Customer Reviews

L'Absente

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked the Amelie soundtrack, but after I saw a tremendous life performance of Yann Thiersen in Amsterdam, I ran to the recordstore to buy this record. Yann Thiersen is without doubt a musical genius, he played piano, the alt-violin and the accordeon as if these instruments were a part of his body. In one part, he even played piano with one hand and accordeon with the other. Besides, he played some gitar and prooved to be a good singer as well. In other words, I've never seen so many talents united in one person. The track on l'Absente that really stand out of the rest is Qu'en reste-t-il, a solo performance with the alt-violin that litterally will blow you away. The cd only has two english spoken songs on it, which are not bad, but compared to the rest of this cd a bit awkward. If you like Amelie, you'll like this album. If you happen to be able to see a life performance of this man, go see it. In my case, this concert was one of the best I've seen in many years...

Beautiful album all round and a great
addition to the Tiersen discography of incredibly
great French music. Not out of place alongside
Tindersticks, Satie, Arvo Part, Francoiz Breut, Angelo Badalamenti
or the soundtrack to Amelie (no suprise that its by Tiersen).
L'Absente is like that French girl you meet in
Paris and fall in love with immediately (she's a little shy,
introspective, slightly distant and darkly Gallic but once
you get to know her better she's friendly, warm,

thoughtful and fun to be around while still retaining
an air of dark humour and sad beauty ). So it is with
L'Absente. The instrumentation is truly inspired
and incredibly diverse and complex, you just
have to give it a few listens. For me he has nailed
the dark poetic charm of France with this music. Also if
there's an instrument that says France to me it has to be
the accordion which works beautifully here on many
songs. Anyone who says they can't listen to accordion
hasn't heard this album. Neil Hannon's song should have
been in the film Moulin Rouge (sad it never was), just an
incredible song. I'd love to see Tiersen do an album with
Nick Cave someday, I think that would be incredible.

Run, don't walk, to buy this album.

I am surprised to see this album get such low reviews by people who liked the Amelie soundtrack. After all, many of the songs on the soundtrack were taken from Yann Tiersen's other albums, including this one. Not French enough is a rather strange complaint that I can't really address. But if you are looking for beautiful, quirky and unique music, all of Tiersen's CD's are wonderful, but this is one of my favorites.

I want to run out and scour the flea markets for a toy piano. There is a nostalgia here that is elusive and compelling. Perhaps it's the sense of childhood. Violins, windup machines, accordians, toy pianos, and unearthly delights are all here.

Addicting...Enriching....Delightful...this is the best Yann Tierson CD there is. I found this CD in Key West when I was in a boutique and it was playing and I could not leave the store until I had it with me. Great for cocktail hour at parties-- I gave 5 of these as Christmas gifts due to the compliments I recieved.

My introduction to Tiersen came by way of the soundtrack to "Amelie", a magical film. Tiersen used a combination of instruments from accordian to mellotron to create music that seems to from a future cafe in Paris that tries to capture a moment from the innocent 1920's. On the strength of that work, I bought this.

I'm definitely impressed with the range of his own album and mix of vocal and instrumental tracks. In particular, the guest vocalists run the gamut of ranges and styles but yet all of the songs seem to part of a main theme. This is no doubt due to Tiersen's use of instruments such as the accordian (and finger harp, I swear) strings that are common throughout the album.

Quiet and emotional but never boring. Definitely recommended.

such a beautiful album from one of the most talented musicians in france today. really, really wonderful.

It is perhaps because I was expecting the smooth, charming, nostalgic refrains of the Amelie soundtrack that I find L'Absente so disappointing. I found elements on several of the tracks to be noisy, mechanical, synthetic and intrusive if not annoying. The English lyrics on some of the tunes put me off as well. Not that I don't appreciate the English language. It's just that I was anticipating something French (of which there are a few). I'm writing this after a couple of listens. With a few more, I may mellow. But this is my initial reaction. I sure love Amelie, though.

"It is perhaps because I was expecting the smooth, charming, nostalgic refrains of the Amelie soundtrack that I find L'Absente so disappointing. I found elements on several of the tracks to be noisy, mechanical, synthetic and intrusive if not annoying. The English lyrics on some of the tunes put me off as well. Not that I don't appreciate the English language. It's just that I was anticipating something French (of which there are a few)."

English lyrics and melodies used in AMelie. This, good sirs, is no Amelie soundtrack!