Nouvelles d'ici... News from abroad

  Ce que ça fait drôle d'avoir son article dans le journal ! En tout cas, j'en suis ravie :) Pélissanne, mon cher et tendre petit village, m'aura décidément beaucoup apporté !!

Et je rappelle, pour les personnes dans les alentours de Salon-de-Provence, que je serai à la librairie La Portée des Mots ce samedi 13 juin à partir de 15h pour une rencontre-dédicaces !! :)

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  Oh how it feels weird to have one's own article in the newspaper ! No matter what, I'm delighted about it :) Pélissanne, my dear and sweet little village, will have definitely opened a lot to me !!
(I may provide a translation for you soon, dear English-speakers :))

LIBERTÉ (2)

(Version française dans le précédent article)

Today's post will follow a somewhat different shape from what I usually do. Because the events I have to share are all important to me and are tied up under one and only theme : freedom.

Meaning of freedom is quite a wide concept and may gather at the same time independance, lightness, self-awareness, emancipation, but most of all choice. Having the choice to live one's life the way one intends it to be.

 Almost a year ago, I was signing my first publishing contract for a children book project. This project, if you've browsed this blog, you know about it. Indeed, during the children book exhibition in Montreuil last year, I met a publisher who was interested in my end of studies album, my reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast. And it happened that I would then have to continue the work in order for the book to be publishable, which means that I had to produce quite a number of furthermore illustrations.
I had a very hard time with this project, for several reasons.

Seven months passed by in between the end of my studies and the meeting with this publisher. During that period of time, I worked on my drawing, I've been aiming at making it evolve. I started developing other projects that were really tempting me, I've been aiming at finding my own identity outside school. And this identity, it was NOT my end of studies project. Besides, the perspective of diving back into something that was definitively over in my mind had made me reluctant. Erasing for one moment everything I had started to build and going back to this old style that wasn't looking like me that much afterall.

 Likewise, when I had evaluated the amount of work it would require, I had realized that the next four following months of my life, at least, were about to be dedicated to this project and that I wouldn't have the possibility to move on with something else. Of course, this is what an illustrator's work is about and normally I would have been pleased, but this statement associated with my first point dived me into a long and tiring adventure, where my personal evolution has been on standby.
So today, this is with an intense feeling of lightness that I announce you that my work on this project is now OVER. On this Friday, January 9th of 2015, I returned the set of works I had started to do research into in June. The intensity of these last four months finds at last its balance and here I am, relieved from my school past.
I then hope that all of my energy will find echo with readers and that the pleasure to see my first album in bookshops will erase the difficulties I met during its creation :)

Here goes my first feeling of freedom. A huge weight lifing up and most of all, the possibility of moving on, of exploring, of chosing the path I want to follow.

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I will keep myself evasive on the following point as it is very personal, but I still wanted to include it in this post since it completely matches the theme.
Since the end of my studies, I have needed to feel myself evolve, to commit to a new adventure that is maturity and responsability. Not everything went the way I would have hoped and little by little, I kind of implanted deeper and deeper roots, feeling like paralyzed and blocked in a space-time, witness of the world's evolution around me and without me.

A little more than a month ago, a buried thought that I had judged unreachable got back to the surface. And I then took a decision that will change quite a lot of things in my life to come. I simply realized my huge need for a new air, to carry out a demarcation between what is my teenager/student life and what is to become my adult life.
As soon as I set this finality, my prison started to fade out. I now have an aim, a personal achievement to reach. And even if I know that my fears will still be there on the way leading me to it, my freedom lies on the idea of feeling understood and supported and most of all on the idea of now knowing where I am going to.
And in order to prepare this new air, I will already allow myself a few holidays in two weeks, calmly, in the city of Annecy, that I can't wait to discover :)

Here goes my second feeling of freedom, the one of now having a goal that I've decided on and that will, I know it, allow me to escape and to open up.

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At last, I wanted to share a few lines considering the events that happened in France two weeks ago. French and non-French, as you probably know, there was an attack on the 7th of January 2015 within the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office.

Beyond the unexplained and unbalanced violence of this act, what touched me the most is the lack of tolerance. The fact of not accepting that a person thinks differently than oneself and expresses it. To attack with weapons people who never defended themselves but with a pencil is, besides, overweening and coward. That we agree or that we don't agree, the newspaper always displayed humor only, towards everybody, but never hate. And those people, under the pretext of beliefs, still violated their principles by encouraging violence. Which makes me believe that terrorism has no religion. It cannot be otherwise. It is only an unstable pretext to hate. There was here a lack of respect towards a religious community but also a lack of respect towards a laic country, which has at the same time no religion, yet embraces them all.
Onto a humoristic note, but still quite serious to me, I share a quote from the character of Yoda in Star Wars : "Fear leads to anger ; anger leads to hate ; hate leads to suffering." Yes, fear can lead to hate and it is hard to resist to that feeling, but succumbing to it would be agreeing that they are right.

