Mr Lab !

POSTINDUSTRIALCEREMONY

Surprising how artistic inspiration can be found in the most ordinary situations.

Trapped one day in a Parisian traffic jam, Yves Labbé  took the time to observe the absurdity of modern life : humanity caught up in its own mess, men looking as if they were part of their machines, bogged down in their own profusion. A situation resembling a funeral march, signifying the end of the world.

A song title was already forming in his head : ‘Post Industrial Ceremony’. Only the soundtrack was missing, 12 songs resembling a sonic journey swerving towards this ‘post millenium tension’.

This guitarist from Rouen found his stage name in England (becoming the name of his band later on), the place where his passion for music took him. Carried across the Channel by his first experience playing in groups like Kitsch, Underpressure, Oedipussy, Sin-é, he finally stayed for 7 years in the country of his first idols, where - like an apprentice - he learnt from his masters the importance of urgency and concision, the concept of gang rock, the stage as a way of life, and – at the same time – a perfect mastery of the language of the Beatles and the Sex Pistols.

Back in France, Yves developed his experience as a session musician and arranger. The British wave of alchemistic trip hop, their taste for the marriage of chilling electronic and acoustic material, encouraged him to write his own music and set up a home studio. As an independent artist, he began to build his own universe and write his first songs. A group quickly formed around the intensity of his first sound blasts. Guillaume on bass, Franck on drums, Greg at the turntable, Thomas on keyboards, all blending in with the lead guitarist and singer to create a five headed Mister.

In 2004  a debut album ‘And Now It’s Time to Go’, confirming the imaginative electro-rock of Mr Lab!, was released. An autoproduction well received in France (more than 7000 copies sold), and also praised by the German, Swiss and Austrian public.

Coproduced by Mr Lab! and Pedro Resende, the master behind Tahiti 80, and mixed by Tony Lash in Portland (Dandy Warhols, Elliot Smith), ‘Post Industrial Ceremony’ has greater depth. The pessimistic exploration of the ‘post-industrial’ generates as much anger as introspective daydreaming.  More concentrated this time on dynamic instrumental qualities than electro arrangements, Mr Lab ! interweaves rushes of electric energy with gentle breezes of intimacy.

With his passion for British rock, Mr Lab! also maintains his concern and taste for decorative melodies. The saturation of communication networks (‘Why are you Talking to Me ?’), frenzied anger directed towards the consumer society  (‘Gravy Machine’),  all expressed in the guitars and vocal tension.  The loss of any landmarks (‘Lost’), reports of loneliness or neglect (‘Inverted’, ‘Not There’, ‘From Me’, with ex AS Dragon Natacha Lejeune) all recall the desolate tones of Leonard Cohen with their hypnotic keyboards.

A little in the style of a group like Archive, with whom Mr Lab! share many references to Pink Floyd, they also know how to mix extremes, passing from laid back dreamy moods to the pure access of violence, covering the whole range of sensations and sounds between the two. In ‘Post Industrial Ceremony’ you can find a nugget of pop sculpted by a rugged funk (‘Be’), and lyrical, almost oriental chords (‘Industrial’, the second chapter of a finale in the form of a triptych).

A disc that almost makes one want to thank the world for falling apart.