26 mars 2012

Retour sur la CMW, Toronto.





Pre-Show Hype: Pretty, pretty high. Moffatt has been a Quebec darling since she released her first album in 2002. But it wasn’t until her latest album, Ma, that she really blew up in English Canada (because, well, it’s her first release that’s mostly in English).
Crowd: The perfect size. Packed, but with enough room to dance.
Performance: The pixie-haired Moffatt oozed sex appeal as she attacked the microphone, keyboard, and drum surrounding her, bombarding the audience with her breathy yet forceful voice. She was backed by hard-hitting electro-pop from her band, which included members from Creature and Winter Gloves.
Best Moment: The sweat getting too unwieldy, Moffatt pointed out to the radio audience (the show was being streamed on SiriusXM) that she was wiping her face with a brown paper bag, which was all she had. “Rock and roll!”
Miscellaneous: Ma might have been her breakthrough album in the English-speaking world (it was a number-one bestseller on Billboard Canada and iTunes Canada), but we actually preferred her singing in her native tongue.
Verdict: 8/10
Carly Maga - Torontoist


Ariane Moffatt, El Mocambo, Toronto ON March 22 - Exclaim.ca

CMW Report Card: Ariane Moffatt at El Mocambo - Chart Attack

Interview in Toro Magazine

22 mars 2012

Ariane Moffatt: 'In Your Body' Singer Reassures Us She's No Sex Addict

Before starting the interview, Quebec's reigning queen of electro-pop Ariane Moffatt would like to set the record straight with Spinner: She's not a sex addict. Nor is 'In Your Body,' the first single from her new album 'Ma,' really about sex addiction.

She just got a little carried away with her description of the song when we debuted it back in January. "I wrote a quote inventing some kind of story about the song, because it's not personal stuff. But I said that it happened in my neighbourhood, so it looks like it was for real."

Inspired by her quote, we called the single "a woozy synth-drenched ode to sex addiction."

"I don't remember that!" she laughs. "Maybe I wrote that... But it was all about inventing a character."

And now the media in her home province are quite concerned about the singer's issues.

"Everybody in Quebec after talked to me about this sexual album and this sex dependence thing! I was like 'Oh man! Why does it always have to go with the first degree?' I thought I could just fly with the story, but after that, I had to answer all of these questions about sexual dependence. And it's not even as if it was a personal story!"

The deeper meaning of 'In Your Body' (which, for the record, she believes is more about general obsession than sexual addiction) is really the only thing that's been lost in translation when it comes to the Francophone's recent foray into the English-speaking music scene, though.

After charming Quebec audiences for the past decade, racking up a slew of awards and earning plantinum-selling records in the process, Moffatt seems poised to conquer the rest of the world. And 'Ma' -- a heady mix of French and English songs boasting sexy (but not in a dependent way) synths and smooth, electro-fied pop -- should help her do it.

For the singer and multi-instrumentalist, the choice to try her hand at English music and the English market was an organic one. "Honestly, I know it sounds maybe not true or whatever, but ... the songs came first in both languages. Living in this bilingual and multicultural area of Montreal [influenced me] in a large way. I did an English project of covers for a TV show in Quebec called 'Trauma,' so people knew that I could drop by the English zone.

"But the thing that made it, for me, easier to make the decision was that I thought I could write in English for the first time. Before I thought there was this idea, but can I do it? Is it credible? I didn't think I could do it before now."

Even the songwriting process was completely natural. She didn't set out to write in a specific language, she simply followed whatever came into her head. "It comes from the first line. Usually, before, I was starting with an English line, because I listen to mostly English music, even though I'm really aware of the French scene. You know when you write and you just improvise scenarios? They could be in English but then I would switch to French. But now, if it's coming out in English, I was listening to it. What do I mean? Where does it come from? I was doing a bit of psychoanalysis at the time, and I was really captivated and intrigued by the power of words, the power of words that you don't expect and where the come from.

"There's always a reason in the subconscious. And I was sometimes coming back from a session of therapy and just throwing words around in the studio instead of planning them. So it went a bit with the process, and it was interesting to compare English and French and which part of me wants to do it in English and what does it express? It was fun."

The results of her experiments were fascinating. Her voice, she discovered, is lower when she sings in English, appearing to originate from lower in the diaphragm. The subject matter of her lyrics and the style of the music seem to change depending on language as well.

"There's a bit of darkness, maybe more in English, that wants to come, and something more light with the French. And the sound, the French songs are the most electronic and the English ones are more organic."

She hasn't drawn any definite conclusions about the whole experience so far, but she admits that the slightly naughtier bent her Anglo self seems to be taking is not a complete surprise.

"When I'm drunk, I love to speak English. I knew it wanted to come out at some point!"

