Sebastien Tellier / Poney Poney
Date: 21 February 2008
"Pop melodies, programmed drum beats, electro synth parts and vocoder vocals followed by luscious ballads and orgasmic guitar solos."
Jahan Nazeer
Setting out on Thursday, having had such a great time the night before, the feeling was that it was going to have to be a seriously good show to keep company with Wednesday night's performances. Tonight marked the first of four French exchanges, part of Stage of the Art where we host a French band here at the ICA and then zoom on the new supervite Eurostar to see some up-and-coming Brits play at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris the following night. So to kick things off, here promoting his new album Sexuality, Sebastien Tellier was headlining, with Parisian electronic/rock band Poney Poney supporting and promoting their upcoming EP Cross the Fader. An all-French line-up worthy of the excitement evident in and around the ICA, Paris' electronic scene had arrived. Having had a quick drink and exhausting my very limited French vocabulary in a 'conversation' with a group of Sebastien Tellier fans, I made my way through to the main room.
Poney Poney are Antoine Hilaire, Florent Lyonnet and Samuel Nicolas. Their EP Cross the Fader features production from Xavier de Rosnay of Justice fame and could be described as dance-rock. Opening with guitar feedback and pounding drums, it soon became clear that although their recordings may have a well-polished, highly-produced feel to them, Poney Poney were not afraid to get their hands dirty in a live setting. Driving bass lines, heavy guitar stabs and catchy repeated phrases make this group very dancefloor-friendly. Labelled new wave, their set owed as much to traditional rock as it did anything else. Interestingly, I noticed they were using a midi drum kit. Although played like a 'normal' drum kit, this allowed for much more variation in drum sounds and does give them an added punch. Hurtling through an adrenaline filled set, Poney Poney surely won over some new fans as well as satisfying their supporters with their up-front mix of dance, rock and pop. I, for one, am looking forward to their EP dropping on March 10th.
After a short interlude, the lights dimmed for the next act. The ICA's main room was full to capacity as smoke enveloped the stage. Two figures took their place behind synths, laptops and other music technology and waited for the great man. Space-age strings and glimmering arpeggiated textures gradually built and then... through the smoke, Sebastien Tellier, slowly and intentionally stepped out of the darkness to the front of the stage. Dressed in light robes and wrap-around shades, with a guitar hanging round his shoulders, theatrically cool. The crowd went mad as he stood perfectly still. Bustling, sequenced drums kicked in as lasers scanned across his motionless visage. What an entrance! Having emphatically grabbed the entire crowd's attention, his relaxed banter between tunes was both charming and extremely funny at points. Removing his sunglasses, his personality seemed impossible to contain as he played material from his new album. As the title (Sexuality) would suggest, the content focuses on different aspects of sex and sexuality. Sonically hedonistic, euphoric, sleazy, melodramatic and quirky, it is the soundtrack to a dreamy world of Parisian, sun-kissed love-making. Sebastien himself boasts an impressive selection of pelvic sways and sensual gasps not to mention the fact that he is a multi-talented musician. Accessible pop melodies, programmed drum beats, electro synth parts and vocoder vocals were followed by luscious ballads and orgasmic guitar solos as the crowd were treated to an hour long set that included some older classics along with the new ones. Delighted, a large part of the audience sang along and clapped. Leaving the stage, Sebastien was called back for an encore which he happily responded to by coming back for one song and an extended guitar solo with intermittent tomfoolery and jokes. A truly memorable performance which will take some some beating by Carl Barat who plays Palais de Tokyo on behalf of us Brits. So get your tickets booked now and make sure you don't miss the next Stage of the Art taking place on the 18-19 April.
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