Alcest

So I enjoy this but I think Le Secret is still my favourite thing these guys have done. I tend to feel a little disappointed by their reliance on power chords and straightforward mid-tempo 4/4 or 12/8 chugging because I think the sonic template they set out for themselves offers a much wider range of possibilities. That said, it's a great template and they're probably still one of the current rock bands I enjoy the most.

New album soon!

http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/headbang-blogpost.aspx?post=e9a4fedc-c6a9-44ff-b590-0511f40f8963

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/374174_285316731500934_170674326298509_965831_657173203_n.jpg

pretty.

teaser clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grzlV7Iqz-k

lol people complaining about the kids haircut!! if u all where real Alcest fans then u would know that in the fairy land that Neige writes about that's how the hair naturally grows...........
Eolivasphotos 3 days ago

WTF - he's now touring China!?

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=267813916591108

New album is streaming legally at YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BF53AFB2555C55E

new album is gorgeous. been playing it a lot lately. anyone else like it?

Saw Alcest last week in Philly. Phenomenal show, really intense and beautiful.

Yeah, this album is very nice.

Yep, the album's holding up very well.

Listening to "Les Voyages" for the first time in a long time tonight and my goodness it is amazing.

Does anyone know if there is a release date for the upcoming album "Shelter" yet?

January. Listening to a promo now and the rumors are true -- FULL on shoegaze/Cocteaus from 1995. Not a hint of metal to be heard so far.

Nice!

Seriously you could tell me "Yeah this was some lost tape from this band that knew Bethany Curve and SoulWhirlingSomewhere" and I'd be all "Oh okay, got it" and I wouldn't be phased. It's very much that kind of total lost-in-float ease.

Oh and the title track is SUCH a 1992 era Cure rip. Beautifully done.

this album ("Shelter") is awesome.

Interviewing Neige in half an hour so if you have any burning questions...

And I guess you didn't! Or didn't read this. Anyway, great interview, some interesting insights on the new album, and I get a sense he's a very focused but content artist.

this is the best slowdive album since souvlaki

better than pygmalion, spoon & rafter or a strangely isolated place? gosh

yes my good man, even better than ulrich schnauss's cover of "crazy for you"

Its a fine album. Not metal in the least and the album Neige has probably always wanted to make.

I doubt I won't adore it.

i wasn't too crazy about the last one, i felt like it really dragged in places but this record is just so well put together. i'm a big fan of the centrepiece(s) of the record, "Voix Sereines" & "L'Eveil Des Muses" which have the most gorgeous melodies.

reggie is right and to me that is a compliment. I'm going to listen to this one a lot this year.

Now streaming on PF

http://pitchfork.com/advance/312-shelter/

after the understandable-ish thinkpieces that come out around this album (like the Stereogum one) can we all agree that as of like Feb. 1 we will just never use "metal" to describe Alcest again? i don't care that they're not metal, but i mean this album puts the nail in that coffin rather forcefully.

I look forward to avoiding all those hand wringing think pieces

I decided a long time ago that anything made by people who like metal and listened to by a majority of at least a sizable minority of people who like metal would be metal. That definition has served me well to date so I see no reason to abandon it now.

what about the backlash from people who always hated them? they are allover facebook taking great glee that they "arent metal"

One wonders why they go to the alcest page to say it

I'm enjoying this new album, but I don't quite get all the Slowdive comparisons.

"alcest are not metal theyre hipster indie" comments everywhere. anything indie or indeed non metal is "hipster" to those types btw

Is it because they're the goto reference point for anything dreamy and shoegazey?

people got bored saying MBV/Ride

I'm enjoying this new album, but I don't quite get all the Slowdive comparisons.

It helps that Neil Halstead actually sings on it...

the metal vs. not metal argument is going to turn out at least as interesting as the punk vs. not punk argument.

yeah i'm not saying it's this exhilarating argument or anything, but given the success of Deafheaven last year (and esp. last month) you can see why ppl who need to create content would write something.

then haters gotta reply and we have to suffer both!

it doesn't matter whether it's metal or not it just matters if it sucks. people not wanting to address that it sucks will write THE PURISTS ARE ANGRY! pieces because it distracts people from how this music is fuckin boring

it is boring, but in a very elegant way

it is boring, but in a very elegant way

yes. late-bourgeois metal

so does it work as ambient?
I am delighted that this band stopped having those lame Dragonlance via Vertigo comix style sleeves.

