MY JAZZY CHILD - the drums Indie rock has short term memory, and most of us have relegated My Jazzy Child’s songs in some humid, remote place of their mind . One has to admit : his latest album has the same age as a good old bottle of wine. Far from accepting the relentless curse of passing time, Damien Mingus hasn’t forced himself to silence, though, and hasn’t stopped knob-twiddling and solitary songwriting either; already too busy with Centenaire (two celebrated albums already), this ancient soldier of noise music and lo-fi recycling quite simply turned his back to the wave of panic of most musicians on the Titanic of music industry and kept on recording at home, in basements and in studios for nothing, for himself, for the sake of music. Saying that Damien took his time to record The Drums would be a euphemism, as those 32 intense and dense minutes of music asked for 6 whole years of day-to-day invention, heaven-sent studio time, abandoned grand projects and rescue mission of lost audiofiles imprisoned in dying computers. Describing this hazardous process, one will be awed by what one hears: a super dense, coherent and fierce little gem of a record, which sounds like it was conceptualized from its overture to its finale. There’s also some key idea, exposed in the title but not hearable in all tracks, which kind of holds it together: the use, both as bone-structure and horizon, of fragments of drums sounds removed from rehearsals with King Q4 or old tracks from metalcore band Botch. And a whole lotta rock music. And non-rock too. The rest is indeed in keeping with 6 years of passing time and opportunities: “The Escape” was entirely orchestrated by label mate Orval Carlos Sibelius, “Suicide with Style” was recorded with live and direct a band, while most other songs were recorded in various home locations, sitting in front of the amplifier and of the computer. Hearing those labyrinthine and paradoxically harmonious songs, amnesiacs as well as neophytes will also be awed to discover (or rediscover) one the most densely populated universes of the French Underground, as a whole arch of libertarian and solar music genres throb in this album’s afterthoughts: Albert Marcoeur, Swans, The Residents, the Microphones (which Damien claims he “barely knows of”), Ethiopian pop music, stoner rock, early Norwegian black metal, Van Morrison and even Lou Reed, the most famous ballad of which is impressionistically quoted in the fake cover of “Perfect Day”. Hearing those intimate polyphonies and bursts of formal brilliance, veterans will also acknowledge the fact that Damien doesn’t merely speak through other people’s songs and recognize the inimitable blueprint of an old friend – or, at least, of an eminently singular talent. Both as a comeback and a newcomer’s act, The Drums belongs to the kind of artistic statements that one simply cannot overlook.
artist : My Jazzy Child album : The Drums label : Clapping Music ref : Clap017 format : cd / digital Digital release : 01.01.2011 CD release : 02.02.2011 distribution : La Baleine Written, performed, recorded and mixed by Damien Mingus http://myjazzychild.free.fr The Escape : mixed by Raphaël Seguin Suicide with Style : recorded and mixed by Jildaz LeBraz Master by Emiliano Flores KingQ4 : drums on The Party / Suicide with style /I fed you, but i won’t kiss you / Tons of Hope / Woods at night / Never Look Back Orval Carlos Sibelius : electric guitars and bass on The Escape / electric guitars on Tons of Hope Raphaël Seguin : electric guitars on Suicide with Style Jildaz LeBraz : bass on Suicide with Style Aurélien Potier : cello on I Can Guillaume Pellerin : Clarinet on I Can Artwork by Atelier 25 www.atelier-25.com www.clappingmusic.com
promo : Clarisse Vallée/Club Bureau
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