Name	Têtes Raides
Background	group_or_band
Alias	Red Ted (initially)
Origin	France
Genre	Folk Rock
Years active	1984 - present
Url	Têtes Raides
Current members	Christian OlivierGrègoire SimonPascal OlivierAnne-Gaëlle BisquaySerge BégoutEdith BégoutPierre GauthéJean-Luc Millot

Têtes Raides is a French folk rock group.

Group history

The group was founded in Paris during the 1980s. Originally, they played music heavily influenced by the punk movement and depended on electric instruments. Their third album featured Anne-Gaëlle, a classically trained cellist, and marked a turning point in the group's music toward a more acoustic sound. The group's later efforts misleadingly take on the air of quotidian folk songs while actually using stunning musical arrangements, experimental soundscapes and poetic lyrics rife with very dark humor.

Listeners find the influence of classic French musicians like Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and the Négresses Vertes in the later work.

Group members

Christian Olivier : Voice, accordion, acoustic guitar, graphics

Grègoire Simon (aka "Iso") : Saxophone, flute, accordion, voice

Pascal Olivier (aka "Cali") : Bass guitar, double bass, Hélicon, tuba, voice (Christian's brother)

Anne-Gaëlle Bisquay : Cello, violin

Serge Bégout : Acoustic guitar, baritone saxophone

Jean-Luc Millot (aka "Lulu") : drums, voice.

Edith Bégout (aka "la p'tite dernière") : Tuba, baseball bat, piano (Serge's sister)

Discography

1989 Not dead but bien raides

1990 Mange tes morts

1992 Les oiseaux

1993 Fleur de yeux

1996 Le bout du toit

1997 Viens (album live)

1998 Chamboultou

2000 10 ans de Têtes Raides (compilation)

2000 Gratte poil

2003 Qu'est-ce qu'on s'fait chier !

2004 28.05.04 (album live)

2005 Fragile #

2006 Aïe (compilation)

2007 Banco #

# : Vocals by Sara Mandiano.

Videography

2003 Têtes Raides aux Bouffes du Nord (filmed live in 2002)

External links

Official website

Italian website

Category:French musical groups

Name	Yann Tiersen
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Yann Pierre Tiersen
Born	June 23, 1970
Origin	Brest, Brittany, France
Instrument	Piano, Violin, Accordion, Guitar, Toy piano, Voice and various others.
Genre	Minimalist, Avant-Garde
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter
Years active	1995–present
Label	VirginANTI-Mute Records
Url	Official website

Yann Pierre Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French musician and composer. His music is recognized by its use of a large variety of instruments in relatively minimalist compositions, often with a touch of either European classical music or French folk music, using primarily the piano, accordion or violin together with instruments like the melodica, xylophone, toy piano, ondes martenot, harpsichord and typewriter. His musical style, particularly when using toy and folk instruments is similar to Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Pascal Comelade, but his more serious work is reminiscent of Frédéric Chopin, Erik Satie, Philip Glass and Michael Nyman.

Biography

Tiersen was born in Brittany, France, in 1970 and received classical training at several musical academies, including those in Rennes, Nantes, and Boulogne. In the early 1980s as a teenager he was influenced by the post-punk culture of bands like The Stooges and Joy Division. He has Belgian and Norwegian origins.

Before releasing scores under his own name, Tiersen recorded background music for a number of plays and short films, such as La Vie Rêvée des Anges (1998, Erick Zonca), Alice et Martin (1998, André Téchiné), Qui Plume la Lune? (Christine Carrière, 1999).

He rose to domestic fame upon the release of his third album, Le Phare, but remained relatively unknown outside France until the release of his score for Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain in 2001, which was a mixture of both new and previously released material.

Tiersen favors the piano, accordion, and violin, but is also known for his experimentation and use of obscure and found instruments like the ondes martenot and the typewriter.

Yann Tiersen's list of collaborators continues to grow album after album (see discography below for details). While composing his fifth album, L'absente, Tiersen lent his musical talent to Françoiz Breut and Les Têtes Raides for their own albums. His 2005 album, Les Retrouvailles, featured vocals from Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, Jane Birkin, and Elizabeth Fraser, formerly of Cocteau Twins. Tiersen also played piano on Staples' solo album, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04. In 2004 he also released a collaborative CD with American singer-songwriter Shannon Wright.

His live performances vary greatly. Sometimes he is accompanied by an orchestra and many guest collaborators, like Dominique A. Other times, he offers the more frequent minimalistic sessions, usually accompanied only by a drummer/bassist and a guitarist, with Tiersen switching seamlessly between piano, accordion, and violin for his lighter songs, and electric guitar for his louder pieces (where his Avant-Garde Music meet some rock sonorities).Lately, however, he has almost banished piano, accordion and violin and focused more on his electric guitar instead, as visible in his 2009-2010 Live Tours.

