Belgian collective MLCD [My Little Cheap Dictaphone] presents‘The Tragic Tale Of A Genius’

MLCD [My Little Cheap Dictaphone] just won the Octaves belgian Music Awards 2010 as « Best Artist of the Year » and « Best album of the Year ».

‘The Tragic Tale Of A Genius’ is an old-fashioned concept record. It tells the story of a young musician, talented but tortured, and lost between his dreams and reality (loosely based on the life of Brian Wilson). It’s a modern-day mini pop-opera and is the culmination of more than two years of relentless writing by the four multi-instrumentalists that form the skeletal frame of MLCD. Guest musicians pepper the record, notably Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue who lends his tragi-broken vocal to the narrative on ‘What Are You Waiting For?’, and Black Heart Procession’s ‘Pall Jenkins on ‘In My Head’.

Recorded over the course of 12 months in Amsterdam and mixed in Dallas by John Congleton (Modest, St Vincent, Polyphonic Spree,…) , ‘The Tragic Tale Of A Genius’ fizzes and laments with Nick Cave atmospherics, and Arcade Fire pomp and grandeur. Influenced by Bernard Hermann (Alfred Hitchcock’s soundtracks) and Ziggy Stardust, it is a fascinating, sprawling record.

The collective are currently working with film director Bubble Duchesse and scenographer Catherine Cosme on a live performance involving imitation of a fifties American city with projections on phosphorescent skyscrapers.

Now available on iTunes.