Here goes my third and last feeling of freedom. The one that should characterize all peoples. The one that allows to express ourselves, as much as possible with tolerance and with some kind of open-mindedness, and then driving away a collective suffering.

LIBERTÉ (1)

(English version in next post)

L'article d'aujourd'hui va emprunter une forme quelque peu différente de ce que je fais habituellement. Car les évènements que j'ai à partager ont tous une importance pour moi et sont réunis sous une seule et même thématique : la liberté.

Vaste concept que celui de la liberté, pouvant à la fois rassembler l'indépendance, la légèreté, la conscience de soi, l'émancipation, mais surtout le choix. Avoir le choix de mener sa vie comme on l'entend.

Il y a presque un an, je signais mon premier contrat d'édition pour un projet jeunesse. Ce projet, si vous avez parcouru ce blog, vous le connaissez. En effet, lors du Salon de Montreuil l'année denière, j'ai rencontré un éditeur intéressé par mon album de fin d'études, ma réinterprétation de la Belle et la Bête. Et il s'est avéré que je devais poursuivre le travail afin que l'album soit éditable, c'est-à-dire fournir un certain nombre d'illustrations supplémentaires.
J'ai eu beaucoup de mal avec ce projet, pour plusieurs raisons.

Il s'était écoulé 7 mois entre la fin de mes études et ma rencontre avec cet éditeur. Durant cette période, j'ai travaillé mon dessin, j'ai cherché à le faire évoluer. J'ai commencé à développer d'autres projets qui me faisaient envie, j'ai cherché à me trouver ma propre identité en dehors de l'école. Et cette identité, ce n'était PAS mon projet de fin d'études. Aussi, la perspective de me replonger dans quelque chose qui était définitivement terminé dans ma tête m'avais rendue réticente. Effacer l'espace d'un instant tout ce que j'avais commencé à bâtir et repartir sur cet ancien style qui ne me ressemblait pas tant que ça. 
 
De même, lorsque j'ai évalué la somme de travail que cela allait demander, j'ai réalisé que les quatre prochains mois de ma vie, au moins, allaient être consacrés à ce projet et que je n'aurais pas la possibilité d'avancer sur autre chose. Bien sûr, c'est là le travail d'un illustrateur et en temps normal cela m'aurait ravie, mais ce constat associé à mon premier point m'a plongé dans une aventure longue et fatigante, où mon évolution personnelle a été mise en attente.
C'est donc aujourd'hui avec un sentiment de légèreté intense que je vous annonce que le travail pour ce projet est désormais TERMINE. Ce vendredi 9 janvier 2015, j'ai rendu l'ensemble des travaux sur lesquels j'avais commencé à faire des recherches au mois de juin. L'intensité de ces quatre derniers mois trouve enfin son pendant et me voilà délestée de mon passé scolaire.
J'espère donc que toute mon énergie trouvera echo auprès des lecteurs et que le plaisir de voir mon premier album en librairie effacera les difficultés rencontrées lors de sa création :)

Ainsi va mon premier sentiment de liberté. Un immense poids qui se soulève et surtout la possibilité d'avancer, d'explorer, de choisir le chemin que je veux emprunter.

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Je resterai évasive sur le point qui va suivre car il est très personnel, mais je tenais tout de même à l'inclure dans cet article car il répond complètement au thème.
Depuis la fin de mes études, j'ai ressenti le besoin de me sentir évoluer, de m'engager dans une aventure nouvelle qu'est la maturité et la responsabilité. Tout ne s'est pas passé comme je l'aurais espéré et peu à peu, j'ai comme implanté des racines de plus en plus profondes, me sentant comme paralysée et bloquée dans un espace-temps, témoin de l'évolution du monde autour de moi et sans moi.

