Who: French-born, Brooklyn-based electro-pop purveyor Émilie Simon, who’s one of those classic cases: Big in Europe, still somewhat under the radar here. The genre-bending musician has toured with Placebo, amassed awards at home for several projects (including the score she composed for "March of the Penguins," which was dismissed as “too challenging” for North American audiences and replaced with a more conventional score by Alex Wurman for export), and is releasing her third album The Big Machine, out today on Le Plan. It’s the album she moved to the States to record -- her first entirely in English — and features collaborations with the likes of Kelly Pratt and Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire) as well as Jon Natchez (Beirut).
Reminds us of: There’s something Björkish about her combination of out-there vocal talent layered over a sound that melds electronic bleeps with old-world barrelhouse piano and horns. Also, Kate Bush.
Download this: “Ballad of the Big Machine” mp3 (also listen to the full Big Machine album stream on Spinner)
