Kristeen Young – V the Volcanic (2011 / Test Tube Baby)
Il y a quinze ans, lors d’un séjour à Saint-Louis, j’avais assisté à un court show-case à l’occasion du premier album de Kristeen Young, alors inconnue hors de son Missouri natal, à la suite de conseils avisés d’un ami. J’ai eu la chance de rencontrer la Dame, d’échanger quelques banalités sympathiques et de prendre une photo pour l’ami absent en question, photo sur laquelle elle a dédicacé : ”For William, It was really nothing”. Une artiste qui aimait les Smiths ne pouvait pas être mauvaise. Et même plus, elle était ravageuse.
J’ai depuis suivi avec grand intérêt la carrière de cette claviériste à la voix puissante, à la tessiture impressionnante (pour les acharné-e-s du détail, plus de quatre octaves au compteur) et à la musique enragée. Le genre même de femme qui fait mauvais genre, qui fait du bien en appuyant là où cela fait mal, qui vous jette ses ovaires à la face et n’a pas peur des brûlots qui font toujours un peu peur dans la jolie bouche maquillée d’une personnalité que l’on n’oserait qualifier de belle, même si c’est vrai, de peur de se prendre un coup de poing. Ainsi, au fil de sa carrière, on peut l’entendre chanter sa passion charnelle et éternelle de la musique : ‘I love Music, my mother is Music, my lover is Music’ (”Sacrifice” sur l’album Enemy), sa détestation sans fard de la maternité en son propre ventre : ”Guess you could say I’m not exactly maternal. if something’s growing inside me I call it a tumour, baby” (”Incubator” sur l’album Enemy), manier la confusion des genres avec l’album au titre explicite Breasticles (un heureux mélange de la poitrine féminine ‘breast’ et de ‘testicles’) ou sa sympathie farouche pour les prostituées, strip-teaseuses et autres filles de mauvaise vie en leur dédiant même un album entier Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker, levant bien haut à leur santé un bon verre de vodka.
Fuyant rapidement Saint-Louis, ville pour laquelle ses propos ne furent pas toujours tendres, piano sous le bras et accompagnée de son fidèle multi-instrumentiste batteur percussionniste Baby Jef White, elle mène rapidement sa barque sur New York, se faisant repérer par Morissey à qui elle voue un amour fou (c’était donc ça…). Elle sera même en première partie d’une partie de sa tournée en 2007, avant d’en être virée brutalement pour ‘vulgarité et langage crû’. Bref. Elle tapera également dans l’œil de Brian Molko avec qui elle partagera un duo furieux “No Other God” (sur l’album X) mais aussi et surtout elle charmera Dieu, sous son incarnation terrestre David Bowie, et son comparse Tony Visconti. Ainsi, c’est elle qui assurera les chœurs et le piano sur une partie du chef d’œuvre du maître Heathen en 2002, rien que ça. Et l’album Breasticles inclura même “Savior”, un énergique duo Bowie/Young. Les albums suivants de Kristeen Young inclueront désormais Tony Visconti, soutien sans faille et partie prenante de sa carrière.
Avec son dernier EP V the Volcanic, elle gagne définitivement ses galons de féministe aussi enragée qu’intelligente, et même intellectuelle. Les sept morceaux figurant sur cet EP étant dédiés à des femmes fortes de films, de la Cléopâtre de Liz Taylor (la chanson-spirale “Fantastic Failure”) à l’androïde Pris dans Blade Runner (l’electro “The Devil Made Me”). Telles les touches de son piano qui explosent et virevoltent sur la pochette, Kristeen Young continue d’explorer dans toutes les directions qui s’offrent à elle et surtout dans celles qui ne s’offrent pas, qui résistent ou semblent loin d’elle, en témoigne le morceau éponyme, étonnamment funky avec ligne de basse hallucinante. Bien sûr, l’essence même du style Kristeen Young reste omniprésent, des harmonies de voix imparables et aventureuses, des accords troublants et une architecture musicale extrêmement dense et close qui invite aux risques et périls de qui se laisse envahir. À noter également la révolte 
viscérale du double chromosome X affiché jusque sur la pochette avec cette photo arrière couplant une Cheyenne carabine au poing et la photo de Jane Fonda. LA photo de Jane Fonda, poing levé et regard ombrageux vers l’objectif du flic la coffrant suite à ses prises de position flamboyantes contre l’injustice de la guerre étasunienne. La femme lutte, hurle, brandit ses armes… et surtout elle chante, allant sans complexes des bas fonds aux miaulements les plus hauts perchés.
Cet album et tout ce qui l’a précédé est à conseiller chaudement à ceux et celles qui ont aimé follement Kate Bush dont elle semble être l’une des plus nobles héritières, ainsi qu’aux amateurs et amatrices de sensations fortes et rageuses portées par une voix fantastique.
