Saturday, February 25, 2006

ANTENA/Other Music



Antena "Camino Del Sol" CD (Numero)
RealAudio Antena "Camino Del Sol"
Shamefully overlooked, the sparse electro-samba from this French ensemble seems to be born from the parallel universes of Jobim and the Young Marble Giants. Originally released on Les Disques Du Crepuscule, reissue includes B-sides and bonus tracks.
Buy $15.99 Antena "Camino Del Sol" CD

ANTENA/Ryko distribution


Camino Del Sol
Antena
The best French-Belgian electro-samba record you've never heard. Antena's "Camino Del Sol" was first released in September 1982 as 5-song, 18-minute mini-LP on the elusive Brussels label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule. Numero 002 contains re-mastered versions of the original "Camino Del Sol" tracks compiled along with the band's first EP, period B-sides, compilation tracks and two unreleased cuts.

"Isabelle Powaga's sensual yet aloof voice makes "Bye Bye Papaye" sound like lo-fi Sade, and the pulsating "ingenuous" is a virtual blueprint for Sterolab's lithe pop." - Rolling Stone

"Predates Stereolab's Gainsbourg-gone-Kraftwerk by over a decade, and Air's cool, Parisian sex by nearly two." - Pitchfork

"Listening to the French trio Antena on its 2004 [Numero] reissue Camino Del Sol, the group sounds strangely of-the-moment: whirring synths and click-clack rhythms, lithe feminine voices, the tropical sway of Brazilian melodies." - Time Out Chicago

"Washed out synths, Latin-flavored hand percussion, and faux-jazz guiatar; the songs have a chill sophistication." - Chicago Reader

Top 50 album 2004 - Wire

ANTENA/THE SUBURBS

THE SUBURBS ARE KILLING US
christopher porter
Numero Group is a new label dedicated to crate digging. Their second release is a comp CD, Camino del Sol, for the Belgian bossa-nova-n-synth band Antena who recorded for Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule in the 1980s. (How did LTM Records let Numero get their paws on this before they did?)

ANTENA/PITCHFORK

Antena
Camino del Sol
[Factory Benelux; 1980; r: Numero Group; 2004]
Rating: 9.0


Jacques Brel, the most famous pop culture Belgian who never made a direct-to-video kickboxing feature about clones, sang in his nostalgic, sardonic paean to his Grandparents' romance, "Bruxelles":

C`était au temps où Bruxelles rêvait
C`était au temps du cinéma muet
C`était au temps où Bruxelles chantait
C`était au temps où Bruxelles bruxellait

or,

It was the time when Brussels dreamed
It was the time of silent film
It was the time when Brussels sang
It was the time when Brussels... bruxellait.

Bruxellait. A word that Babelfish and online translation engines fail to process. Brel, unable to better describe his hometown, simply uttered, "When Brussels was Brussels, when Brussels... brusseled." Camden hipsters may be more familiar with Belgo, the Chalk Farm eatery where servers in monks' habits serve mussels, frites, and trappist ale in a cold, aluminum, industrial loft, than the Belgian stepsister of Factory Records, Factory Benelux, and its Brussels-based sister label Les Disques du Crepuscule. Though the label served as a continental dumping ground for the tour-support one-offs of major players-- like A Certain Ratio's inaugural "Shack Up" seven-inch, and later, New Order's "Touched by the Hand of God" and "Everything's Gone Green" singles-- it cultivated its own indigenous roster with groups like The Names, Minny Pops, and the massively overlooked Antena.

The Names waded in slowed Peter Hook bassline facsimiles and faux-Morrissey moaning on their Swimming LP. Minny Pops ventured into colder electro-Teutonic territory. Antena, however, macheted into theretofore (and heretofore) unexplored territory for post-punk-- namely the oddball psychedelic scene of South America. Recorded with echoing minimalism, Antena's major release, Camino del Sol, evokes dreaming, singing, charmingly off-the-mark sci-fi futurism, and the black-and-white nostalgia of Brel's Brussels. It's as beautifully outdated, yet strikingly mind-boggling and timeless, as the towering Atomium over the Expo '58 grounds.

