Papillon de Madame

It's been a few weeks now, and I've been listening to this CD on and off, and I really like it. Singer-songwriter-ish vocals and lyrics with minimal electro beats. Lots of bleeps and bloops. But it isn't arrhythmic like Solex, and it isn't folky like Beth Orton. It's just...nice.

Lisa Papineau has already made a name for herself as a vocalist with Air and M83, and now she has her very own solo album. But she didn't do it all by herself. You'd think she did if you read the liner notes and saw what all she played...but she didn't. She had help. Thomas Huiban is credited with bass, synthesizers, singing, beats, triangle, kalimba, and guitar. Matthieu le Senechal Delosmone de Villeneuve played the Rhodes piano, clavinet organ, guitar, mandolin, accordion, synthesizers, sang, and made some beats. Then Bob Merrymountain created the string arrangements, played synthesizers, percussion, sang, and did some live programming and choreography (?). Lisa gets in on it with melodies, words, singing, beats, bells, synthesizers, cymbals, guitar jack, and one lousy Rhodes part. That's all verbatim from the liner notes. We are also told that Lisa Papineau endorses chicory, a pleasing non-caffeinated warm beverage.

Despite all of this instrumentation, "Night Moves" is a very subtle record. And Bob Seger is nowhere to be found. This is decidedly not a rock album.

I'm a fan. But I don't like the track "Shucking. Jiving." It sounds like a Meg Lee Chin outtake, and I never liked her stuff all that much anyway.