- Fantastic Failure (clip officiel)
- V the Volcano
- I’ll Get you Back
- Why Can’t It Be Me?
- Now I’m Invisible
- The Devil Made Me
- Imitation of Life
Site officiel : http://www.kristeenyoung.com/
mais aussi…
- sur Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/kristeenyoung
- sur Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/kristeenyoung
- sur MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/kristeenyoung
Discographie :
- Meet Miss Young and Her All Boy Band (1997)
- Enemy (1999)
- Breasticles (2003)
- X (2004)
- The Orphans (2006)
- Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker (2006)
- V the Volcanic (2011)
Photos extraites du site officiel.
Chaîne Youtube
Compte Twitter
Galerie photos
Groupe Facebook
Page MySpace
Allez hop, English version !!
Kristeen Young – V the Volcanic (2011 / Test Tube Baby)
Translated into English by Killer Queen.
Fifteen years ago, during a trip to Saint-Louis MO, I had the opportunity to see a short Kristeen Young’s gig for the release of her first album, following precious advice from a friend of mine. At that time, she was only famous in her native Missouri. I was lucky enough to briefly meet the Lady, chatting with her for a minute and having a picture taken with her for my absent friend. On this photograph, she wrote ”For William, It was really nothing.” An artist loving The Smiths could definitely not be bad. And actually, she was stunning!
Since then, I have closely followed the career of this keyboard player and impressive vocalist (to be precise: more than four octaves covered) and her furious music. She appears as a trashy woman focusing on what hurts, capable of throwing her ovaries straight at your face and absolutely not scared of deep thoughts which always abash people when they come from the lovely rouged lips of a female not to be called just beautiful -even if it’s true- if you don’t want to be punched in the face.
Through her career, she sang her eternal and carnal love for Music: ‘I love Music, my mother is Music, my lover is Music’ (”Sacrifice” on Enemy), her sheer hatred for pregnancy in her own body: ”Guess you could say I’m not exactly maternal. If something’s growing inside me I call it a tumour, baby” (”Incubator” also on Enemy). She also played with gender confusion with her album explicitly entitled Breasticles (portmanteau word: ‘breast’ plus ‘testicles’) and she declared her fierce sympathy for strippers, prostitutes and bad girls, dedicating a whole album Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker and raising a good glass of vodka to them all.
She quickly left Saint-Louis, and her words for this city have sometimes been pretty harsh, with her piano and her loyal drummer arranger multi-instrumentalist Baby Jeff White to settle in New York. There, she met her dearest Morissey (now I understand the autograph…) and even opened for a part of his tour, before being suddenly fired because of her ”vulgar and crude language”. Whatever.
She also enchanted Brian Molko with whom she recorded a raging duet “No Other God” (on X). But most of all, she bewitched God’s incarnation on Earth, that’s to say David Bowie, as well as his partner Tony Visconti. As a consequence, she played most keyboard parts on Bowie’s masterpiece Heathen in 2002. No less! Besides, Breasticles would include “Savior”, a strong Bowie/Young duet. And the following Kristeen Young’s albums would be produced by Tony Visconti, unconditional supporter and thus deeply involved in her career.
With V the Volcanic, her latest EP, she is definitely promoted and renowned as an out-and-out and both intelligent and intellectual feminist. All the EP’s seven tracks are dedicated to tough female characters from movies, from Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra (in the spiral-shaped song “Fantastic Failure”) to Blade Runner’s android Pris (in the electro track “The Devil Made Me”)
Just like the piano keys exploding and twirling all around her on the EP’s cover, Kristeen Young is exploring and wandering in all the possible directions in front of her, insisting on the paths that are not easy to follow, that are resisting or seem not to be initially for her. For instance the eponymous track with its surprisingly funky bass line is absolutely mind-blowing. Of course, the Kristeen Young touch remains intensely present with catchy and daring vocal harmonies, unsettling chords, and extremely dense musical architectures. Listeners are invited to follow and love her… at their own risks.
There is another important element to notice here. The deep-rooted revolt of the double X chromosome is obvious everywhere, including the EP’s back cover showing both a Native American girl rifle in hand and the picture of Jane Fonda. THE picture of Jane Fonda, with her fist raised and her dirty look, staring at the cop who had arrested her after she had proudly demonstrated against US war injustice.
The woman is fighting, screaming, brandishing her weapons… and most of all she is singing, unashamedly, from the lowest dark tunes to the highest notes.
To conclude, this new album and everything she has released before is to be highly recommended to all those who madly love(d) Kate Bush, as she is probably one of her noblest heiress today. And most of all, Kristeen Young’s music is for everyone who loves sensations, thrills and rage portrayed by a tremendous voice.
Pardonnez-moi, mais je dois répondre en Anglais.