The newly formed vinyl junkie reissue label, Numero, sniffed this truffle, and has released it between more traditional reissues of a rare soul compilation and a power-pop box set. Camino del Sol was originally a five-song twelve-inch from 1980, but was later expanded to a full-length by Crepuscule in 1982 with added singles. This reissue further expands the release with the "Seaside Weekend" single, two unreleased tracks ("Frantz" and "Ingenuous"), and new artwork. With any justice, it will bring new light to a lost gem, as similar reissues did for Os Mutantes, whose adolescent dementia influences this record's tropicalia songs ("The Boy from Ipanema", "Sissexa"), and Shuggie Otis, whose piquantly primitive drum machines propel each track. So much hidden influence lies in these songs. The wonderful opening punch of "To Climb the Cliff" and the title track predate Stereolab's Gainsbourg-gone-Kraftwerk by over a decade, and Air's cool, Parisian sex by nearly two. Tortoise directly lifted the syncopated synthetic funk of "To Climb the Cliff" on their equally rare seven-inch, "Madison Ave/Madison Area".

Stuttering kick drums, icicle synths, and robotic bass jerks the listener through "Spiral Staircase" with better effect than a handful of contemporary NY revivalists. Limited to the use of the above ingredients and the occasional dry electric guitar, Antena relied on vast amounts of space for haunting texture. Each member sounds isolated in far corners of an airport hangar, allowing coke-bottle percussion, sound effects, and Isabelle Antena's detached, seductive voice to float. The more propulsive tracks are offset by opiated cocktail numbers like "Silly Things", "Bye Bye Papaye", and "Noelle A Hawaii". Yet, the faint echo of Antena's label cousins Joy Division keeps things perversely intoxicating. Only on "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort", a cover of Michel Legrand's theme to the Catherine Deneuve film, do Antena sound positively retro-minded. Even then, the strings and horns seemingly waft from a wormhole.

The band fell apart soon after this release, and carried on into goofy plastic jazz before Isabella turned it all into a solo vehicle. These days, Isabelle Antena still rides the stereotypical "Big in Japan" wave, touring the country and releasing smooth adult albums in some cruel approximation of Lost in Translation's Sausalito. Yet she'll always have this document of inspired originality in her past, which, with this reissue, could very well make her a rediscovered figure. As this album proves, she was much more akin to Beck and Björk than her dour trend-following contemporaries. So unique perhaps only Jacques Brel found the verb for it.

Brent DiCrescenzo March 12th, 2004

ANTENA/Rolling stone review

***A reissue of the best French-Belgian electro-samba record you've never heard. Originally released in 1982 as a five-song mini-LP on the elusive Brussels label Les Disques Du Crepuscule, the reissue features remastered versions of all the original tracks, along with the songs from the band's first EP, period B-sides, compilation tracks, and two unreleased gems. Beautifully packaged with notes and photos, and housed in a card slip cover. "Isabelle Powaga's sensual yet aloof voice makes "Bye Bye Papaye" sound like low-fi Sade, and the pulsating "Ingenuous" is a virtual blueprint for Stereolab's lithe pop."--Rolling Stone

Sunday, February 19, 2006

CAMINO DEL SOL/ANTENA



Camino del sol is about to be re-issued in Germany , Switzerland , Austria by Permanent Vacation.
By Symbiose in Portugal and LTM for the rest of Europe.
A remix album should be out for the summer with tracks remixed by Joakim , Todd Terje , Munk , Ame , 7 Samourai ...

Saturday, February 18, 2006

ANTENA/ONE LOUDER

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Antena - Tonic, 5.19.05
There were only about 30 or 35 people at last Thursday's Antena show at the Tonic, and it seemed just half of them were actually there to see the gig. The other half seemed barely interested in the show, as if they'd wandered in randomly for a drink. (A bit like the guy in line at Mini-Mutek NYC who asked me if we were at the Lansky Lounge.) Since Antena's opening slots for Andrew Bird ended up being cancelled - disagreements with the organizers, apparently - those of us in the crowd ended up being the only people to see the band's first visit to NYC in over 20 years. Antena's music has always seemed overlooked though - Camino Del Sol, their signature album, came out on Factory's relatively unheralded Benelux imprint and has never gotten much attention. I certainly wouldn't have heard them if not for Other Music's glowing write-up of the Camino Del Sol reissue last year, but their bossanova/"electro-samba" sound is quite nice IMO.

Still, randoms aside, I was probably the most casual fan in attendance on Thursday. (It was just $5 and I enjoyed the album enough to say why not.) Antena was originally a three-piece fronted by Isabelle Antena, but I believe she was the only one of them on this tour. She sang and played guitar, backed by a woman on electronics and some very old school drum machines. Most of the music was sampled/prerecorded, though I was hoping otherwise, but it put all the focus on Isabelle's voice. Which was fantastic - rich, nuanced, perfect for a songstress. They played most (all?) of Camino Del Sol, with the highlights being the songs I liked most on the album - the title track and "To Climb The Cliff." She also played a few other tunes, including what I'm told was an America cover. All in all, it was a good show. Not the kind of gig to win you over or turn you off, but everyone there seemed pretty happy with it. Hey, even the drunk random folks were dancing.

