The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

French Letter

29
Writing about France’s superstar DJs last summer, your correspondent had harsh words about Martin Solveig (or, to give him his real name, Martin Picandet).
 
Martin SolveigIf we found Solveig (right) less awful than Bob Sinclar or David Guetta, that was us damning him with faint praise. We hated the insufferable smugness of his videos – ‘Jealousy’, for instance, with Solveig’s chipmunk smirk and irritating false-modest persona. Playing fundraisers for Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party didn’t endear him to us either.

However, this (you’ll be nauseated to learn) is a story of redemption and conversion. Solveig’s new album, ‘C’est La Vie’, has just been released. The title track and first single is getting plenty of airplay here – which is a good thing, because it’s smashing. ‘C’est La Vie’ the single mixes classic dancefloor pop – Chic, early Michael Jackson, first-album Justin Timberlake – with Paris nightclub attitude.

Even the video is okay. Solveig is quite tolerable, with no ‘funny’ antics or wacky gurning. He also appears less than in his other videos. Coincidence?  

Well, your blogger is not quite ready to declare himself a Martin Solveig fan. Still, there's no denying that this is a fine cut of pop that shoots right to the top of the Songs Called 'C'est La Vie' league table (B*Witched, Robbie Nevil, Emmylou Harris, Ace of Base, loads others).

Anyway, here's the video, with Martin bashing away on a giant polkadot egg. Fair play to him: 


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23

Your blogger took one of his rare trips out of Paris last weekend. We were at Saint Lô in Normandy for a family occasion – the younger brother’s wedding to a charming young lady from that area. This means that your Paris correspondent, free-spirited bachelor, now has French in-laws; this may seem apt to you but it’s bizarre to us. (They’re tremendously nice people, we must say.)

A postcard of Saint LôAnyway, Saint Lô is a lovely old fortified town. The wedding itself was in the tiny old church of the bride’s village nearby, after a civil ceremony by the mayor in a town hall that was more like a rural GAA clubhouse.

The wedding party then took their coach to nearby Utah Beach for a photoshoot in the blazing sunshine, before heading back to Saint Lô for the reception. As you’d expect in France, the food was fab and the wine impeccable.

A CLUAS Foreign Correspondent is never off duty, though. After the meal, dancing broke out and we kept a keen ear on what was being played. It being a French romance, first song was the theme from ‘Amélie’. We then remember ‘Double Je’ by Christophe Willem, which still sounds marvellous.

But our main ethno-musico-sociological discovery of the evening? French people will disco-dance to ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’.

Over the weekend we had time to stroll around Saint Lô. For your blogger, this simply meant his usual weekend routine: breakfast croissant and pain au chocolat at a café while reading the paper en français. Sunday morning, we watched our regular football programme, ‘Téléfoot’, at another café. (We hadn’t realised how exotic this would all seem to some Irishpeople.)

 

Most of the Irish guests found Saint Lô’s only Irish bar. However, they were shocked to discover that it only opens two days a week: Tuesday and Friday. (They drowned their sorrows in the town’s Scottish bar, open every day except Sunday.)

Again, your Paris correspondent kept his mind on the job. As usual when in a new town, we searched for a record shop. In Saint Lô this means Planet R, a book and music store on Rue Maréchal Léclerc. We can recommend it highly; not only were they playing the latest dEUS album when we went in but their biggest section is the alternative music one. And most of their stock was under ten euros. We fear they may be closed if we ever go back to Saint Lô.

Melting PopMindful of our Pamplona experience, when not buying a Jonathan Richman album changed our life, we shopped for a Saint Lô musical souvenir. So, what did we buy? Well, the idea was to get an album that we hadn’t seen in the Paris shops. We eventually went for ‘Melting Pop’, a sampler from French indie label Ra & Bo. This is the French dealer of The Frank and Walters, and the sampler features ‘Miles and Miles’ from their 2006 album 'A Renewed Interest In Happiness'.

Now, back in Paris, we’re listening to ‘Melting Pop’ and hoping to find a hidden French gem or two. Well, there are a couple of pleasant Coral-esque songs by the likes of Da Brasilians, Fireball and The Fleets.

 

As it happens, Da Brasilians are from Saint Lô. Here they are live, with the easy-on-the-ear summertime harmonies of ‘Ocean’. Congratulations to Declan and Véronique:


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15

June 21 is Fête de la Musique, France's annual national music day. Towns and villages around the country organise free open-air concerts, while many music venues also drop their cover charge for the night. On a less positive note, there are buskers nearly everywhere.

