Stephen Becker (singing, acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizers, harmonica)
Matt Espy (drums, percussion) Scott Foust (synthesizers) Casey Gibbs (synthesizers) Alison Hinderliter (piano/electric piano) Brian Stout (bass/harmony vocals) Jordan Kozer (drums, percussion) Please note: Le Concorde does NOT use pre-recorded tracks for live performance.
ALSO STARRING ::David Gamson (keyboards, drum programming, production) ::Ed Tinley (bass, keyboards, production) ::Ellis Clark and Tom Clark - Courtesy of Epicycle, (bass, keyboards, drums, production)
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ::David Gamson (Scritti Politti) ::Ken Stringfellow (Posies) ::John Ashton (Psychedelic Furs) ::Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs) ::Kevin Tihista ::Steve Gillis (Filter) ::Carla Prather (Poi Dog Pondering) ::Eric Chial (The Bon Mots) ::Ed Tinley and Dave Cottini (Ike Reilly Assassination) ::Phil Angotti ::Mark Ruggiero (Farewell Captain, Light FM) ::Jeff Greaves (Post Office) ::"Universe & Villa" was mastered by Emily Lazar @ The Lodge, NYC.
Influences
exotic luxury goods and dusty gem-like oddities at your favorite secondhand shop living side-by-side in harmony
Sounds Like
A band whose goal is to make it rain flowers, fight emocore crime, and vibrate in alignment with their desire at a cellular level.
le concorde NOW THE STORY CAN BE TOLD... "Someone said, ‘One failed marriage and one million books read,’ but the story goes like this: Multi-instrumentalist, Stephen Becker began new recordings in 2006 after fleeing academe with an M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern, abandoning a failed 11-year marriage, and releasing the starkly autobiographical 'Universe & Villa' in 2005 on March Records.
Shortly after the release of “Universe & Villa,” Becker sought out his teenage musical hero, David Gamson of Scritti Politti and found him living in LA. The two struck up a friendship and embarked on a series of new recordings with Becker shuttling between Chicago and Los Angeles. Featuring Becker's acoustic guitar and intimate vocals blended with an explosion of color from Gamson's vast palette of vintage synths, 'Suite' will be released Nov. 6. The two have already begun envisioning an epic follow up." --SYNOPSIS
"Ditching the academe for the recording studio never sounded so guiltless." - CMJ Magazine, Dec 2007
"A dreamy pin-up artist for the indie pop generation. Heart." - Advanced Copy
"[Suite is] a contagious flurry of nearly nineteen minutes of gentility and sophistication. - Seattle Post Intelligencer
"I have not been so infatuated with a band in years." - Heaven or Las Vegas UK
"Here's your new favorite band: Le Concorde. Get ready to hear your new favorite songs. So much intensity here..." - No Dessert for You
"A true pop panache. ...a sweet, dreamy epitaph that finds Becker reflecting on the fleeting nature of love and loss." - Amplifier
"The bar has officially been raised. Although Le Concorde has only been around since 2003, they sound like pop rock veterans." - Glide Magazine
"Le Concorde: Ready for Zach Braff" - Mother Jones
"This is pop in the best sense of the word." The Onion
"Comparisons to Phoenix are warranted...shared appreciation for the earnest pop harmonies available only to those with the courage to croon." - ButterTeam
"As lovely and poignant as pop music can get." - IndieSpinZone
"So memorable and infectious that it is destined to be downloaded on your iPod and played repeatedly without the fear of becoming stale or redundant." - Lost At Sea
"A perfect measure of sincere, modern craft and late-'80s eloquence."- Neumu
=============================== NEW RELEASE - SUITE - Nov 6, 2007
"Suite" (Fourchette / Le Grand Magistery)
Available 11/1/2007 through all digital retailers and olde tyme record stores near you.
DEBUT ALBUM
"Universe & Villa"(March Records) Available on iTunes -- Click the link below - Also available through Amazon.com, other digital retailers, and olde tyme record stores near you.
SPECIAL VALENTINES DAY SINGLE - Feb 2007 "She Loves The Way They Love Her"
=============================== NEWS***DATE ANNOUNCED FOR NEW RELEASE***"Suite" will be released NOVEMBER 6st 2007 by the Detroit-based label, Le Grand Magistery, the label which brought you Stars, Momus, and Pas/Cal. Le Concorde is already writing and seeking label interest for an epic follow-up.
***FALL / WINTER TOUR DATES t/b/a***Beginning Oct 17, Le Concorde will be on tour starting with shows in every major city on the East Coast. Dates will be announced here first.
NEW TRACK TO BE FEATURED ON VALENTINES DAY Detroit based indie label, Le Grand Magistery (Stars, Momus, Pascal) will be featuring a new Le Concorde track on their Valentines Day compilation. Deatils t/b/a.