ANTENA/NEW SOUND REVIEW

Antena

title:: Camino Del Sol
label:: Numero

This disc transports you to a warmer climate through its Brazilian roots. Its as if they wanted to craft their own versions of Tom Jobim songs (they go so far as to create their own cover with The Boy from Ipanema).

The production on this record is rather sparse which complements the drum machine and vocal effects well. The songs are sung in French and English, lending the album an international feel as a whole.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

ANTENA/japanese talk about CAMINO

Antena / Camino Del Sol

見つけてから2ヶ月ほど、迷った末に購入。
2ヶ月待っていたのは今の季節に聴きたかったから。

アシッド・ジャズ的な香りも漂う、涼やかなエレクトロ・サンバ/ボッサ。


アンテナは80年代にベルギーのブリュッセルで結成され、パリを拠点に活動したグループだ。
名門インディーレーベル、クレプスキュールの看板アーティストでもある。

3人グループ「アンテナ」としての活動期間は短く、
間もなくしてボーカルのIsabelle Antena (イザベル・アンテナ)はソロ名義となり、
よりポップ方面に寄った作品をで出すようになる。

このアルバムは、3人組だった彼らが82年に唯一残した同名ミニアルバムにシングル曲を加えた編集盤であり、
最近になってNUMERO GROUPから再発されたものである。


ボーカルを努めるイザベル・アンテナの
ややしっとりとしたウィスパーボイスが、軽やかに電子音に絡む。
暑い国にルーツを持つ筈の音楽が、どこかクールに響く。

カフェ系お洒落音楽の筆頭、フレンチ・ボッサは最近大量に流れているせいか
随分と耳が慣れてきたけれど、
同様の方法で作られたサンバはちょっと不思議な感覚だ。


しかもこのアルバム、この音楽性なのに20年以上も前に作られたものだ。
全く古さを感じさせない。知らなければ最近の曲だと思ってしまうだろう。

アルバムは美しい打ち込みボッサのタイトル曲、#01「Camino Del Sol」で幕を開ける。
彼らのデビュー曲にして代表曲である11曲目、「イパネマの息子(The Boy From Ipanema)」は必聴。
原曲(「イパネマの娘」です、もちろん)の改題カヴァーであるこの曲は、微かに憂いを含んだ幻惑的な音楽に変身している。
その他にも、#05「Achilles」や#12「Seaside Weekend」、・・・どの曲もみな、何度でも繰り返して聴きたくなるものばかりだ。


夏のラウンジミュージック。
こういうのはエアコンで冷えた部屋の中で、アイスコーヒーなんかを片手に聴きたい。
(ということはやっぱりカフェ系音楽?w)


イザベル・アンテナ自身は現在でも活動中で、最近はPAUSE CAFEというユニットを形成しているらしい。
子供っぽくもなく、必要以上に落ち着き払ってもいない、優しい彼女の声は健在だ。
Posted by orangeflower at 22:52  * Comments(8)  * TrackBack(1)  * MUSIC(Female:A-C) 
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Antena / Camino del Sol (1982) クレプスキュールから出たAntenaの5曲入りデビューミニアルバム。とってもおしゃれな感じ。リズムも的に当時はちょっと珍しかったかな?。タイトル曲が最も良いが、他にも"Bye Bye Papaya"などどの曲も良い。 グループでのリリースはシン...
Antena【通勤音楽】at September 11, 2005 19:05

Comment
これ結局買ったんですね(また先越された!)。
良さそうですね…
「PAUSE CAFE」も知りませんし…
Posted by モコマキ at August 04, 2005 23:31
>モコマキさん
良いですよ〜。夏が終わる前に買ってくださいよw

PAUSE CAFEはちょろっと検索して試聴して付け足しました、実は。
http://www.inpartmaint.com/ripcurl/catalog.html
このへんでどうぞ^^
Posted by orangeflower at August 05, 2005 00:16
そのへんにいって、その他いろいろ試聴しました。
多々興味深い物が。
最後に
http://robertlesite.net/
行ってビデオを全部見て就寝しました。
おかげで昨夜は朝まで悪夢にうなされました!