Let's French festivalThanks to the Dublin branch of Alliance Française, French ex-pats and Irish music fans can join the festivities.  Let's French is a concert series that features an interesting line-up of quality artists from various genres. We feel the organisers should have called it Let's France (slogan: put on your red shoes and dance les bleus), but maybe that's just the Bowie fan in us.

The festival, now in its third year, opens at The Village on the night of Fête de la Musique, with the Paris jazz of Les Grandes Bouches and an afrobeat DJ set from Babalonia Club. (Aside from Let's French, at Crawdaddy the same night you can see the brilliant Keren Ann, honorary Frenchwoman.)

The party doesn't stop when 21 June passes; Let's French continues until the start of July. You can swing, go-go and twist to the retro sounds of Amsterdam Boat Club, who'll be DJ-ing at The Palace on 26 June. Admission is free.

We've already told you about the Plastiscines/Lauren Guillery show at the Andrew's Lane Theatre on 27 June. Those hard rocking French girls will be joined by The Urges for what promises to be an excellent triple-bill.

The following night at A.L.T. it's the turn of French DJ foursome Birdy Nam Nam. They've got four turntables and two microphones; expect serious mixing and soundclashing and stuff.

The festival ends in chic fashion on 1 July at the National Concert Hall. Jeanne Cherhal performs in the chanson française style that's loved by Paris bobos: poetic lyrics + skiffly backing music. It's not really our thing, but maybe you'll like it.

If you're going along to any of the concerts, come back and give us your impressions. Here are les mademoiselles des Plastiscines with their single 'Loser'. Irish guys, start practising your French chat-up lines: they're sure to be ultra-impressed by your "Alors, tu viens ici souvent?", "Tu sais, tu te ressemble à ma mère!" and especially "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" Then let us know if you figured out what "Mais dégage, espèce de salaud! Au secours!" means.


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14

What’s the penalty for treason? For your Paris correspondent, supporting the Netherlands in Euro 2008 rather than his host country, the sentence was an evening of sublime football and explosive joy. By contrast, it was the French team and followers who were condemned to hard labour.

(Should our Irish readers judge us harshly, we need only mention that Ireland turned its back on the whole of Europe yesterday. Are you even watching European football any more?)

French striker Thierry Henry is disconsolate but Dutch fans behind him celebrate wildlyLast night Holland beat France 4-1 and played with a hyper-intelligent swagger, to borrow the words of David Winner, whose fantastic book ‘Brilliant Orange’ explains how Total Football expresses the Dutch psyche. Quite simply, this tournament is now Holland’s to lose.

Of course, they may yet lose it, seeing as how they’ve blown their share of World Cups and European Championships in the past. Bearing in mind that the reigning champions are dour Greece, football can be a game where rock beats scissors.

Your blogger watched the match in Le Port d’Amsterdam, a Dutch bar in the 2nd arrondissement (postal district) of Paris. At kick-off the tiny bar was packed, half French and half Dutch (with one Irishman in the latter camp). By the end, when Wesley Sneijder decided to run down the clock by scoring a sensational fourth Dutch goal, the place was nearly all orange. Needless to say, the atmosphere there was incredible. A Dutch news crew was on hand to film this cell of orange subversives; our readers in the Netherlands may have seen us up the front of the bar, deliriously happy.

Les bleus, meanwhile, must now defeat Italy on Tuesday night and hope that Romania don’t beat the Dutch. But at least their fans have character. 3-1 down, the French supporters in the bar started passionately singing La Marseillaise to encourage their team. Most of them blame coach Raymond Domenech’s conservative tactics and team selection; veterans like Thuram and Makelele looked past it, while young stars like Benzema and Nasri sat out the game on the bench.

 

Le Port d’Amsterdam is named after a song in French by Jacques Brel, a Belgian. Apart from showing joyous football, the bar’s DJs play kitsch, good-time soul and disco every Saturday night. If you’re in the French capital and up for a party, with none of the self-consciousness of most Paris clubs, we heartily recommend it.

Here’s Brel singing ‘Le Port d’Amsterdam’. Allez les oranges! Hup Holland!


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08

Rouen-born singer Barth makes alt-pop that's as melodic as his full name, Barthélémy Corbelet.

