Album Review: HI! by The Animen

 

The Animen are a band from Carouge, Switzerland and they introduce themselves with this first album entitled ‘HI!’ (Irascible, 2013). What better choice for a title than a friendly ‘HI!’ to the music industry and to the audience, of course. The great album cover portrays the smile of band member Robin Schneider and makes you wanna smile while listening to the record as well.

The album is opened by the slow and heart-breaking track ‘Harder Than Stone’. This song’s sound and the crooner mode adopted by the singer Theo Wyser, somehow brings us back to the 60s. Their sound is then turned to a 60s rock n’ roll in ‘Alice In My Life’, where, as the witty lyrics say, Alice is ‘back from Wonderland and straight into my life’. The 60s ambiance is found also in  ‘The Road Taken’, where the drums and guitars riffs are combined in an eclectic manner, and in ‘Down In Oslo’, where we are dragged into a lively rock n’ roll tune taking us through Oslo’s streets. Whereas the drums and bass intro in ‘The French Letter’ with its rather country sounds seems to take us in the Far West.

One of the best songs of this album is, without a doubt, their first single ‘My Pretty Ballerina’ that with its delicate ukulele opening builds up with the guitars to find a catchy rhythm and tune. This song is topped by its great-to-sing-along refrain ‘What goes around and around baby it comes around Our day on the top then the queen of the flop the taste of ground’.

This song is followed by two other  amazing slower songs ‘Portrait Of An Artist’ and ‘Not A Single Time’, the latter disclosing once more the singer’s crooner mode. ‘Another Grey Crime’ could well be the soundtrack to a Western movie, its guitars solo brings the listener back to the Far West atmosphere created in ‘The French Letter’. While ‘Shake (On The Tabletops)’ makes you want to shake and dance to their rock n’ roll tunes. The closing track, ‘A 16 Smokin’ Gun’, ends the album on a positive energetic rock n’ roll spoused to a ‘60s ambiance.

‘Hi!’ is a colourful album, taking the listener on a rock n’ roll journey back in the 60s, it makes you want to dance and sing along from the beginning to the end and it is even more so when you see The Animen live! This five guys have a contagious energy on and off the stage which makes it impossible for the audience to rest a second. So, have fun singing along and dancing to their great tunes! Bonne écoute et bon voyage!

A Concert-Wise Look Back at 2013

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here we are, 2014 has just started but what did 2013 bring me concert-wise?

2013 was probably one of the most musical I’ve ever had. I attended MANY concerts!

I started off with moving to Leeds (UK), for four months from February to June 2013. My stay in Leeds, given the UK bright and fantastic music scene, allowed me to attend a great number of concerts. I didn’t lose time and as soon as I got there I attended the NME Awards Tour at the O2 Academy in Leeds, where Miles Kane, Palma Violets, Peace and Django Django were playing. I just knew Miles Kane so the other bands were great discoveries. Concert-wise the highlight of my stay in Leeds was during Live at Leeds, a 3-day music festival offering people the chance to see many new and more established bands. During this festival I saw, among others, Tribes, The Pigeon Detectives and Maybeshewill. The latter band, although they played for less than 1h left a huge mark, their gig was mind-blowing. The last day of Live at Leeds was headlined by The Vaccines on Millenium Square, a British band that I love and that I had to see again. I rock n’ rolled with Kate Nash at The Cockpit and went to nearby Sheffield to see Biffy Clyro, what a show they put on!

London was not too far and I had the chance to attend some concerts there, like Iwan Rheon’s gig at the Bush Hall and Muse and Green Day’s huge shows at the Emirates Stadium.

Once back in good old Switzerland I took the chance to attend some of the many Festivals and Open Air that my tiny lovely country offers during the Summer! The first one was Open Air St. Gallen from 27 to 30 June 2013, where my sister and me volunteered. There, we fought the cold and the mud, and saw among others, Biffy Clyro, Haïm, Of Monsters And Men, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and the exclusive headliners Kings Of Leon! On the closing day of the festival, Denver-band The Lumineers brought the Colorado sunshine to St. Gallen and we later enjoyed dancing to Parov Stelar electro-jazz music.

A few days later I doubled the score by seeing Green Day for the second time in less than a month when I attended their concert at Moon & Stars, in my hometown Locarno.

The next Swiss festival I attended is one of the most renowned: Montreux Jazz Festival. Despite its name, the music it offers is not just jazz. I went there to see the newcomers Jake Bugg and Of Monsters And Men. The next day I saw an outstanding Ben Howard, supported by Daughter. I also saw Two Door Cinema Club which transformed the Montreux Jazz Lab in a lighted up disco dance floor!

Later on, I went to Paris to visit a friend of mine and it happened to be during FNAC Live, a free music festival held in front of Paris Town Hall. It was pretty crowded but we managed to see Miles Kane and Palma Violets!

As I do every year, I chose a few days in which to attend Paléo Festival Nyon, the biggest music festival in Switzerland. I chose to go when Arctic Monkeys and the Smashing Pumpkins were headlining. This was the first time I got to hear ‘Old Yellow Bricks’ live and it was absolutely fantastic. I also went on the Saturday when Blur were playing, definitely a must see!

There’s not a better way to end the Summer than with a music festival! So off I went as a volunteer to Zürich Open Air (29 August-1 September 2013). I loved the line-up, mainly that of the Friday: an indie-rock party with Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys (yes, again!). I couldn’t have asked for better! Earlier that day I sneaked in to see a bit of Arctic Monkeys’ soundcheck, what a treat! I also got to see, among others, Tom Odell, The XX and Ellie Goulding.

The end of the Summer meant end of the open air season but luckily not the end of the concert season! The next months were rather prosperous concert-wise. I got to see Miles Kane and Biffy Clyro for the third time this year! I saw for the first time Bastille and Kodaline and loved both concerts.

2013 was pretty kind with me concert-wise, I got to see many of my favourite bands again and I got to know a number of great ‘new’ bands. Thanks to my faithful concert buddies who helped making these moments memorable! Here’s to hope that 2014 will bring me as many concerts as 2013, or more… 😉