07'02

MARGO The Catnap (PAN001CD) Peter I'm Flying! 2002 11 Tracks. 46mins28secs.

Claiming connections with the like of Cure, Young Marble Giant, Global Goon and Animals On Wheels, Margo do not lack of self-confidence. Formed in Angers, in the heart of the Loire Valley, a couple of hours south of Paris, while at university, as a course project, the band is made up of three musicians and a singer. Encompassing all sorts of art forms, from visual media to fashion, Margo are by all means a true art project. The Catnap, their first release, is published on young French label Peter I’m Flying!, based in Rennes. Despite each of the three musicians playing guitar or bass on the album, the compositions are all almost entirely electronic in shape and form, contrasting with the bitter-sweet voice of Mélanie Massons. Evoking the melancholic pop of the likes of St Etienne, Stereolab– due, no doubt, partly to the French link – or Pram, Margo also draw a parallel with the more instrumental and experimental landscapes of To Rococo Rot, Plone and even Boards Of Canada. Simple melodies and minimalist soundscapes encapsulate the spirit of this pop refusing to conform to commercial constraints, reflecting instead on the volatile aspect of popular music and its perverse effects. Here, the musicians position each sound, each effect, in the spectrum with great precision, careful not to disturb the balance between the abstract constructions and the delicate melodic circumvolutions. The lyrics, equally, play on the contradictions of pop music, at times hiding their absurd nonsense behind elaborated words (The Rest), at others relishing on the frivolities of life (My Cat). In any case, Margo manage to stand the comparison with their peers, drawing emotional moments like no others. The album opens with the subtle La Baumette, only song sung in French, and already the band establish its little sweetened universe in style. The following pieces are equally charming, and if the instrumental Sifits of Coffee Song seem to be missing the vocal contribution slightly, they also show the band equally at ease with a less constrained exercise. The highlight of this album can be found right at the heart of The Catnap. Listening to My Cat, a puerile song about the peregrinations of… a cat at night, one would suddenly dream that, if life was fair, this song would sit nicely at the top of any decent chart for a while. The press release accompanying The Catnap evokes quite understandably Françoise Hardy, as a comparison, more than as an influence. The soft vocal harmonies have the innocence and naivety of childhood, and the atmospheric constructions supporting them, as granular as they might be, simply enhance the inherent beauty of it all.

TRACK LISTING 01 La Baumette 07 Coffee Song 02 Take Me 08 Luminous 03 Warm 09 Ma Voisine 04 The Rest 10 Cloud's Juice 05 Sifits 11 Le Bal 06 My Cat

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO MARGO MARGO Lovely little site for a lovely little band, the official Margo home is a piece of cosy territory on the web. PETER I'M FLYING Peter I'm Flying is a brand new French record label based in Rennes, Britanny. With just a handful of releases, they already are making a gentle mark.