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February 20, 2007
Can Au Revoir Simone win an Oscar?
Forgive the oblique title. An explanation follows... Now.
A friend made a case, at the bar, that The 40 Year-Old Virgin deserved the nod for best picture at that year's Oscars. On the surface, it's easy to dismiss this as ludicrous. But that mockery surface loses its luster when you realize that past winners have included A Beautiful Mind and Crash. The 40 Year-Old Virgin was a warm, funny, and well-written and paced comedy. Sane people could argue that, reel-for-reel, that movie was better than the contenders.
This set-up, dear folks, is for me to contemplate whether the eventually-to-be-released Au Revoir Simone album The Bird of Music could be considered for album of the year.
The Bird of Music, the second album from the Brooklyn trio of keyboardists/singers, is lush, welcoming, and delightful from start to beginning. But it is not audacious, adventurous, or dramatic, the type of music that usually wins (at least my list).
An argument could be made that, second-for-second, it could be the best album of 2007. But we'll see how that goes.
Au Revoir Simone - A Violent Yet Flammable World
Getting past the Wall of Sound drum intro (ladies, I hate to admit something I love so much is hackneyed, but we got to get past our Ronettes obsessions), the synth carries through multiple layers, becoming enveloped by swelling strings, mellifluous singing, and staccato drums. The song carries along pleasant enough, understated, until, after the second musical bridge, the ladies get into a full-force asymmetrical round. Truly blissful stuff.
Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song
When you have three band members playing keyboards, there's plenty of nuanced developments that are only detectable after multiple listens. Sad Song combines the familiar keyboards (one holding the base, the other the melody) with horn section and a vocal emotion that expresses disillusionment, echoing the titular emotion.
Video for Fallen Snow
With a crop of strong albums already released in 2007, Au Revoir Simone has a lot of competition. But don't think that, because they're earnest or understated, they don't deserve a chance.
// Au Revoir Simone Web site
// Au Revoir Simon MySpace
// Buy music in May. See notes here.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at February 20, 2007 08:34 PM
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Comments
Ah, I love Au Revoir Simone! What's more endearing than three brunettes on the hunt for buried treasure?
Posted by: Koren Zailckas at February 22, 2007 02:18 PM
I saw them in-store a couple months ago, and they were great. Really looking forward to the album; SXSW has the "Fallen Snow" mp3:
http://2007.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/49217.html
Posted by: Roland at February 24, 2007 01:54 AM
hey! there is an awesome video interview with au revoir simone on flasher.com, check it out:
Posted by: ollie at March 9, 2007 06:11 AM
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