Nouvelle Vague (band)

Nouvelle Vague is a French cover band led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name means "new wave" in French. This refers simultaneously to their "Frenchness" and "artiness" (the '60s new wave of the French cinema cult), the source of their songs (all covers of punk rock, post-punk, and new wave songs), and their use of '60s bossa nova-style arrangements.

Members, former members and contributors include many French artists who are now very well known on their own and considered as part of what is now called the "Renouveau de la chanson Française" (Nouvelle Chanson): Camille, Phoebe Killdeer, Mélanie Pain, Marina Céleste, Nadeah Miranda and Gerald Toto. Mareva Galanter joined the roster of vocalists in 2010.

History

Nouvelle Vague at GuilFest 2012, Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey on 14 July 2012

2004: Nouvelle Vague

On their first album, Nouvelle Vague, the group resurrected classics from the new wave music era, and reinterpreted them in a bossa nova style. The songs were stripped back to acoustic arrangements with lithe shaker rhythms achieved by gathering a parade of singers from all over the world (six French, one Brazilian and one New Yorker) to cover bands including XTC, Modern English, The Clash, Joy Division, Tuxedomoon, The Cure, and The Undertones. The various female singers on Nouvelle Vague only performed songs they had never heard before, to ensure that each cover would have a unique quality.

Melanie Pain (left) and Olivier Libaux performing at Rockefeller, Oslo, 10 October 2009.

2006: Bande à Part

Their second album, Bande à Part, includes versions of "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" by Buzzcocks, "Blue Monday" by New Order, "The Killing Moon" by Echo & the Bunnymen, "Don't Go" by Yazoo, "Eisbär" by Grauzone and "Heart of Glass" by Blondie.

2009: 3

On 3 Depeche Mode's Martin Gore sings "Master and Servant" with Nouvelle Vague singer Mélanie Pain; Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen duet with Pain on "All My Colours"; Marina Celeste performs "Our Lips Are Sealed" with Terry Hall of The Specials and Fun Boy Three; and Magazine's "Parade" is sung by Barry Adamson and Nouvelle Vague's Nadeah Miranda. For additional tracks that did not make the final album, Chris Bailey from Australian rockers The Saints performs a duet, likewise Samy Birnbach of Belgian new-wavers Minimal Compact. Nouvelle Vague played an acoustic cover of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" on December 8, 2008 on a small Balcony over Camden Lock for the music viral show BalconyTV.^[9]

Nadeah Miranda performing with Nouvelle Vague at Rockefeller, Oslo, 10 October 2009.

In June 2009, Nouvelle Vague released an iPhone app to promote the new album 3.^[10]

On 4 September 2009, they kicked off an extensive world tour in Birmingham, concluding it on 20 February 2010 in Washington D.C.^[11] The touring singers were Helena Noguerra and Karina Zeviani.^[12]

2010: The Best of

This compilation was released on July 12 in two versions. One is a fifteen-track CD and the other is a two-disc set, featuring the fifteen tracks previously noted together with a second disc of rare and unreleased items.^[13]

Discography

Albums

• Nouvelle Vague (2004, Peacefrog Records)
• Bande à part (2006, Peacefrog Records)
• 3 (2009 Peacefrog Records)
• Acoustic (2009, New Sound Dimensions) – limited edition, released in Portugal only, live performance
• Best of (2010, Peacefrog Records)
• The Singers (2010, New Sound Dimensions)
• Couleurs sur Paris (2010, Kwaidan)

Singles

• "Eisbaer" (2006, The Perfect Kiss / Peacefrog Records)

Other contributions

• Late Night Tales: Nouvelle Vague (2007, Azuli) — Nouvelle Vague remixes of other artists' tracks
• Acoustic 05 (2005, Echo) — "Just Can't Get Enough"
• Chillout Sessions 9 (2006, Ministry of Sound) — "Blue Monday"
• Acoustic 07 (2007, V2 Records) — "Heart of Glass"

Appearances in media

• Nouvelle Vague's cover of Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" appears in the 2010 Discovery Channel advert for a program on human sacrifice.
• Nouvelle Vague's cover of Tuxedomoon's "In a Manner of Speaking" appears in a 2005 episode of the Channel 4 drama Sugar Rush as well as during the end credits of the 2007 film A Mighty Heart; the song has been featured on an episode of Hollyoaks, and was prominently featured in the Korean drama Soulmate. It is being played by the band in the party scene in the 2011 Justin Timberlake movie In Time. Their "In a Manner of Speaking" is covered by Mai Khalil in Lowkey song, "Dear England."
• Their cover of "This Is Not A Love Song" appears throughout the 2006 Korean drama Soulmate.
• Since at least 2008, their cover of "Making Plans for Nigel" by XTC has been used as the background music for the telephone service of the frequent flyers' programme of KLM and Air France, Flying Blue. "Making Plans for Nigel" also appeared on the Air France website front page in a 2005 sale offer accompanied by an image of a woman dreaming of a beach vacation.
• "Just Can't Get Enough", "O Pamela", "Ever Fallen In Love" and "Teenage Kicks" have been used in Channel 4's Sugar Rush.
• The United States television channel Turner Classic Movies began using Nouvelle Vague's cover of "Dance with Me" by The Lords of the New Church in 2007 for an advertisement featuring former selections from the Cannes Film Festival.
• In 2005, their cover of Modern English's "I Melt with You" was used for the soundtrack of the black comedy film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and appeared in a 2007 American television advertisement for the GMC Acadia as well as UK adverts for Vicks Sinex and T-Mobile. It was used in the third season of American reality series The Hills, in the second season (episode 8) of Grey's Anatomy, in the third episode of the first series of the UK drama Mistresses, and in 2012, in the pilot episode of Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.
• Their cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck" was used in the 2007 film Planet Terror.
• Their versions of "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Teenage Kicks" have been used in adverts in the UK.
• Their cover of Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself" has been featured in advertisements for TLC's show LA Ink. It was used as the show's opening theme song for the first half of Season 1.
• Their cover of "Marian" by The Sisters of Mercy appears in season 4 of Nip/Tuck.
• Their version of The Clash's "Guns of Brixton" appeared regularly in series 2 of Harry and Paul, during the "Cafe Polska" sketches.
• Their version of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" was used on an advert for the second series of The Inbetweeners and also on a commercial of Derek Lam's collection for Kohls inspired in Rio de Janeiro on April 2013.
• Their version of Bauhaus' 1979 single "Bela Lugosi's Dead" was used at the opening of the 2007 film Elvis and Anabelle.
• Their version of "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol was sung by Artie in the episode "Wheels" of the Fox television series Glee.
• Their version of "Heart of Glass" by Blondie was used in the episode "The Rhodes Not Taken" Fox television series Glee.
• Cover versions of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", "Just Can't Get Enough", and "Ever Fallen In Love" were broadcast on The Delicious Miss Dahl, BBC Two, 23 March 2010
• Their version of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" appeared in the Uma Thurman film The Accidental Husband, the German television series Türkisch für Anfänger, and the British television series Skins. It was also used on a Sky Sports trailer preview for upcoming programmes on the network in 2014.
• Their version of "Blister in the Sun" was used in the 2011 film Bridesmaids. It was also in the episode "Empire of the Son" on The CW television series Gossip Girl.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nouvelle Vague.

• Review of NV3 on the Daily Music Guide
• Luaka Bop (U.S. label) album page
• Slideshow of a live performance in Paris with soundtrack
• Nouvelle Vague Cool Hunting Video
• Live performance, 2005, on Morning Becomes Eclectic
• Interview with Liset Alea and Olivier Libaux from Nouvelle Vague on Radio France Internationale