 Il y a un peu plus d'un mois, une pensée enfouie et jugée inaccessible a refait surface. Et j'ai alors pris une décision qui va changer pas mal de choses prochainement dans ma vie. J'ai simplement réalisé mon immense besoin d'un nouvel air, d'opérer une démarcation entre ce qui est ma vie d'adolescente/étudiante et ce qui est sur le point de devenir ma vie d'adulte.
Dès lors que je me suis fixée cette finalité, ma prison a commencé à s'évanouir. J'ai désormais un but, un accomplissement personnel à atteindre. Et même si je sais que mes angoisses seront toujours présentes sur le chemin qui m'y mènera, ma liberté se loge dans l'idée de me sentir comprise et soutenue et surtout dans l'idée de savoir désormais où je vais.
Et en préparation de ce nouvel air, je vais déjà m'accorder quelques jours de vacances d'ici trois semaines, bien au calme, dans la ville d'Annecy, qu'il me tarde de découvrir. :)

Ainsi va mon second sentiment de liberté, celui d'avoir désormais un objectif que j'ai décidé et qui, je le sais, va me permettre de m'évader et de m'épanouir.

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 Pour finir, je tenais à partager quelques lignes au vu des événements qui se sont déroulés en France la semaine passée. Français et non français, vous le savez sûrement, une attaque a eu lieu le 7 janvier 2015 au sein des locaux du journal satirique Charlie Hebdo.

Au delà de la violence inexpliquée et déséquilibrée de cet acte, ce qui m'a le plus touchée est le manque de tolérance. Le fait de ne pas accepter qu'une personne pense différemment de nous et l'exprime. Attaquer par les armes des personnes qui ne se sont jamais défendues qu'avec un crayon est, de plus, démesuré et lâche. Que l'on adhère ou que l'on n'adhère pas, le journal n'a toujours fait preuve que d'humour, à l'égard de tous, mais jamais de haine. Et ces personnes, sous couvert de leurs croyances, ont pourtant enfreint les principes de celles-ci en prônant la violence. Ce qui me fait croire que le terrorisme n'a pas de religion. Il ne peut pas en être autrement. Ce n'est qu'un prétexte bancal à la haine. Il y a eu là un manque de respect envers une communauté religieuse mais aussi un manque de respect envers un pays laïc, qui n'a donc à la fois pas de religion et pourtant les embrasse toutes.
Petite note d'humour, mais somme toute assez sérieuse pour ma part, je partage une citation du personnage de Yoda dans Star Wars : "Fear leads to anger ; anger leads to hate ; hate leads to suffering." Oui, la peur peut mener à la haine et il est difficile de résister à ce sentiment, mais y succomber serait leur donner raison.

Ainsi va mon troisième et dernier sentiment de liberté. Celui qui devrait caractériser l'ensemble des peuples. Celui qui permet de s'exprimer, autant que possible dans la tolérance et avec une certaine ouverture d'esprit, et ainsi éloigner une souffrance collective.

FALL

Heart in a circle
Bleeding crumbled blossoms

Shrivelled down in a well
Staring up at what is so dear
You loose your breath and limbs unclear,
Still painting your own shell

And you hope to reach kingdoms
That lead another ramble

Judith - le final

 

    La voilà enfin terminée ! Et je dois avouer qu'après deux semaines de peinture, c'est un soulagement.

Je ne voulais cependant pas vous laisser seuls en tête-à-tête avec cette image sans vous donner quelques explications. En effet, on m'a en particulier demandé pourquoi aucune trace de sang n'était visible sur mon illustration. Question très pertinente puisqu'après tout, il s'agit d'une décapitation ! Sans plus attendre, voici donc une petite analyse point par point de mon projet pour arriver ainsi à la réponse à cette question...

Je l'avais évoqué très brièvement sur le premier article posté à propos de cette "Judith", mon intention était d'en faire quelque chose de différent des interprétations très sombres et réalistes que l'on connaît. Ce personnage de l'Ancien Testament -car oui, je le précise, il s'agit bien là de l'histoire de Judith et Holopherne- est une femme courageuse qui va défier un chef d'armée non pas par la force, mais en usant de son intelligence. Puisque c'est une femme - et une belle femme qui plus est- elle va donc tout d'abord se servir de ses atouts physiques pour piéger Holopherne. Elle s'invite dans sa tente, le séduit, lui faire boire du bon vin qui saoûle et, une fois la vigilance de la brute endormie, va saisir l'occasion pour le décapiter. (La servante de Judith est de la partie, mais afin de ne pas surcharger mon image, j'ai préféré me concentrer sur ces deux personnages principaux) S'installe alors en moi l'image d'une pin-up des temps anciens. En effet, j'ai appris il y a maintenant quelques temps ce qu'était réellement une pin-up : une femme belle, maligne, qui déstabilise par ses charmes, s'en amuse et éventuellement s'en sert pour arriver à ses fins. Et lorsque l'on regarde ces pin-up, elles ont toutes cet air innoncent ou amusé si caractéristique.

