GUEST POST: LEA MANDANA : PIGEONS

photo: John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shallot (1888)

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Lea Mandana the past few months, and have come to learn that she is a pretty sweet, and funny girl. I met her in Brooklyn this past summer, feeling fortunate in doing so-I never thought I’d meet someone from my favorite European-based blog, Delicious Scopitone.

In this post, her grace is blessing Salad Fork in the form of words describing the music of Pigeons. We have collaborated before, but this one is all hers.

Lea Mandana says:

Cette nuit là, je me suis retrouvée complètement perdue sur l’autoroute du crépuscule.
Des lumières filaient vers nulle part, mes ongles sont devenus tout noirs.
Le ciel s’est soudain pris dans le sol.
L’autoroute du crépuscule, elle ne finit jamais.

Un long silence.

La cuisine. Je me souviens.
Nos premiers sourires et notre baiser qui allait être assassiné.

J’ai touché l’horizon et t’ai toujours aimé en secret.

Et puis, le cheval s’est échappé, le roman est resté inachevé.
J’étais la fille qui t’avait dit Pour toujours.


That night, I found myself completely lost on the Sunset Highway.
Lights spun to nowhere, my nails became all black.
The sky was suddenly caught in the ground.
Sunset Highway never ends.

A long silence.

The kitchen. I remember.
Our first smiles and our kiss which would be assassinated.

I touched the horizon and have always loved you in secret.

And then, the horse has escaped, the novel remained unfinished.
I was the girl who told you Forever.

photo: Visions of the Valley 7”

Bronx, NY sweetheart duo Pigeons are about to drop their third LP, Liasons, which draws them closer to a haunting pop sound. Liasons is being released soon after their recent LP (Si Faustine) and 7” (Hearts) for Olde English Spelling Bee, and lands in stores on November 16th through Soft Abuse.

Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin lace their dreamy songs with drum machines, bedroom echoes, languid guitar lines and saxophones. The album also includes two songs in French, one of is a brilliant take on the song by Serge Gainsbourg titled Laisse Tomber les Filles. Enjoy!

Pigeons - Race
Pigeons - Laisse Tomber Les Filles

Additionally, Pigeons have just issued Visions of the Valley, a limited two song single that features their newest recorded material. Highly recommended.

Pigeons - The Postcard
Pigeons - Sunset Park

The band embarks on their first-ever tour of the US, in support of Fabulous Diamonds. Be sure to catch their show with White Lightning Warehouse and Wet Hair tomorrow night in Iowa City!

Check out my previous posts about Pigeons on my beloved Delicious Scopitone:

Pigeons
Pigeons - Interview
Video Premiere: Pigeons - Paradise

Thanks Chris (Soft Abuse) and Louis (Salad Fork), for making my dream of a guest post come true!

A DELICIOUS TREAT: GATEKEEPER

PREFACE

I met Lea Mandana Roche in Brooklyn at the Underwater Peoples Showcase. She is one of the bloggers for Delicious Scopitone, the european blog powerhouse that also shares a spot with many other great music blogs on Pitchforks’ sister site, Altered Zones. This morning, she asked me if I would be interested in working on a post with her about Gatekeeper, a band that played with Games at their vinyl release show. I could not resist her offer! Below, is the post we wrote together.

Des lignes de synthé noires, des rythmes lumineux et des oscillations fantasmagoriques: Gatekeeper nous a offert un superbe live à Glasslands, Brooklyn, le 19 août dernier, avec Games, D’eon et Blissed Out. Le groupe est clairement inspiré par John Carpenter, Claudio Simonetti ou bien encore par la musique macabre de Goblin pour le “Suspiria” de Dario Argento.

Deep synth lines, bright beats and phantasmagoria oscillations: Gatekeeper played at Glasslands on August 19th with Games, D’eon and Blissed Out. Inspired by John Carpenter synthetic drama, Claudio Simonetti’s work and ghoulish music from the 1977 Dario Argento horror film “Suspiria” performed by Goblin, their sound is like a soundtrack to a cheesy cherry horror movie.

Leur premier vinyle “Optimus Maximus” est sorti sur Fright Records en octobre 2009, un label assez récent crée par Michael Mayer et Jon Berry de Kompakt. La vidéo suivante a été réalisée à l’occasion par Tommy Boy de Arawa.fm.

Their first LP, ‘Optimus Maximus’ was released on Fright Records in October 2009, a recent label set up by Kompakt’s Michael Mayer and Jon Berry. This video was done by Tommy Boy of Arawa.fm fame:

Je vous recommande vivement d’écouter leur incroyable “Halloween mix” pour Fact Magazine.

Also, check out the past Halloween mix that Gatekeeper made for Fact Magazine with Wendy Carlos, John Carpenter, Goblin etc. Incredible!

“Serpent” est le nouveau morceau qui sortira sur le prochain EP “Giza”, cet automne, via Merok. L’album sera accompagné par six vidéos, à partir de début octobre. Le produit final sera une édition limitée d’une cassette VHS. Il semble que la sortie sur format cassette VHS est approprié pour le type de musique que Gatekeeper crée. Quand j’écoute “Serpent”, ça me fait penser à ma cassette VHS des Tortues ninjas que je n’arrêtais pas de regarder quand j’étais enfant. Les Tortues ninjas vivaient dans la clandestinité sombre où ils avaient subi une mutation en raison d’une substance mutagène. La musique de Gatekeeper reflète les sons de cet environnement sombre et caché où les tortues ont passés de nombreuses années à grandir et à être formées par le maitre Splinter. Aussi, le son qui accompagne les Tortues ninja pour lutter contre le mal, personnifié par Shredder, semble très similaire à celle de Gatekeeper. Et, comme je suis à l’écoute de “Serpent”, des scènes de ce film que j’avais vu il y a déjà plusieurs années viennent de nouveau flotter dans ma mémoire qui s’était égarée.

‘Serpent’ is a new track from out upcoming EP ‘Giza’, out this fall on Merok. The album will be accompanied by six music videos, starting around early October. The final product will be a limited edition VHS cassette release of all videos which will accompany the LP.

It seems as though the VHS cassette release bundle is fitting for the type of music Gatekeeper creates, because when I listen to Gatekeepers’ all I can think about is my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles VHS I would watch as I child. The mutant ninja turtles’ lived in the dark underground where they had mutated from normal turtles due to an ‘ooze’ substance. The music of Gatekeeper reflects the sounds of this dark, hidden environment where the turtles has spent many years growing and training under Splinter. In addition, the music that scored that film as the Ninja Turtles venture to fight the evil Shredder sounds very similar to that of Gatekeeper, and as I am listening to ‘Serpent’, scenes from this film I had watched many years ago come floating back from suppressed memory and back into my main memory banks.

[MP3] Gatekeeper - Serpent
[MP3] Gatekeeper - Visions

Si vous êtes à New York, je vous invite à aller les écouter jouer le 9 septembre pour la release party du LP “Autre Ne Veut” avec Laurel Halo et Airbird. Bonne écoute.

The band is going to play on September 9th for Autre Ne Veut’s LP release party with Laurel Halo and Airbird at Zebulon! You should come.

Words by Lea Mandana of Delicious Scopitone and Louis Kishfy, Salad Fork.