I'm going to apologize upfront if I get any of the facts wrong here because I'm working off of information that I am translating from French, and my grasp of my own mother tongue is often tenuous, let alone anyone else's. What language you speak is of little relevance when it comes to one's ability to appreciate music though, and that's why I am compelled to say something about this release. I'm not sure how I found it, but this too, is irrelevant. What is of importance is the passion with which French guitarist Antoine Geniaut displays on Mausolée Tape 7. His love for these songs infects my spirit and commands me to become his advocate. The album is a collection of 10 covers drawn from the catalog of the late Jean-Luc Le Tapenia. Nearest I can tell, Jean-Luc was a notable figure in the French folk-punk scene of the '00s, who lived an uncomplicated and somewhat unremarkable life, but who was able to translate the terrible ordinariness his life into relatable, and often very humorous, pop-acoustic explorations of the tender brutality and seething pleasure of modern life. Antoine's own style is very different in affect and approach, if not in content, from that of Jean-Luc, preferring a more measured, loose, satisfyingly brushy style of playing, which contrasts strikingly with his subject's acerbic, agitated, and often frantic method of conveying his ideas. Antoine compensates by approaching the source material without pretense, resulting in raw recordings that exude a prompt kind of urgency. I get the impression that he is performing these songs primarily from a kind of muscle memory forged by having played these songs for himself countless times. In fact, it doesn't feel like Antoine is playing for the benefit of anyone else on Mausolée Tape 7, making us privy to a private exchange between one man and another man who edified the first. I feel very fortunate to have been let in on these intimate rehearsals, as I now not only have an appreciation for Antoine's gifted command of his voice and instrument, but the legacy of one of the irrepressible talents that inspire him, and many, many others.
From La Souterraine.