Strong Swiss Presence at the Transmusicales de Rennes 3 – 7 December 2014

Swiss Music Export, in partnership with Fondation CMA and Opération Iceberg, are presenting three Swiss artists at this year’s edition of the Transmusicales de Rennes under the „Focus International“ banner at the 450 capacity L’Ubu venue next to the Theatre National de Bretagne. The featured artists are Verveine, Puts Marie and Pablo Nouvelle.

Before the performances, Swiss Music Export, FCMA and Opération Iceberg, also at L’Ubu, are presenting an aperitif to facilitate networking and get into the spirit of the show. Only invited guests are admitted – for information please contact Marion Houriet at Fondation CMA marion@fcma.ch – 0041-76-405 63 56.

FOCUS SUISSE 2014 @ Ubu Rennes
Friday 5 December 2014
15:30 – 16:00 Aperitif for invited guests
16:00 doors open to the public
16:30 – 17:30    Verveine
17:45 – 18:30    Puts Marie
19:00 – 19:45    Pablo Nouvelle

Verveine is a young singer, multi-instrumentalist and experimenter from Vevey. Influenced by artists as diverse as Kraftwerk, Björk, the Knife or even Aphex Twin, her music may be loosely described as “Folktronica noir”. Verveine was signed the French Bi-Pole agency after an impressive showcase performance at the Paléo festival earlier this year.

Puts Marie from Biel are a veteran five-piece band consisting of  Max Usata (vocal), Nick Porsche (drums), Igor Stepniewski (bass), Sirup Gagavil (guitar) and Beni 06 (Farfisa). After three years‘ silence during which the individual members worked on a variety of projects all around the world, the band returned last year with fresh vigour and a new album on Two Gentlemen Records. They write classy and dramatic rock songs with a strong dose of „chanson“. The band will be touring Germany and the Czech Republic in January. They will also appear at the Eurosonic Noorderslag Festival in Groningen.

Pablo Nouvelle, who will be rounding off the SME/CMA showcase in Rennes. Nouvelle has already forged a strong reputation in the UK where the daily the Guardian wrote about him: „Nouvelle takes soul back to the future”. Berne-based Pablo Nouvelle uses hip-hop production techniques with samples gleaned, for instance, from old Marvin Gaye records, to create a resolutely modern music that is also deeply emotional and atmospheric.

„Trans“ and „Musicales“, the organisers say, because the festival „has specialized in exchanges ignoring borders, whether they separate countries, continents or musical genres.“ And „de Rennes“: „We have rarely seen a town so eager to live according to the rhythm of an event that has become its faithful companion.“ The Transmusicales de Rennes is traditionally the last major festival of Europe in the year, and, equally traditionally, one of the most interesting.

Set up for the first time in 1979 by six idealistic local music fans, les Rencontres Transmusicales de Rennes – or „the Trans“, as everyone calls it – from the first offered a program dominated not by well-known box office draws but by the new, the raw, the radical and sometimes even the chic. From Minimal Compact, Blurt and Cabaret Voltaire in the early days, to Nirvana, Björk and Portishead in the 1990s, and, more recently, LCD Soundsystem, Stromae and Janelle Monae, the festival has displayed a finely tuned radar for artists with the talent to bridge the gap between avant-garde and popular success. By resolutely sticking to its original ideals, the Trans has not only maintained, but strengthened its position and reputation as a fabulous place to discover new music and exchange ideas, plans and, perhaps, even contracts.

Link Rencontres Transmusicales de Rennes
Link Ubu Rennes
Link Verveine Bandcamp / Facebook
Link Puts Marie Website
Link Pablo Nouvelle Website
Link Fondation CMA
Link Opération Iceberg