Yann Tiersen was married to Belgian actress Natacha Régnier, but they have since been divorced. They have a daughter, Lise born in 2002.

Dust Lane 2010

October 2010 saw the release of Tiersen’s sixth studio album titled Dust Lane. The album was two years in the making and was largely recorded in Ushant, France.

Discography

Studio albums

La Valse des Monstres (1995)

Rue des Cascades (1996)

*featured performer: Claire Pichet.

Le Phare (1998)

*featured performers: Claire Pichet, Dominique A.

L'Absente (2001)

*featured performers: orchestral group Synaxis, Lisa Germano, Sacha Toorop, Dominique A, Neil Hannon, Natacha Régnier, Têtes Raides

Les Retrouvailles (2005)

*featured performers: Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, Jane Birkin, Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Christophe Miossec, Dominique A.

Dust Lane (2010)

Soundtracks

Amélie Original Soundtrack (2001)

Good Bye Lenin! Original Soundtrack (2003)

*featured performer: Claire Pichet.

Tabarly (2008)

Live albums

(1999)

*Black Session radio performance

*featured performers: Neil Hannon (of The Divine Comedy), Bertrand Cantat (of Noir Désir), Françoiz Breut, The Married Monk, Têtes Raides and a string quartet.

C’était ici (2002)

*live compilation album

*featured performers: 35-member orchestral group Synaxis, conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne. Claire Pichet, Christine Ott, Christian Quermalet, Marc Sens, Nicholas Stevens, Jean-François Assy, Renaud Lhoest, Oliver Tilkin, Ronan le bars, Têtes Raides, Dominique A, Lisa Germano.

On Tour (2006)

*featured performers: Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins , Diam's , Katel, DD la Fleur

Singles and EPs

Tout est Calme (1999)

*collaboration with The Married Monk

*other featured performers: the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Lisa Germano, Neil Hannon (of The Divine Comedy), Dominique A, Françoiz Breut, Têtes Raides, Sacha Toorop (of Zop Hopop), the actress Natacha Regnier, Christian Quermalet (of The Married Monk), Marc Sens (a Serge Tessot-Gay collaborator), Christine Ott and a string quartet.

3 titres inédits au profit de la FIDH (part of the On Aime, On Aide collection, composed to raise funds for the FIDH, sold exclusively at Fnac) (2003)

PALESTINE (vinyl EP) (2010)

Collaborations

Bästard (EP) (1999)

*collaboration with Bästard

Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright (2004)

*collaboration with Shannon Wright.

This Immortal Coil (2010)

Contributions

One Trip, One Noise (by Noir Désir) (1997)

*"A ton étoile" (arrangements, strings, vibraphone, bell, mandolin, electric guitar and bass)

Vingt à Trente Mille Jours (by Françoiz Breut) (2000)

*"Porsmouth" (vibraphone), "Vingt à trente mille jours" (vibraphone), "L'heure bleue" (violin), "Le verre pilé" (vibraphone); arrangements

Gratte-poil (by Têtes Raides) (2001)

*"Cabaret des nues" (violin)

The Married Monk (by The Married Monk) (2001)

*"Roma Amor" (strings, vibraphone), "Holidays" (strings) and "Cyro's Request" (vibraphone)

''Les oiseaux de passage (tribute to Georges Brassens)

*cover of "Le parapluie" with Natacha Régnier

Absent Friends (by The Divine Comedy) (2004)

*"Sticks & Stones" (accordion); "Anthem for Bored Youth" (accordion), a track appearing only on the French limited edition

The Endless Rise of the Sun (by Smooth) (2006)

*"The Endless Rise of the Sun" (keyboards)

Raides à la ville (by Katel) (2006)

*"La Vielle" (violin)

13m² (by David Delabrosse) (2006)

*production and arrangements

Solitude Nomade (by Christine Ott) (2009)

*"Pensées sauvages" (violin)

Finistérien (by Miossec) (2009)

*music and arrangements

Li(f)e (by Sage Francis) (2010)

*production and arrangements on "The Best Of Times"

DVDs

La Traversée (2005) (by Aurélie du Boys, about the recording and composition of Les Retrouvailles in Ouessant)

On Tour (2006) (by Aurélie du Boys, about the tour)

References

External links

Yann Tiersen's official homepage

Yann Tiersen Sheet Music Archive compiled by Vladimir Yatsina

Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)

Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (La Route du Rock 1998)

Music Video for La Noyée from the Amelie soundtrack

Music Video for Comptine d'un autre été: l'après midi from the Amelie soundtrack

Article on Yann Tiersen at Everything2.com

Article on Yann Tiersen and piano at Scribd

Yann Tiersen in Lebanon Event Review

Category:French film score composers Category:People from Brest Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:French musicians