C'est donc la raison pour laquelle j'ai tenu à donner cette expression particulière à mon personnage, ce visage à la fois étonné et enfantin, tout en arborant une robe et un déhanché très féminins.
Pour en revenir à la question source de cette analyse, je dirais donc qu'une telle ambiance ne faisait pas forcément bon ménage avec des giclées d'hémoglobine !

Le point plus ou moins historique étant maintenant réglé, je vais passer aux détails et aux couleurs de la présente illustration. En accord avec mon argument ci-dessus, il était logique que je ne veuille pas représenter des flots de sang ou même le cou d'Holopherne, jugulaire à l'air. J'ai donc vêtu notre homme d'une cape bien épaisse remontant assez haut et masquant ainsi la partie sectionnée de son corps. Dans cette même optique, la tête tombée à terre se présente dans l'ombre, restes du cou non visibles, et ainsi, si le sang doit couler, cela se fait hors de notre vue. Cependant, j'ai profité du goût prononcé d'Holopherne pour le vin pour ajouter un gobelet renversé, assez proche de sa tête, comme un symbole de son propre sang versé.

De plus, le pan de rideau en arrière plan, que je voulais absolument rouge, s'évase depuis le cou du personnage, telle une métaphore. Couleur rouge que l'on retrouve d'ailleurs à l'opposé dans l'image, près de la tête ainsi tombée.

Les seules petites gouttes de sang apparaissant sur l'image se trouvent aux abords de la lame du glaive, de manière presque décorative, toujours pour ne pas rentrer dans ce côté réaliste duquel je voulais m'éloigner.

Et je conclurai par le fait que cette illustration, au travers mon idée première, se voulait être aussi un exercice de type couverture de roman jeunesse. Quelque chose de coloré et de pas trop sanglant était donc en vigueur. ^^

PS : Quant aux incohérences temporelles que l'on pourrait remarquer... Encore une fois, l'image ne se veut pas réaliste, et pour pouvoir combiner mes précédents points avec du dynamisme, ces incohérences étaient nécessaires ! ;)

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    Here she is, at last finished ! And I have to admit that after painting for two weeks, it is a relief. However, I didn't want to leave you alone with this image without giving you some explanations. Indeed, I've been asked in particular why there is no bloodstain at all on my illustration. Very relevant question since afterall, it's about a beheading ! Without any more seconds, here is then a little point-by-point analysis of my project to come up with the answer to that question...

I had mentioned it very briefly on the first post about that "Judith", my intention was to make something very different of it from the very dark and realistic interpretations that we know. This Old Testament character -because yes, I precise, it is indeed about the Judith and Holophernes' story- is a brave woman who is going to defy an army chief not by strength but by using her intelligence. Since she's a woman -and a beautiful woman for that matter- she will first and foremost use her physical assets to trap Holophernes. She is inviting herself in his tent, seduces him, makes him drink some good wine and, once the beast's vigilance is asleep, will take the chance to cut his head off. (Judith's servant was in too, but in order not to overweight my picture, I prefered to focus on these two main characters) Then there is that image settling inside of my head about a pin-up of old times. Indeed, I learnt a while ago now what a pin-up really was : a beautiful woman, smart, who is destabilizing thanks to her charms, plays with it and who may make a good use of it to achieve her goals. And when you look at a pin-up, they all have this innocent or amused look that is so characteristic.
This is then the reason why I wanted to give to my character this specific face look, the fact that it is surprised and child-like at the same time, but also while wearing a feminine dress and a curve on her hip.
To go back to the question that is the source of this analysis, I would say then that some hemoglobin spurts wouldn't have necessarily fit best with such an ambiance !

The more or less historical point being now treated, I will be talking about details and colors in the present illustration. According to my argument above, it was logical for me not to represent blood floods or even Holophernes' neck, jugular in the air. So I dressed our man with a thick cloak coming up quite highly on the top of the body and then hiding the cut part of it. Following that line, the fallen down head is appearing in the shadow, the rests of the neck are not visible and then, if the blood has to flow, it does out of our sight. However, I took advantage of the pronounced wine liking of Holophernes to add an overturned tumbler, quite close to his head, as a symbol of his own spread blood.
Added to that, the piece of curtain in the background, that I absolutely wanted to be red, widens from the neck of the character, just like a metaphor. Red color that we also find at the opposite side of the picture, not too far away from the fallen down head.
The only little bloodstains appearing on the picture can be found around the blade's slide, in an almost ornamenting way, still with the aim of not getting into the realistic side of which I wanted to be kept away.

