my favorite artist of all time, yann mixes all sorts of musical instruments to create a minimalistic avant garde sound. this quiet man is a very special and wonderful person. yann tiersen makes cinema for the ears. without a screen or a projector, just using the listener's imagination, which he appeals to in the same way as does a super-8 film or a sepia-tinted print. this talented writer/director/producer/actor has surrounded himself with a technical team that includes masters of the mini piano, accordion, violin, melodica, carillon, banjo and harpsichord. he plays all these instruments himself and is a master of their every nuance, especially when it comes to arousing emotion. although the music of yann tiersen draws on the intimate and the innermost reaches of the soul, it speaks to all who understand the language of music. in terms of musical direction, tiersen is also the author of series of long takes that are like mini-playlets dealing with travel, sorrow, dreams and celebrations. the artist gives names to these powerful and evocative images, names like la rupture (the break-up), l'arrive sur l'ile (arriving on the island), les jours hereux (happy days) and sur le fil, (on a knife-edge). tiersen leaves each listener free to fill in the details of the story and to appreciate them for what they are. here is his most recent works: albums:

2001 l'absente
1999 black session (concert)
1997 toute est calme
1997 le phare
1997 rue des cascades
1996 la valse des monstres
compositions pour le cinema :
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2001 le fabuleux destin d'amélie poulain, long métrage de jean-pierre jeunet, ugc film, paris.
1997 "l'homme aux bras ballants", court métrage de laurent gorgiat, lazenec bretagne prod. diffusion en salles et canal plus. (fipa d'or).
"la vie rêvée des anges", long métrage d'eric zonca, bagheera prod., prix d'interprétation féminin à cannes. le titre du moceau passant à la fin du film s'appelle "rue des cascades", et se trouve sur l'album du même nom.
"le cyclope de la mer, court métrage de philippe julien, jpl film, rennes.

compositions pour le theatre :
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1997 "my fridge fair...y", chorégraphie de jim vincent. utilisation de quatre titres de "rue des cascades".
1996 "quartet", cie ainsi de suite.
"le funambule" de jean genet, cie digor.
1995 "freaks", cie la gaterie.
"deux nô moderne" de mishima, cie ainsi de suite.
1994 "bal trap" de xavier durringer, cie ainsi de suite.

a fan of raï, i met tarkan in southern france. a superstar in europe and in his homeland of turkey, dance-pop composer tarkan mixes modern beats with middle eastern melodies and arrangements. tarkan (whose name means strong and very bold person) was born october 17, 1972 in alzey, germany, where he lived until the age of 15, when his family decided to move back to turkey. there he started his classical music studies at the conservatories of karamürsel and istanbul. at 16 he was already performing in bars and clubs. in 1993, tarkan meets the person that became his producer: mehmet sögütoglu, the owner of "istanbul records", one of the most important record companies in turkey. in less than a year, tarkan became the most important star in turkish pop scene, thanks to his albums, "yine sensiz" (selling over 700,000 copies) and "aacayipsin" (selling over 2 million copies). at the end of 1994, he moved to new york, where he studied english, and began to give an international dimension to his career. his third album "ölürüm sana" was released in turkey and in european countries like germany, france, belgium and england; he toured, filling important european venues. in march 1997 he toured with sezen aksu, turkish "queen of pop", with whom he has writen some songs (like "simarik", first single of his latest album "tarkan"). that same year, tarkan was honored with the award to the "most succesful artist of the year" by the turkish association of journalists, an award equivalent to the grammy. when the single "simarik" became an instant hit in europe, universal music france decided to release an album for the european market, compiling the best songs of tarkan's second and third albums. the result is the album "tarkan". during the spring and summer of 1999, tarkan toured in germany, france, england, belgium, the netherlands, denmark, austria, portugal, ukraine, morocco, tunisia, russia and australia. in may of that same year he received the award to the "best selling turkish artist" in the world music awards, which got him worldwide attention, including latin america. his last album unleashed a tarkanmania in latin america, especially in mexico, where universal music requested a promotional tour to the region at the end of 1999. however, this visit had to be postponed until the second week of march 2000, because tarkan should do his military service in turkey. military service lasts about 18 months, but a new law came into effect, which allows turkish men living abroad to pay a fee in order to reduce it to one month. for that reason, he could finish his military service in february 2000. his visit to mexico in march 2000 was incredible for tarkan, for he couldn´t possibly ever imagine he had thousands of fans in a country so far away and different from his. he appeared on tv shows, radio, and gave some interviews, promising to return later this year to perform at a concert in mexico city. after simarik's world success, tarkan began recording his new album in july 2000. it has been produced in southern france, egypt, turkey, new york and los angeles, california; in this last city he worked on the mixing of the album. the album, karma, was released on october 2001.

