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Monade were a French
post-rock
Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation ...
band which was initially a side project of
Lætitia Sadier
Lætitia Sadier (born 6 May 1968, sometimes known as Seaya Sadier) is a French musician, best known as a founding member of the London-based avant-pop band Stereolab. In 1996, while Stereolab was still active, she formed the side project Monade. ...
, a founding member of
Stereolab
Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a re ...
. In 2009, Sadier retired the project name "Monade" and began performing under her own name.
History
In the late 1990s, the All-City imprint released a 7" split of Monade's "Ode to a Keyring"/"Witch Hazel"
he a-side of the split featured materials by post-rock group, M, featuring David Pajo of Slint. These songs were recorded by Sadier with Rosie Cuckston of the band Pram (band)">Pram
Pram or PRAM may refer to: a bulbous growth on senior canines, varying in size, usually benign and painless. If it bursts, it will ooze pus and blood.
Places
* Pram, Austria, a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen in the Austrian state of ...
. The two songs featured on Monade's initial 45 were re-recorded for the group's first full-length record, ''Socialisme Ou Barbarie'' [Drag City]. They have released two albums to date on the Duophonic Records, Duophonic label which is partially owned by Sadier herself. The first album, ''Socialisme ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings'' was released in 2003 after being produced part-time over a period of six years.
Their second album, ''A Few Steps More'' (2005), marks a more cohesive stage in the band's development. There is now a regular lineup, and it was recorded using studio equipment. The album has been roundly praised and criticised for its superficial resemblance to the sound of Stereolab, but several reviews have commented more on the harmonic structure of the album, which almost seems to blend symphonically at times. Asked about on the album's themes in an interview for ''Eye Weekly'', Sadier commented: "I was trying to write to the individual and the capacity to listen to one's desires. Also, I tackled the idea of becoming. I think that's quite an important notion: that things should be allowed to become. I became a singer and it took me years and I want Monade to have a chance to become a band."
The name "Monade" was taken from
Cornelius Castoriadis
Cornelius Castoriadis ( el, Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης; 11 March 1922 – 26 December 1997) was a Greek-FrenchMemos 2014, p. 18: "he was ... granted full French citizenship in 1970." philosopher, social critic, economist, ps ...
' concept of the "''monade psychique''" (psychical
monad), which was the term Castoriadis used to describe the undifferentiated infantile
psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
, before its shattering into the
ego, super-ego, and id through the process of
socialization
In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cult ...
. Lætitia Sadier has stated that the name has a double meaning – the word "monade" is from the
root word
A root (or root word) is the core of a word that is irreducible into more meaningful elements. In morphology, a root is a morphologically simple unit which can be left bare or to which a prefix or a suffix can attach. The root word is the prim ...
"
mono-
Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example:
* unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cyc ...
" (meaning "one") and etymologically related to the sound recording term "
mono", which stands in contrast to
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
, and therefore is a reference to Monade as a solo side project to Stereolab.
MAGNET Interview: Stereolab
The title of Monade's first album pays tribute to a libertarian Marxist
Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (20 ...
political group founded by Castoriadis, Socialisme ou Barbarie
Socialisme ou Barbarie () was a French-based radical libertarian socialist group of the post-World War II period whose name comes from a phrase which was misattributed to Friedrich Engels by Rosa Luxemburg in the '' Junius Pamphlet'', but which p ...
.
In March 2008, a new Monade album was released, without any promotion, called ''Monstre Cosmic''.
On September 19, 2009 at The BirdCage in London, it was announced that it was Laetitia's last performance under the name Monade. Laetitia played a selection of new solo songs.
Discography
*2003: ''Socialisme ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings''
*2005: ''A Few Steps More''
*2008: '' Monstre Cosmic''
References
External links
*
;Interviews
Monade
(interview), ''POPnews'', January 2004. (In French)
by Joshua Ostroff, ''Eye Weekly'', May 12, 2005.
by Monte Holman, ''Free Williamsburg'', May 25, 2005.
Monade
(video interview with Laetitia Sadier) by Jon Whitney, ''The Eye'', May 29, 2005. (QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is a ...
MOV)
;Reviews
Monade ''Socialisme ou Barbarie'' (review)
by Betty Clarke, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', April 11, 2003. (Rating: 3 / 5)
Monade ''Socialisme ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings'' (review)
by Dominique Leone, ''Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
'', May 9, 2003. (Rating: 6.5 / 10)
Monade ''A Few Steps More''
by Mark Richardson, ''Pitchfork Media'', March 18, 2005. (Rating: 6.7 / 10)
Monade: ''Monstre Cosmic'' (review)
by Nate Patrin, ''Pitchfork Media'', February 13, 2008. (Rating: 7.1 / 10)
{{Authority control
French post-rock groups
French alternative rock groups
French indie rock groups
Stereolab
Musical groups from Bordeaux