I went to see the French band Holden yesterday at a very nice,cozy and small bar called the Sycamore somewhere around Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. There was nobody there so the concert started late. To my surprise, the 10 of us who where there, were treated to a very intimate acoustic set with two of the band members. This recording captures just 28 minutes of the first half of the stripped down set. If anyone knows the titles of the songs, please post them. Enjoy.
Listen to the acoustic set here
Holden is a French pop duo that began recording in 1997. The band members are Armelle Pioline (vocals) and Dominique Dépret (aka Mocke, guitar), with help from Pierre-Jean Grapin (drums), Evan Evans (keyboard) and Richard Cousin (bass).
Holden released ‘L’arrière monde’ in 1998. In 2001, they met the producer Señor Coconut aka Atom aka Uwe Schmidt, who mixed their second album, ‘Pedrolira’ (2002). Thanks to him, they became famous in Chile, where they recorded their last album, ‘Chevrotine’ (2006).
Holden’s newest album Fantomatisme was released in 2009. The four songs streaming at their MySpace are great. Time Out describes it well: “Parisian duo Holden offers wistful, transporting folk-pop, accented with bossa nova and jazz. Armelle Pioline’s yearning French vocals make us feel like we’re inhabiting an early Godard film.” The slower / bossa nova songs remind me of Keren Ann or Astrud Gilberto, though in some videos (below), they also rock out a little more.
This was the 2nd of a 4 day run in NY. The first time they have ever played on this side of the Atlantic. Today they play at Matchless, with full electric sound. Tuesday they finish their run at Pianos at 8pm. Check em out…