even though satie was a fascinating person in many ways, it is his music that is the major reason for his popularity. he was very creative and had a great influence on his colleagues claude debussy, maurice ravel and francis poulenc. because his music was ahead of his time and regarded as timeless, he also has great influence on many modern composers. satie was a forerunner to minimalism. he experimented with what he called furniture music , meant to be in the background rather than listened to. he composed music to be listened at different angles, similar pieces divided into several parts. many of his compositions have influences from medieval music and from french composers. his most famous works are the serene gymnopédies (three similar piano pieces), the mystical vexations (short piano piece repeated 840 times), the popular piano suite trois morceaux en forme de poire (duet), the ballet parade (with some very odd instruments) and the ballet relâche (with film sequences included). his music was rather unknown and underrated until the 1960s. his popularity has grown ever since.

in collaboration with brendan perry, lisa gerrard is half of the duo dead can dance, which has been releasing arty goth-rock on the 4ad label since the mid-'80s. gerrard began her solo career with the 1995 release the mirror pool, which contained a lot of work that wouldn't fit comfortably into the dcd oeuvre. combining these fragments with music that she composed and arranged digitally before reconfiguring them into scores that could be performed, it also draws on a composition by handel and traditional iranian music. recorded and produced largely at her home in rural australia, it extends the world music inclinations of recent dead can dance albums by featuring bouzouki, tablas, and camel drums, though the somber, orchestrated pomp of dead can dance is also present in her operatic, often wordless vocals, and string/woodwind passages (some of which were performed by australia's victorian philharmonic orchestra). gerrard released her second album, duality, in the spring of 1998. duality was written and performed with pieter bourke.

morcheeba

modern/alternative rock & pop | pop | rock
wea/london records

the most groove-oriented act in the mid-'90s female-fronted electronica crowd, morcheeba rely on the sweet, fluid vocals of sky edwards and a laidback mix of fusion, funk and blues produced by brothers paul and ross godfrey, on beats/scratches and guitar/keyboards respectively. the trio was formed in 1995 when the godfreys decided to go out on their own after co-producing six tracks for david byrne's album feelings. they submitted several tapes of their instrumental demos to labels around london, but received little interest in return. after hooking up with vocalist edwards at a party, however, their music began to gel and morcheeba signed to the china label. after the release of two eps (trigger hippie and music that we hear), the trio issued their debut album, who can you trust? it appeared on the american discovery label in late 1996, and morcheeba toured the u.s. with live and fiona apple the following year. big calm followed in 1998 and fragments of freedom was released two years later.

moby

new york, ny
techno/dance | pop | rock
bmg

moby was one of the most controversial figures in techno music, alternately praised for bringing a face to the notoriously anonymous electronic genre, as well as being scorned by hordes of techno artists and fans for diluting and trivalizing the form. in either case, moby was one of the most important dance music figures of the early '90s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in england and in america. moby fused rapid disco beats with heavy distorted guitars, punk rhythms and detailed productions that drew equally from pop, dance and movie soundtracks. born richard melville hall, moby received his nickname as a child; it derives from the fact that herman melville, the author of moby dick, is his great-great granduncle. moby was born and raised in darien, connecticut, where he played in a hardcore punk band called the vatican commandos as a teenager. later, he briefly sang with flipper, while their singer was serving time in jail. he briefly attended college, before he moved to new york city, where he began djing in dance clubs. during the late '80s and 1990, he released a number of singles and eps for the independent label instinct. in 1991, he set the theme from david lynch's television series twin peaks to an insistent, house-derived rhythm and titled the result "go." the single became a surprise british hit single, climbing into the top ten. following its success, moby was invited to remix a number of mainstream and underground acts, including michael jackson, pet shop boys, brian eno, depeche mode, erasure, the b-52's and orbital. moby continued performing at dances and raves throughout 1991 and 1992, culminating in a set at 1992's mixmag awards where he broke his keyboards at the end of his concert. moby, his first full-length album, appeared in 1992. in 1993, he released the double a-side single "i feel it" / "thousand," which became a moderate uk hit. according to the guinness book of records, "thousand" is the fastest single ever, appropriately clocking in at 1000 beats a minutes. that same year, moby signed a record contract with mute and his first release was ambient, which compiled unissued material recorded between 1988 and 1991. later that year, the story so far, a collection of singles released on instinct, appeared. in 1994, the single "hymn" -- one of the first fusions of gospel, techno and ambient music -- was released.in 1994, moby signed a major-label contract with elektra records in the u.s. everything is wrong, his first album released under the deal, appeared in the spring of 1995 to uniformly excellent reviews, especially in the american press, who had previously ignored him. despite the promotional push behind the album and his popular sets at the 1995 lollapalooza, the album wasn't a commercial success. the following year, moby suddenly abandoned techno to record heavy guitar rock for animal rights, which received mixed reviews. a partial return to electronica, 1997's i like to score, was followed by 1999's play. surpassing everyone's expectations, the album became a platinum hit and reached number one in the uk, while play's tracks were licensed by dozens of advertisers and compilers.

