''Précis'' is the debut full-length album by
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
based musician
Benoît Pioulard, released by
Kranky on October 16, 2006.
Background
Before the release of this album, Pioulard already had a fairly substantial discography. This included many self-released albums on
CD-R
CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times.
CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the in ...
and
cassette
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...
, as well as the 7-inch EP ''
Enge'', which was put out by Moodgadget in 2005. He later signed a deal with Chicago label
Kranky, from which this album was released.
Handmade version
An elaborate handmade version of this album was released through his
Myspace profile in September 2006.
Limited to only 25 copies, this edition had exclusive content not available on the standard release and due to high demand sold out rapidly.
Critical reception
''Précis'' was generally very well received by critics.
Stylus Magazine
''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog.
Addi ...
was one of the first publications to review the album, remarking:
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, who named Pioulard a "Hot Artist" in December 2006, were also impressed with the album, saying:
Track listing
# "La Guerre de Sept Ans" – 3:08
# "Together & Down" – 3:07
# "Ext. Leslie Park" – 2:42
# "Triggering Back" – 2:30
# "Moth Wings" – 1:16
# "Alan & Dawn" – 2:50
# "Corpus Chant" – 1:43
# "Palimend" – 3:04
# "Coup de Foudre" – 1:31
# "Hirondelle" – 2:22
# "Needle & Thread" – 2:42
# "R Coloring" – 0:39
# "Sous la Plage" – 2:59
# "Patter" – 2:58
# "Ash into the Sky" – 3:18
Music videos
On December 6, 2006, a video for Triggering Back was released. It was directed by Adam Hunt and was posted on both Pioulard's Myspace profile and his official website.
Themes in the video generally revolve around
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
and
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
. It shows Pioulard travelling around various locations and taking
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
photographs of his surroundings, which then fall to the ground. Featuring a mixture of close-up shots and distant views, it is a hazy, almost dreamlike video that seems to fit with the style of the song and its ephemeric lyrical focus.
View the video in QuickTime format here
References
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Precis (Album)
Benoit Pioulard albums
Kranky albums
2006 albums