Ariane Moffatt plays CMF's La Belle Province showcase at the El Mocambo on March 22, and returns to Toronto May 25th for her own headlining show.

Sarah Kurchak - Spinner.ca

21 mars 2012

On en parle à la CBC.

Fanny Bloom, David Giguère, Ariane Moffatt and the best new francophone singer-songwriters

[...]
Also crashing headfirst through linguistic barriers is singer and songwriter Ariane Moffatt, who is no mystery to audiences in France or Quebec on the strength of three previous studio albums of original, French language music. The 32-year-old multi-instrumentalist has just released her fourth studio album, MA, a head-trippy mix of tracks both French and English as she makes a very deliberate first foray into the North American English market where she is virtually unknown. The note-perfect, pristine-piped Moffatt wrote and produced MA in her Mile End recording studio, and played an estimated 90 per cent of the instruments, resulting in a coherent and fully realized album that puts darkly coloured, glitchy electro head-nodders up against sunny day pop songs of the highest order. Serious, mischevious fun. [...]

By Jamie O'Meara - CBC Music blog


À SURVEILLER:
Le mot du jour demain sera: El Mocambo. Il sera possible d'entendre live de Toronto le showcase auquel Ariane participe lors de la CMW. On écoute dès 20h00 sur CBC Radio3.
(Si je ne me trompe pas, ce sera également diffusé sur les ondes d'Espace Musique.)

20 mars 2012

SXSW : Bilans

South by Southwest: vitrines grisantes... et épuisantes! - Le Soleil

SXSW 2012: Please Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself (Festival Roundup) - Spinner

Exigeant et nourrissant [Entrevue vidéo] - Journal de Montréal

Premier contact réussi - Journal de Montréal

15 mars 2012

Liens du jour [15 mars 2012]

Ariane Moffatt, crossing boundaries
Montreal singer-songwriter Ariane Moffatt is known for francophone music that blends genres, be it pop, folk, jazz or electronica. Now, she's bridging the language gap with her bilingual album MA.


CBC News 15-03-12


Les articles et entrevues d'Émilie Côté de La Presse, à SXSW:
Planète Québec en orbite
Ariane Moffatt en direct d’Austin [Entrevue iPhone]
South by Southwest: La Mecque des découvertes



À défaut d'y être, il sera possible d'écouter en direct le concert Franco M de Planète Québec (regroupant sur scène Ariane, Fanny Bloom et Canailles) présenté à SXSW demain.
C'est sur
bandeapart.fm et Sirius 161 à 16h00. Merci internet!




Ariane en perfo exclusive pour relief.tv




Ariane chez Monique Giroux
Avec un peu de retard, voici "l'entrevue en trois temps" diffusée le 4 mars dernier.
Première partie vers 19:00
Deuxième partie vers 56:00
Troisième partie vers 1:43:00
C'est par ICI


Oh! Une dernière petite chose, y'a des nouvelles du Texas sur le blog!

12 mars 2012

Mile End - Québec - Texas.

Pour suivre Ariane au Texas, the blog is back:


* * * *


Ariane Moffatt
The musician shares the tools of her trade at her Montreal studio

We recently visited the acclaimed Canadian singer Ariane Moffatt at her Montréal studio in the Mile End section neighborhood of Plateau-Mont-Royal just days before she launched her latest album, MA. Having written in both French and English, Moffatt holds an eclectic, multi-genre appeal, incorporating elements of folk and jazz into her distinct electro-pop sound. With seemingly so much of her musical inspiration stemming from her creative space, we asked Moffatt to show us her favorite instruments. Here she explains how she used these tools to develop some of the brightest songs yet.

Click on the pic to read and see MORE

Photography by SPG LePigeon

* * * *


Ariane Moffatt à l'Impérial: tout un marathon
(Québec) Si MA, le titre à connotation spirituelle du dernier effort d'Ariane Moffatt, nous est toujours difficile à saisir, le concert donné par la chanteuse à l'Impérial, hier soir, nous aura en revanche inspiré de nouvelles significations : MA comme dans marathonienne et maître de sa destinée.

Marathonienne, parce qu'Ariane s'est offerte le luxe d'enfiler les 11 chansons de son nouvel album bilingue, dans un premier segment à la «Pink Floyd style», a-t-elle dit. Un marathon de chansons électro livré dans le même ordre que sur l'album, avec beaucoup d'aplomb, de fraîcheur et de naturel.

Maître de sa destinée, parce que non seulement elle assume totalement la moitié du programme en anglais, mais elle va jusqu'au bout de sa nouvelle facture électro. Pas de compromis en insérant une ballade à la Poussière d'ange. Non, non. Que du matériel rythmé, dansant, digne d'une (bonne) piste de danse. [...]
EN LIRE PLUS









7 mars 2012

Un peu de promo de Québec City.

