Biography
Nlf3 trio was born in 1999 in Paris. The instrumental group was created by brothers Nicolas and Fabrice Laureau right after they stopped the adventurous rock group Prohibition (which released five albums and played more than 400 concerts in Europe and in the USA).
In 2000, Nlf3 trio’s debut album ‘Part one & Part two’ revealed a great instrumental freedom and a singular eclecticism of sound textures and instruments. ‘Viva!’, their second album, was released in 2003 and was very well acclaimed by the press; The Wire and Les Inrockuptibles dubbed it one of best album of the year.
In 2004, the Cartier Foundation commissioned nlf 3 (trio) for a musical creation on a silent movie. The group chose its favorite film, ‘Que Viva Mexico!’ by S. M. Eisenstein, and in September 2005, nlf 3 (trio) produced its third album, ‘Music for Que Viva Mexico!’, based on the compositions created for Eisenstein's movie. Digging the energy of the live performances and still very cleverly arranged and produced, it sticks to the ideas of the first work while being detached from the film.
2007-2010
NLF3's music has been described as "a kitsch This Heat" by The Wire, and compared for its rhythms to a 2009 version of the Ege Bamayasi-era of Can. The Guardian even spoke of them as "a Radiohead seduced by the idea of live improvisation". The members of NLF3 - F.lor, Mitch and Don Nino - name influences as varied as Pierre Henry, Fela Kuti, Steve Reich, Ennio Moricone, as well as Syd Barrett, Zappa, Fantomas, Aphex Twin, and Sonic Youth. Strange gurus indeed, for a music that, after all these comparisons, still sounds unique. NLF3 is the story of three music lovers – two brothers in blood and a third in spirit – united by the same passion: to make music, record it and take it all around the world. In that regard, their kinship with Battles and Animal Collective, with whom they have toured, seems perfectly natural - they all belong to the same generation of musicians and have the same desire to discover new territory, to explore new possibilities and to bring together past and future. It comes as no surprise either that the brothers F.lor and Don have lived in Germany as well as the US, and have spent some time in Nigeria where their father introduced them to the great Fela Kuti and others like the sculptor Twin Seven Seven.
RIDE ON A BRAND NEW TIME
The new album was recorded and mixed by F.lor in Paris between July 2007 and July 2008, and mastered in Los Angeles by John Golden. The first takes were recorded at the Microbe studio on a rare Euphonix mixing desk, and were later arranged at studio PUSH, in the 18th arrondissement. It was in the cavernous heart of this strange underground laboratory that the three-piece diligently crafted their efficient but ambitious songs. Amplified kalimbas, reverb-drenched guitars, catchy rhythms, vintage keyboards and psychedelic vocals invoke the holy trinity - Fela Kuti, Brian Eno and Tom Zé (the one of tropicalism ) - and take the listener on a voyage through a fantastical and enchanting world, perfectly illustrated by the work of Japanese artist Yu Matsuoka.
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