The New Music

Although it took them nearly ten years, the record-buying public finally woke up and realized the greatness of Parisian pop outfit Phoenix. It shouldn’t have taken so long, but if one of their four albums was destined to make a difference it was 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. One of the most acclaimed albums of last year, WAP oozed bubbly rave-ups like “1901” and “Lisztomania,” but also an intricate two-part, (mostly) instrumental prog number called “Love Like A Sunset.”

When the band came to Toronto they played the Phoenix, which was obviously a good icebreaker. But we quickly learned that they have a rather diastrous relationship with the city - they almost collectively died here a few years back. Imagine that: we wouldn’t have ever heard Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and they wouldn’t have shown us that bands can sound good on Saturday Night Live.

Anyhoo, here is our conversation with Deck D’Arcy and Christian Mazzalai.

Part 1: On fulfilling their destiny and playing the Phoenix, their near-death experience in Toronto and the problems with boats.

Part 2: On how untouchable their album is, the random title and why that blimp is a sure-fire way to make some money.

Part 3: On how unexpected their SNL performance was and why they’re such a fantastic live band now.

- Cam Lindsay