PICTURES :
TRACKLISTING:
1. Introduction / Gemstones in the Forest
2. Storm #1
3. The Mangrove
4. The Monologue
5. Weird Dance
6. Festival Music / Inside the Wheel / Thunder Thing
7. Breath / Storm #2
8. Losing a Friend to Death
9. Lights in the Deep
10. Abandoned Battleship
11. Hot Springs (by Rasmee)
12. A Ghost in the House
13. The Return
14. The Harmony of Rohingya’s Voices / Circles
15. Manta Ray
16. Storm #3
17. Circles
Live at the Archaeological Crypt of Paris
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This recording is a special live performance by the duo Snowdrops - side project of Christine Ott, recorded in the Archaeological Crypt of Paris, under the square of Notre Dame, on September 10, 2017.
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Recorded live 10 September 2017 by Sam Navel & Snowdrops
Mixed by Snowdrops at the Rhine Harbor Nest
Picture by Noémie C. - "Volant", Edited and Layout by Mat Gab
Released 05 October 2017 through Gizeh Records / Bandcamp
PROJECTS / SOUNDTRACKS :
email >>> snowdrops@christineott.fr
DISCS | OST | PUBLICATIONS :
MANTA RAY
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Catalogue # // GZH87
Release date // March 15th 2019
Format // CD / DL
MANTA RAY is the first release of Snowdrops, a French-based keyboard duo of Mathieu Gabry and Christine Ott (Yann Tiersen, Tindersticks, Foudre !...) ; this opus is the soundtrack they composed for Phuttiphong Aroonpheng's film of the same name, which has won several awards including Best Film in the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival.
"Strangers in a strange land...
Borders, belonging and banishment are the issues in Manta Ray. The Thai film trains a poetic look at the void of humanity through the story of two men, a Thai fisherman with peroxide blonde hair and a nameless stranger stuck in a foreign land and supposed to be a Rohingya of Myanmar, whose continuing persecution is constituting one of the biggest human rights scandals of our time."
The realism of this story melds with magical elements into a complex whole leaving plenty of room for interpretation. Aroonpheng's first feature is a mesmerizing experience, sometimes compared to Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee & Hitchcock's Vertigo.
Snowdrops' soundtrack brings another dimension to Aroonpheng's movie. The duo was especially focused to build their sound here on a frame of keyboards of different generations (Ondes Martenot, Mellotron, MS2000 or Altered keyboards). The color is sometimes dark (‘The Mangrove’, ‘Losing a Friend to Death’), sometimes surrealistic (‘Lights in the Deep), and in the case of ‘Weird Dance’, a suggestion of romance between the two main characters on the rhythm of a dreamy electronic tune. The French duo also re-arranged a composition (‘Hot Springs’) by renowned Thai singer Rasmee, who features as an actor in the movie.
Always moving in a physical and sensorial approach, Snowdrops were also involved in the sound design of the movie, as the music is often merging with the other auditive elements and with the images themselves as an organic painting; this hypnotic experiment finds its climax at the end of the movie, with Ott's piano running wild and Gabry's soundscapes swirling in between The Harmony of Rohingya's Voices in a breathtaking scene.
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PRESS:
"With a rich sound design, and a haunting score by French keyboard-based duo Snowdrops, Aroonpheng creates an impressionistic atmosphere" Screen Daily
"The haunting melodies and sound effects reverberate with an unspeakable pain and displacement in some moments, but also the magic of new connections and simple kindness in others." Ciné-Vue
"Manta Ray is driven by visual and sound; it works almost as an abstract piece" Bangkok Post
S N O W D R O P S
: Duo Snowdrops :
timeline :
30.04.19 - Budapest (HU) - Institut Français de Budapest - Manta Ray + Concert
26.04.19 - Strasbourg (FR) - Manta Ray Avant-première, en présence des compositeurs et du producteur du film
17.04.19 - Berlin (DE) - Silent Green [+]
performing for Piano, Ondes Martenot, RIN 凜 Bells and Electronics
15.04.19 - Warsaw (PL) - Otwarta Pracownia Jazdow
14.04.19 - Leipzig (DE) - Noch Besser Leben
w/ B'ee (In Gowan Ring / Birch Book)
13.04.19 - Potsdam (DE) - Q3 Ambient Festival [+]
curated by CEEYS, w/ Aidan Baker, Poppy Ackroyd, SOMA, F.S. Blumm & Marc Marcovic
30.03.19 - Strasbourg (FR) - Festival Musiques Eclatées - Galerie Aedaen [+]
29.03.19 - Sarreguemines (FR) - Le Terminus - Piano Day
09.03.19 - Manta Ray, Avant-Première du film au FIFDH Genève, en présence du réalisateur et compositeurs [+]
00.01.19 - Musique originale pour le documentaire "Les danseurs fous", première sur France 3
00.09.18 - Soundtrack For Manta Ray (Kraben Rahu) - Premiere at Venice Film Festival, Best Movie Award (Orizzonti)
00.11.17 - London (UK) - IKLECTIK Gallery
00.11.17 - Salford (UK) - Gizeh Records Evening, Manchester
w/ ARC Soundtracks & A-Sun Amissa
00.09.17 - Paris (FR) - Festival Traversées du Marais - Crypte archéologique de Paris
00.08.17 - Marseille (FR) - MIMI Festival, PIC Télémaque
w/ No Tongues
00.10.16 - Lyon (FR) - Rhino Jazz festival - Opéra de Lyon, Auditorium
00.02.16 - Paris (FR) - Pictures from Iran ciné-concert - Forum des images
00.12.15 - 'Le passage des anges' soundtrack, Cie du Hasard
