YOU CAN BE SPECIAL, TOO

MUSIC STRATEGIES & SONIC BRANDING
Finding the music ID for your campaign or TV commercial to broaden brand recognition of your product. PUBLICIS, CLM-BBDO, MERCEDES-BENZ and NISSAN have used my skills.

SPECIAL EVENTS & HOTELS
Creating made-to-measure scores that define the theme of your event.
Launching a product? Opening a new place? Whether as a DJ mixing live on location or ahead of time in the studio, I design to-the-point soundscapes that create that special ambiance.

MEDIA PROJECTS
Designing specific compilation CD's for media and corporate projects, movie soundtracks for short films and feature films, documentaries and presentations.


TRY, AND HEAR WHAT YOUR VISION COULD SOUND LIKE

Because your project deserves the best music, ever.

Check below sneak preview of the high quality and cool kind of library
you are accessing by working with
SONIC NURSE | Le Design Sonique ®

Friday, December 31, 2010

Songs That Make A Difference





Top/ "This Is Radio Clash" (CBS) is a single released by The Clash in 1981. "This Is Radio Clash", like their previous single "The Magnificent Seven", is a dub reggae, rap, punk-funk song that was influenced by old school hip hop acts from New York City, like the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of UK punk. Along with punk rock, they experimented with reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap and rockabilly. The Clash's politicized lyrics, musical experimentation, and rebellious attitude had a far-reaching influence on rock, alternative rock in particular. Their record label's A&R director dubbed them "The Only British Band That Matters," which fans picked up and transformed into "The Only Band That Matters". Middle/ Sandinista! is the fourth album by The Clash. It was released in 1980 on CBS as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. Some critics have argued that the album would have worked better as a less-ambitious, smaller project. Others think of the album as a breakthrough that deserves comparison to the Beatles' White Album. Dub versions for some of the songs and toasting was done by Mikey Dread, who had first hooked up with the band for their 1980 single "Bankrobber". With Sandinista! the band reached beyond punk and reggae into dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, gospel and whatever else. The album clearly displays the influence of reggae and in particular producer Lee "Scratch" Perry (who had worked with the band on their 1977 single "Complete Control"), with a dense, echo-filled sound on even the straight rock songs. The song "Washington Bullets" was Clash lyric-writer Joe Strummer's most extensive--and most specific--political statement to date. In it, Strummer name checks conflicts or controversies from around the world; namely in Chile, Nicaragua, Cuba, Afghanistan and Tibet. The rock music world hailed Sandinista! as a masterpiece. Bottom/ "The Magnificent Seven" (CBS) was the third single from Sandinista! The song was recorded in April 1980 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, built around a bass loop played by Norman Watt-Roy of the Blockheads. Joe Strummer wrote the words on the spot, a technique that was also used to create Sandinista!'s other rap track, "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)". "The Magnificent Seven" represents the first attempt by a rock band to write and perform original rap music, and one of the earliest examples of hip hop records with political and social content. It is the first major white rap record, predating the recording of Blondie's "Rapture" by six months.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Pop Will Eat Itself





Bottom/ Distortion (Nonesuch, 2008) is an album by The Magnetic Fields. As the album's name implies, several of the musical performances featured were distorted by various means. In particular, this sound quality was influenced by the 1985 album Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain. No synthesizers were used to record the album; it is the second in a "no-synth trilogy", after the 2004 album i and before the 2010 album Realism. The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. While the particular musical style of the band is usually as malleable as Merritt's songwriting, they are commonly attributed to pop genres and subgenres: synthpop, indie pop, noise pop, and, most recently, folk-pop. The band is recognizable for Merrit's lyrics, often about love, that are by turns ironic, bitter, and humorous. Their best known work is likely the critically lauded 1999 three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs. Middle/ Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (Todomundo, 2008) is the first collaboration between David Byrne and Brian Eno since 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Eno's work producing and co-writing with Talking Heads. Both have described it as "electronic Gospel", in particular the track "Life Is Long." Byrne has speculated that the hopeful lyrics might be an antidote to being "completely pessimistic and cynical about politics and the state of the world." Eno has also said the album is about "paint[ing] a picture of the human trying to survive in an increasingly digital world." Themes of humanity struggling with technology are apparent on several tracks. Top/ Jollification (Epic) was the Lightning Seeds' 1994 album and contains the UK hit singles "Lucky You", "Marvellous", "Change" and "Perfect". Its cover, designed by Mark Farrow, featured the then innovative use of computer graphics to create an enormous strawberry with people's faces as its seeds. The Lightning Seeds are an alternative pop/rock band, largely the brainchild of writer, singer and guitarist Ian Broudie. The group has its origins in the English city of Liverpool, breaking through with the shimmery, psychedelic synth pop hit, "Pure", from the album Cloudcuckooland. More UK Top 20 hits by The Lightning Seeds include a cover version of The Turtles' breathy-trippy 1969 hit "You Showed Me" (written by Byrds members Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn), which was featured in the Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery soundtrack.

