French acts at the Great Escape festival 2015

Many of France's finest musical exports are playing at the Great Escape festival in Brighton this
weekend.

The event has in recent years become something of a beachhead for French acts, many of which have gone on to considerable success subsequent to their appearance at The Great Escape.

Christine and the Queens, darlings of the 2015 Victoires de la Musique awards, played there in 2013.

Perhaps some of this playing over the next few days will go on to similar success. But regardless of whether or not they make any kind of commercial breakthrough, there's a great selection on offer.

Hundreds of acts play across the city, in the closest thing we probably have in the UK to the SXSW festival in America, both an event in itself and a showcase for acts to establish themselves.

Andrea Balency is no stranger to this blog, she plays Tonight (Friday) at the Komedia Studio Bar 9.15pm-9.45pm and on Sunday at the Paganini Ballroom 1.30pm-2.00pm




Bristol, the new project from Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague. They offer a unique interpretation of 90s trip hop. Bristol plays the Spiegeltent on 16th May 2015 2:15pm - 2:45pm




Camp Claude have featured on this blog before, and play today (Friday) at Carousels 2pm - 2.45pm.




C.A.R. play two shows over the weekend, with a show on Friday  at the Prince Albert from 7.45pm-8.15pm, and another tomorrow (Saturday) at Brighthelm from 1.00am-1.30am.




Forever Pavot have also featured here previously, on account of them being wonderful, and they play at The Hub on Friday 12.30pm-1.00pm




Ibeyi bring their soulful pop blended with Cuban stylings to Brighton and play at Coalition on Saturday, 8.15pm-8.45pm




Saycet brings some cutting edge electronics, and plays on Saturday at Patterns-Downstairs, 2.15pm-2.45pm




Others on the bill include Jeanne Added, Acid Arab and Stal, but having played yesterday you'll have to catch them next time they play the UK.

In the meantime, make the most of the opportunity to catch the acts above while you can.

Andrea Balancy: Waterfalls

I featured Andrea Balency last year when she toured the UK last year as part of the Oui Love
Exchange tour in September and October. Great to hear new work from her.

The track Waterfalls comes from her new EP Volcano and it confirms her status as one of the mostly interesting artists around, taking electronic music somewhere very interesting indeed.

Writing last year, I said she had : "A distinctive voice and artistic vision, with the possibility of achieving a genuine popular success."  This new EP certainly bears witness to this.

The new EP features four tracks, Volcano, Waterfalls, