig Simon Vocals
Ξ Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir Cello, Vocals
Ξ Paul A. Taylor Art Direction, Design
Ξ Yann Tiersen Analogue Synthesizer, Art Direction, Audio Manipulation, Celeste, Composer, Design, Digital Manipulation, Drum Engineering, Drum Programming, Engineer, Harmonium, Instrumentation, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Sequencing, Soloist, Strings, Tape Effects, Toy Instruments, Violin, Vocals
Ξ Neil Turpin Drums, Vocals
Ξ Sam Wilkins Image Manipulation
REVIEW
By RUTH SINGLETON, May 16th, 2014; Score: 8
∞ Anyone who’s seen Amelie will know how beguiling Yann Tiersen’s music can be. ∞ But, while that may still be the soundtrack he’s best known for, it’s time to stop tarring him with that brosse. From La Valse des monstres through to Dust Lane, here is an artist who is as experimental as he is revered, and who has created a miniature masterpiece in his most recent album ∞ (Infinity).
∞ On first listen the whole thing feels bitty and sporadic, the rhythms jar and the moments of discord grate on the senses. But it is in the challenge of the record that its intrigue lies. It feels like each track is a struggle, a transformation. Tiersen strips everything back to a single sound: birdsong, water, a bell. And then he builds from the soil up, seeking out new sounds, exploring a rain-swept labyrinth of tonal possibilities. ∞ Rhythms fall into place, snatches of melody break through the clouds like lightning. ∞ The music is harsh and ragged with a chill running to its core, but overlaid with something brighter, more optimistic. Tiersen has clearly borrowed a lot from the landscapes in which he wrote the album: the bitter cold of Iceland, the wilderness of Ushant Island, Brittany. And it is not only the scenery that seeps through; Tiersen makes a feature of using lyrics in Breton, Faroese, and Icelandic.
∞ Suffice to say the familiar warmth is gone. A lot of his previous records have smelt of the city, of rollups and a glass of beer on a warm night. In contrast, ∞ (Infinity) feels alien and uncomfortable. The whole album echoes and clatters, is washed in with the tide and the dragged back out to sea. Every track has something distinct to capture the imagination, but it is the vocal range that is particularly interesting. Each is warm in its own way, harmonious, pulling all the separate strands of sound into a unified whole. ∞ It is the singing, or at times talking, that makes sense of the disparity of Tiersen’s experimental style.
∞ And not least a sudden Scottish male voice, breaking into the final track and walking us through the streets of London. The poetry snakes through the darkness, taking in snatches of sights in the night. Inviting us to look around, and look back across the album. And as we do, it is with a sense of half-won peace. It closes in on itself in a wave of calm, promising new and fleeting treasures when it is opened once again. (http://www.drownedinsound.com/)
Studio albums
Year • Album • Peak chart positions
BEL (Wa) • BEL (Vl) • SUI • FR
∞ 1995 La Valse des monstres
Featured performer: Laurent Heudes.
— • — • — • #139
∞ 1996 Rue des cascades
Featured performers: Claire Pichet, François-Xavier Schweyer.
— • — • — • #51
∞ 1998 Le Phare
Featured performers: Claire Pichet, Dominique A, Sacha Toorop.
— • — • — • #50
∞ 2001 L'Absente
Featured performers: Christine Ott, Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis, Lisa Germano, Anne-Gaëlle Bisquay, Bertrand Lambert, Yann Bisquay, Natacha Régnier, Dominique A, Christian Quermalet, Têtes Raides, Neil Hannon, Marc Sens, Sophie Naboulay, Sacha Toorop, Grégoire Simon.
— • — • — • #8
∞ 2005 Les Retrouvailles
Featured performers: Orchestre National de Paris, Elizabeth Fraser, Jane Birkin, Stuart A. Staples, Dominique A, Miossec, Jean-François Assy, Frederic Dessus, Guillaume Fontanarosa, Bertrand Causse, Anne Causse Biragnet, Armelle Legoff, Frédéric Haffner, Christine Ott, Elliott, Ludovic Morillon.
#40 • #96 • #48 • #6
∞ 2010 Dust Lane
Featured performers: Matt Elliott, Gaëlle Kerrien, Syd Matters, Dave Collingwood
#97 • #96 • — • #36
∞ 2011 Skyline
Featured performers: Dave Collingwood, Stéphane Bouvier, Gaëlle Kerrien, Matt Elliott, Syd Matters, Lionel Laquerrière, Neil Turpin, Robin Allender, Stéphane Bouvier, Ólavur Jákupsson, Daniel James, Efterklang, Heather Woods, Peter Broderick
— • — • — • #172
∞ 2014 ∞
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yanntiersen.official
Agent: Europe :[email protected]; US :
Gen. dir.:
_______________________________________________________________