Has anyone else heard this album? It's a 2006 release; I discovered it a while back and haven't been able to get enough of it.

If you haven't, check out the AllMusic review here.

Isn't he that wrestler that killed his family than killed himself?

Ummm... that's Chris Benoit (who, coincidentally, grew up in my hometown of Edmonton.)

Back to Pioulard - I take it from the lack of response that nobody has heard of this album and/or artist before. Surprising. I didn't mean for my post to come off looking like some well-executed label spam; I just dig this record and I was wondering who else (if anybody) had heard it.

Wow he's a wrestler and a singer! That's crazy. I like wrestling so maybe I should check this cd out.

No he was a wrestler but like Tim mentioned he killed himself. His family as well.

Oh ok too bad. I checked out a few of the songs and they were decent. Another musician that died too young.

You guys have got the wrong guy - this is a 23 year old singer-songwriter real name Thomas Meluch - on wikipedia he's in the category 'living people'

Oh ok so Meluch is the wrestler and Pioulard is the one that killed himself. Is Meluch a musician as well?

Well Benoit was a pretty lousy wrestler so not sure how he will fare as a musician. I may check out the album though.

Sigh. Thomas Meluch, who makes music under his pseudonym Benoit Pioulard makes music. Chris Benoit was a wrestler, killed his family and died.

I'll give him a try later today Anthony.

Interesting to read all these posts.

I feel sorry for you, Anthony. Seems like most people on the forum don't know about Pioulard and the ones that react on your question, seem to be more interested in dead wrestlers

The review on AMG made me curious, so I've put Précis on my wishlist.

That is, if I can find anything online.. which I can't. Sorry.

Try this, Neo:

http://pioulard.com/hear.htm

That's pretty good. I like it. :)

*sigh*

Cool, glad you like it Neoptolemos.

This album was the AMG Album of the Month last December - that's how I discovered it. My favorite track is "Ash Into the Sky", with "Triggering Back" a close second.

Yes, like it too.

Anthony, just out of curiosity, how come you like Pioulard and the Beatles, but voting off Elliott Smith in the Survivor game? I see some similarities between the three ...

I searched on iTunes and an bunch of other places but I couldn't find any music by Chris Benoit. Can someone help me out?

Kelto, apparently you can write in English. Can you also read this language? If so, please do so, before posting. For the Xth time: Chris Benoit was not a musician...

I'm kinda hoping he's kidding.

I did read but I got confused cause someone in the thread said that Benoit was a wrestler. But I got it now. Chris Benoit and Thomas Meluch are wrestlers and Benoit Pioulard is a musician. I will check out Pioulard instead and give my thoughts.

Almost correct, Kelto, but this time I'm sure you're kidding

DrDre:

The short answer, simply, is that I don’t particularly care for Smith’s music. Like I mentioned in my Survivor comments, I’ve spent quite a bit of time (previously, and again lately) delving into his catalogue, and I came up with nothing that really impressed me. I don’t find his songs that engaging; the melodies are Beatle-esque, yes, but whereas Lennon/McCartney had a knack for unpredictability, Smith’s melodies are largely predictable, to me anyway. Pioulard falls into the former camp – just when I think he’s taking the melody one direction, he surprises me by detouring. Smith’s “Waltz #2” is a perfect encapsulation of what I don’t care for about his music: it’s unoriginal, uninspired and predictable – three big offenses in the singer/songwriter genre (or any genre for that matter.)

So, for one, Smith’s music is not that captivating, and he doesn’t impress on an artistic level. I also think his suicide sparked a fascination with his music (which arguably, led to some unwarranted acclaim.) It’s no secret that artists tend to garner acclaim after death (just look at how many posthumous Grammys are awarded every year.) In Smith’s case, I think people were trying to look for something that just wasn’t there.

I don't know, Anthony - I realize that a death cult tends to spring up around any artist who checks out at a young age (particularly if said demise came at the artist's own hand), but I loved and respected Smith's music long before his death, and a lot of others did too. EITHER/OR and XO both made the Pazz & Jop top 20, for example. I'm one of the lucky ones, I guess - no one's ever going to be able to come to Smith "clean" again, without his death hanging over everything.

By the way, Anthony, sincerest regrets over the number of dicks posting in this thread. Those folks apparently had no idea you were a regular here and thought you were some paid promotional tool.

Hm.. I didn't even know he was dead! Goes to show how ignorant I am about anything that goes on with artists in real life.

On a sidenote, I just ordered my new amplifier and speakerset so I will have some great sound soon. Just felt like sharing that.

Thanks Harold. The “thread crapping” is unfortunate, yes, but largely ignorable.

I’ll go back and listen (again) to Smith’s albums, not only because of your evident admiration, but out of respect for his acclaim (and also for my friends, several of whom keep hassling me about my lack of enjoyment for, in their words, “a truly great artist”.)

In the meantime, forgive me for contributing to Smith’s early departure from Survivor, if indeed it comes to that.

Anthony, thanks for your short, but clear answer. Somehow, when I listen to Either/Or and XO, my favorites, I don't have this perception of it being predictable.

Strangely enough, I liked Smith's music more before his death than after. His death, as well as his depressions before that, puts his melancholic voice and the somewhat sad music atmosphere in a whole different perspective.

Anyway, sorry for drifting off topic. Let's get back to Benoit Pioulard. Thank you for introducing him!

Nah, let's stay on Elliott Smith for a second. I really don't think he developed much of a cult after his death. Maybe some, but it's not to the extent of other famous deaths...maybe more on a Shannon Hoon level. People heard about his death, some new people were introduced but for the most part the fans are still the fans that were always there with some younger people joining in (which would have happened either way).

I can totally get why somebody doesn't like Elliott. He's an artist you need to personally connect with and if you don't have that connection his music is not going to mean one iota to you and most likely you're going to think he's whiny and unoriginal. I learned to accept that a few years ago even though he's top 5 of all-time to me.

My pleasure DrDre. It’s hard not to feel like a hypocrite in a way since I hear a few similarities between Pioulard and Smith, but like John correctly pointed out, there’s an intangible connection that one needs to form with an artist in order to be captivated. I found it in Precis, but I missed it in Either/Or and XO. But like I said, I’ll keep trying. One never knows.

As for Benoit, I’m hoping that Max (with whom I share a high correlation with ) and jonmarck (the singer/songwriter/producer/musical savant) have read this thread, or better yet, checked out the album. Guys? Thoughts?

For your information, Benoit Pioulard has just released a new album, called Temper.

See his website for more details, both 'see' and 'hear' pages offer a few downloads from the album as well.

Wow, lucky that this thread came back alive. I missed it when it was first started. I got into Pioulard earlier this year, and I second Anthony's recommendation.

Oh, and to continue that Smith discussion: actually, I think the weakest thing he did was the one postuhumous release, From A Basement On A Hill. That, I felt, was extremely overrated, mostly due to his death, and unfortunately that's the one that introduced me to the songwriter. But his albums before that, Either/Or and XO as mentioned, and also Figure 8 for me, are excellent no matter the context, and they were highly praised even before he died. Also, Anthony, I hope you listened to that new compilation, New Moon, because it's 1000x better than From A Basement, and it encapsulates his talent more.

Indeed he has, Andre. I have the new album, but haven't yet got a chance to sink my teeth into it.

As for E. Smith, still nothing but still trying.

(Back to Pioulard, I emailed him a while back - shortly after my first post here - telling him how much I enjoyed Precis. He replied back with: "heyy, thanks very much, this sort of thing always makes my day..hope all is well in the great white north; our bit of snow just melted..yours, tom" That was nice of him.)