And I will conclude by the fact that this illustration, through my first idea, was also meant to be kind of a children's novel cover type of exercise. Something colorful and not too bloody was then to be appropriate. ^^

PS : As for the temporal mistakes that one could notice... There again, the picture is meant to be not realistic, and in order to combine my previous points with some dynamism, those mistakes were necessary ! ;)

Tristan & Iseut -Step 3 and final-

  Voilà! C'est terminé! Après deux mois de travail, il est temps de dire au revoir à ce projet et de s'attaquer à l'examen, dernière épreuve de cette année. Ensuite, je pourrai enfin me consacrer à mon autre projet, qui m'attend depuis plus d'un an maintenant, je crois...

En attendant, voici toutes mes planches terminées... Le texte devrait être lisible en agrandissant.

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   That's it! This is over! After two months of work, it is time to say goodbye to this project and to start for the exam, final proof for this year. Then, I will be able at last to devote myself to my other project, which is waiting for me for more than a year now, I guess...

Until then, here are all of my boards finished... The texts above each images are not the literal translation of what I've written, but it will give the main points I think.

 After an uncommon childhood, Tristan happens to be in Marc's faithful service. People around him tell Marc to find a wife, and after having received a blue piece of hair, brought by two birds, Tristan says that he knows whose it is and that he will go to find the young lady. Once he arrives to the place he wanted, he has to fight first a dragon in order to ask for the young girl to his father as a reward.

Tristan won the dragon, but is still hurt. Iseut takes care of him, but when she goes to take back his clean clothes, she sees his broken katana. There is a piece missing on it and she recognizes that it's the piece they had found in the head of his uncle, dead during a fight. She instantly hate Tristan and almost kills him with his own sword. But he tells her some things so well that she decides to leave him alive. She accepts then to go for the castle of Shugo the next day.

Iseut's mother, feeling that her daughter won't be happy, gives her servant a love potion for Iseut and Marc to drink to. But on the boat, the heat is so big that Tristan and Iseut both are very thirsty and drink the love potion. The curse has started. They passionately fall in love with each other.

 Now, they both can't live without the other, but they still have to hide because Iseut still is the wife of the shugo. And every night, Tristan is waiting his beloved under a cherry tree, after he sent her some pieces of woods right to her room, floating by the water.

 Too many doubts are settled around the lovers and Tristan takes Iseut with him to live in the woods, hidden. On one night, Marc is told about the place the two people will spend the night at, and so he runs to it, ready to kill them both. But when he see them, he also noticed Tristan's katana in between, out of its sheath, and he recognizes into this gesture a sign of chastity. He lets them alive but exchanges his ring with Iseut's, in order to show them he came by and that he has been merciful.

 Eventually, Tristan brings Iseut back to the shugo, but she must still sustain the fire test : if she can tell the truth, the fire won't do any harm to her. The lovers have then to imagine a trick. Tristan disguises himself into a beggar and helps Iseut to get down of the boat leading them to the little island where the test will happen. So when Iseut stands in front of the fire, she says that no man ever held her in his arms except Marc and this beggar who just helped her.

 But time is for Tristan to say goodbye to Iseut still. Because he leaves, she gives him a ring thanks to which he'll be able to ask for her at any time. She will come. On his side, he gives her his dog.

Tristan lands on a new area, where the shugo's castle is in danger. He helps them to fight, and the shugo married him to his daughter, Iseut with Pale Hands, as a reward. As he can't forget his one and only love, he confesses to Kaherdin, brother of his wife for now on, who becomes his best friend.

 

But after several attempts to see Iseut again, among which a huge misunderstanding resulting in Tristan thinking Iseut doesn't love him anymore, he decides to leave and find her without telling Kaherdin, nor anyone else. In order to enter Marc's castle easier, he disguises himself once again, but this time into a Nô actor. He tells in front of Marc and all of the people there about his love with Iseut, but noboby believes him and even his love doesn't recognize him, until his dog runs to him to welcome him.

 

 Tristan makes the promise to Iseut that they will soon be together forever. For now, he must go back to Kaherdin and get prepared. But on his way, he fights in the middle of the battle where he's fatally hurt by a poisoned arrow. In his death bed, he asks to talk to Kaherdin alone, and gives him the ring so he can go for Iseut, and they will see each other one last time. If he can come back with her, he will show the white sail. If not, it will be the black sail. But Iseut with Pale Hands heard everything of their conversation...

 Kaherdin did come back with Iseut but when Tristan, unable to move at all, asks his wife to look at the color of the sail, she's so jealous that she answers it is black. Desperately sad, Tristan lets himself die... Just before Iseut arrives. And she lets herself die as well, by his side.

They are buried next to each other, and some cherry tree branches start to grow from Tristan's tomb to Iseut's.