Trois entrevues données à Radio-Canada, Québec. On apprend dans la troisième qu'il y a une RUMEUR qui court concernant Ariane et un certain show qui aura lieu le 1er septembre à Québec, mais chut...

Ariane Moffatt présente « MA » - Radio-Canada, Québec


Et allez, une autre entrevue qui sort du lot à l'émission Parent le retour au FM93, diffusée lundi dernier.

Parent, Le retour - FM93

4 mars 2012

Liens du jour [4 mars 2012] + Belle et Bum

Belle et Bum, 03-03-12




Ariane Moffatt: femme orchestre comblée et assumée - Rue Rezzonico

Photo: Catherine Lefebvre.

Ariane Moffatt au Rialto : un amour électrifiant - Tempo Magazine

Bridging the solitudes, with music and laughter - The Gazette

2 mars 2012

Ariane Moffatt - Tout le monde en parle

Ariane Moffatt lance MA au Rialto - Party dans le voisinage

C'était un lancement d'album où lancer l'album ne suffisait évidemment pas. C'était un spectacle pas encore tout à fait spectacle, mais très en chemin et, par grands pans, c'en était exaltant, passablement arrivé à destination (il y a une supplémentaire ce soir, c'est dire). C'était Ariane Moffatt dans son Mile-End d'amour, arrivée au beau Rialto à pied, trop proche de son studio plug&play de la rue De Gaspé pour ne pas jouir pas à pas de la proximité.

C'était tout ça à la fois, un happening pour un disque événementiel, une fête à plusieurs pour célébrer la création solo d'une fille de musique auto-suffisante, et la mise au monde officielle de MA. Je l'ai dit samedi en ces pages, je le réitère: un disque majeur. Un disque épique qui fera époque. L'album dont Ariane Moffatt rêvait, son plus irrémédiablement dansant, son plus irrésistiblement accrocheur, son plus résolument électro, son plus stylistiquement cohérent, son plus universellement groovy. C'était son mot-clé hier au Rialto, vieux mot sixties encore tout pétillant: groovy! Groovy et demi, oui!

Impossible d'y aller mollo quand on a cette galette-là qui vous pousse dans le dos et vous dit: let's go! en anglais en et français dans le texte. Fallait se lancer carrément à l'eau, et Ariane, encore et toujours l'aquanaute intrépide des débuts, a plongé. Tout l'album a été joué au Rialto, «Pink Floyd-style», a dit Ariane, c'est-à-dire dans la séquence du disque, avec tous les sons transposés et quelques autres. Pareil pas pareil. On le sentait à la première écoute, il y avait des séquences instrumentales élastiques qui allaient s'étirer à la première occasion, et c'était la première occasion: ce disque parfait pour l'écoute en boucle est aussi fait pour se déployer sur scène.

D'où ces solos à rallonge pour DJ patenté et Ariane lâchée lousse, d'où ces éclairages déjà bigrement synchro à des mois de la vraie première médiatique, d'où cette deuxième partie de chansons des albums précédents, chansons déjà un peu contaminées par le nouveau groove d'Ariane. Pas encore assez, évidemment, miss Moffatt n'avait pas eu le temps de tout réarranger: ça viendra. Perspective incroyable, songez-y: c'était déjà fameusement bon hier, et le meilleur reste pourtant à venir.

Sylvain Cormier - Le Devoir

Les liens du jour [2 mars 2012]

Pour écouter le passage d'Ariane à l'émission Q: [Audio+PERFO]
Cliquez sur la photo:


Cette émission sera également présentée à la télé sur les ondes de CBC,samedi le 18 mars à 13h00.


La chronique de Claude Deschênes -Le Téléjournal Grand Montréal [vidéo]
Allez à 49:33

L’Odysée de MA - Lez Spread The Word

Départ canon pour Ariane Moffatt - QuébecSpot.com
Photo reportage - QuébecSpot.com

Comique et symbolique - Journal de Montréal

Prête pour l'étranger - Journal de Montréal

Montreal at 5 - CBC News [vidéo]



À SURVEILLER:
Samedi 3 mars: Belle et Bum, Télé-Québec, 21h00

Dimanche 4 mars: Interview en trois temps chez Monique Giroux, Espace Musique, 15h00

1 mars 2012

Lancement MA - Liens dans le désordre [29 février 2012]

Webpresse.ca [Vidéo]




Ariane Moffatt : Crevée avec éclat, la bulle! - Rue Rezzonico.com


Photo:Catherine Lefebvre


Ariane Moffatt: Oh, MA! - Journal Métro

Ariane Moffatt: déjà en mode jam - La Presse

Ariane Moffatt accueillie comme une reine - Canoe.ca

Philippe Renault - Maverick.ca

Ariane Moffatt : MA préférence à moi -
Le blogue arts et spectacles
d’André Ducharme