Mercedes-Benz by Sonic Nurse



Curated by Music Advisor Max Chavanne of SONIC NURSE | Le Design Sonique
for CLM-BBDO advertising, this Mercedes-Benz TV commercial feeds on the track "She's a Rainbow", taken from the 1967 Rolling Stones' psychedelic outing Their Satanic Majesties Request (Decca/ABCKO). Radio commercials curated by SONIC NURSE were also aired by the brand of luxury and high-performance automobiles.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

When The Machines Rock





Top/ Technique (Factory Records) is the fifth original album by New Order, released in 1989. Partly recorded on the island of Ibiza, it incorporates balearic and acid house influences into the group's techno-rock sound. New Order were an English musical group formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris. New Order were formed in the wake of the demise of their previous group Joy Division, following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis. They were soon joined by additional keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. New Order combined post-punk and electronic dance, and became one of the most critically acclaimed and highly influential bands of the 1980s. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday" saw them fully embrace dance music and synthesized instruments, and became the best-selling independent 12" single of all time in the UK. New Order were the flagship band for the Manchester based British independent label Factory Records, and their minimalist album sleeves and non-image reflected the label's aesthetics. Like the label 4AD Records, Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville) which gave the label, and the artists recording for it, a particular sound and image. New Order's music has trodden the line between the rock and dance genres, which can be seen on signature tracks such as "True Faith" and "Temptation". They have heavily influenced techno, rock, and pop musicians including Pet Shop Boys, The Killers, and Moby and were themselves influenced by the likes of David Bowie, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire and Giorgio Moroder. They have also significantly influenced electro, freestyle and house. In June 2009, it was announced that Bernard Sumner had formed Bad Lieutenant, and that they had completed an album, Never Cry Another Tear. Middle/ "World (The Price of Love)" (London Records) was a 1993 single taken from the album Republic, New Order's first album after the demise of Factory Records, and their last for eight years. Bottom/ "Ruined in a Day" was released as the second single from Republic.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

That Voodoo That You Do



Material
is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell. Early Material was primarily instrumental. The music was often funky — a few singles, such as "Ciquri", were popular in New York City dance clubs — but decidedly experimental. 1982's One Down marked a change towards relatively more accessible mainstream "funk and disco tunes delivered with a minimum of weirdness." "Memories" was one of Whitney Houston's first recordings as a featured vocalist. Herbie Hancock hired Laswell and many of his Material collaborators for his 1983 album Future Shock, including the important single "Rockit". Laswell has since used the Material name for a variety of projects featuring his usual revolving-door cast of talented musicians. Notable was 1989's Seven Souls, featuring William S. Burroughs reading portions of his novel The Western Lands; that song was also predominantly featured in The Sopranos' season six opener, Members Only. 1993's well-named Hallucination Engine was released on Axiom and features a vast array of guest musicians including Trilok Gurtu, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Bootsy Collins and William Burroughs again, this time on the hilarious track "Words Of Advice".

