Beau Futur by Benjamin Schoos
Tracklist
Videos
Credits
released January 12, 2015
Produced by Benjamin Schoos and Christophe Cerri
Mixed and mastered by Gilles Martin at Farside ★ Recorded by Benjamin Schoos, Christophe Cerri at Freaksville Lab, Jasfy Studio ★ Recorded by Christophe Loercke at Lovo studio (Brussels), by Jordil Gil del Valle at Sputnik (Sevilla), by David Mestre at CBE (Paris), by Steve Weiss at Edge Studios (New-York), by Marc Maghin at SOS Recording (Liège), by James Doviak at home (Manchester), by Jacques Stotzem at home (Verviers), by Maxime Wathieu at Studio 5 (Liège), by Jean-François Hustin at MPL Studio (Liège), by Jérôme Danthinne at Fagophonic (Huy)
Orchestrations written and directed by Christophe Cerri, Jean-François Assy, Gimmi Pace ★ Drums and percussion : Jérôme Danthinne, Marcus Weymaer, Ricky Arencibia, Olivier Cox ★ Bass : Christophe Cerri, Benjamin Schoos, Jean-François Assy ★ Guitar : Jacques Stotzem (Dobro guitar), James Doviak, Benjamin Schoos, Christophe Cerri, Marc Wathieu, Stef Kamil Carlens ★ Piano, analog synths, keyboards, string ensemble, vocoder : Christophe Cerri, Benjamin Schoos, Stef Kamil Carlens ★ Trumpet : Philippe Laurent ★ Flûte : Jean-François Hustin ★ Backing vocals : Marc Bouille, Sophie Gallet ★ Strings : Elsa De Lacertas Cetas : first violin. Claudi Rausen : second violin. Marc Pijpops : viola. Jean-François Assy : cello and string director
Front cover : Steven Thomas ★ Tadussac’s photo : Pascal Schyns ★ Design : www.scalp.be
[EN]
Benjamin Schoos, the Belgian-born master maker of sweeping, string-laden pop music is back with new album Beau Futur, evoking the sunny rays of the 60s and the glam of the 70s. On return from touring his modernist album China Man Vs China Girl in Asia, Benjamin Schoos made a beeline for the studio. What followed are these 15 tracks drawing from his touring memories.
Beau Futur was recorded in various studios: Edge in NYC, Sputnik in Seville, Manchester, London and the legendary CBE studio in Paris. This is a human adventure, with Schoos effusing different styles and musical eras with panache.
Michel Moers, of new wave band Telex, makes a cameo. Elsewhere the duet with chanteuse Laetitia Sadier may prick the ears of Gainsbourg and Bardot enthusiasts. The elegance of French crooner Alain Chamfort in Dans les bras de la nuit is set amongst warbled, vocal pads and ascending keyboard melodies. La vuelta del Doctor Amor recalls Italo synth-funk with a dancing groove and spiralling melodies before breaking under the sparkling guitar from James Doviak, long-time associate of Johnny Marr. The ethereal voice of La Féline is echoed by Canadian Bernardino Femminielli’s (Dirty Beaches) astral keyboards. Beau Futur evokes a pop music nostalgia, reviving those moments with a view to the future.
For Beau Futur, Benjamin Schoos calls on his b-cultural obsessions: stuntmen, journeys into outer space, Italian villas and sports cars, seduction and madness… all of it expressed through vintage synths, string ensembles, vocoders and chanteuses (April March, Laetitia Sadier). The album transforms a solo journey into a synaesthetic adventure, overflowing light and colour.
A bit about Benjamin’ past: As a young ambitious man, living in a small industrial town in Belgium, Schoos studied drums and harmony. Branching out with an electric guitar and a Korg MS20, he thrust himself onto the local music scene where he discovered a penchant for noisy pop and punk rock. His career has since taken him in a myriad of directions from comic book illustrator to radio ventriloquist, with his musical output as a constant. Now a genuine modern Belgian icon, as alter ego Miam Monster Miam, he has soaked up influences as diverse as Krautrock, 70s French soundtracks and English Indie Pop, leading to the release of a healthy back catalogue of albums and the creation of his very own label - Freaksville - home to one big happy family of like-minded musical ‘misfits’.
