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/// On their albums, on stage, they are THE PENELOPES. In private, they are AXEL BASQUIAT (composition, voice) and VINCENT TREMEL (textures, processing, production). And they never cease to have extraordinary encounters. Among them is the chance meeting with DJ MORPHEUS, the former leader of the cult band MINIMAL COMPACT. This relationship is reflected on the album, PRICELESS CONCRETE ECHOES. Let us start at the beginning. /// It's November 2006, The Penelopes had just put the finishing touches on their first album. They had already gained recognition for their live performances and their work on some epic EPs. The Arrogance of Simplicity appears on CITIZEN RECORDS, the label of VITALIC. Press photos of the time show them in the countryside, out among the golden wheat, but their performance state is far from this idyllic panoramic. In clubs, they offer up a high energy show with full reign of minimal electronics and their representation on laptops. Dance, rock and referenced, their album caused a buzz. The song "In the storm" unveils the first facet of their relationship with MORPHEUS, the onstage moniker of SAMY BIRNBACH. The man's reputation is well known, as a compiler (FREEZONE, TIGERSUSHI, etc.), as an artistic director of SSR (the dance division of CRAMMED disc), for his collaborations with BERTRAND BURGALAT, or for the use of one track of MINIMAL COMPACT into WIM WENDER 'S movie “Wings of desire”. On The Penelopes' second album, you'll find his crisp verses intact and his deep, luscious voice that first got him fame in the 80s. /// The mix of pop and romanticism rocks the soul. The Penelopes have been mixing this paradox for a long time already. /// 2008 was a stellar year. The SPEDIDAM Prize for Best Discovery in current and electronic music, elected in the 5 best discovery by the readers of TRAX magazine. Three tours in ASIA. Jaunts to RUSSIA and NEW YORK under the sponsorship of AGNES B. The DEMIAN EXHIBITION in HONG KONG illustrated by DANAKIL, participation in "the Modern Young People" exhibition, visual experimentation with the collective art video EXYZT, the performance "Derriere les tombes" with the writer CHLOE DELAUME... and of course, the sanctioning of the F.L.R. - the Front de Liberation du Rhum, hand in hand with Samy. /// The sea is great and we know the challenge to release a second album. Long discussions, sharing of ideas, the shoegazing (SLOWDIVE, RIDE), the white funk (A CERTAIN RATIO) and disco New York-style (LCD SOUNDSYSTEM). The socratic method operates here; the work is in progress with MORPHEUS, who signs most of the texts here. On this album, The Penelopes left for the first time their home studio for the one of ARNAUD REBOTINI, the man at the machine for ZEND AVESTA and BLACKSTROBE, lavishing his engineering skill on them. Together, they achieve a sound that is both raw and warm, void of reverbs. On "PRICELESS CONCRETE ECHOES", named after an exquisite corpse, The Penelopes and Morpheus create pleasure. On Saved, they give life again to the ghost of MINIMAL COMPACT and bring back the belle epoque with MALKA SPIGEL's singing. They cover STATIK DANCIN' , the original anthem praised by JAMES MURPHY, and revisit the BEASTIE BOYS' Sabotage. Their friend CHLOE DELAUME is entrusted with the songs STAINS and 4'47. And the result of those late night conversations is finally unveiled here, with the voices of Samy and Axel carrying throughout the album, echoing each other in response (Licked by love, Stuck in Lalaland...) /// THE PENELOPES have expanded their circle with Morpheus but fundamentally, they have stuck true to their roots. It's what MALKA sung: ///Don't expect nothing but some change in the weather. ///
 

Hometown:
Paris, France 

Record Label:
Citizen Records 

Press Contact:
thepenelopes.promo@gmail.com 

Members:
Axel Basquiat Vincent T + Benjamin Beaulieu (additional studio & live drummer)  

Interests:
/// Politcs /// Chartreuse and diet red bull /// Red Star football club /// Zazie dans le metro /// Cheese, sleeping pills and sunglasses /// Andre Breton /// Crap bicycles /// Planes crash ‘s Stories  

Artists Liked:
Exyzt, Chloe Delaume, Vitalic, Yann Le Marec et Jean Francois Sanz, Morpheus, Danakil , Agnes b 

Influences:
Supreme Nique Ta Mere ,Electronic, Happy Mondays, Ride, Slowdive ,Roger Waters ,A Certain Ratio ,Talking Heads ,Bowie (even in Tin Machine ),Franck black (especially in the Pixies ), Vaselines , KLF, The Cars, Prefab Sprout, Devo , Leonard Cohen, Soulwax remixes ,Stereolab ,Sly and The Family Stone ,Prince ,Gang of 4 ,PIL, Chemical Bros ,Primal Scream ,Arcade Fire, The Glove, Joy Division et New Order , THE THE, Barry White, Beloved, De la Soul, Joe Smooth ,Lightning seeds, Tindersticks ,Jimi Hendrix ,M/A/R/S/S, Grand Master flash, Tindersticks ,Nick Cave ,XTC, Tv on the radio ,Sonic Youth ,Public Enemy, Beloved ,Pulp , Charlatans ,Elli et Jacno, The Sundays, Everything but the girl ,Morrissey ,Pet Shop boys , Franckie Knuckles , Stooges, The Wings, Cocteau Twins,m83 ,House of love , Wire 

Website:
www.thepenelopes.com/ www.myspace.com/thepenelopesmusic http://twitter.com/thepenelopes www.citizenrecords.com www.thepenelopes.citizen-records.com