Stephen Becker (singing, acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizers, harmonica)
Matt Espy (drums, percussion) Scott Foust (synthesizers) Casey Gibbs (synthesizers) Alison Hinderliter (piano/electric piano) Brian Stout (bass/harmony vocals) Jordan Kozer (drums, percussion) Please note: Le Concorde does NOT use pre-recorded tracks for live performance.
ALSO STARRING ::David Gamson (keyboards, drum programming, production) ::Ed Tinley (bass, keyboards, production) ::Ellis Clark and Tom Clark - Courtesy of Epicycle, (bass, keyboards, drums, production)
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ::David Gamson (Scritti Politti) ::Ken Stringfellow (Posies) ::John Ashton (Psychedelic Furs) ::Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs) ::Kevin Tihista ::Steve Gillis (Filter) ::Carla Prather (Poi Dog Pondering) ::Eric Chial (The Bon Mots) ::Ed Tinley and Dave Cottini (Ike Reilly Assassination) ::Phil Angotti ::Mark Ruggiero (Farewell Captain, Light FM) ::Jeff Greaves (Post Office) ::"Universe & Villa" was mastered by Emily Lazar @ The Lodge, NYC.
Influences
exotic luxury goods and dusty gem-like oddities at your favorite secondhand shop living side-by-side in harmony
Sounds Like
A band whose goal is to make it rain flowers, fight emocore crime, and vibrate in alignment with their desire at a cellular level.
le concorde NOW THE STORY CAN BE TOLD...
"The story goes like this: Divorced Ph.D. ditches it all and becomes academic regugee in the world of indie-pop. After releasing the starkly autobiographical, half grief-stricken, half hopeful Universe & Villa in 2005, he seeks out his musical hero of his teenage years whom he finds living in L.A. and embarks on a dream album."
"I think if you are going to burn bridges, it is at least a more interesting story if you do it with conviction and if the bridges are highly flammable structures of significant height and length."
Listening to the songs of Le Concorde is an exercise in opposites. Addictively inviting, uplifting and exhilarating music combines with conflicted, introspective lyrics—the first sign that this is not your typical ’80s-influenced synth-driven music.
Perhaps it's the Ph.D. that frontman/singer/songwriter Stephen Becker holds and still draws upon, but not in the university setting he'd once envisioned. Maybe it's the Zen-like way he thinks, acts, is. Or it could be the year in which his entire life came crashing down—marriage, job, band, all of ’em gone in the brief span of a few months—that forced him to reevaluate and recharge.
He did so at first by writing and recording a demo EP, one that led to positioning on the CMJ charts, steady rotation on XM Radio and a signing with New York–based March Records. Next up, Universe & Villa, the gut-wrenchingly personal introspective of the dissolution of his marriage and, at the time, what seemed like the crumbling of his life. "In retrospect, it seems like I was molting or shedding or something," he says. "Molting is a primordial struggle, but if you handle it right you can come out gleaming and sexy instead of scarred and beat up."
Continues Stephen, "Before the Russian Revolution, Lenin wrote that there are decades where nothing happens, but there are weeks when decades happen; in my life it seemed like everything was being cut loose all at once." In response to his life's events, he moved to a clean, well-lit room across town. He relegated the postmodern philosophy and urban history books into storage, stocked up on poetry, and bought a Roland Jupiter-8, reminiscent of his high school Juno-60. Once the '80s vinyl went into heavy rotation on his turntable, Stephen was primed to explore ways of creatively merging his influences into a new sound.
For the creation of his most recent EP, Suite, Stephen found himself in a better place...but first, he involved a few friends. A letter to legendary synth pioneer and R&B producer David Gamson (ex-Scritti Politti; Miles Davis, Chaka Khan, Me'shell Ngedeocello) led to the presentation of demos which met with a favorable response, and the two immediately began collaborating on Le Concorde's follow-up EP. "I knew I wanted to focus more on rhythmic grooves, exciting syncopations and musical counterpoint," explains Stephen. "That was a big part of why I wanted to work with David. He's very good with these things."