Cuchillo by BarthHis love of The Beatles is clear; not only does he write strong pop songs, but his voice is Lennon-esque. (The similarity is apparent on a marvellous 2006 single called 'The Last Wig'.)

Barth's third album, 'Cuchillo', blends la pop anglaise with pure Americana. First single 'Magic Wondermeal' is a languid country shuffle that fans of Beck's folkier moments should enjoy.

There's also a strong Ennio Morricone vibe throughout. Indeed, the album is named after a spaghetti western character, and Barth dresses up appropriately on the cover (right).

Just to mix things up even more, Barth even throws in a bit of ska on songs like 'Saliva On My Apple' and 'Dogs Slip Away'.

You can listen to Barth songs old and new on his MySpace page. No news of any live shows in Ireland, or in Paris for that matter.  

Here's his roadtrip video for the twang-tastic 'La Machoire Americaine':


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07

It's summer in an even-numbered year, which means there's a month-long football tournament to ease the wait until next season. The 2008 European Championship starts today: yahoo! With a higher concentration of evenly-matched teams, the Euro finals are usually more entertaining than the World Cup.

French captai Michel Platini lifts the European Championship trophy in 1984France are one of the favourites to win Euro 2008, provided they escape from the group of death (every competition has one) that sees them up against decent-enough Romania, old enemies Italy and the Netherlands, of whom more later. Most French fans we know have mixed feelings about their team's chances; on top of the tough draw les bleus no longer have their beloved talisman, Zinedine Zidane. Franck Ribèry, his successor as French playmaker, carries the pressure and expectation of a nation.

Ireland didn't make it to the finals, of course. However, to the incomprehension of our French friends, your Paris correspondent won't be switching his allegiance to France. What's more, for a combination of sentimental reasons your blogger has a soft spot for Dutch football. So, we hope to watch most of the tournament (up to the final, even) at the Port d'Amsterdam, a small but wonderful Dutch bar near the Bourse. Is that treasonous of us?

Aside from football, the European Championship has given us the greatest football song ever. 'Three Lions' by Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds, the unofficial English anthem of 1996, is blessed with that spine-tingling chant of "football's coming home". Triumphant Kerry fans sang it at that summer's Munster Final, inciting 'Liveline'-esque traditionalist controversy on the county's airwaves the following day.

By contrast, here's one of the worst football-related songs you'll ever hear, "We've Got A Feeling" by Chris Waddle and Basile Boli. Waddle, who had previously duetted with Glenn Hoddle, was playing for Marseille and had become a cult hero to the OM fans. (Astoundingly, a couple of years later these same ultras worshipped Tony Cascarino.) Boli, never a subtle footballer, now co-presents a bizarre pools-type programme on French television where he picks the best bets for the weekend footie.

The video is just as bad as the song. Your blogger cringed so hard he almost broke his spine, so we advise our English readers to listen to 'Three Lions' instead:


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31

So, the rate of Irish acts visiting Paris has slowed to one per month. Not to worry - June's tourist is worth a calendar-full.

JapeJape, nom de rock of Richie Egan, plays the Flèche d'Or on Monday 2 June. Even though lundi soir is usually tumbleweed night at our favourite Paris gigspot, it should be a cracking show.

Egan has just released his third Jape album, 'Ritual', an exciting mix of up-for-it indietronica and downbeat bedsit-pop.

After his Paris visit Egan will be touring the no-less-glamorous towns of Ireland. That Future Days show with Dan Deacon at Vicar Street in Dublin on June 14 seems unmissable.

Jape will then be appearing at Glastonbury, no less. You can find full details of Egan's movements at the Jape MySpace page.

Here's the brilliant first single 'Ritual', 'I Was A Man', recorded for the Airfield Sessions on Channel 6. The line "I popped my cherry to 'November Rain'" deserves to be on the Leaving Cert English paper:


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25

To the surprise of practically no-one, Sébastien Tellier did not win the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade last night.

Sebastien Tellier at Eurovision 2008The Parisian electro-popper's song 'Divine' finished 19th out of the 25 finalists, receiving only 47 points. The contest was won by Russia's Dima Bilan, whose song 'Believe' combined the big-blouse appeal of soft-rock and ice-skating.

