Today's "The 5" video interview is with "French" band Phoenix, and it leads one to one of two conclusions about these not-quite French guys: Either they have a dry, cheeky sense of humor, or they truly need hugs. Is it just that pertinent for Phoenix fans to know that they're not friends, and no, the Paris suburb where the band started was not fun? I mean, they're basically kidding and throwing some Euro deadpan at us... Right?
Cryptic joking and stoic attitude aside, Phoenix's Air-meets-Daft Punk style of pop-rock is totally the type of stuff you earn cool points for listening to. Frontman Thomas Mars' piercing vocals paired with the off-kilter, perhaps lost-in-translation, lyrics is the among the group's most magnetic appeal. Phoenix's fourth album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, needs some addressing, though: The first single, "Lisztomania" (as I understand it), references both the Hungarian composer, as well as the '70s musical comedy of the same name. Not in your DVD collection? Apparently you're missing out on Nazi vampires and giant vaginas.
As of late, Phoenix performed its new single, "1901," on Saturday Night Live in April, and even more recently, on It's On With Alexa Chung -- check out the video, and find out why Phoenix isn't really friends. Or fully French.
Who saw It's On With Alexa Chung yesterday? Everybody here sure did. It's kind of getting to be this crazy phenomenon at the office. Every day at noon, the nail-biting, hair-pulling and obscenities (not to mention the "work") stop and Alexa's stylie little face beams out from every single cubicle TV. This probably sounds like some hackneyed sales pitch, but I swear it's true!
Yesterday, when she showed all those internet clips of people falling and nailing their crotches on pylons, etc, etc, you could hear people shouting "OOF!" all down the hall. Even the old guys were cracking up! Anyway, just thought you might like to know about that. I've never seen such an uproar around here.
I chimed in on the yelling (the uhhh... Chung Chatter? :-/) yesterday when Phoenix showed up to play "1901." Did you notice who the drummer was?! Dude. Trick question. It was not a drummer at all. It was a ghetto-blaster! Man are the French cool.
It was interesting to hear that big gussied-up single all stripped-down and acoustic. The "Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh" bit has a totally different vibe without all the airy production. But I digress. The point is, what a performance! Watch as those mega-talented Frenchies do their thing for Alexa Chung in the sci-fi talking-picture-rectangle below. Just hit play. Easy.
Esser is a tough dude to Google. Lucky for us, he has posted this introduction on a site called Bebo:
Esser is a person not a band. I use a computer machine and some instruments to make popular songs. Most of my songs are in the key of E.
I have also put together that Esser is from London and wears his hair like the Slim Jim mascot. What I already knew is that Esser knows how to make the club get crunk. His designer blend of house, two-step, rock and outsider-easy-listening (which amounts roughly to a whimsical mix of Phoenix meets The Streets) has got the whole London underground on lock. He's also in the midst of his first U.S. tour, an abbreviated trip with stops in New York, L.A., San Francisco and Chicago.
To fuel the fire he ignited with his debut LP, Braveface, Esser now sporadically drops solid gold mixtapes for free on his website. (You can sign up for his feed RIGHT HERE.) I highly recommend that you do that if you expect to be entertaining anytime this summer. All you gotta to do to set a party off, is pop in an Esser mixtape and watch it burn.
On their excellent new record, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix bend their distinctive sound into familiar but intoxicatingly new shapes. On WAP, following successful forays into soul and lazy glam, they slip back into their most natural groove with a sophisticated set of effortless Parisian dream-pop. Sort of a Lost In Translation vibe, if that makes sense (listen, you'll see).
In an illuminating Dazed interview, the French pop pioneers attribute their re-reinvention to a "spirit of a wide range of styles and opportunities." To best harness this spirit, they wrote the album in a variety of non-musical work spaces, among them a New York City hotel room (in the style of New Wave cinema visionary Francois Truffaut) and a boat (in the style of... Jacques Cousteau? Michael McDonald??).
Whether or not they're on your radar yet, Phoenix (who started out as Air's backing band) are already a sensation. They sell out in hours every time they come through the States. And, with the release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the sensation has developed into a full-on frenzy.
They released lead WAP single, "1901," for free on the internet, where it was quickly snapped up by millions. Shortly after that, they implemented the second prong of their world invasion by playing Saturday Night Live. Huge. Now, with the release of their hypnotic and understated "1901" video, they've pretty much officially declared ownership of all music.
I see a lot of videos, obviously, and man, this one is a stunner. Quietly sexy, noir-ish and just outlandishly good.
Watch "1901" below, get the Phoenix fever and drop by the MTV Subterranean Blog to find out where you can hear the rest of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for free.
Randomly, last night during a commercial break of The Real Housewives of New York (wish I could quit you, Jill Zarin!), my friends and I started talking about Phoenix (if you've never heard of them, think Muse meets TV On The Radio meets Air) and wondering if the French pop-rock band was even still together. It had, after all, been a MINUTE AND A HALF since Phoenix dropped ANYTHING new, and I've been listening to half of Alphabetical and another half of It's Never Been Like That since 2006.
Well, zut alors, y'all! Phoenix just released their new single, "1901" this week, and it's a major rager from their upcoming album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, out May 25, 2009. I will now delude myself into thinking that I can simply say the name of an artist, and wake up the next day to discover they've got a new track out! Are you reading this, Deee-Lite?
+ Stream/ download Phoenix's new track, "1901."
