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Sylvain Chauveau - Ensemble Nocturne

Down to the Bone, an Acoustic Tribute
09.23.06
Concert — Auditorium Saint-Pierre des Cuisines

A self-taught Toulouse-based musician, Sylvain Chauveau has produced several instrumental records full of dark beauty. Comprised of looped sequences of strings, piano, accordion and discreet electronics, his melancholy pieces place great emphasis on melody. With Down to the Bone, an Acoustic Tribute to Depeche Mode (2005), Chauveau offers what is definitely a very surprising rereading of one of the most popular groups of the 1980s. Stripped of the rhythm boxes and other props of the period, arranged for piano, strings, clarinet, guitar and voice, the songs now reveal all their intrinsic beauty. Chauveau’s voice and the subtlety of the arrangements carry this music far from where we were used to locating it. An apostle of simplicity and practitioner of silence, with this project Chauveau creates a sense of difference that remains, above all, a vibrant homage to Martin Gore, the main musical mind behind Depeche Mode. This is an opportunity to rediscover his talent.