Tellier, in fairness, made a game effort at standing out and shaking things up ever so slightly. Arriving on stage driving a golf-cart and carrying an inflatable globe, he was accompanied in his performance by backing singers wearing wigs and false beards. For the second verse, he inhaled from his inflatable globe to affect a helium voice.

Prior to the show, 'Divine' had generated controversy among some attention-seeking centre-right French politicans - because its lyrics were entirely in English. Tellier compromised by promising to include French lyrics, and last night he was as good as his word. A capella, he sang one solitary line in French (2 mins 06 secs) which could be construed as an oblique reference to the controversy - "Pour moi, l'amour chante en Français" (for me, love sings in French).

Here's Tellier Eurovision 2008 performance. One of the French TV co-commentators you can hear at the beginning is none other than fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier:


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24

In the world's collective imagination, French women are cool like Catherine Deneuve,  intense like Jeanne Moreau, dreamy like Juliette Binoche, and chic like all three. After years of dedicated research, your Paris correspondent can confirm these findings.

But did you know that mademoiselle la Française can also rock? It's true - and combined with all her other attributes (see above) that makes her a bona fide pop star.

PlastiscinesDublin punters will soon have the opportunity to continue our research. All-girl punk-pop outfit Plastiscines (right) are playing the A.L.T. on Friday 27 June. What's more, support comes from Dublin's resident French rockeuse, Lauren Guillery.

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with both acts. Plastiscines first came to our attention when they featured (and stole the show) on 'Paris Calling', a 2006 compilation of young new French bands. Those groups, many of whom formed after meeting at a 2003 Paris show by The Libertines, were dismissively lumped together as a scene, under the name of 'babyrockers'.

Unlike their dull garage-rock peers, Plastiscines play snappy, catchy alt-pop along the lines of The B-52s and Sleater-Kinney - all mixed with that classic '60s French pop sound. Their 2007 debut album, 'LP1', is a half-hour of deadly tunes and killer attitude.

Lauren Guillery - photo by Donal O CaoimhOn the other hand, Lauren Guillery (left) makes fiery indie-rock. Unless you watch Balcony TV, who once gave her an award for Best World Music Act. All that traffic roaring up and down Dame Street makes it hard to tell guitars from pan-pipes.

CLUAS Discussion Board users, however, would rightly present her with the Palme d'Or for Greatest 'Musicians Wanted' Ad Ever.

By now a well-known performer on the Irish rock circuit, Lauren is playing many of this summer's local festivals. She'll be at Shakefest in Tullamore on 31 May, Life in Gort and Knockanstockan in Wicklow (both in July) and Solas in Carlow in August. She also has three of her own shows in Dublin during June. Check her MySpace page for full details.

Finally, there'll be one other hard-rocking French girl at ALT on 27 June - Dublin-based blogger and lumièreuse Edith Pollet will be at the lighting desk. Chapeau to her for giving us the info on this show. Pity the poor Irish bloke who tries messing with all these derriere-kicking French she-rockers.

You can find out more about Plastiscines at their MySpace page. Here they are performing 'Shake' at a showcase in Paris last year:


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21

Your blogger is heading along to the Irish Cultural Centre here in Paris this Thursday to catch a visit by Pulitzer prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon.

Rackett, featuring Paul Muldoon (centre)As well as being a highly-acclaimed and fairly deadly poet (his 2003 Pulitzer winner, 'Moy Sand and Gravel', is great), Muldoon plays guitar in a band called Rackett that make a sound he describes as "3-car garage rock".

Rackett (right, with Muldoon in the centre) toured Ireland last summer and are are currently working on their third album.  

Muldoon writes the band's lyrics, of course, and he's got a neat line in extravagant Magnetic Fields-esque couplets. "As Good As It Gets" begins: "Like Holden Caulfield spotting phonies/Or Stephen Sondheim winning Tonies". As for the music, well... it's a bit of fun. Did we mention the lyrics?  

A bit more impressive than Muldoon's garage band is the fact of his collaboration with the late Warren Zevon. Muldoon wrote the lyrics to 'My Ride's Here', the title track of Zevon's final album.

Shortly after Zevon's death, the song was performed as a live tribute by none other than Bruce Springsteen. The recording featured on 'Enjoy Every Sandwich', a Zevon tribute compilation.

Here's Bruce's version of the track:


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Nuggets from our archive

2008 - A comprehensive guide to recording an album, written by Andy Knightly (the guide is spread over 4 parts).