Search - Robert :: Sine

Amazing first album by little-known French independent singe

Tachi | Bay Area, CA | 06/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"seeing as today's mainstream music is mainly disposable [at least in my view], i am constantly in search of new sounds. interestingly enough, most of the music i end up being into at any given moment is none other than... music released ages ago!!! but this matters little to me; what matters are the sounds and the emotions they evoke in me :) being a native French speaker, i do the same with French music and try to find 'new' French artists, and RoBERT [not her real name] is one i've discovered recently, although she is by no means a "new" artist. this first album of hers, "sine", was released in 1992 and i must say i am quite blown away. listening to it today i see that it was an album ahead of its time, and one can acquire this opinion upon listening to the various sounds found on the album. in some tracks, it's "techno-like" and others it's more "pop" sounding, but never in a mainstream way. it's very artistic and i wish there were more artists like these around. RoBERT's style is highly influenced by children's tales and her lyrics and videos also testify to that [many can be seen on youtube, of course :)]. her voice has often been compared to the famous Mylene Farmer, but although they have some similar themes in their work [childhood, children's tales and their cruelty, witches, etc.], i also find them to be strikingly different. personally i find RoBERT to be less controversial in her topics [which i can definitely appreciate] and 'artsy' in a way that's very different from Mylene Farmer. RoBERT is an ex-ballet dancer and had to stop due to some bone issues i believe, but one can still find her dancing artistically in many of her videos, which is pretty much absent from the pop-based Mylene Famer stuff. their look is also very different; i find RoBERT's hair to be one of the things that stands out most about her [she kind of has this "half-bob" cut going in the front, then it just branches out to a longer style in the back, which she's had either in a reddish hue [see video "les jupes" or in black [as she does now]. this 18-track debut album is an amazing first work, and i must say it grows on you rather quickly. the first track of hers i ever heard is "elle se promene", but i have quickly acquired other favorites, such as "les jupes," "les cliches de l'ennui" and "das modell". i would strongly suggest checking her videos out on youtube to see if this is something you're into [and also to hear the full songs instead of just snippets] and i highly recommend watching "elle se promene", les cliches de l'ennui" and "les jupes", although you will find plenty of others to satisfy your curiosity :) there is something about watching the videos that adds on to your understanding of the artist and what they're about; for some reason i became obsessed with the song "les jupes" even more after seeing the video, but i shall let you develop your own obsessions at will ;) i've also heard that she has done/will do? some of her works into english, but honestly, i must say that sometimes stiking to the original is the best thing, even though RoBERT is quite the multi-lingual artist [another thing i love about her: on this album she sings in French, English and German]. that's not to say that her english stuff is "bad,"[far from!!] perhaps it's just a personal taste if it comes to having a song in French [or any language] and then later making the same track in English. in these cases i happen to prefer the originals almost all of the time.

please PLEASEEEEE go listen up, and watch, and if the high price deters you from buying [i can totally understand & relate!!!!] DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM FOR A MUCH CHEAPER PRICE here on amazon.com. you will NOT regret it!!

vive RoBERT!!!!!!!!!!!!"