on further inspection, i'll revise that assessment to nth tier MTG card art

god the metal community has been dealing with a lot of brutal existential dilemmas, eh? Are true schizms in the metalverse even possible in the www age (diffusion of styles/lister preferences)? Metal fan community to diffusive in terms of taste? Sorry, this probably sounds hella patronizing..

people have been writing a lot of reviews/thinkpieces about that exact q, actually, that seems to be the primary function of these crossover releases - to generate "what does this mean for metal?" ruminations

it is somewhat interesting, I can't lie, that 80s/90s nostalgia as a driving force has resulted in this moment where what metal bands are nostalgic about is old Curve records instead of old Bathory records...but really nowhere near as interesting as people wanting to squabble about "purists!!" seem to think. there are way, way fewer people making purist objections than there are people basing their assessments on what the purists are purported to be thinking imo

feel like Ulver might be relevant to this discussion

probably a thread in itself as a lot of people dont like alcest so wont read this

xp

I guess they're a lot more suited to small clubs.

I love the new album. There is a simplicity and straightforwardness to it that really works, like they are just asking you to stop thinking for a while and enjoy the music. The vocal and instrumental melodies are well constructed and the overall effect is beautiful.

These sounds were always lurking in the background - almost like Daft Punk finally getting to make a straight up funk record. I'm glad Alcest did this album but agree it would be a shame if they turned into just another shoegaze band and pumped out a few more of these.

hah the daft punk comparison is a v. good one

like they are just asking you to stop thinking for a while and enjoy the music

spoke w/ neige last month and he confirmed this very thing. he wanted to make a simple and "fun" (as in, fun to make) record.

Building off that a bit, I guess -- my interview with him has finally run:

http://thequietus.com/articles/14446-alcest-interview

...question for me is whether it's possible to hear this album (assuming previous engagement with Alcest) without thinking of metal or having its metal provenance colour your experience. Can you listen to it just like you would a Curve album, where metal isn't even relevant, or is the 'not-metal' lacuna always there also?

― jmm, Tuesday, January 14, 2014 7:37 AM (3 weeks ago)

reaching back a ways, but i'm not sure i understand the question. in order to assume prev engagement w the cest, we've gotta assume familiarity with their more recognizably black metal aspects & moments, right? we can't make ourselves unknow for strategic purposes, so i figure that, at the very least, "they used to be a metal band" hangs at the fringes of our awareness.

liking this more than i thought i might. s'pretty.

great piece, Ned. I personally have no use for dude's new direction but it was a pleasure reading about how he's thinking of it.

Thanks very kindly! I just try to stick my rule of delving deep into what interests and motivates someone now rather than looking back, unless we had specifically been talking about a reissue or something. It was an extremely easy, relaxed interview.

and yeah, aero otm. enjoyed reading that interview, ned. currently listening to "l'eveil" and imagining it w a 90s gothclub percussion mix. not such a stretch!

It's striking that so many artists in shoegazeland eventually go exploring more rhythmic music - MBV and Sigur Ros are the obvious ones here of course.

Well, and a few of them were doing that from the get-go, depending on how you want to define them. Chapterhouse a little haphazardly but Seefeel were always making that core to their approach.

Lush, too, plus however you want to classify Curve

I'm gonna listen to this album and I've never listened to Alcest before. sorry 2 my metal fans.

Oh yeah, duh on Curve. DEFINITELY doing that. And of course MBV were already sampling Public Enemy anyway back in 1988 so it was always a strain.

I'm gonna listen to this album and I've never listened to Alcest before. sorry 2 my metal fans.

it's ok bro they weren't really that hot to begin with so nbd

i know it's lame asking about the meaning of band names, but alcest = sleeping with al??

