LES TRANS 2018
Born in 1979, the Rencontres Trans Musicales de Rennes quickly became way more than a festival. And, with the Ubu set out on the adventure everyday since 1987, it changed the way the Transmusicales think of themselves, the way they execute themselves and
the way they are lived/experienced.
So on this day, we acknowledge this particular transmutation where two became one.
The festival and the venue, both at the service of the same project:
Exploring the music, curious of all that it can provide, with the belief that the unknown is always worth being experienced
and that the future is decided in the present time. Simply, to put it another way, our name:
LES TRANS!
PERFORMING NEW MUSIC SINCE 1979
Forward-thinking and eclectic, the festival seeks to explore the major trends that will shape the music landscape for years to come.
Initially focused more heavily on the local scene and the artists therein, over the last four decades the festival has gradually taken
on a more national, European and international dimension with regard to showcasing lineups of diverse and exciting musical talent,
providing a platform to rising stars, the festival has become a hub for industry professionals, music fans and artists alike from
across the music scene.
NEW TALENT
NABIHAH IQBAL
Known until 2016 for her electronica project « Throwing Shades », Nabihah Iqbal took back her real name and embraces now a wide range of pop blended with electronic and post-punk. The Londoner with Pakistanese origin shares with Now Order a taste for misty groove and with The Durutti Column a taste for guitar’s arabesque. But hearing her pared-down and haunting songs, one quickly understand this artist will establish herself thanks to her personality.
BIGGER
Quintet formed by the Irish singer Kevin Twomey and guitarist Damien Félix (Catfish), Bigger create since 2016 a pop and bluesy rock linked to Beatles and the Brit pop as much as to Nick Cave or Anna Calvi. Their knowledge of alternation between tension and relaxation and the delicacy of the songwriting both confirm that whe have here one of the greatest French discovery of 2018. .
BODEGA
This Brooklyn-based quintet cause a sensation in the rock scene of the moment. Their talent ? Gathering in less than two minutes songs influences from indie rock (Parquet Courts) to post-punk and dance punk from New-York (Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, LCD Soundsystem) but also British such as The Wire to offer a fun, dancing and rock and roll show. The 2018’s rock spirit from New York is Bodega!
LOSANGE
Bringing with him only a computer and a synthesiser, Benoît Baudrin composes a work at once energetic and appeased. Full of mathematic poetry, his music is made of naive chant evoking artists such as Kraftwerk, the adventurous and childish side of Aphex Twin and the sense of the sacred inherited of Bach and passed on by Wendy Carlos’ electronic interpretations. In a word, beautiful synthesised meditations, both addictive and innocent.
EUT
Born in 2016 in an Amsterdam’s art school, this quintet seems to come straight from the early nineties, as a junction between Throwing Muses and Blur’s first songs. However, they are not simple revivalists: leaded by the dynamic Megan de Klerk, these Dutch know how to create very personal pop rock tunes, based on haunting guitar’s riffs and ultra-catchy melodies.
DOMBRANCE
Bertrand Lacombe is a shadowy figure who worked with Calc, Emily Loizeau, Charlélie Couture, Superpoze… under his alias Dombrance, this multi-instrumentalist from Bordeaux has released a great eclectic pop record in 2004 and plays in DBFC, one of the revelation of Trans 2014. Today, he creates a new solo electronic project in which each track is inspired by a French political figure (Jacques Chirac, Jean-Pierre Raffarin…). His programme here is very simple: making us dance with a smile on our faces thanks to a impish and modern disco.
THE HOMESICK
Trio from faraway place Dokkum, far north in the Netherlands, the juvenile Homesick ward off boredom due to geographic isolation by colliding krautrock rhythms, crystal-clear guitars and swaggering attitude. The result is a noisy pop with strong personality, placing them as honourable heirs of Teardrop Explodes and Spacemen 3.
OUAI STÉPHANE
The artist like to appear with famous French Stéphane pictures (Bern, Plaza…) and his single ‘Allez la France’ was oddly declined by the FFF (French Football Federation). Was it a good joke? Not only. This character, as mysterious and fantasist as Jacques (Known during Les Trans 2015) distorts his instruments to conceive an electro-house perfectly mixing groove disco and techno’s rigour.
THE BLIND SUNS
Yet acclaimed in the USA, these Angers-based’s hazy dream pop also comes to attention in our side of the ocean. Leaded by Dorota Kuszewska, charismatic hazy-tone Polish singer, the trio evokes at once The Jesus And Mary Chain (delays, nicely mastered larsens and feedbacks), Mazzy Star (shadowy and cloudy romanticism) or The Velvet Underground.
ATOEM
The duo from Rennes, Atoem, appear on stage with guitar over their shoulders, in the middle of a clutter of cables, analog machines and others synthesizers - some of them made by their own hands. If the duo quotes Brian Eno and Pink Floyd as starting point of their cosmic explorations, at the heart of their productions is an intense and hypnotic techno they describe as « an ocean of spatial symphonies
PRAA
At twenty-five years old, Praa, native from Rennes, establishes herself as a worthy sucessor of Solange and Anderson .Paak. Minimalist and perfectly produced by Timsters (boss of the label Elephant & Castle), her silky, futuristic and Anglophone soul adopts R&B and trip hop sounds. Her two first singles, discreetly evoking Her, already promise a sensual and aerial concert.