Somewhere between his Brussels studio (aka the Freaksville laboratory) and Paris, multi-instrumentalist Benjamin has produced, composed and arranged a whole host of songs for a variety of cult figures on the French pop scene (80s synth pop star LIO, Parisian icon Marie France, debonair dandy Alain Chamfort, Michel Moers and Marc Moulin from electronic group Telex, Chrissie Hynde, April March and Aquaserge). Inspired by the technical genius of orchestrator Jean Claude Vannier (Serge Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson) who he met in 2006, and the creativity of New York noise producer Kramer (Shimmy Disc, Galaxie 500, Low, Bongwater), with whom he has worked on three albums, Benjamin has now decided to explore his inner soundscapes.
[FR]
Benjamin Schoos revient de tournée avec un nouvel album aussi ambitieux que rayonnant : Beau Futur. Voyage en 1ère classe qui revisite la sunshine pop 60’s et le faste clinquant des 70’s sans jamais quitter du viseur un lendemain qui chante. Enfilez votre smoking, on inaugure ici l’avenir de la french pop.
Revenu d’Asie où le succès de l’album moderniste China Man Vs China Girl l’avait conduit, Benjamin Schoos a vidé son sac de voyage sur la table de mixage. Résultat : 15 titres enregistrés au gré des rencontres, des expériences… La seule liste des studios donne le vertige: Edge à N.Y.C., Sputnik à Séville, Manchester, Londres, et le mythique studio C.B.E. à Paris où Manset érigea La Mort D’Orion !
Plus qu’un périple c’est une aventure humaine. L’élégance d’Alain Chamfort succède au micro à celle de Michel Moers (Telex). Le groove chaloupé du fanfaron espagnol Miqui Puig danse avant de se briser sur les guitares brillantes de James Doviak, vieux comparse de Johnny Marr. Et la voix éthérée de La Féline trouve un écho dans les claviers astraux du canadien Bernardino Femminielli.
Propulsé par deux singles sortis au printemps – la pop fastueuse et sophistiquée d’Une dernière danse et celle plus spacieuse et spatiale de Visiter la lune –, l’album Beau Futur se paye le luxe de revisiter toutes les époques de la pop, renouant avec ces instants où elle touchait le futur du doigt.Beau Futur est un album grand-spectacle, vertigineux. Il cristallise les univers d’un artiste transversal, autour d’une pop changeante mais résolument moderne.Croisant sa plume avec celles des pointures Doriand, Jacques Duvall et Alexandre Chatelard, Benjamin Schoos passe en revue ses obsessions culturelles : cascadeur, voyage intersidéral, villa italienne et voiture de sport, séduction et folie… Synthés vintage et orchestres à cordes, vocodeur et chanteuses classieuses (April March, Laetitia Sadier), tout s’emboîte parfaitement jusqu’à cette inédite reprise de Timbuk3 remaniée à 4 mains avec Stef Karmil Carlens (dEUS, Zita Swoon) ! L’album transforme un voyage en solitaire en orchestre light mais électrique, et bâti un futur si brillant qu’on doit porter des lunettes noires…Faisant suite à la pop indé de Miam Monster Miam et au rock de Phantom et des Loved Drones, le producteur et directeur artistique du label Freaksville Benjamin Schoos a repris son nom en 2012 pour se concentrer sur le chant. Le succès critique du 1er album China Man VS China Girl a donné raison a cet artiste polyvalent qui est aussi animateur radio et compositeur de B.O. Beau Futur parachève cette renaissance optimiste.