P.S.
これとかあれとかもう注文しましたよ。
Posted by モコマキ at August 07, 2005 00:15
>モコマキさん
なんですか、その曖昧な口ぶりは(笑)
Robertって名前は聞いたことあったんですが初めて観ました。
確かにちょっとうなされるかも。
でもモコマキさんとはこのテのアーティストについてお話ができるので嬉しいです。

P.S
えー!ずるいー!
何かわかんないけどまた先を越されました・・・。
Posted by orangeflower at August 07, 2005 00:50
P.S.
これとかあれとかは、アンテナとボニピンのことですよ。

P.S.2
まだいろいろ思案中です。
またRobert見てみようかな。
まあまあ慌てなさんな!!
Posted by モコマキ at August 09, 2005 00:28
>モコマキさん
そっかー。
また何か怪しげなものを見つけたのかと思っていましたw
(ていうか何かオススメあったら教えてくださいね♪)
Posted by orangeflower at August 09, 2005 00:54
はじめまして。Akiraといいます。TB送らせていただきました。

>カフェ系お洒落音楽の筆頭、フレンチ・ボッサは最近大量に流れて
>いるせいか随分と耳が慣れてきたけれど、

最近の音楽あまり聞いてないので疎いのですが、なにか良いものがあれば教えていただければ助かります。”No Need to Argue"の中も探検してみます
Posted by Akira at September 11, 2005 19:10
>Akiraさん
はじめまして^^
お返事が遅くなってしまい大変申し訳ありません。

フレンチ・ボッサ・・・私も最近聴き始めたので詳しくないのですよ(笑)
お薦めは以前のエントリにも書いたNouvelle Vagueかな〜。有名曲のアレンジなのでとっつき易いし質も高いと思います。TVCMでも流れていますね。

Akiraさんのブログ、以前から時々拝見したことありますよ〜。ほんとうに幅広くいろんなものを聴いておられるのですね。これからもお邪魔させていただきますね♪

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

ANTENA/GLUESLABS

Favorite Records of 2004

Best Reissue:

Antena: Camino Del Sol (Numero Group)
New label Numero Group fortunately chose to reissue this forgotten beauty, which was originally released by the French/Belgian cousin of Factory Records, Factory Benelux. This reissue consists of the mini LP of the same name, as well as the few singles and compilation cuts which preceded it (including the cover song, “The Boy From Ipenema”). The CDDB entry I got for it comes up as “Electro Samba.” Hmmm. Some references to that label in the liner notes suggest that this indeed what to call it. With its primitive drum machine-made latin rhythms and ethreal French/English female vocals, it sounds more to me like strung-out bossa nova playing in between album cuts at an Another Green World listening party. But that's just me.

ANTENA/BENNUN BIZ

Antena/

 So perfectly prescient are the early 80s recordings collected on Antena's Camino Del Sol (Numero)*** that you might suspect it of being a collaborative hoax by members of Stereolab and Air. The French trio combined the easy-listening Latin jazz of Antonio Carlos Jobim with continental high modernism to create a sound of soap-bubble lightness.

ANTENA/CNN

(CNN) -- Ken Shipley wants to sell a few records. Not necessarily millions, not necessarily enough to earn a large plaque of gold-painted plastic on the wall.

A few thousand would be nice. A few thousand to a hard-core group of people who really care about music.

"I don't think you can go into the record business [today] and think you're going to sell a million records," says Shipley, co-founder of the re-issue label the Numero Group, from his home base in Chicago, Illinois.

"The basis of our philosophy is to have loyal people [who seek out the brand]. That's more valuable than selling a million copies of one record."

So Shipley, a former A&R manager for funky-artsy (David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Bootsy Collins) label Rykodisc, is digging.

There are hundreds of records out there -- old singles and albums -- that have never gotten the proper attention, he believes. He's trying to give them an outlet.

He and his business partner, Tom Lunt, started Numero with that intent. So far, the company has released three CDs: "Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label," a compilation of soul music from a Columbus, Ohio, record company; "Camino Del Sol" by Antena, a reissue of a 1982 LP by an obscure French group; and "Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label," a compilation of songs -- some of which were remastered from battered 45s and cassettes about to go to the city dump -- from a South Side Chicago label run out of what the liner notes call "a musical commune."

"We stumble into this stuff all the time," he says. "We're saving bits of Americana and American music."

Friday, February 10, 2006

ANTENA/MILWAUKEE

Thursday, May 12
Antena
Onopa Brewing Company
10pm
Before Tortoise, before Stereolab, before Beck, before Air—there was Antena. This little-known French-Belgian new wave combo, led by vocalist Isabelle Antena, first released the five-track, electro-samba gem Camino Del Soul in 1982, only to part ways soon after. Thanks to the vision of Chicago-based label Numero Group, the album has recently been reissued with previously unreleased tracks, and Antena are on the road again, playing their first shows since a 1983 New York gig with Sonic Youth. Milwaukee is the first stop on their tour. With Numero Sound System, Lights Out Asia and DJ Rob Sevier. (Caroline Goyette)