LE CONCORDE + DAVID GAMSON OF SCRITTI POLITTI I recently returned from another trip to L.A. where I was co-writing and recording with David Gamson. Mixing sessions for the new tracks will begin in Aug 06 with John Potoker. Buckle up, puppy--I can make you dance
IN PARIS - DUET WITH KEN STRINGFELLOW (POSIES) - Recently returned from Paris, France where Ken Stringfellow and I tracked vocals for a new Le Concorde track. The new song is a duet titled, "All These Fragile Unions."
"APRIL WINE" WITH ED TINLEY & ELLIS CLARK - Spring 06 - Recently completed a new track titled, "April Wine." One of the most elaborate Le Concorde tracks so far. Over 80 tracks of music and autobiography-in-disguise.
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MORE WORDS...Top Album of the Year Lists - Village Voice - XMU - XM Satellite Radio - Excellent Online
"I've not been so infatuated with a band in years." - Heaven or Las Vegas UK
(Spring 2007)
"Heart-whole sleekness, a perfect measure of sincere, modern craft and late-'80s eloquence. Le Concorde are grand agents of the interior, equally taken with the smallish moments, ornate possibilities and sophisticated, relevant pop music (again). The gorgeous yet disremembered music of the late '80s is as much of a leitmotif here as the title itself. Possibly a nod to the double "L" in each of the Go-Betweens' album titles before 16 Lovers Lane broke the string, Universe and Villa affords a rich introduction to Stephen Becker and his band Le Concorde." 8 out of 10 - NEUMU
Heartfelt music grounded deeply in an indie sensibility.
beautiful instrumental textures. (People Mover) is so memorable and infectious that it is destined to be downloaded on your iPod and played repeatedly without the fear of becoming stale or redundant. LOST AT SEA
9.9 out of 10
As lovely and poignant as pop music can get. In a decent world, the songs on this disc would just rule the charts. Given half a chance they'd do it here too.
INDIESPINZONE
Hearts racing 120 beats per minute.
Its the Minor Chords that Kill You is a dandy fucking song, catchy enough to
stick in your head for hours, inspired enough to jog your memory toward a time when indie rock was more about the tune than it was about ironic thrift store t-shirts and goateed angst. SPLENDID
"While most of his contemporaries languish in mediocrity or derivation, Becker hits on all creative cylinders on many occasions, including opener "People Mover," "In the Morning," and "Archeology of Cruelty."...Le Concorde's Stephen Becker likes to write windswept, affectionate acoustic guitar hooks with introspective and/or melancholy lyrics. " - INK 19
4 out of 5 stars
There's a subtle undercurrent of mad glee that runs through Universe and Villa, singer/songwriter Stephen Becker's second Le Concorde release, a subtlety that peels away with each repeated listen. This is grandly arranged -- yet deceptively simple -- metropolitan pop music in the vein of the Beautiful South, Belle & Sebastian and the Magnetic Fields that oozes enough self-deprecating wit, good-natured cynicism, and pure-pop posturing to satisfy both Morrissey and Fountains of Wayne fans alike. Tailor-made for late night, summer-in-the-city driving, Becker's meandering voice can be both fey and brutal but it's his soaring falsetto that's the record's most dangerous weapon. The mesmerizing "Controlling," with its Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie-channeling-Prince, arcs from nearly spoken word to full-on banshee wail (the album's high point), while the ABC-inspired "Archeology of Cruelty" shows an artist who is unafraid to challenge his listener's adherence to the "genre-fication" of indie rock. ALL MUSIC GUIDE
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NOTE
All
These words
Are just a front.
What I would really like to do is
Chain you to my body
Then sing for days
And days and
Days
About
Love.
--Hafiz, 14th c. Sufi Poet, translation by D. Ladinsky
===============================
THE MISSI(V)E WE ARE LAUNCHING...Dear Ones,
We've lit the candles.
Kick off your sandles...
This is the New-Beauty.
"The sound of post-emo revelation."
We may have once known brooding malaise and bitter rebellion but we are no longer possessed by it.
All we want to do is fall in love while there's still time.
Power, not force.
S.B.
Gratitude vibes: JF, AB, SAJD, KS, DG, GG, LC... We hope that everyday you are awake to your unique brillance.======================
So when are you guys going to meander your way down towards the center of this wonderful Prairie State? It's hard for me to make my way up to Chicago, especially now that my sister doesn't live up there anymore.
So yeah, possibly come play at Bloomington? There's some killer coffee houses there.
Ditched the concert calendar, but I will be at your show. You've got some fucking tunes! Love the academic backstory, too (doctoral candidate here). ps - Hi Alison!
I'm so excited for your West Coast shows. I wish you were going to be in my neck of the woods. I love Seattle & I know you are going to have a great trip. Enjoy the fresh air & strong coffee.
Lovely stuff, I should say also. Do have a listen to mine if you ever get the chance, though admittedly only one song's 'finished' in the production sense... Oh, and there's a "hilarious" Kanye West cover... And a couple of demos.
"Ditching the academe for the recording studio never sounded so guiltless." - CMJ Magazine, Dec 2007