Now, sketches!!

It's never too late... !

        


   Le sujet du jour va être un peu plus différent que d'habitude, et surtout les photos que je vais disperser n'auront pas de rapport avec le texte!! En effet, suite à plusieurs évènements, je vais changer de registre et vous offrir mon classement des albums sortis en 2011, ainsi que mes commentaires! Et donc, comme vous allez vous en rendre compte, les photos enneigées qui les accompagne n'ont pas une significations intrinsèquement philosophiques ou je ne sais quoi! Mais tout simplement je n'ai pas eu le temps comme je le voulais de faire un visuel pour l'occasion et comme il a neigé par ici la semaine dernière et j'aime tellement la neige, je me suis dit que j'allais faire d'une pierre deux coups! ^^

Donc voilà pour vous! Et désolée les gens français, mais le classement a été écrit en anglais et je me sens paaas du tout le courage de tout traduire! Mais, mon vocabulaire n'est pas non plus des plus compliqués à comprendre!!

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   The subject of today will be a bit more different from usual, and most of all, the pictures that I am going to spread won't have any link with the text!! Indeed, after several events, I am going to change of genre and will offer you my ranking of the albums of 2011, as well as my comments! And so, as you will realize, the snowy pictures that accompany them have no intrinsically philosphical meaning or something! But it is simply because I had no time to do a visual for the occasion and as it was snowing around here last week and that I like snow so much, I thought that I shoudl take the occasion! ^^

So here for you!

Thrice - Major/Minor

**

  The songs on this album are in general missing of variety and dynamism, and it seems that all of the tracks are following the same pattern, or at least the same ambience, which leads the album to sound pretty long. I noticed two tracks though, Promises and Disarmed, the first one being probably the most vivid and interesting song on the album and the second one, beginning just as the rest of the songs except that around half of it, a beautiful guitar riff comes out of nowhere and brings the little sparkle I was waiting for. Too bad it's the last track of the album...
I wouldn't call it a bad album though, just that the whole delivers no surprise and that, knowing the number of masterpieces on The Artist In The Ambulance, the only album I had from them for a while,  was a bit disapointed by the band. But ah well... They called it quit a few months ago so I won't be too harsh for this last effort of theirs!

 Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra

***

Having never been a huge fan of Limp Bizkit, I would say that this album is in a good continuity of the previous ones - read that I was not expecting anything special from it, I was already more than happy to know that Walking Away would be an official track! All in all, I would say that the songs are enjoyable and really really nice for some... And some others that I maybe wouldn't have minded taking off, but it's still very minor. The only thing is that it is maybe too repetitive in the formula of the songs, and especially since I own the special edition of it with 18 tracks, which ends to be pretty long. But I acknowledge that the absence time of the band was pretty long, so it's really cool I think that they came back with so many tracks, and with such an awesome guitarist * brackets* But I have the feeling that all I'm writing so far doesn't quite justify the 3 stars, so let's try to be more precise! The first time I listened to the album, I have to admit that I liked it but it wasn't for sure a revelation. And it's still not one but it did grow on me and I happened to find really interesting things in almost every songs, and even if like I said before, the formula is maybe too much the same all along, it doesn't prevent that it is a good formula, with dynamics and nice melodies all in all.

+++ - Crosses

***1/2

I didn't know at all what that new project would sound like, but I enjoyed it! The whole sonority is fresh, the mix of electronic and ambient music is quite efficient and Chino Moreno brings the most relaxing side of his vocals to it. And so the result is an EP I like to listen to when I need to concentrate, or when I'm a bit tired or just feeling calm in general... Well, that is to say that it is not for every mood but still good enough to bring nice feelings, and again not the ones I am used to. This Is A Trick is my favorite, as an opening track it creates the surprise and is very dynamic with little elements I haven't found on the other songs. The rest of the EP is more experimental to me, and I mean that it is turning more around the research of new sonorities and maybe minimalism, which is of course not negative at all though! Just that it sounds maybe a little less structured then, and it is longer to get into it. But all in all again, a very enjoyable EP!


Staind - Staind

***1/2

I didn't know much about Staind before, so let's say that I have started my experience with that one album! And it is a very enjoyable one. To me, it is a good album to just relax and take off from the usual bands I'm listening to. And I think that the proof that it is quite relaxing to me is that the songs I tend to prefer are among the most melodic ones, just like Failing, Throw It All Away or Take a Breath. Even if overall it is a melodic album, but with its good balance of beautiful and more dynamic, heavier songs.And I am now thinking more specifically about the song Now, which has a great riff, and not only, since it is also one of the best to me on the album! And well, apart from telling these little things, I have not much more to say! It is for sure not a revelation, neither a deception at all, but really the kind of music I will enjoy listening to whenever I am in a calm mood or in need of calm...