Looking to the future, Stephen and David envision an epic full-length album that spans the ful arc of Stephen's life experiences. Both men are excited to carve new territory in indie-pop by merging intricate synth kaleidoscopes with stark, songwriterly elements. "We set the bar high for our selves," says Stephen. "The records we like to make are exceedingly ambitious in their sonic detail and arrangements; each song is a painstakingly hand-crafted jewel."
"Success to me is being able to continue making music that I like," he says now, fully aware of his accomplishments. "I realized that I don't need much. Mainly the music."
"Ditching the academe for the recording studio never sounded so guiltless." - CMJ Magazine, Dec 2007
"A dreamy pin-up artist for the indie pop generation. Heart." - Advanced Copy
"[Suite is] a contagious flurry of nearly nineteen minutes of gentility and sophistication. - Seattle Post Intelligencer
"I have not been so infatuated with a band in years." - Heaven or Las Vegas UK
"Here's your new favorite band: Le Concorde. Get ready to hear your new favorite songs. So much intensity here..." - No Dessert for You
"A true pop panache. ...a sweet, dreamy epitaph that finds Becker reflecting on the fleeting nature of love and loss." - Amplifier
"The bar has officially been raised. Although Le Concorde has only been around since 2003, they sound like pop rock veterans." - Glide Magazine
"Le Concorde: Ready for Zach Braff" - Mother Jones
"This is pop in the best sense of the word." The Onion
"Comparisons to Phoenix are warranted...shared appreciation for the earnest pop harmonies available only to those with the courage to croon." - ButterTeam
"As lovely and poignant as pop music can get." - IndieSpinZone
"So memorable and infectious that it is destined to be downloaded on your iPod and played repeatedly without the fear of becoming stale or redundant." - Lost At Sea
"A perfect measure of sincere, modern craft and late-'80s eloquence."- Neumu
=============================== NEW RELEASE - SUITE - Nov 6, 2007
"Suite" (Fourchette / Le Grand Magistery)
Available 11/1/2007 through all digital retailers and olde tyme record stores near you.
DEBUT ALBUM
"Universe & Villa"(March Records) Available on iTunes -- Click the link below - Also available through Amazon.com, other digital retailers, and olde tyme record stores near you.
SPECIAL VALENTINES DAY SINGLE - Feb 2007 "She Loves The Way They Love Her"
=============================== NEWS***DATE ANNOUNCED FOR NEW RELEASE***"Suite" will be released NOVEMBER 6st 2007 by the Detroit-based label, Le Grand Magistery, the label which brought you Stars, Momus, and Pas/Cal. Le Concorde is already writing and seeking label interest for an epic follow-up.
***FALL / WINTER TOUR DATES t/b/a***Beginning Oct 17, Le Concorde will be on tour starting with shows in every major city on the East Coast. Dates will be announced here first.
NEW TRACK TO BE FEATURED ON VALENTINES DAY Detroit based indie label, Le Grand Magistery (Stars, Momus, Pascal) will be featuring a new Le Concorde track on their Valentines Day compilation. Deatils t/b/a.
LE CONCORDE + DAVID GAMSON OF SCRITTI POLITTI I recently returned from another trip to L.A. where I was co-writing and recording with David Gamson. Mixing sessions for the new tracks will begin in Aug 06 with John Potoker. Buckle up, puppy--I can make you dance
IN PARIS - DUET WITH KEN STRINGFELLOW (POSIES) - Recently returned from Paris, France where Ken Stringfellow and I tracked vocals for a new Le Concorde track. The new song is a duet titled, "All These Fragile Unions."
"APRIL WINE" WITH ED TINLEY & ELLIS CLARK - Spring 06 - Recently completed a new track titled, "April Wine." One of the most elaborate Le Concorde tracks so far. Over 80 tracks of music and autobiography-in-disguise.
