Like probably 99.9% of North America, I discovered Yann Tiersen through the movie Le Fabeleux Destin d’Amelié Poulain, which for me handily won the “most uplifting film of 2001” award. After discovering that most of the music on the Amelié soundtrack was from previous Tiersen releases, I purchased two copies of this album, one for me, and one for the friend that first played me the soundtrack.
Tiersen makes very ecclectic music, roaming stylistically all over the music map like a nomadic musical troubadour. Here he touches on such esoteric destinations as the Tindersticks-esque dirge of Bagatelle, the sublime loneliness of unaccompanied piano movements, and the strains of Tiersen seemingly channeling an entire circus in Le Jours d’Avant. Even with this wild mix, the music is consistently listenable, made more so by guest vocal spots by Lisa Germano, and The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon. Very interesting; I’m on the hunt for more.