Friday, December 10, 2010

Toward The Within



Top/ Stratosfear is an electronic music album released in 1976 by the German group Tangerine Dream. It marks the beginning of the band's evolution away from their uncompromising early 1970s synthesizer experiments toward a recognizably more melodic sound, a trend they would pick up again in 1979's Force Majeure. Founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese, Tangerine Dream released this album following 1975's Rubycon and Ricochet. Drummer and composer Klaus Schulze was a member of an early lineup. Tangerine Dream's early "Pink Years" albums had a pivotal role in the development of Krautrock. However, the release of Phaedra in 1974 marked a divergence of that group from Krautrock to a more melodic sequencer-driven sound that was later termed Berlin School. In that same year Klaus Schulze delivered one more LP of pure Krautrock, Blackdance, and began to release more hypnotic versions of what TD was doing.Their "Virgin Years" and later albums became a defining influence in New Age music, although the band themselves dislike the term. Bottom/ EP "Lifeforms" by The Future Sound Of London (Astralwerks, 1994) features the ethereal voice of Cocteau Twins singer Elisabeth Fraser. The Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music band active from 1979 to 1997, known for complex instrumentation and atmospheric, nonlyrical vocals. Though formed in the post punk and new wave era, the Cocteau Twins tended to defy concise categorization, and their music was a key influence on dream pop. Although the entire band was praised for their performances, Fraser received the most attention. At times barely decipherable, Fraser seemed to veer into glossolalia and mouth music.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Vortical Phonoteque





Bottom/ Do It! (Domino Records) is the fifth album by the band Clinic, released on 7 April 2008. Clinic are a Liverpool based indie rock band noted for their often fast-paced, eclectic sound. Ade Blackburn's distinctive acidic vocals are a trademark of the band, and they are also known for wearing surgical masks and costumes while performing and in promotional photos. Middle/ Rinôçérôse is a French band founded by Jean-Philippe Freu and Patrice Carrié that mixes rock music and electronic dance music. The duo of musicians also work as psychologists, calling themselves, "Psychologists by day, musicians by night". "Schizophonia" (V2, 2005) marks a new turning point in the band's music, with a more mainstream rock groove rather than a more ambient electronic sound. Included is the single "Bitch". Top/ Taking its cues from soul, funk, hip-hop or 60's pop, In The Mood For Life (Atmosphériques, 2009) is the third album by Wax Tailor. Wax Tailor is the alias of French trip hop/hip hop producer Jean-Christophe Le Saoût. A sweeping, cinematic hip-hop album that had critics citing similarities toDJ Shadow, RJD2 and Portishead, WT's debut album Tales of the Forgotten Melodies (Under Cover, 2005) was heralded as Radio Nova's album of the year. His sophomore effort, Hope & Sorrow was also very well received by audiences. Wax's track "Seize The Day" recorded with Charlotte Savary appears in the soundtrack of the 2008 Cédric Klapisch film Paris. Other musicians who have appeared alongside Wax Tailor include Marina Quaisse, Big Dada rapper Infinite Livez, Alela Diane, North Carolina hip-hop duo The Others, Ursula Rucker, Sharon Jones, Voice and A State Of Mind.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Psychic Karaoke




Top/ Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are best known for being one-half of Luna, one of the most critically acclaimed rock bands of the past two decades. Wareham is also known for fronting the seminal indie band Galaxie 500. As Dean & Britta, they have scored for films (the Academy Award-nominated The Squid and the Whale among them) and worked with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex) on their lauded debut album, L'Avventura (Jetset Records, 2003). After hearing the album, Peter Kember (a.k.a. Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, Spectrum, & E.A.R.) fell in love with it and did a remix mini LP entitled "Sonic Souvenirs". Back Numbers (Zoe Records, 2007), also produced by Visconti, picks up where L'Avventura left off, with the spotlight on Dean & Britta's laconic, dreamy vocal interplay on originals like "Words You Used to Say" and "Wait for Me," along with covers of '60s gems such as The Troggs' "Our Love Will Still Be There" and Lee Hazlewood's "You Turned My Head Around." Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500. In mid-1993 Luna supported the reformed Velvet Underground on their European tour, after which they recorded their second album, Bewitched. Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison played guitar on two tracks. Luna's third album Penthouse was released in August 1995 to critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone declaring it one of the essential albums of the 90s. The album featured Television guitarist Tom Verlaine on the tracks "Moon Palace" and "23 Minutes in Brussels." Bottom/ Penthouse also featured a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie and Clyde as a hidden track. The song featured Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab duetting with Dean Wareham. Bonnie and Clyde (Beggars Banquet) was released as a single in the UK and was named Melody Maker single of the week.