Arthur H
Arthur H loves major changes. After the thrilling whirlwind of guitars, machines and grooves of 'L'Homme Du Monde', which earned him Pop/Rock Album of the Year 2009 at La Victoire de la Musique, and after the explosive energy of the tour that followed, 'Mystic Rumba' is Arthur H in private reflection, alone, behind his piano.
"After this very techno-rock energy, I needed a shared solitude, a sensual intimacy, very close to people,' confides the singer, "to find myself, without artifice, exposed, like under a huge magnifying glass."
Mystic Rumba also puts under the microscope a selection of 24 titles from the last ten years of Arthur H's repertoire. This is the chance to feel this storyteller's warm and fascinating voice and the nocturnal and cinematographic atmosphere he creates, and also to hear his songs, classics in the making, which merit rediscovery.
To reach his desire for tranquility, the pianist isolated himself in the amazing studio of La Fabrique, in a XVIIIth Century house near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the heart of the French countryside. In this ancient property owned by huge record collector, surrounded by thousands of vinyl LPs "all Bach, Debussy or Stravinsky'.
The day after Arthur's arrival in Provence, a snow storm cut the electricity for twenty-four hours that reinforced the feeling of silence, breath, in sync with the aesthetic of this double album. "I found myself in a cocoon of culture, friendship and music," appreciates the singer. If on 'L'Homme Du Monde', he had abandoned the keyboard for the guitar, Arthur's musical course was always connected to his pianist's universe. In spite of learning late (aged 13-14), this son and grandson of pianists quickly understood that he had this instrument under his skin.
Since his earliest recordings, he played all kinds of pianos. However, rarely had he experienced so much pleasure as with the marvel which awaited him at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. With this immense black Yamaha (CFIIIS, a model highly prized by classical musicians), found the ideal companion for the elegance of his preconception. The gentle class of the instrument allowed him to take control of the radical reinterpretations of this work.
At the start of his career, the beginning of the 1990s, this admirer of Gainsbourg had inherited from Tom Waits the urge to tell current stories with the instruments of yesterday. Then later, with the albums Trouble-fête (1996) and especially of Pour Madam X (2000), Arthur H, a Portishead fan, understood that his hybrid talent could use the groove of machines, electro music and trance to combine within his songs, rock poetry and psychedelic pop.
The sober piano-voice of Mystic Rumba makes the characters in the songs of this born screenwriter come alive - the body-builder of the song 'Annabelle' , The lady of Shanghai, Nancy and Tarzan, Marilyn, Lily Dale, the Three Small Dwarfs. With a delicacy and a restraint, passed on also in his singing, the pianist chisels new impressionistic arrangements for emotions "close to the bone."
More than a "Best of", Mystic (" for the mysterious side of the music which binds people in a sensual way ") Rumba (" the celebration, the whim, the madness towards where it is I want to go") is a new journey and at the same time an ideal introduction.
source la suite sur Myspace
To reach his desire for tranquility, the pianist isolated himself in the amazing studio of La Fabrique, in a XVIIIth Century house near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the heart of the French countryside. In this ancient property owned by huge record collector, surrounded by thousands of vinyl LPs "all Bach, Debussy or Stravinsky'.
The day after Arthur's arrival in Provence, a snow storm cut the electricity for twenty-four hours that reinforced the feeling of silence, breath, in sync with the aesthetic of this double album. "I found myself in a cocoon of culture, friendship and music," appreciates the singer. If on 'L'Homme Du Monde', he had abandoned the keyboard for the guitar, Arthur's musical course was always connected to his pianist's universe. In spite of learning late (aged 13-14), this son and grandson of pianists quickly understood that he had this instrument under his skin.
Since his earliest recordings, he played all kinds of pianos. However, rarely had he experienced so much pleasure as with the marvel which awaited him at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. With this immense black Yamaha (CFIIIS, a model highly prized by classical musicians), found the ideal companion for the elegance of his preconception. The gentle class of the instrument allowed him to take control of the radical reinterpretations of this work.
At the start of his career, the beginning of the 1990s, this admirer of Gainsbourg had inherited from Tom Waits the urge to tell current stories with the instruments of yesterday. Then later, with the albums Trouble-fête (1996) and especially of Pour Madam X (2000), Arthur H, a Portishead fan, understood that his hybrid talent could use the groove of machines, electro music and trance to combine within his songs, rock poetry and psychedelic pop.
The sober piano-voice of Mystic Rumba makes the characters in the songs of this born screenwriter come alive - the body-builder of the song 'Annabelle' , The lady of Shanghai, Nancy and Tarzan, Marilyn, Lily Dale, the Three Small Dwarfs. With a delicacy and a restraint, passed on also in his singing, the pianist chisels new impressionistic arrangements for emotions "close to the bone."
More than a "Best of", Mystic (" for the mysterious side of the music which binds people in a sensual way ") Rumba (" the celebration, the whim, the madness towards where it is I want to go") is a new journey and at the same time an ideal introduction.
source la suite sur Myspace