HAUT LE COEUR
jean luc billing and oberst gregor have teamed up for a new project that merges jean luc's writing with gregor's music. "haut le coeur" is the first result of this alliance and is featured here exclusively.
says gregor: "i always was and still am very fond of the french language, especially in a musical implementation. over the years the desire for 'good' and sensual texts that I could perform grew but due to my french being rather 'improvisée' someone else would have to be the author. during the last meeting in strasbourg jean luc et moi have worked out a nice approach: he will write the words and I will put them into music and sing - that's the deal."
and jean luc points out: "Ecrire un texte et l'oublier... Douter... Puis retrouver ce même texte mis en musique et chanté de maniere incroyable par Gregor. Réaliser alors que cette dimension nouvelle a fait perdre a chaque mot son éventuelle banalité initiale; Et réaliser même que le sens de chaque phrase s'est retrouvé transfiguré, transcendé par cette mise en forme hybride et mutante... Un résultat inespéré, intensément stimulant, génial... L'exotisme apres mutations!"
JEAN LUC PHOTOGRAPHIÉ PAR ERIC ANTOINE
HERE IT IS: THE ALBUM THAT OBERST GREGOR AND STEPHANE LU CREATED TOGETHER DURING THE PAST ONE AND A HALF YEARS. GREGOR, HAILING FROM STUTTGART, GERMANY AND STEPHANE WHO LIVES IN BIARRITZ, FRANCE HERE PRESENT 13 SONGS OF A GREAT AND ENTERTAINING VARIETY. BECAUSE EUROPE IS NOT JUST A BUILDING OF VAGUE IDEAS BUT AN ARTISTIC VISION THE TEAM STOPS AT NOTHING. BE IT THE COARSE ELECTRODISCO OF "DANCE ON THE RUINS" OR THE MAJESTIC BEAUTY OF "MA FEMME DE MER"; THE MADDENING OLDSKOOL HOUSE FLAVOR OF "QUEEN OF MY RAINY DAYS" OR THE ECHOS OF COLDWAVE IN "RAY GAY", EACH SONG COMES IN A DIFFERENT VEIN AND MISSES NOT TO HIT ON THE SPOT. IF STEPHANE IS TO BE CONSIDERED AS A MASTER OF FRENCH NEU-POP GREGOR COULD BE HANDLED AS THE PERP WHO THROWS IN THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TECHNOLOGICALLY REFINED POST-INDUSTRIALISM, THIS HOWEVER VIA THE INTERFACE OF VINTAGE SYNTHESIZERS AND DRUMMACHINES.
GIVE YOUR BRAIN A QUICK MELT AND YOUR BODY ITS FREEDOM WITH OBERST GREGOR AND STEPHANE LU WHO PRESENT THIS 3-TRACKER FOR MIT PATRICK COWLEY AM LEDERPLATZ. A BEAT-HEAVY ROCKING UNDERGROUND DISCO PIECE IN VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL PLUS AN EXTRA ACOUSTIC VERSION IS WHAT YOU GET. THE WHOLE DISC CLOCKS IN AT SIX AND A HALF MINUTES AND IT EMITS ENERGY RIGHT FROM THE START. STEPHANE AND GREGOR BOW TO THE GENIUS OF PATRICK COWLEY WHO WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PURVEYORS OF ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC AND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE GREATEST INDUSTRIAL-FUNK RECORD OF ALL TIMES: INDOOR LIFE'S DEBUT RELEASE FROM 1980. HE WAS A MUSICIAN WITH A VERY SPECIAL VISION THAT HE REALIZED WITH ETERNALLY BEAUTIFUL SONGS LIKE "SEA HUNT", "INVASION" AND MANY MORE... A TRUE HERO!
THUS MOSIEUR LU AND THE OBERST DID NOT TRY TO COPY PATRICK'S MUSIC BUT INSTEAD BUILT A POWERFUL SONG THAT USES COWLEY-RELATED PHRASES MODIFIED INTO A NEW CONTEXT, FRENCH BOY STEPHANE SINGING THE COOL WORDS IN GERMAN MAKES FOR EXTRA LISTENING PLEASURE.
AVEC STEPHANE LU PENDANT LE SHOOTING DU VIDEO POUR "MIT PATRICK COWLEY AM LEDERPLATZ", REALISATEUR: LE CHARMANT JEAN CHRISTOPHE SCHIEBER.
THIS IS THE CURRENT CATALOGUE OF RELEASES ON GREGOR'S LABEL DISCOS VEVEOS . DV IS SPECIALIZED IN LIMITED EDITION HANDMADE DISCS COVERING A WIDE RANGE OF MUSICAL STYLES BUT ALWAYS INVOLVING COOLNESS, DESIGN AND ORIGINALITY.
THE RELEASES ARE AVAILABLE VIA THE DV WEBSITE AND CHEZ GEMM; IN THE USA DISCOS VEVEOS IS DISTRIBUTED EXCLUSIVELY BY EAR RATIONAL WHO ARE VERY NICE GUYS.