Alcestis

i was going to say that that was a disappointing answer until i learnt she was daughter of pelias, king of lolcus

what's alcest up to

Album out this coming Friday

I pre-ordered the box vinyl. £40!!!! there was a complete box with the box vinyl and the fancy book cd but that was over £60 and wasnt paying that

Release date: 30.09.2016

Available editions:
- CD digipak with die-cut sleeve
- LP (33rpm) on heavy-weight 180g black virgin vinyl
- 2CD hardcover book (36 pages with lyrics, elaborate liner notes by Neige, Winterhalter and Fortifem, translations of the lyrics, ca. 18x18cm) incl. bonus CD with bonus track "Notre Sang Et Nos Penseées"
- Deluxe 3LP box (45rpm) with vinyl etching, 6 art prints and lyric sheet; ltd. to 777 copies, split to: 200x black vinyl, 200x clear vinyl, 200x clear/black marble vinyl, 177x magenta/black marble vinyl (exclusive to the Prophecy online shop!)
- "Complete Kodama Box": 4LPs (45rpm) incl. two vinyl etchings and bonus track "Notre Sang Et Nos Penseées", 2CD hardcover book (36 pages with lyrics, elaborate liner notes by Neige, Winterhalter and Fortifem, translations of the lyrics, ca. 18x18cm) incl. bonus CD with bonus track "Notre Sang Et Nos Penseées", 6 art prints and certificate; ltd. to 777 copies, split to: 200x black vinyl, 200x clear vinyl, 200x clear/black marble vinyl, 177x magenta/black marble vinyl (exclusive to the Prophecy online shop! SOLD OUT)

I'm expecting there to be a couple of black metal ragers and a couple that sound like Clannad.

I just hope one of the BM Ragers isnt the bonus track as that's only with the book or complete box not vinyl box.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this. I like all Alcest though, even the last one.

Are you interested in this? I love both their albums but dunno what to make of this new direction

Drawing inspiration from acts like Portishead, Massive Attack, Lana Del Rey, Pink Floyd or Blonde Redhead, Fursy Teyssier keeps his musical core with a calmer version of Les Discrets, maintaining the inherent melancholy and melodics.

"Virée Nocturne" will be released in two different formats: CD Digipak and 12" vinyl EP.

"Kodama" the fifth album from Blackgaze pioneers, Alcest, marks the French duo's ferocious return to the stylistic maximalism of its early albums while continuing the band's relentless pursuit for new sounds and fresh ideas.
"Kodama" is the Japanese word for 'tree spirit' and 'echo' and from the album's structure and dynamics to its cinematic sound, "Kodama" indeed 'echoes' Alcest's 2010 classic, "Écailles De Lune". But this is no simple back-to-the-roots album: the band has more punch, rhythm and organic feel than ever before. While clearly influenced by bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Dinosaur Jr, Grimes and The Cure, "Kodama" ultimately reveals itself as Alcest's 'Japanese album', drawing substantial inspiration from Japanese art and culture.

Originally triggered by Hayao Miyazaki's anime film "Princess Mononoke", "Kodama" picks up on the fate of its protagonist and, at its core, deals with the sensation of not belonging; of living in between worlds, be it city and nature or the physical and spiritual one. Duality is also crucial for the visual approach of the album, realized by French graphic designer duo Førtifem. Paying tribute to Japanese illustrators like Takato Yamamoto, the visuals portray contrasting elements like nature/urbanity, youth/death, femininity/animality and combine poetic elements with darker ones that were not present in Alcest's earlier works.

By giving the album a cultural, stylistic and compositional narrative, Neige and Winterhalter keep "Kodama" from just being the latest improvement on the Alcest sound and instead make the album a most rare and exciting thing: a vital, relevant record from a pioneer that not only upholds the band's trailblazing legacy but actually makes you want to see where they go next.

I don't remember being hugely impressed by Les Discrets when I gave them a try god knows how long ago, might give the new one a listen if I manage to cut down my 2016 backlog a bit.

I haven't listened to any of the preview tracks from Kodama, I'd rather hear the whole thing fresh. That press release might be making it sound more interesting/adventurous than it actually is but I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy it anyway.

I think this might be the time to start liking Alcest again

Haven't received mine yet, has anyone heard it?

I think this might be the time to start liking Alcest again

― imago,

WORD UP

http://www.tigerstrypes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/download-2.jpg

Really good and a great change of pace. It rocks a lot harder than the last one.

New one is exactly what I was expecting but I was hoping for, idk, a little more. I mean I like it fine but when I hear a band treading water this much I can't help but find it slightly offputting.

The three tracks from this that are available on Spotify are really, really good.

Yeah, another fine album from them.

Alcest is somehow becoming one of my favorite bands without me noticing

New Alcest track, "L'envol". Full album out in June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haQ_zgn9ck4

https://alcest.bandcamp.com/album/lenvol

Listening to an advance of the full album and it's a damn treat.