Yann.
Ah Yann.
Would that I could hire you to sing your own praises. No one else can do you justice, it takes a demi-god to know one.
Loyal reader, lowly peon, cringing acolyte, (I have a few names for you), I gift you with something immortal. You have earned yourself Yann Tiersen. I may have mentioned him before, trust me, you can never hear enough about him, how many of you achieve demi-god in your own lifetime? When you do, you can bet I’ll talk about you.
Rapture and rhapsody, do you know the difference between these two? Religious claims set them apart, but they can be perfectly united for this man. One will lift you up into the heavens, if you are saved, the other will lift you out of your senses with words alone, songs to the Gods, not to be sung for anyone. All definitions include Ecstasy, it’s the key. All apply to Yann and his extraordinary mind and music.
Think of all the words you know for magnificent, think of- never mind, I’ll just list them myself. Think of a baby born somewhere who has both theater and orchestra in his mind, along with such rare qualities as curiosity, empathy, keen observation, and utter faith in himself. Think of the mother and father, looking down at the visionary in their arms. Would it show so early? Oh yes. I have no doubt he was aware in utero.
Find him a mere quarter-century later, he is taking the entire world in his hands and turning it into music. What is there that he does not know? Nothing worth knowing. This man could single-handedly save your species.
How else to explain the scope of his mind, how it shows up in his music- which, I guarantee is the most Original music you will ever hear as long as you live, I doubt there will be another like him for a while.
Looking for darkness? You’ll find it, start with “Chapter 19”, then “The Gutter.” Want despair, “Dust Lane,” “The Crossing,” or “Palestine.” Is it Joy you’re looking for? He sows it everywhere, wait for it in many songs, “Dust Lane” again, but listen to “I’m Gonna Live Anyhow,” “Déjà Loin,” “Amy,” and the absolutely charming, and quite amazing, “Fuck Me.” Want something strange, try “Aon,” but he has many.
Feel his Musical Power with songs like “Le Fromveur,” the divine “A Midsummer Evening,” the sweet “Slippery Stones,” and “Till The End,” so many masterpieces it’s hard to believe.
His songs are long, we forgive him and wait for the magic, it always comes. Be patient, he does everything for a reason, including make you wait. Pay attention, you will still miss so much. How do I begin to describe his perfect command of everything he touches? Think of the lovely, harmonious and gently amorphous blend of voices he uses for so many of his songs, surely you are among them? If he doesn’t fill your head with images your mind is broken.
I’ll tell you something now that will shock you. All of the things I rant about, justifiably, things that should never clutter your songs, think of them. The spoken word, nature sounds, children playing, café chatter, poetry in archaic languages, meaningful advice, odd, unmusical sounds, this kind of thing. Absolutely unnecessary and incredibly annoying, this I maintain. Yann does them all, along with too many songs with some woman speaking with a harsh accent, he has lots of those. Never mind.
Put simply, Yann Tiersen has Mastered Music.
The mind of a rare genius, the heart of a Frenchman, his piano works are enough for everyone, consider “Penn ar Lann,” so lyrical, hear the birds here and it’s perfect. Listen to poetry in “Meteorites,” that’s what it should sound like. Hear the trumpet trains, the coyotes howl, the giggling baby, the pounding sea, all of them put in exactly the right place, understand why he is the exception that proves the rule. In his hands it’s magic, he is the most astonishing Magician, I am lost for words, though I have millions for him.
Listening to him for hours now, the scribe in a state of, well, consistent, constant, ecstasy. This is like a drug for her, she will need a couple days to recover, Yann is one of those she can only listen to every few years, so powerful it’s a kind of torture.
Are you brave enough to listen? Have I successfully weaned you off mainstream? I certainly hope so, I don’t like the idea of pap infecting your brain like that.
Do it right, get high first. Good headphones, be alone, do nothing else when you listen to any good music. Unless, like some of us, you start writing.
On that note, you will have noticed the absence of a certain provocative Witch from these hallowed pages. With any luck you won’t have to put up with her, you know that she’s fucking around with my stuff in Hell at the moment, how long do you think I will let her? I have plans for her, they don’t involve her flying back and forth from anywhere, so I guess we’ll see. I drag my scribe down with me now, we’ll go Witch hunting.