Benoît Pioulard//Kids Are Getting Younger

Didn't I meet you at that Madison House show in 2004?
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

Benoît Pioulard aka Thomas Meluch was a guy I'd always notice wandering around Ann Arbor streets, even before I knew him or who he was. I recognized him in a "I know we were at a show/party/thing together" or "I know he must live, like, across Catherine Street from me" way. He always looked so put together, like he knew where he was off to.

I don't think we really talked until a house show at Patrick's or Totally Awesome or Madison or something. We were both very drunk, with flushed cheeks. We hung out near the bathroom and talked about music, probably a little awkwardly, for a while.

It wasn't until years later that I actually heard any of his music, which is amazing. Everything is weirdly rich and layered, but also rhythmically minimal at once. And pretty. Pretty/sad. Pretty like Boards of Canada, but more musically coherent and accessible. Meluch's vocals are equally haunting, delivering a meandering melancholy. No surprise that post-A2 baby Moongadget and A2 electronic icon Ghostly, Benoît Pioulard was scooped up by Kranky (who, yes, also releases Deerhunter). Although, it should be noted that there was also a recent Hall of Owls, run by total sweet dude Forest Juziuk and an initial purveyor of Simonnewcomb, release.



Kids Are Getting Younger.mp3

Benoît Pioulard has one of the coolest websites I've seen lately.