Shall we give it a go again? Bon, Allon-y...
Things have been lax around here for too long, all the usual distractions getting in the way of the discipline of putting together a music blog that aims to illuminate the French music scene for the benefit of the anglophone (and beyond!) audience. I only managed one post over the whole of last year, and only a couple in the preceding years.
To be frank, I've missed it.
I love the discovery of new music, particularly new music that would
normally sit well outwith my normal comfort zone. Through this blog, I've
experienced acts like Saez and Christine and The Queens, IAM and Orelsan, Feu!
Chatterton and Woodkid. It’s hard perhaps to see a common thread at times
outwith language or nationality. But what they have in common is that they have
each grabbed my attention, each has demanded I look further into their work and
into the work of others, whether contemporaries or associates, opening up new
avenues of exploration and possibility, rewarding the investigation with the
opportunity to experience art that might otherwise be out of reach.
All these - and many others - have made me rethink my attitude toward
music. There's too much going on to just sit still and consume the same albums
you liked as a teenager over and over again. Music has never been so available
as it is today, and the opportunity to dive in and immerse yourself completely
is there like never before.
Similarly, the opportunity for acts to emerge has become greater. While
record labels have provided opportunity and funding for acts over the decades,
they have also to some extent acted as gatekeepers, sticking to their own areas
of expertise and excluding those who don’t fit a pattern they recognise. Acts
now have the tools to establish themselves like never before, and to present
their music directly to their audience across platforms that even a few years
ago would not have existed. If the woes of the big record labels mean there are
fewer opportunities for acts breaking through to widespread commercial success, the greater accessibility of the means of
releasing music means there are certainly more possibilities for the acts on the
margins.
Meanwhile, there's also music coming out from acts I've loved for years -
in some cases decades - that has blown me away.
I'm talking in particular about the new Jean-Michel Jarre album Oxymore,
one of my favourites over the last year. For an act of his vintage to continue
to release work that not only remains vital but is as challenging as
anything he's put out is quite an achievement. By any measure, he's earned the
right to put his feet up, continue to release variations on his past work and
perform at the occasional well-funded exclusive prestige show. Instead, he's releasing work that holds its
own against some of the best contemporary electronic acts.
Not bad at all for a guy who basically helped pioneer and popularise
electronic music more than most ever have done. Compare what he's doing to the
likes of Kraftwerk - re-inventing and recycling the same material for decades -
or Tangerine Dream who slid quietly into New Age mediocrity in their later
years. He was one of the first French artists who defined my taste in music in
the 80s, and that he continues to do so is extraordinary. If 'Oxygene' is
essentially a stealth-prog album, he's continued to be a truly progressive
artist for the duration of his career.
By way of excuses, I’ve been busy with a book that was published last year
– The Golden Road: The Recorded History of The Grateful Dead. It’s available to
buy on Amazon and I’m pretty pleased with it. I’ll hopefully have more projects
along these lines in the pipeline this year. It is of course somewhat
appropriate that I first saw The Grateful Dead when they played two nights at
the Zenith in Paris during their Europe 1990 tour. I’ll try not to write too
much about the Grateful Dead here, but it’s entirely possible there might be
some content regarding their live adventures in France appearing on these
pages.
Let’s see how we get on. I’m not making any promises or setting up any
rigid plans, just hoping to get a few words out there when I can. Talking about
something that excites me or something that’s come up that’s significant,
perhaps a release or a video, a tour or a festival.
There will be some great French releases this year if previous years have
been anything to go by. I’ll be looking out for them. Some will be from
established acts, others from new and unfamiliar names, I’m not going to
include or exclude on the basis of whether it’s an act that’s sold millions
internationally or has sold only a dozen tapes to their friends.
Some of the material I might discuss is vintage that I consider may be
deserving of investigation. If I like it or think it merits it, it’s going in.
Favourites in recent months have included Higelin’s BBH75 album and a deep dive
into Alan Stivell’s progressive Breton folk. It’s a blog and it’s my rules at
the end of the day, so I’ll break them whenever I feel like it.
But I’m conscious that there’s a huge amount of new music that’s needing the opportunity to get heard. I’ll be writing here, as well as on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/frenchmusicpodcastuk/.
Like this blog, it’s been
dormant for a while, but it’s on the list of things that will be back on its
feet again in the very near future.
If you're a promoter or want some publicity for an act, just get
in touch, we'll do what we can. My inbox is open at
johnkilbrideAThotmailDOTcom, just amend the email address to the appropriate
format and it will get through. I look forward to hearing from you.
À bientôt
JK
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