Silverstein - Rescue

***1/2

This is when I heard that album after maybe a couple of listenings that I realized two things: 1) this band really can play KILLING riffs and 2) oh this is so good when the singer lets clean vocals to the profit of screamings! Indeed, the best example is probably showing on the first track, Medication, which has a wonderful introduction and while the tension starts growing and that you feel the explosion coming, this is the typically punk-emo clean vocals that comes in instead... Not that I had minded at all before, I like a lot this band for anything they do, but it went clear to me that on that album, moments when they are the best are when they simply combine their most powerful riffs with screaming... Which eventually comes later on that same first song! And which makes of it anyway a great way to start the album. I particularly noticed as well Intervention, The Artist (it's rare that a featuring song is among my favorites but it happens! Yeaaah, I have a song in mind that is a featuring and is amazing, but I'm getting out of subject now!) and In Memory Of... which is maybe the softest song on the album though but doesn't prevent it from having a really simple beautiful riff that carries you into the song completely. And as it's the last track, we can say that both the opening and ending songs were well chosen! And then, about the other songs, I would say that it sounds like Silverstein for sure, meaning that they are good ones even if maybe less good than some on their other albums. The thing is that they seem to be shy of innovating, which happens to a lot of bands but then, they will keep doing good songs but expected ones!

Earthtone9 - For Cause And Consequence

****
As always with Earthtone9, at least as far as I know, they could find a great mix of beauty and power on this EP! And I honestly don't know much of what to say because this is simply a good continuity of what they can do. Only with four songs, they could keep variety, each song has its own personality, and still the unity is there! My personal favorite is Ghosts, it's really what I mean when I talk about beauty and power. I am not very good at describing a band in their style... It's more towards my own feeling. And I am aware that my feeling is not necessarily the same as others' but still if it does that effect on me, there are chances it could for other people as well. So I encourage you all to check this EP anyway, considering that it is also the first release they had in a long time!

Cave In - White Silence

****1/2

You want some chaos? Then here you go... I only knew Cave In so far for their album Jupiter, released in 2000, and it seems that I have been missing a lot during the 11 years in between! Or maybe not that much while reading the comments of fans about this newest release... It seems that the band came back to old roots (and what heavy ones!) while some of their public are more attached to the softer sound they had built all along these past years and are seeing 2011 as a big change in the musical history of Cave In. I knew them then during their full soft spacy sound, that I appreciate a lot this said, and so when the title track begun, I at first wondered if we were talking about the same band... Brutal, chaotic, a bit uncomfortable and so relieving at the same time... Actually reminding of The Blood Brothers a bit, at least the Guitarmy period. But in a way higher level. I think I honestly held my breath during the first 6 tracks of this album, diving into a wave of pure beautiful heaviness, mixed at points with that typical, almost celestial, sound that is theirs, and by that I'm particularly talking about Sing My Loves, the epic track on the album and my favorite. If it wasn't for the last three songs, this album would have reached a full 5 stars rating...Indeed, those are really unbalanced with the rest of the album, even if the real intruder is by no means Iron Decibels to me. I guess it has good things in it, and it still has to grow on me but the overall sound of this song is closer to trendy pop-rock bands than to what our ears were so happy to receive during the previous 25 minutes. The two others are just way softer but are keeping in a way a good vibe of what at least the band used to sound like. And Reanimation is, I have to admit, a lovely ending track.
But what I will for sure recall from this album is the crazy feeling I got while listening to it the first time, and the mood it still keeps me in now. A really surprising and great album, for all of those who are missing a refreshing heaviness vibe!

Evanescence - Evanescence

****1/2

Wow... So, with Evanescence... I had almost forgotten about them during these past few years, but thanks to the recent crazy re-discovering of a friend, I went back into them as well! And it just happened that they release a new album on this same year! While Fallen is really still an awesome album to me, when I heard What You Want, the first single off of this new self-titled album, I couldn't help but to be slightly disappointed. The song finally grew on me though. But the good news were that What You Want happened to be on a lower level than most of the album to me, making the rest of the songs really great, and for some... Really really really great! We can still recognize the priamary elements of the band, still with an evolution in the style, in the ambience, which is of course only a good thing and what any band should seek for. My personal favorites are Oceans, Sick, which caught me right at the first listening, and The Change, which incedibly grew on me, most likely due to the hard moment I was going through and the power that this song had had over it. But the whole album just keeps growing on me with each new listening. It is all at the same time catchy, beautiful and powerful, and even if I can't say that the band is among my top favorites, still there are moments when I can't stop listening to them because, I guess, it feels really good inside. And this is just the key of a very good album!