blue man group

new york, ny
modern/alternative rock & pop
virgin records

experimental musical theatre troupe the blue man group was founded in 1987 by longtime friends matt goldman, phil stanton, and chris wink; identical in their blue-painted skin, skullcaps and black clothing, the trio soon became a fixture of the new york underground performance art scene thanks to their regular appearances in central park, followed by shows at noted east village spaces including dixon place, performance space 122 and the wooster group's performing garage. equal parts play, concert, and sketch routine, the blue man group combined sight gags, physical stunts and audience participation, with members of the front rows given plastic rain ponchos as protection from the hail of paint, food and other assorted projectiles launched from the stage; in early 1991, they premiered their production tubes at la mama, moving to the astor place theater by the end of the year and ultimately winning an obie award for their efforts. tubes eventually expanded to long runs in boston, chicago and las vegas; in 1999, the blue man group also issued an album, audio, spotlighting their custom musical instruments.

camillie saint-saens

france
classical

the greatest composer of all time, saint-saens was an individual that could easily write little ditties to poke fun of certain things in life. his most remembered and treasured work is the "le carnival des animaux: grande fantaisie zoologique," the carnival of the animals. i first remember hearing this work in grade school, and ever since, hearing the "introduction et marche royale du lion," introduction and royal march of the lions, and my super favorite "fossiles," fossils, i have just adored his music.
favorites: le carnival des animaux and symphony no. 3 in c minor, op.78 in adagio - allegro moderato and maestoso. some may mistake his name for that of a woman, but he is a man of musical genius.

capercaillie

scotland
folk | rock
ryko records

i first heard this group on a recent documentary about the celts. though capercaillie mix contemporary electronics with traditional scottish jigs and reels, the lineup includes only two scots: vocalist karen matheson (b. oban, argyll, scotland) and vocalist/bassist john saich (b. irvine, scotland). the rest include one canadian (marc duff, who plays bodhran and whistles), one irishman (manus lunny, bouzouki and vocals) and two englishmen (fiddler charlie mckerron and keyboard player donald shaw).

formed in 1984, the group built a local reputation for their solid musicianship and popular live act, releasing albums in 1984 (cascade) and 1987 ( crosswinds ). in 1988, capercaillie was commissioned to compose the soundtrack for the blood is strong, a series about the history of gaelic scots. the album went platinum in scotland, and tours of north america and the middle east spread the word. sidewaulk , released the following year, is perhaps the sextet's best album. a single from 1991's delirium even made playlists on london's bbc radio 1. capercaillie released the compilation get out in 1992. then, with a flurry of activity in the mid-'90s, the group released three albums within two years.

the fusion of celtic and african musics with modern dance music may seem improbable, but capercaillie is one of the few groups capable of pulling off such an ambitious blend. tastefully mixing african, celtic, gaelic and european musical forms, capercaillie's beautiful wasteland is a triumph. partially recorded in the andalusian mountains of southern spain and partly in glasgow, this album also features two collaborations with west african duo sibeba. many of the gaelic melodies come from "mouth music," ancient vocal dancing songs from the highlands, creating a melancholy, relaxing atomosphere.

canada
instrumental | ethnic
rca victor

in your lifetime you should see at least one cirque performance. the cirque du soleil is the most spectacular thing i have ever see performed. with several resident performances at different sites across the u.s., it would be hard to miss seeing the show. myself, a musically inclined person, i really fell for the music. my favorite show would have to be "mystere." i do not know where it is located now, but it was a spectacular show with stuning visuals and incredible music. the music blends a variety of instruments from all continents with unique lyrics of a variety of languages. i would have to say that the music sets all cirque du soleil on a different, ethereal level. i recommend you see at least one show, or at least buy any cirque cd. the music alone will make you hear (and even see) music in a different light.