Modern Cubism - Les plaintes d'un Icare
This year’s springtime is full of high expectations! For more albums. And this particular album is a long-expected one, too. It is one of these vernal releases, to which I have the pleasure (or even the honour) to give the highest mark. Moreover, it was the first 2008 production to fully satisfy my taste. It pleased me so much that before I knew where
I was, the summer arrived unexpectedly… Soon, the autumn will be approaching, but the album about “The Plaints of a Certain Icarus” has been steadily looped in my CD player for several months…
“Les plaints d’un Icare” is Modern Cubism’s second release for Sleep Walking Records. And the very first beats of it already prove electrifying! They literally do not let the listener be left alone for a single moment; they just absorb his or her attention totally, each second and with each sound! The makers of such musical enslavement are Jean-Marc Mélot and Jean-Luc
De Meyer. However, all their creative efforts would have probably misfired if Charles Pierre Baudelaire had not written “The Flowers of Evil”, one and a half centuries ago (1857). That is precisely the volume of poetry, from which the musicians got most of the lyrics that decorate with black flowers the first album released under the name Modern Cubism.
The curious thing is what Monsieur Baudelaire would say now. Monsieur Baudelaire is certainly not turning in his grave. In an unusually stylish manner, Modern Cubism has resurrected the French pioneer of Symbolism and Decadence! The overwhelming coldness and darkness present in this album (e.g. the opening psalm “Spleen (je suis comme le roi…)”, “L’Avertisseur”, “Les Aveugles”, “Le Jeu” and the final song “Chanson d’Après-Midi”) constitute an adequate background for Baudelaire’s lyrical works and should fully satisfy all admirers of the French literary aura of the 40’s and 50’s of the nineteenth century. Yet, the surprisingly dark beauty of this music, for which most credit goes to Jean-Marc Mélot (e.g. “Une Nuit â l’Opéra” and “Exil” – instrumental tracks being entirely his compositions), is not all. The other necessary element, which decides about the uniqueness of this release
and perfectly harmonizes with its style, is Jean-Luc De Meyer’s vocals. As a musician, he is best known for his home project FRONT 242, and now it has probably been the first time for him to sing in his beloved language. Bien sûr, grâce à Monsieur Badelaire.
Their male duo, however, needed some feminine spice. That is why the album features also
a woman on vocals – namely, Fabienne Danloy – whose singing might be said to have reached its peak in the spellbinding song “La Beauté”. So, Baudelaire created a new language for his poetry; and in an equal way, the band’s artists (after appointing Baudelaire as the patron of their album) successfully created for him the musical setting worthy of such a condemned poet! And like the author of “The Flowers of Evil” breathed magic into his words in the past, like the two musicians have given a lot of hypnotizing power to their music in the present century. They have achieved the perfection of style and composition. The question is whether Modern Cubism has already raised their standards so high that they will not be able to reach a higher level.
Both the musicians proudly announce that the album “Les plaints d’un Icare” is only the first part of the entire trilogy. During the breaks in between their concerts and cooperation with some other musical projects, the artists have intensely worked on their new album. This time, the music is going to be adapted for Géo Norge’s poems (a Belgian poet, who died in 1990). The last part of the trilogy is declared to be dedicated to the twentieth-century American poet and writer Dorothy Parker. Well… All we need yet is to wish the musicians all the best, and may they hopefully maintain the same high level as on the album about “The Plaints of a Certain Icarus”. After all, it is an album recorded in the 21st century, by the patronage of the 19th-century master of Decadence, whose ghost must have been hovering over the recording studio.
Vive Baudelaire!
Tracklist:
1. Spleen (je suis comme le roi ...)
2. Les Plaintes d'Un Icare
3. L'Importun
4. La Beauté
5. Une Nuit à l'Opéra
6. L'Avertisseur
7. Les Aveugles
8. Le Monstre
9. Le Flacon
10. L'Exil
11. Le Jeu
12. La Mort Des Amants
13. Chanson d'Après-Midi
www.moderncubism.com
www.myspace.com/moderncubism
I was, the summer arrived unexpectedly… Soon, the autumn will be approaching, but the album about “The Plaints of a Certain Icarus” has been steadily looped in my CD player for several months…
“Les plaints d’un Icare” is Modern Cubism’s second release for Sleep Walking Records. And the very first beats of it already prove electrifying! They literally do not let the listener be left alone for a single moment; they just absorb his or her attention totally, each second and with each sound! The makers of such musical enslavement are Jean-Marc Mélot and Jean-Luc
De Meyer. However, all their creative efforts would have probably misfired if Charles Pierre Baudelaire had not written “The Flowers of Evil”, one and a half centuries ago (1857). That is precisely the volume of poetry, from which the musicians got most of the lyrics that decorate with black flowers the first album released under the name Modern Cubism.
The curious thing is what Monsieur Baudelaire would say now. Monsieur Baudelaire is certainly not turning in his grave. In an unusually stylish manner, Modern Cubism has resurrected the French pioneer of Symbolism and Decadence! The overwhelming coldness and darkness present in this album (e.g. the opening psalm “Spleen (je suis comme le roi…)”, “L’Avertisseur”, “Les Aveugles”, “Le Jeu” and the final song “Chanson d’Après-Midi”) constitute an adequate background for Baudelaire’s lyrical works and should fully satisfy all admirers of the French literary aura of the 40’s and 50’s of the nineteenth century. Yet, the surprisingly dark beauty of this music, for which most credit goes to Jean-Marc Mélot (e.g. “Une Nuit â l’Opéra” and “Exil” – instrumental tracks being entirely his compositions), is not all. The other necessary element, which decides about the uniqueness of this release
and perfectly harmonizes with its style, is Jean-Luc De Meyer’s vocals. As a musician, he is best known for his home project FRONT 242, and now it has probably been the first time for him to sing in his beloved language. Bien sûr, grâce à Monsieur Badelaire.
Their male duo, however, needed some feminine spice. That is why the album features also
a woman on vocals – namely, Fabienne Danloy – whose singing might be said to have reached its peak in the spellbinding song “La Beauté”. So, Baudelaire created a new language for his poetry; and in an equal way, the band’s artists (after appointing Baudelaire as the patron of their album) successfully created for him the musical setting worthy of such a condemned poet! And like the author of “The Flowers of Evil” breathed magic into his words in the past, like the two musicians have given a lot of hypnotizing power to their music in the present century. They have achieved the perfection of style and composition. The question is whether Modern Cubism has already raised their standards so high that they will not be able to reach a higher level.
Both the musicians proudly announce that the album “Les plaints d’un Icare” is only the first part of the entire trilogy. During the breaks in between their concerts and cooperation with some other musical projects, the artists have intensely worked on their new album. This time, the music is going to be adapted for Géo Norge’s poems (a Belgian poet, who died in 1990). The last part of the trilogy is declared to be dedicated to the twentieth-century American poet and writer Dorothy Parker. Well… All we need yet is to wish the musicians all the best, and may they hopefully maintain the same high level as on the album about “The Plaints of a Certain Icarus”. After all, it is an album recorded in the 21st century, by the patronage of the 19th-century master of Decadence, whose ghost must have been hovering over the recording studio.
Vive Baudelaire!
Tracklist:
1. Spleen (je suis comme le roi ...)
2. Les Plaintes d'Un Icare
3. L'Importun
4. La Beauté
5. Une Nuit à l'Opéra
6. L'Avertisseur
7. Les Aveugles
8. Le Monstre
9. Le Flacon
10. L'Exil
11. Le Jeu
12. La Mort Des Amants
13. Chanson d'Après-Midi
www.moderncubism.com
www.myspace.com/moderncubism
