There’s a question on the inevitable “end of year” survey, every year, that asks what my “greatest music discovery” of the previous twelve months was. I was originally going to put this answer there, but upon further review, I felt it deserved its own goddamn post, so here that is.
Only a few months prior, I hasten to admit that I might have determined my “greatest music discovery” of 2020 to be the endearingly ridiculous Heilung, a collective of Scandiweigians who wear antlers on their heads and zestfully perform something they like to call “amplified history.” Should you care, I wrote more about Heilung here. While I did discover and summarily enjoy the inarguably odd outpourings of Heilung — although you really have to be in the right mood — their formerly pending citation as my “greatest music discovery of 2020” was thoroughly blown out of the water when I happened upon a guy named Marc Rebillet.
I can’t remember the exact context of the situation, but back in the middle of the summer, someone I know forwarded a video on Facebook of this peculiar gentleman performing a song …er… of a sort ... called, evidently, “I’m a Flamingo.” There’s no real way I’m going to do it justice with any sort of straight-faced description, so here it is now…
Right?
Okay, so obviously, when the initial puzzlement subsided, I immediately posted the video on my feed, proclaiming it be a mighty ear-worm that would take up residence in your head and never, ever leave. I feel I was right about that.
The problem, however, was that there was no explanation in the video that was forwarded to me — not even the name of the performer. For all I knew, it was just some violently vulgar one-off by some psychotic Hugh Hefner-wannabe in a silk bathrobe. I continued to laugh at it, until gradually forgetting about it.
Months went by, and then I was suddenly struck by the need to see it again, so I googled away, and up came the name Marc Rebillet.
As a general rule, with strenuously few exceptions, I tend to take a dim and dismissive view of millennials and an even less charitable view of so-called “YouTube stars.” Why is that, you ask? Well, simply because I’m old, judgmental and embittered (duh!) But within the course of viewing only two or three more of Marc Reblliet’s bizarre and wholly captivating videos, I became a hapless fanboy of this easily riled, self-proclaimed idiot.
The crucial thing, however, was that no matter how pruriently entertaining “I’m a Flamingo” was, it really didn’t even begin to capture Marc Rebillet's capabilities. Those particular gifts, I found, were better exemplified videos like this one….
As demonstrated, Rebillet occupies a unique space somewhere between singer/songwriter, stand-up comic, producer/arranger, performance artist and, well, circus geek. He’s a one-man dynamo of spontaneous musical improvisation, seasoned by some serious keyboard chops and armed with a resourceful and innovative battery of versatile equipment — crucially anchored by a loop station — that lets his impulses run rampant. Ice that oddball cake with a singularly surreal sense of humor, fueled by a potent combo of fearlessness, insatiable libido and self-deprecation, and you’ve got Marc Rebillet.
That may indeed sound like a lot of hyperbole, I realize, but when you examine the breadth of the work this guy has done in only the past three years or so, it’s hard not to be somewhat awestruck by his roundly unconventional path to, well, maybe not “success,” per se, but certainly renown. Style-wise, his music ricochets between quiet-storm R&B bump’n’grinds, rump-shaking funk, bombastic ersatz hip-hop, pulse-quickening EDM and dizzyingly frenetic electronic pastiche. To draw what many will consider a blasphemous analogy, Marc Rebillet kinda embodies the core ethos of Punk fucking Rock.
Wait, what?
You heard me, but I’m not talking about loud guitars, mohawks, safety pins and leather jackets, I’m talking about sensibility.
Taking the “Do-It-Yourself” principle to its extremes, Marc Rebillet uses everyday tools and platforms at his disposal to “write,” produce, arrange and perform his own music without any record-label support, without any formal commercial backing, without any fucking permission and without a fucking net. He has no publicist. He has no manger. He has no street team. He just does it, and has organically amassed a disarmingly large and faithful following doing so. And given the impish zeal he exudes while doing it, one gets the distinct impression that he would be doing it whether an audience was there or not. That’s fucking Punk.
In terms of his actual output, though, no Marc Rebillet doesn’t sound like Punk Rock at all. In fact, given the styles and genres he normally trades in and given his lovingly curated selections of recommended listening (Marc is a passionate music geek, obviously), I’d suggest that he couldn’t possibly be less interested in guitar-based rock music of any variety, which is actually kinda refreshing. If I had to draw further parallels, I’d say his music is kinda comparable to the explosion of esoteric samples evinced on Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, and informed by the sort of off-kilter, hyper-caffeinated wit exemplified in since-extinct cartoon shows like “Ren & Stimpy,” “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast” and “The Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” … although a helluva lot bawdier. It should also be noted that he owes quite a bit — which he readily cites — to similarly inclined comedian Reggie Watts, specifically with regard to his use of loops.
Here's another of my favorites....
You may notice I put the verb write in quotes up there. That is not meant as a slight. While inarguably well versed in all the key components of composition and meticulous arrangement, Marc creates his music on the fucking spot. Nothing is planned out or written down. It was for this reason that I was surprised to learn that, along with already having released music online, he’s currently putting together a debut album. While I will very eagerly snap up any music Rebillet sees fit to release, the concept of him recording a proper album is almost kinda counterintuitive, because so much of the reward is watching and hearing him build his songs out of absolutely nothing — total improvisation.
Pretty much entirely unlike anything I'd normally listen to, Marc Rebillet's stuff initially struck me as this amazing trove of hidden hilarity that I felt compelled to share with anyone who'd listen. I evangelized him to friends and colleagues. Then I learned that he'd graduated out of playing bars and, prior to the pandemic, was touring pretty extensively to large-sized crowds. Check out the below...
So, yeah, even though I'm obviously late to the table on this guy (turns out both of my twenty-something nephews were both ardent fans, already), I can now officially and very emphatically dub Mr. Rebillet my "greatest music discovery" of 2020. Other folks are discovering him, too.... check out this very metal cover (!!) of "I'm a Flamingo."
Long may he reign...
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