SEBASTIEN TELLIER – ARTIST PROFILE
May 11th, 2006 by rui
There is only one Sebastien Tellier, an exceptional, highly personal & intimate artist echoing such other one-offs as Robert Wyatt, Syd Barrett or Serge Gainsbourg. An individual, a Parisian poet and a wild man of many talents.
‘Politics’ his latest and second album which includes ‘La Ritournelle’, brings together such diverse supporting talent as The Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, filmmaker /producer Quentin Dupieux (aka Mr Oizo), legendary producer/mixer Philippe Zdar (of Cassius fame, probably the best french mixer around) together with the original funky drummer, Tony Allen (who could be said to have had a greater influence on the invention of Afro-beat than Fela Kuti).
‘Politics’ was originally released in January 2004 in the whole of Europe by Virgin, but with no real push, one must admit.
1 year after, due to a strong popular demand, this album was re-issued by Record Makers.
Tellier then toured with the likes of Moby, Royksöpp and The Magic Numbers and played his acoustic set all over the world.
His label Record Makers had the intuition that he had arrived to an artistic peak as a live musician. So a studio was booked, and in one day, an acoustic session of all his repertoire was recorded together with pianist Simon Dalmais.
The result is an amazing album, intimate and essential. His songs are exempt of any arrangements except for piano & guitar, and appear to be a collection of classics, in the tradition of the most gifted singers / songwriters. Exactly in the original spirit of Tellier’s mythical sessions in the newly opened and allready cult parisian club/cabaret Le Baron.
As a bonus for this recording with french producer Alf (Air, Phoenix, etc..), and for the first time, Sebastien Tellier recorded two covers of rare french songs, and a totally new and exclusive song.
Before that, Sebastien Tellier had a lot going on.
After the world release of his debut album ‘L’incroyable Vérité’ through Virgin in 2001, Sebastien toured as support for AIR across three continents. He played over 150 gigs, leaving people awestruck by the unconventional emotional power of his music. The Tellier live experience, either pared down, accompanied by a pianist, or more numerously, dexterously assisted by Tony Allen & Sebastien’s partner, Pamelia Kurstin (possibly the world’s finest Theremin player) was an unforgettable thing to witness.
When he played in New York, he was interviewed for Andy Warhol’s Interview by Philip Glass, and photographed by Karl Lagerfeld.
In 2003, Quentin Dupieux (Mr. Oizo), who had done production, mixing and a video for Tellier, offered him the main role of his long feature ‘Non film’. Tellier’s first recording ever, ‘Fantino’, an emotional quintessence, was used by Sofia Coppola for the soundtrack to her film ‘Lost in translation’. In 2004, Sebastien was asked to compose the score for Universal Film ‘Narco’, starring Benoit Pooelvoorde. In 2005, he was hired on Lagerfeld’s suggestion to record an original score for a Chanel jewelry art film.