This is a very ambitious and wonderful appraisal of Kristeen Young’s music and life. It is true that she sang back ups on two songs on David Bowie’s album, Heathen, but she did not play keyboards. Mr. Bowie played most of the keyboards himself. Also, Kristeen is the arranger of her music (not me or Baby Jef) as she is indeed a very accomplished musician and a virtuoso singer. Baby Jef White played the drums and percussion, and he is the inventor of his parts only. But thank you for a wonderful piece, I hope Kristeen can play shows in France soon and I will certainly join her there if she days. I am a big fan of La Belle France!
Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Mr Visconti: thank you so much for your comment. I have just edited the few mistakes I made (sorry about that…) and I’m very very pleased to know that you read my humble review.
Merci beaucoup pour vos quelques mots en français et à bientôt.
Final version (?) then:
Kristeen Young – V the Volcanic (2011 / Test Tube Baby)
Posted in French by Killer Queen on May 22nd, 2011 – Translated into English by Killer Queen.
Fifteen years ago, during a trip to Saint-Louis MO, I had the opportunity to see a short Kristeen Young’s gig for the release of her first album, following precious advice from a friend of mine. At that time, she was only famous in her native Missouri. I was lucky enough to briefly meet the Lady, chatting with her for a minute and having a picture taken with her for my absent friend. On this photograph, she wrote ”For William, It was really nothing.” An artist loving The Smiths could definitely not be bad. And actually, she was stunning!
Since then, I have closely followed the career of this keyboard player and impressive vocalist (to be precise: more than four octaves covered) and her furious music. She appears as an outrageous and rebellious woman focusing on what hurts, capable of throwing her ovaries straight at your face and absolutely not scared of deep thoughts which always abash people when they come from the lovely rouged lips of a female not to be called just beautiful -even if it’s true- if you don’t want to be punched in the face.
Through her career, she sang her eternal and carnal love for Music: ‘I love Music, my mother is Music, my lover is Music’ (”Sacrifice” on Enemy), her sheer hatred for pregnancy in her own body: ”Guess you could say I’m not exactly maternal. If something’s growing inside me I call it a tumour, baby” (”Incubator” also on Enemy). She also played with gender confusion with her album explicitly entitled Breasticles (portmanteau word: ‘breast’ plus ‘testicles’) and she declared her fierce sympathy for strippers, prostitutes and bad girls, dedicating a whole album Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker and raising a good glass of vodka to them all.
She quickly left Saint-Louis, and her words for this city have sometimes been pretty harsh, with her piano and her loyal drummer and percussionist Baby Jeff White to settle in New York. There, she met her dearest Morissey (now I understand the autograph…) and even opened for a part of his tour, before being suddenly fired because of her ”vulgar and crude language”. Whatever.
She also enchanted Brian Molko with whom she recorded a raging duet “No Other God” (on X). But most of all, she bewitched God’s incarnation on Earth, that’s to say David Bowie, as well as his partner Tony Visconti. As a consequence, she sang back up parts on two songs of Bowie’s masterpiece Heathen in 2002. No less! Besides, Breasticles would include “Savior”, a strong Bowie/Young duet. And the following Kristeen Young’s albums would include Tony Visconti, unconditional supporter and thus deeply involved in her career.
With V the Volcanic, her latest EP, she is definitely promoted and renowned as an out-and-out and both intelligent and intellectual feminist. All the EP’s seven tracks are dedicated to tough female characters from movies, from Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra (in the spiral-shaped song “Fantastic Failure”) to Blade Runner’s android Pris (in the electro track “The Devil Made Me”)
Just like the piano keys exploding and twirling all around her on the EP’s cover, Kristeen Young is exploring and wandering in all the possible directions in front of her, insisting on the paths that are not easy to follow, that are resisting or seem not to be initially for her. For instance the eponymous track with its surprisingly funky bass line is absolutely mind-blowing. Of course, the Kristeen Young touch remains intensely present with catchy and daring vocal harmonies, unsettling chords, and extremely dense musical architectures. Listeners are invited to follow and love her… at their own risks.
There is another important element to notice here. The deep-rooted revolt of the double X chromosome is obvious everywhere, including the EP’s back cover showing both a Native American girl rifle in hand and the picture of Jane Fonda. THE picture of Jane Fonda, with her fist raised and her dirty look, staring at the cop who had arrested her after she had proudly demonstrated against US war injustice.
The woman is fighting, screaming, brandishing her weapons… and most of all she is singing, unashamedly, from the lowest dark tunes to the highest notes.
To conclude, this new album and everything she has released before is to be highly recommended to all those who madly love(d) Kate Bush, as she is probably one of her noblest heiress today. And most of all, Kristeen Young’s music is for everyone who loves sensations, thrills and rage portrayed by a tremendous voice.
Très bon le coup de la version anglaise ! On devrait faire ça plus souvent.