[Quotes]
"Benjamin Schoos vient de signer son meilleur album à ce jour. Un grand disque de variété" ★★★★★
Magic rpm
"The future can surely only be beautiful for Schoos if all his subsequent albums are as good as this one"
The Quietus
"This Belgian sincerity is a affectionate, alluring and convincing" ★★★★
Uncut
"Arrangements et dictions dinstingués, mélodies à l'avenant. Toujours aussi élégant et efficace"
Technikart
"Ce disque est tout simplement génial"
Moustique
"Il fallait un belge mi-poupon, mi-ténébreux pour condenser l'histoire de la pop de façon oblique et la propulser dans un rétro futur de luxe"
Chronicart
⎯
Catalog number : FRVM45
Catalog number CD : FRVR45
Catalog number Vinyl : FRVR46
℗ Freaksville Record
© Freaksville Music
Published by Freaksville Publishing
www.freaksvillerec.com
Produced by Benjamin Schoos and Christophe Cerri
Mixed and mastered by Gilles Martin at Farside ★ Recorded by Benjamin Schoos, Christophe Cerri at Freaksville Lab, Jasfy Studio ★ Recorded by Christophe Loercke at Lovo studio (Brussels), by Jordil Gil del Valle at Sputnik (Sevilla), by David Mestre at CBE (Paris), by Steve Weiss at Edge Studios (New-York), by Marc Maghin at SOS Recording (Liège), by James Doviak at home (Manchester), by Jacques Stotzem at home (Verviers), by Maxime Wathieu at Studio 5 (Liège), by Jean-François Hustin at MPL Studio (Liège), by Jérôme Danthinne at Fagophonic (Huy)
Orchestrations written and directed by Christophe Cerri, Jean-François Assy, Gimmi Pace ★ Drums and percussion : Jérôme Danthinne, Marcus Weymaer, Ricky Arencibia, Olivier Cox ★ Bass : Christophe Cerri, Benjamin Schoos, Jean-François Assy ★ Guitar : Jacques Stotzem (Dobro guitar), James Doviak, Benjamin Schoos, Christophe Cerri, Marc Wathieu, Stef Kamil Carlens ★ Piano, analog synths, keyboards, string ensemble, vocoder : Christophe Cerri, Benjamin Schoos, Stef Kamil Carlens ★ Trumpet : Philippe Laurent ★ Flûte : Jean-François Hustin ★ Backing vocals : Marc Bouille, Sophie Gallet ★ Strings : Elsa De Lacertas Cetas : first violin. Claudi Rausen : second violin. Marc Pijpops : viola. Jean-François Assy : cello and string director
Front cover : Steven Thomas ★ Tadussac’s photo : Pascal Schyns ★ Design : www.scalp.be
[EN]
Benjamin Schoos, the Belgian-born master maker of sweeping, string-laden pop music is back with new album Beau Futur, evoking the sunny rays of the 60s and the glam of the 70s. On return from touring his modernist album China Man Vs China Girl in Asia, Benjamin Schoos made a beeline for the studio. What followed are these 15 tracks drawing from his touring memories.
Beau Futur was recorded in various studios: Edge in NYC, Sputnik in Seville, Manchester, London and the legendary CBE studio in Paris. This is a human adventure, with Schoos effusing different styles and musical eras with panache.
Michel Moers, of new wave band Telex, makes a cameo. Elsewhere the duet with chanteuse Laetitia Sadier may prick the ears of Gainsbourg and Bardot enthusiasts. The elegance of French crooner Alain Chamfort in Dans les bras de la nuit is set amongst warbled, vocal pads and ascending keyboard melodies. La vuelta del Doctor Amor recalls Italo synth-funk with a dancing groove and spiralling melodies before breaking under the sparkling guitar from James Doviak, long-time associate of Johnny Marr. The ethereal voice of La Féline is echoed by Canadian Bernardino Femminielli’s (Dirty Beaches) astral keyboards. Beau Futur evokes a pop music nostalgia, reviving those moments with a view to the future.
For Beau Futur, Benjamin Schoos calls on his b-cultural obsessions: stuntmen, journeys into outer space, Italian villas and sports cars, seduction and madness… all of it expressed through vintage synths, string ensembles, vocoders and chanteuses (April March, Laetitia Sadier). The album transforms a solo journey into a synaesthetic adventure, overflowing light and colour.
A bit about Benjamin’ past: As a young ambitious man, living in a small industrial town in Belgium, Schoos studied drums and harmony. Branching out with an electric guitar and a Korg MS20, he thrust himself onto the local music scene where he discovered a penchant for noisy pop and punk rock. His career has since taken him in a myriad of directions from comic book illustrator to radio ventriloquist, with his musical output as a constant. Now a genuine modern Belgian icon, as alter ego Miam Monster Miam, he has soaked up influences as diverse as Krautrock, 70s French soundtracks and English Indie Pop, leading to the release of a healthy back catalogue of albums and the creation of his very own label - Freaksville - home to one big happy family of like-minded musical ‘misfits’.
Somewhere between his Brussels studio (aka the Freaksville laboratory) and Paris, multi-instrumentalist Benjamin has produced, composed and arranged a whole host of songs for a variety of cult figures on the French pop scene (80s synth pop star LIO, Parisian icon Marie France, debonair dandy Alain Chamfort, Michel Moers and Marc Moulin from electronic group Telex, Chrissie Hynde, April March and Aquaserge). Inspired by the technical genius of orchestrator Jean Claude Vannier (Serge Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson) who he met in 2006, and the creativity of New York noise producer Kramer (Shimmy Disc, Galaxie 500, Low, Bongwater), with whom he has worked on three albums, Benjamin has now decided to explore his inner soundscapes.
