Yann Tiersen's Powers Of Ten Playlist
06.10.11

Musician and composer Yann Tiersen began his varied career in 1995 with the release of debut album ‘La Valse Des Monstres’, gaining wider renown when he was commissioned by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet to create the soundtrack to his 2001 film ‘Amelie’. His fifth LP, ‘Les Retrouvailles’, featured guest singers including Jane Birkin and The Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser.
As of live album ‘On Tour’, Yann’s work took on a markedly more post-rock tone, transforming traditionally orchestral pieces with electric guitars and a theremin. Last year’s acclaimed ‘Dust Lane’ and its successor, new LP ‘Skyline’, prove a natural extension of that musical shift, grounding plumes of vintage synth distortion in Yann’s well-established musicianship and compositional flair.
He says this of unifying the new LP’s more disparate elements: “My plan was also to play with contrast, between electric and quite dense parts, and more sober and minimal quiet parts, including piano and strings. So, voices join together in chorus, arcing violins and crashing drums build towards mighty fanfares – but then, clouds part, squall recedes to silence, and mournful piano and strings guide you home”.
Source: UNLIMITED CMU