PRESSYES
The Viennese René Mühlberger, alias PRESSYES, is kind of the newcomer in neo-psychedelic family. Through his first album (On The Run, 2018), the producer/songwriter reveals multicolour and dreamlike landscapes, splendid pop tunes as well as rhythms whose groove evokes sometimes the best of Madchester English scene from late 80’s. PRESSYES has some big songs which will definitely make an impact.
NOVA MATERIA
Escaped from the crazy punk funk combo Pànico, this french-chilean tandem sets a martial groove, slaps electro-funk with indus battering, plays with matter (sheet of metal, stones, scrap iron, twisted guitars…) and creates a sensual and a tad disciplinary atmosphere. After an EP via Kill The DJ, the duo released their fabulous first album via Crammed Discs - always a quality guarantee - and prepare a live at the boundary between concert and performance, in which, at the end, dancing always wins.
MAKENESS
Kyle Molleson, a.k.a Makeness, lives between London and the Scottish countryside. It’s therefore between city, hill and lakes that the producer and songwriter imagines an union of dancing electronic music, elegant pop and noisy interferences. Through his album, Loud Pattern, he thus explores falsely familiar but genuinely fascinating territories.
LES LOUANGES
Kyle Molleson, a.k.a Makeness, lives between London and the Scottish countryside. It’s therefore between city, hill and lakes that the producer and songwriter imagines an union of dancing electronic music, elegant pop and noisy interferences. Through his album, Loud Pattern, he thus explores falsely familiar but genuinely fascinating territories.
SARA ZINGER
Sara Zinger invents her own style with some great names as reference points (Chloé, The Hacker, Maud Geffray…) but this Dunkerque native is also a child from big Belgian clubs, which partly explains her love for festive and sharp techno. She actually prepares her first album, expected with synthetic pop and new waves inclinations, of which she will most likely give a foretaste during Les Trans.
WOOZE
Kyle Molleson, a.k.a Makeness, lives between London and the Scottish countryside. It’s therefore between city, hill and lakes that the producer and songwriter imagines an union of dancing electronic music, elegant pop and noisy interferences. Through his album, Loud Pattern, he thus explores falsely familiar but genuinely fascinating territories.
+ MORE LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
A Vast variety of sounds and styles programmed for this edition, the real
rock and roll of The Surrenders, the amazing psychedelic rock from the
midle-east band Al-Qasar, the electro-hiphop of the French revelation
Aloïse Sauvage, from the delegation of Netherlands the afro-funky-disco beats of the genious Arp Frique, and the melancholic soul of the Austin-based band Black Pumas, the Italians Indianizer creating
sonic landscapes with a good and fine Psychedelic Pop, the French Blues Jazzy-Rock of Initials Bouvier Bernois with a magnificent multi-orchestral set.
It's time to dance, and Sweden always exports qualified producers and dj's, and La Fleur is one example, not to forget the French beats of La Fraicheur with a long path in some of the best clubs in Europe, from USA one of the members of the new wave of Detroit's genuine House, Black Noi$e, and from Rabat to the North of France with her techno-arabian future sound, the incredible Glitter.
These and many more music gems for all kind of music lovers and different taste of styles will come together in Rennes to celebrate the 2018 edition
of one of the most commited festivals in the globe:
Les Transmusicales de Rennes
LES TRANS RENOWNED FOR REVEALING THE "NEXT BIG THING" IN MUSIC
Since the very beginning of Les Rencontres Transmusicales, it has been renowned for revealing the
"next big thing" in music.
For forty years, Les Trans are known for having a rich, eclectic and demanding line-up.
The festival is now famous for being a springboard for multiple artists such as Daft Punk,
London Grammar or Justice. Amongst other great talents, Björk, Ben Harper and Lenny Kravitz
all performed for the first time in public in the festival.
THE HISTORY
Originally, Les Trans begun by being a concert set up to pay the debt of a music student’s association, and became one of the most significant musical event in Europe. It all started in 1979 with the first concert gathering 12 bands and approximately 1800 people. Since then, it became an internationally recognised festival and grew up, welcoming over 62 000 visitors in 2016.
THE HEADQUARTERS
The Transmusicales festival and the Ubu venue have tied stories since 1987 when the Ubu first hosted the festival. Since the first concert in the salle de la Cité in 1979, the festival has grown year to year and now mostly takes place in Parc Expo in Rennes. But part of the festival still happens in Ubu traditional place and extends itself in the whole city with conferences, meetings and concerts in many bars with « Bar en Trans » taking place simultaneously.
THE 40th ANNIVERSARY IMAGE
Created by the American artist Brendan Monroe (Los Angeles 1980). His interpretations of the world are mainly rooted in science and the method of scientific approach. Constantly experimenting, he performs his works by exploring various mediums according to the projects: painting, sculpture, murals, ceramics, comics.
Credits Photos : Transmusicales / Nicolas Joubard / Marion Letage
Thanks to: Jeremy Beleard / Sound Press Agency
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