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MORE WORDS...Top Album of the Year Lists - Village Voice - XMU - XM Satellite Radio - Excellent Online
"I've not been so infatuated with a band in years." - Heaven or Las Vegas UK
(Spring 2007)
"Heart-whole sleekness, a perfect measure of sincere, modern craft and late-'80s eloquence. Le Concorde are grand agents of the interior, equally taken with the smallish moments, ornate possibilities and sophisticated, relevant pop music (again). The gorgeous yet disremembered music of the late '80s is as much of a leitmotif here as the title itself. Possibly a nod to the double "L" in each of the Go-Betweens' album titles before 16 Lovers Lane broke the string, Universe and Villa affords a rich introduction to Stephen Becker and his band Le Concorde." 8 out of 10 - NEUMU
Heartfelt music grounded deeply in an indie sensibility.
beautiful instrumental textures. (People Mover) is so memorable and infectious that it is destined to be downloaded on your iPod and played repeatedly without the fear of becoming stale or redundant. LOST AT SEA
9.9 out of 10
As lovely and poignant as pop music can get. In a decent world, the songs on this disc would just rule the charts. Given half a chance they'd do it here too.
INDIESPINZONE
Hearts racing 120 beats per minute.
Its the Minor Chords that Kill You is a dandy fucking song, catchy enough to
stick in your head for hours, inspired enough to jog your memory toward a time when indie rock was more about the tune than it was about ironic thrift store t-shirts and goateed angst. SPLENDID
"While most of his contemporaries languish in mediocrity or derivation, Becker hits on all creative cylinders on many occasions, including opener "People Mover," "In the Morning," and "Archeology of Cruelty."...Le Concorde's Stephen Becker likes to write windswept, affectionate acoustic guitar hooks with introspective and/or melancholy lyrics. " - INK 19
4 out of 5 stars
There's a subtle undercurrent of mad glee that runs through Universe and Villa, singer/songwriter Stephen Becker's second Le Concorde release, a subtlety that peels away with each repeated listen. This is grandly arranged -- yet deceptively simple -- metropolitan pop music in the vein of the Beautiful South, Belle & Sebastian and the Magnetic Fields that oozes enough self-deprecating wit, good-natured cynicism, and pure-pop posturing to satisfy both Morrissey and Fountains of Wayne fans alike. Tailor-made for late night, summer-in-the-city driving, Becker's meandering voice can be both fey and brutal but it's his soaring falsetto that's the record's most dangerous weapon. The mesmerizing "Controlling," with its Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie-channeling-Prince, arcs from nearly spoken word to full-on banshee wail (the album's high point), while the ABC-inspired "Archeology of Cruelty" shows an artist who is unafraid to challenge his listener's adherence to the "genre-fication" of indie rock. ALL MUSIC GUIDE
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NOTE
All
These words
Are just a front.
What I would really like to do is
Chain you to my body
Then sing for days
And days and
Days
About
Love.
--Hafiz, 14th c. Sufi Poet, translation by D. Ladinsky
===============================
THE MISSIVE WE ARE LAUNCHING...Dear Ones,
We've lit the candles.
Kick off your sandles...
This is the New-Beauty.
"The sound of post-emo revelation."
We may have once known brooding malaise and bitter rebellion but we are no longer possessed by it.
All we want to do is fall in love while there's still time.
Power, not force.
S.B.
Gratitude vibes: JF, AB, SAJD, KS, DG, GG, LC... We hope that everyday you are awake to your unique brillance.======================
Thanks so much for sharing the stage with us last night. You only get better and better and we think you're pretty great already! Lovely sounds, lovely songs, lovely people. Talent abound! Hope to do it again soon, friends. xoxo
hey guys it was really great chatting with you the other night. i have been dying to tell you that when i heard your cd i just couldn't help but think of Scritti Politti. ok especially International Flight. if you don't know them they r an old 80's band check them out. it is uncanny how similar it is. wondered if they influenced you? oh yeah got me add up to for the bus to vote. haha
Int'l Flight is on my page, cos it's so great. Word. Looking forward to upcoming LeConcorde show with dressy bessy and the tiny speakers at Bottom Lounge!
Man i'd love to come to Chicago and play the boards with ya! Everytime I go to Chicago I just get to see the inside of the damned airport on my way to Tulsa :-(...Love the sound...A
"Ditching the academe for the recording studio never sounded so guiltless." - CMJ Magazine, Dec 2007
