Artist of the Day: Alif Tree

Surely you’ve heard of him before. If not - it’s high time! Call him an electronic music alchemist, know him as a french DJ and cook or just love him for sharing his outstanding musical talent with us. After his last release “French Cuisine” in 2006 we’re proud to present Alif Tree’s second album “Clockwork” on Compost Records! Surprise guest on “Clockwork“ is Memphis legend Tony Joe White.

As a musician (guitar, voice, keyboards, percussion...), Alif is a fervent defender of acoustic sounds, from philharmonic music to pop via jazz and world music. A sound-engineer and producer skilled in digital techniques, he has been navigating through the universe of recording-studios, sound-stages and television, as much as record-labels, for the past seventeen years. The voyager, who tele-transported himself to Normandy a few years ago, has finally settled down in Marseille and installed his own studio at the end of 1999.

In February 2000 he signed with M10 for “The Observatory”, a first album that scrutinized, in the distance, the possible future of electronic music. In the press, critics welcomed this clairvoyant point of view with interest. “Between pop melancholy, West Coast groove and ethnic reflections, the first album from Alif Tree inscribes itself in the composite logic of tomorrow’s downbeat: pop fragrances, science-fiction nuggets, jazz, exotic savours, this first Alif Tree album does without glutamate”, wrote Yann Quélennec in the columns of “Coda”.

Having crossed over into the third millennium, Alif signed with Universal Music Jazz and has come out with “Spaced”, an opus that points, like E.T.’s finger, to visions perceived from his observatory. Sailing the seven seas of space in zero gravity, between trip-hop under classical influence, instrumental hip-hop and jazzy electronica, these ten tracks go head-to-head against the current trends, which would have all down-tempo electro composers produce soundtracks for imaginary movies.

Then Al!f, for almost three years, explored and went on, meeting musicians and artists, stages and studios, collected sounds and atmospheres, scenes and moods to bring “French Cuisine”, his third album. Yes, the man is french, and considers himself as an open minded cook, defending the “art of living” à la française, mixing ingredients, as the unique menu he’s prepared for you. Adding little bits of the scores he writes for cinema or tv (he’s the exclusive sounddesigner for MTV networks Fr. for instance) musics for classic and modern dance ballets, remixes, like the famous one of François de Roubaix for Cinemix,) plus of course a mixture of those gigs in NYC, London, Paris or Sarajevo....and in the beautiful city of Marseille of course!

On stage, he mixes, using tracks and cinematic ambiances with radio sources, from classical music to experimental electronic, and creates each time a unique trip thru time, space and memory. He can also be a crowd mover when he feels like, heating dancefloors with various spices, without ever falling into clichés (YourSpins, 2008).

You can listen to Alif Tree's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Alif+Tree



Released Albums:
Alif Tree - French Cuisine
Alif Tree - Spaced
Alif Tree - The Observatory
Alif Tree - Clockwork

Reference:
(2008). Alif Tree. YourSpins. Retrieved from http://www.yourspins.com/view-artist.aspx?a=I8Q

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