[FR]
Benjamin Schoos revient de tournée avec un nouvel album aussi ambitieux que rayonnant : Beau Futur. Voyage en 1ère classe qui revisite la sunshine pop 60’s et le faste clinquant des 70’s sans jamais quitter du viseur un lendemain qui chante. Enfilez votre smoking, on inaugure ici l’avenir de la french pop.
Revenu d’Asie où le succès de l’album moderniste China Man Vs China Girl l’avait conduit, Benjamin Schoos a vidé son sac de voyage sur la table de mixage. Résultat : 15 titres enregistrés au gré des rencontres, des expériences… La seule liste des studios donne le vertige: Edge à N.Y.C., Sputnik à Séville, Manchester, Londres, et le mythique studio C.B.E. à Paris où Manset érigea La Mort D’Orion !
Plus qu’un périple c’est une aventure humaine. L’élégance d’Alain Chamfort succède au micro à celle de Michel Moers (Telex). Le groove chaloupé du fanfaron espagnol Miqui Puig danse avant de se briser sur les guitares brillantes de James Doviak, vieux comparse de Johnny Marr. Et la voix éthérée de La Féline trouve un écho dans les claviers astraux du canadien Bernardino Femminielli.
Propulsé par deux singles sortis au printemps – la pop fastueuse et sophistiquée d’Une dernière danse et celle plus spacieuse et spatiale de Visiter la lune –, l’album Beau Futur se paye le luxe de revisiter toutes les époques de la pop, renouant avec ces instants où elle touchait le futur du doigt.Beau Futur est un album grand-spectacle, vertigineux. Il cristallise les univers d’un artiste transversal, autour d’une pop changeante mais résolument moderne.Croisant sa plume avec celles des pointures Doriand, Jacques Duvall et Alexandre Chatelard, Benjamin Schoos passe en revue ses obsessions culturelles : cascadeur, voyage intersidéral, villa italienne et voiture de sport, séduction et folie… Synthés vintage et orchestres à cordes, vocodeur et chanteuses classieuses (April March, Laetitia Sadier), tout s’emboîte parfaitement jusqu’à cette inédite reprise de Timbuk3 remaniée à 4 mains avec Stef Karmil Carlens (dEUS, Zita Swoon) ! L’album transforme un voyage en solitaire en orchestre light mais électrique, et bâti un futur si brillant qu’on doit porter des lunettes noires…Faisant suite à la pop indé de Miam Monster Miam et au rock de Phantom et des Loved Drones, le producteur et directeur artistique du label Freaksville Benjamin Schoos a repris son nom en 2012 pour se concentrer sur le chant. Le succès critique du 1er album China Man VS China Girl a donné raison a cet artiste polyvalent qui est aussi animateur radio et compositeur de B.O. Beau Futur parachève cette renaissance optimiste.
[Quotes]
"Benjamin Schoos vient de signer son meilleur album à ce jour. Un grand disque de variété" ★★★★★
Magic rpm
"The future can surely only be beautiful for Schoos if all his subsequent albums are as good as this one"
The Quietus
"This Belgian sincerity is a affectionate, alluring and convincing" ★★★★
Uncut
"Arrangements et dictions dinstingués, mélodies à l'avenant. Toujours aussi élégant et efficace"
Technikart
"Ce disque est tout simplement génial"
Moustique
"Il fallait un belge mi-poupon, mi-ténébreux pour condenser l'histoire de la pop de façon oblique et la propulser dans un rétro futur de luxe"
Chronicart
⎯
Catalog number : FRVM45
Catalog number CD : FRVR45
Catalog number Vinyl : FRVR46
℗ Freaksville Record
© Freaksville Music
Published by Freaksville Publishing
www.freaksvillerec.com
License
All rights reserved.
When he's not running the brilliant Freaksville label, Benjamin Schoos is concentrating his efforts into producing lush, string-laden, melancholic and very French pop. The dandy crooner has produced, composed and arranged a whole host of songs for a variety of cult figures including Lio, Marie France, Chrissie Hynde, Alain Chamfort, Laetitia Sadier, Miqui Puig.
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