Swiss Gods
;)
The Young Gods
With more than 20 years in the business and 15 albums under their belts, The Young Gods have become an international benchmark in electro-industrial rock and sound experimentation. The group, originally from Fribourg but now based in Geneva, produces highly original work and never ceases to amaze the public and its wide fan base all over the world. After revisiting the music of the film documentary “Woodstock” (1970) in 2005 and 2009, the quartet laid itself bare by reinterpreting part of its repertoire in an acoustic version on the album “Knock on Wood”. It produced a psychedelic brand of folk blues where two guitars are used with a sitar over vibrant percussion. All of this is augmented by Franz Treichler’s captivating voice, the timbre and nuances of which seem haunted by Jim Morrison. There is no hesitation in giving a “Young Gods” interpretation of some anthology tracks, such as “Freedom” by Richie Havens, “If Six Was Nine” by Jimi Hendrix and “Everything In Its Right Place” by Radiohead.
This highly successful Swiss band formed in 1985. The following year, it was already performing in London and went on to turn out albums like clockwork. It even dedicated an album to composer Kurt Weill in 1990. The appeal of The Young Gods lies in their status as pioneers of industrial rock, where heavy guitar riffs are played over extraordinary sampling (repetitive sound loops). With its album “TV Sky” in 1992 and its cosmic blues rock, the band caused a frenzy on the electric scene. U2 and its producers acknowledged their admiration of the Swiss band. The Gods took North America by storm and set off on a global tour, the creativity of which is immortalised on the album “Live Sky Tour”, recorded in Australia in 1993. The new millennium saw the band broaden its horizons to embark on adventures, such as the “Amazonia Ambient Project” with the famous anthropologist Jeremy Narby (“the cosmic serpent”) and the purely electronic album “Music For Artificial Clouds”, inspired by the group’s performance at Expo 02. The Young Gods sample everything from the sound of an emptying sink to a drop of water falling into a pool.
What have Franz Treichler, Al Comet, Bernard Trontin and Vincent Hänni got in store for us in 2010? We will find out in the course of the year with an album described as rock, electro and acoustic. The group is in top form having finished the year 2009 performing with Richie Haven, the legendary guitarist who opened the Woodstock Festival in 1969. To discover the world of The Young Gods, simply enter the group’s name into a videosharing site, such as youtube or dailymotion, and let the adventure begin.
ALAIN WEY
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