Fear and The Nervous System - Fear And The Nervous System

****1/2

This album was a very very nice surprise... I was expecting liking it a lot after the preview with Choking Victim, which is an amazing song, and my expectations have been more than fulfilled. The whole album is diverse, and I would say maybe quite classic yet with a little something more that creates the originality. I already loved this album and still it keeps growing on me, I am hearing all the time these songs with something new, new feelings towards each and then I am not hearing a song on a lower level than the others (maybe to the exception of Chinatown, which is for sure my least favorite track, but still great). It has everything: dynamics, great and beautiful melodies, true ambiences and a wonderfully talented vocalist! And I don't really know what else to say because I am not sure I can even explain why I like it. So I would just recommand it for anyone who is maybe waiting for a revelation or just waiting for the occasion to be left leading through ones imaginary and get a bit crazy!


Times of Grace - The Hymn of a Broken Man

****1/2

Here we go... Times of Grace have been quite a revelation to me. When I heard a couple of  preview songs, it had already made me want to hear more and so, when I saw the album in a music store, all alone in the middle of other bands', I didn't hesitate because I had the feeling I would like it a lot, and you can say that it was a sign it was meant for me to buy it then! Indeed, I've been caught right away by the melodies, as for the instruments as for the vocals... I, usually not too fond of heavy screamings like that, found myself really conquered because of the balance between screamings and melodic vocals... And his voice, I have to say, is pretty much death! I couldn't really explain the whole feeling I get from most of the songs... The music violently takes me to the stomach but then fluidly and softly carries me away with it. Fight for Life demonstrates that feeling perfectly. It hurts because it's so beautiful... Have you ever had that feeling too? When you almost get tears while listening, but you don't know if it's just the beauty of it or if it's because it tells you something so intimate that it touches you so much but you don't even understand why. The title track does that effect a bit, as well. And really, there are just a few songs that I find a little under the others in terms of power, like Live In Love, but... Even the last three tracks that I had found weaker have grown on me now and I see them in a new way. I recommend that album to anyone looking maybe for another world to discover. It is at least kind of the effect it had on me!

 


Minora - Imago

*****

A perfect album to close your eyes and let yourself be overwhelmed by beauty, by calm and intensity at the same time. It also has the effect of a warm nestle in which we could find shelter, and through which the cold world outside could appear even more beautiful. But also, through the tonality of the whole album, the resonances and the melody itself (yes, I voluntarily used the singular form), it brings us a fresh breeze, like the one we could have at the top of a snowy mountain, purifying mind. That's how I feel it. In other simply words, this album is very relaxing. I don't know if I could analyse enough to give a more detailed description of it though... Some songs may be slightly better than the others but honestly, each has its weight of emotion and of greatness. And one of the really good thing is that there's a true unity throughout it, the same atmosphere and still every songs are very different to me, they have their own identity... Which shouldn't even be worth mentioning, but I think it's not that easy to find, and especially for an atmospheric album.

Thursday - No Devolucion

*****

Ah Thursday, Thursday, Thursday... I started listening to this band several years ago and I appreciated them already a lot, but the more they were releasing albums the more their music as a whole was growing on me. Hence I also think that their albums are better and better with time, and hence No Devolucion is for me THEIR masterpiece. Even if I would call it close to A City By The Light Divided, there is something in this album that takes you for a trip in the air right from the first track. There are litterally aerial, poetic and beautiful ambiences all in all. It tells you a story from beginning to end and even if I consider Magnets Caught In A Metal Heart, Millimeter and Turnpike Divides like being the songs a little apart from the rest in terms of quality, I can also say that they are then the little touches that allows the story to have some elements out of the logical continuity and so to bring some variety, yet we can still recognize their style. And what else to say?... The general feelings I am getting from this album is inner peace, full emotion, and most of all the impression of having my mind floating into something out of space and out of time... Really wonderful album. I would recommend it for any person liking ambient music or just relaxing yet dynamic music... And of course to any other people willing to look for new things!
Unfortunately the band announced in November that they were stopping the band, most likely forever, but I would still quote Geoff Rickly in an interview "...and this record (No Devolución) was the first one where we said, 'You know what? Who cares? Let's say our career is over tomorrow, who fucking cares? Let's make something beautiful' " and I would just add congratulations guys, you did really make something beautiful and I'm proud of having been in the adventure, this was really the best way to end your career...