| Phoenix | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Versailles, France |
| Genres | Indie rock New Wave |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | V2 Glassnote Ghettoblaster Loyauté Source Astralwerks Arts & Crafts EMI |
| Associated acts | Daft Punk Darlin' Air Cassius |
| Website | wearephoenix.com |
| Members | |
| Thomas Mars (vocals) Deck d'Arcy (bass) Laurent Brancowitz (guitar) Christian Mazzalai (guitar) |
|
Phoenix is a Grammy Award winning indie rock band from Versailles,[1] founded by Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz.
Contents |
Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d'Arcy, and guitarist Chris Mazzalai started as a garage band based out of Mars' house in the suburbs of Paris. In 1995, Laurent Brancowitz, Mazzalai's older brother, permanently joined the band on guitar after the end of the short-lived band Darlin' he formed with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (who together became Daft Punk). Two years later the band took on the name Phoenix and pressed 500 copies of a single on their own label, Ghettoblaster. Shortly after, they were signed to the Paris-based Source Records. Phoenix became well acquainted with labelmates Air when they acted as their backing band on several U.K. TV appearances.[2] They were the backing band for a remix of Air's "Kelly Watch the Stars" single. They currently hold a very close friendship with the members of Daft Punk.
Following their two singles "If I Ever Feel Better" and "Too Young", United was released in 2000. Their track "Too Young" was in the soundtrack for the movie Lost in Translation (which was directed by Thomas's later wife, Sofia Coppola), and was also played in the movie Shallow Hal. The single "If I Ever Feel Better" was played over the ending credits of Entourage Season 5, Episode 2.
The band's second album, Alphabetical, was released in 2004 and saw the band reach more mainstream success, with the singles "Everything Is Everything" and "Run Run Run" reaching some alternative rock airplay charts. Hedi Slimane commissioned a special mix of their song "Victim of the Crime" as the soundtrack to one of his runway shows for Dior Homme.
Following Alphabetical, the band toured three continents, playing 150 dates. This tour was followed up with a live album, Live! Thirty Days Ago, released only 30 days after the end of the tour.
Phoenix then spent time in Berlin during the summer of 2005, making use of Planet Roc studios to produce their third album, It's Never Been Like That. To promote the release of It's Never Been Like That, Phoenix toured the United States and Europe in 2006.
In early 2009, it was announced that the band was returning with a new album titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which was released on May 25, 2009.[3] The album was recorded in Paris by Cassius's Philippe Zdar who co-produced and mixed the album.[4] The track "1901", a tribute to early Paris, was released on February 23, 2009, as a free download prior to the release of the first single, and aired for the first time on Australian radio station Triple J.
Their track "1901" was used for the theatrical trailer of the film New York, I Love You and has been featured in commercials for the 2010 Cadillac SRX. "1901" was also featured during Super Bowl XLV in a Packers montage. "Lisztomania" was used in trailers for Alice in Wonderland and Valentine's Day. It was also used in the season premiere of Cougar Town, an episode from the first season of USA Network's Royal Pains, and was also featured in the season six finale of HBO's Entourage. It was also used in Season 1 Episode 18 of The Vampire Diaries during the Founders' Day Celebration. It was also used in the Bolloween episode from the NBC series Outsourced. An excerpt from "Love Like a Sunset" can be heard in the episode "Ghost Town" of the tenth CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season and the season 7 premiere of One Tree Hill. This instrumental of this song is also used in the 606 football podcast on BBC 5 live. They adapted "Love Like a Sunset" for the score of Sofia Coppola's film Somewhere.[5]
To promote the album with live performances, Phoenix performed "Lisztomania", "1901", and "Girlfriend" on Saturday Night Live on April 4.[6] They also performed "Lisztomania" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, "Girlfriend" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and "1901" on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.[7]
On December 2, 2009, nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards were released, with Phoenix receiving a nomination for the album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for Best Alternative Music Album. On January 31, 2010 Phoenix won the Grammy Award in this category. Shortly afterwards, "1901" peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs chart.[8] Phoenix performed at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California on Sunday, April 18, 2010, the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2010 at the Southside festival in Neuhausen Germany, the 2010 Lollapalooza Music Festival on August 7, 2010, the Mile High Music Festival on August 14, Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, California on Sunday, August 15, 2010 and Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) in Austin, Texas on October 2, 2009. Following this, the band will be second billing on the NME/Radio 1 Stage at the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festivals, on August 27 and August 29 respectively. On October 20, 2010, Daft Punk made a special appearance for their show in Madison Square Garden.
Allmusic.com, a review website, commented favourably on the release of the album. "Beyond containing the band's best, most efficient songwriting, the album also stands apart from the first three studio albums by projecting a cool punch that is unforced," a reviewer commented.[9] Vocalist Thomas Mars, described as "more bright-eyed and youthful than ever," is more prominent in these songs, harmonising well with the instruments. "Maybe they've just hit their stride," the reviewer says.
On April 5, 2011, the band posted a blog update on their website entitled "Songwriting..." revealing CCTV stills of a studio in which the band is currently working.[10] The band has stated in interviews that the album is going to be a departure from the pop sounds of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and they are trying to create something more experimental. The band has also said that their work on Sofia Coppola's film Somewhere has inspired the album.[11]
| Year | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [12] |
AUS [13] |
AUT [14] |
CAN |
CHE [15] |
BEL FLA [16] |
BEL WAL [17] |
GER [18] |
IRE [19] |
NOR [20] |
SWE [21] |
UK [22] |
US [23] |
|||
| 2000 | United
|
90 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | Alphabetical
|
41 | — | — | — | — | 46 | 41 | 68 | — | 4 | 11 | — | — | — |
| 2006 | It's Never Been Like That
|
34 | 81 | 74 | — | 66 | 86 | 89 | 41 | — | 14 | 18 | 108 | — | — |
| 2009 | Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
|
14 | 13 | 66 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 22 | 18 | 64 | 39 | 34 | 54 | 37 | |
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Live! Thirty Days Ago
|
| 2010 | iTunes Live from Soho[27]
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [29] |
CHE [30] |
ITA [31] |
NED [32] |
UK [22] |
US [33] |
US Rock [34] |
US Alt. [34] |
WAL [35] |
||||
| 1999 | "Party Time" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | United | |
| "Heatwave" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| 2000 | "Too Young" | 97 | — | — | — | 148 | — | — | — | — | United | |
| 2001 | "If I Ever Feel Better" | 12 | 23 | 4 | 67 | 65 | — | — | — | 8 | ||
| 2004 | "Everything Is Everything" | — | — | — | 91 | 74 | — | — | — | — | Alphabetical | |
| "Run Run Run" | — | — | — | — | 66 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2006 | "Long Distance Call" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | It's Never Been Like That | |
| "Consolation Prizes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2009 | "1901" | — | — | — | — | — | 84 | 3 | 1 | — | Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | US: Gold [36] |
| "Lisztomania" | — | — | — | — | — | 111 | 5 | 4 | 56 | |||
| 2010 | "Lasso" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31 | — | ||
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