Autumn Falls: our golden leaves

Until 6 December, the Autumn Falls festival is filling the city's concert venues with colourful, cosy, and melancholy sounds, perfectly fit for the season. Here are some of our favourites!


SCOTT MATTHEW
29/11, 19.30, €15/18, Botanique

EN ❙ Have you ever warmed yourself to the autumnal atmosphere of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”? Rest assured: until recently we hadn’t either. But once you’ve heard the melancholy version by the Australian singer-songwriter Scott Matthew, you’ll change your tune. On his new studio album Unlearned, he uses his hoarse voice, dripping with desire, to undress many a famous pop song until only its bare essence remains: a melody, some shreds of lyrics, and an interpretation that makes clear these songs are close allies. Matthew already has three excellent albums of original material, but has now made us listen again, unbiased, to tracks by The Bee Gees, Kris Kristofferson, and Morrissey, crowning it all with a riveting piano rendition of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. Fireplace, anyone?


TY SEGALL
4/12, 19.15, €17/20, Vk*

EN ❙ After a particularly busy 2012, with three new records and a first appearance at Autumn Falls, our favourite garage rocker from San Francisco – who since then has apparently moved to L.A. – released yet another LP this summer. It was quite a shock because on Sleeper he no longer pulverizes his emotions under innumerable layers of dissonant fuzz-rock guitars and psychedelia. No, having only recently processed the death of his father, he made a dark, paired-down solo album, on which acoustic guitar and restrained studio effects predominate. It may not sound as loud, but his reflections on life, death, and insanity are at least as disarming and just as intense as on his earlier work. But don’t worry, he has promised to be much louder and more aggressive next time.


PICK A PIPER
30/11, 19.30, €15/18, Botanique

FR ❙ Sorti de la cuisse de Caribou, le batteur Brad Weber met ses talents rythmiques au service d’un nouveau trio. Baptisé Pick A Piper, son groupe mélange sonorités organiques et électroniques dans un grand élan psychédélique. Sur son premier album (Pick A Piper), la formule prônée par le Canadien rappelle parfois les virées instrumentales de sa formation originale. Si l’échappée de Brad Weber ne brille pas par une originalité insensée, elle tombe pile-poil : Caribou hiberne depuis quelques mois et son leader, Dan V. Snaith, est parti toucher du beat sous le pseudo Daphni. Le moment est donc parfaitement choisi pour raviver les mélodies hypnotiques et multicolores du célèbre animal des bois.


Bosco Delrey
30/11, 20.00, €12, Le Brass

FR ❙ L’officier de l’état civil vient de nous confirmer l’information : Bosco Delrey n’entretient aucun lien de parenté avec Lana. Pourtant, un peu à l’image de la chanteuse, le jeune rockeur du New Jersey accumule les clichés vintage pour s’imposer au présent. Du surf au glam rock en passant par le rockabilly, les chansons de Bosco Delrey voyagent dans le temps et ravivent les fantasmes d’une époque révolue. Tombé sous le charme des morceaux de son premier album Everybody Wah, le réalisateur Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life) vient d’en racheter les droits. Histoire de balancer du Delrey dans la bande-son d’un prochain film. Les amateurs de rock’n’roll devraient apprécier.


AUTUMN FALLS • > 6/12, Verschillende locaties/Divers lieux/Various locations, www.autumnfalls.be