Dominique A
Dominique Ané (born October 6, 1968 in Provins , France ), better known under the stage name Dominique A , is a French musician and singer-songwriter . He is considered to be one of the founders of the Nouvelle scène française (also called Nouvelle Chanson ) in the early 1990s. In 2013 he was named Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique music awards ceremony .
biography
The beginnings
Dominique Ané grew up in Provins in the French department of Seine-et-Marne near Paris . When he was 15, his family moved to Nantes after his father, a teacher, was transferred there. He was enthusiastic about literature and music from an early age, first for punk , later for the dark romanticism of the New Wave . At 17 he formed his first group John Merrick , after the main character in the film The Elephant Man by David Lynch was named. Later he wrote some songs with the singer Katerine . In the early 1990s, Dominique A had some minimalist, but rock-oriented songs pressed on the vinyl LP Un disque sourd in an edition of 150 and sold them after smaller appearances in Nantes.
From Fossette to Mémoire neuve
Some of the songs from Un disque sourd were the basis for his debut album La Fossette ( Eng . The Dimple ), which he recorded alone on a 4-track cassette recorder . One day after the newly founded record label Lithium had sent out the first promos, it was already played by the influential radio DJ Bernard Lenoir on France Inter , which was the first time it received nationwide attention. La Fossette was released in March 1992, it is characterized by intimate, often dark themes, with at the same time sober lyrics and a very minimalist instrumentation, which is based almost mainly on a rhythm machine and an electronic Yamaha piano.
The second album Si je connais Harry was recorded in a hut in Normandy with similarly simple means. On several tracks on the album, such as Chanson de la ville silencieuse , the singer Françoiz Breut , who also lives in Nantes, can be heard, his partner at the time.
In 1995 Dominique A became known to a wider audience through his album La Mémoire neuve , in particular through the single Le Twenty-Two Bar , which was frequently played on the radio. Musically it represents a departure from the minimalism of its predecessors and rather approaches the classical Chanson francais, the basic mood is more serious. Dominique A later said he had to stop the dilettantism of his predecessors. The sound is characterized by a Moog synthesizer , which was added to most of the songs by Gilles Martin, the producer who had recently produced Miossec 's debut album in the same Brussels studio .
Dominique A was nominated in the Male New Discovery category at the Victoires de la Musique music awards ceremony . The album was followed by a tour that lasted until the end of 1996. For Françoiz Breut, who had sung on four songs on the album again, he wrote her debut album, released in 1997.
From Remué to Horizon
After recordings in New York and later in Brittany , the album Remué is released in 1999 , which has a significantly darker and more aggressive sound; electric guitars can be heard for the first time . It thus represents a deliberate departure from the classification under "Variété francaise", which the singer had experienced since the success of La Mémoire neuve .
Together with the English music producer John Parish , who had worked for PJ Harvey and Giant Sand , among others , he recorded the follow-up work Auguri , which appeared in 2001.
The discovery of the new album L'Imprudence by Alain Bashung in 2002 represented a questioning of his previous work for Dominique A. It significantly influenced his album Tout sera comme avant from 2004. At the same time he published a book with short stories by different authors, each inspired by one of the songs on the album. Among the authors are Olivier Adam , Brigitte Giraud and Arnaud Cathrine . He himself wrote the novella entitled Le Départ des ombres .
A trip to Greenland in 2005 was the inspiration for his next album L'horizon . He chose Dominique Buisson as producer, with whom he had worked for Remué seven years earlier . But his goal was to make an "anti-remué": "songs with a lot of air and long reverberation ". With L'horizon he got the impression for the first time that he had mastered the technique in such a way that he could make music as he wanted.
Since La Musique
The next album La musique , like his debut La Fossette, is based on a rhythm machine and a simple synthesizer . It was recorded entirely by Dominique A alone and was released in 2009 as a double album La musique / La matiére . It was particularly inspired by the album Architecture & Morality by Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark .
In 2009 he was invited for the seventh time since 1993 by his early supporter Bernard Lenoir to a black session , each of which was broadcast live on Radio France Inter . No other interpreter had more black sessions . He wrote three songs for Calogero that year . The Fnac gave him the opportunity to compile with his personal favorite songs by other artists, which was released in 2009 under the title Songs Over Troubled Water .
A wind ensemble consisting of flutes , clarinets and bassoon , among other things , are musically the trademark of the ninth album Vers les lueurs from 2012. Lyrically it has a great relationship with nature. The song Rendez-nous la lumière was released as a single . The album represented another leap in the singer's overall popularity. It is the first to hit the top 10 record sales. On February 8, 2013 Dominique A was named "Artist of the Year" at the Victoires de la Musique music awards ceremony .
In the following years Dominique A worked increasingly on recordings by other artists. In 2013 alone he sang in a duet with Barbara Carlotti , Robi , Etienne Daho and Julie Gavras . In March 2015 the album Eléor was released , which was recorded with a string orchestra . On February 10, 2016, he was appointed Officier des Arts et Lettres and awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 FR
|
 BE W
|
 CH
|
|||
| 1999 | Remué |
FR26 (3 weeks) FR |
- | - | |
| 2001 | Auguri |
FR26 (5 weeks) FR |
- | - | |
| 2004 | Tout sera comme avant |
FR12 (13 weeks) FR |
BE W32 (5 weeks) BE W |
- | |
| 2006 | L'horizon |
FR32 (12 weeks) FR |
BE W40 (5 weeks) BE W |
- | |
| 2007 | Sur nos forces motrices |
FR34 (5 weeks) FR |
BE W92 (1 week) BE W |
- | |
| 2009 | La musique / La matière |
FR12 (12 weeks) FR |
BE W27 (7 weeks) BE W |
- | |
| 2012 | Vers les lueurs |
FR7 (35 weeks) FR |
BE W16 (21 weeks) BE W |
- | |
| 2015 | Eléor |
FR5 (23 weeks) FR |
BE W6 (33 weeks) BE W |
CH57 (1 week) CH |
|
| 2018 | Toute latitude |
FR7 (8 weeks) FR |
BE W11 (9 weeks) BE W |
CH42 (2 weeks) CH |
|
| La fragility |
FR28 (8 weeks) FR |
BE W19 (11 weeks) BE W |
- | ||
More albums
- 1992: La Fossette
- 1993: Si Je Connais Harry
- 1995: La Mémoire Neuve
Singles
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FR
|
|||
| 2015 | Au revoir mon amour Eléor |
FR103 (2 weeks) FR |
swell
- ↑ a b http://www.rfimusique.com/artiste/chanson/dominique/biographie
- ↑ a b http://next.liberation.fr/musique/2012/01/06/dominique-a-la-fossette-a-lance-ma-seconde-vie_786536
- ↑ a b http://next.liberation.fr/musique/2012/01/06/dominique-a-avec-la-memoire-neuve-en-finir-avec-le-dilettantisme_786552
- ↑ a b http://www.lesinrocks.com/1999/03/03/musique/dominique-a-mue-11230103/
- ↑ http://www.lematin.ch/culture/musique/La-lumiere-apres-vingt-ans-d-accent-grave-sur-le-A/story/19949960
- ↑ http://next.liberation.fr/musique/2012/01/08/dominique-a-avec-l-horizon-je-ne-me-fuyais-plus_786834
- ↑ http://www.sourdoreille.net/dominique-a-ca-me-fait-flipper-de-faire-des-chansons-perissables/
- ↑ http://www.lesinrocks.com/2009/08/08/musique/dominique-a-lentretien-1138704/
- ↑ a b http://www.telerama.fr/musiques/vers-les-lueurs,79331.php
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: FR BEW CH
- ↑ http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Nous-connaitre/Organisation/Services-rattaches-a-la-ministre/Conseil-de-l-Ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres/Arretes-de -Nominations-dans-l-ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres / Nomination-dans-l-ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres-janvier-2016
Web links
- Official website (French)
- Sound carrier by Dominique A in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | A, Dominique |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ane, Dominique (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French composer, author and performer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Provins , France |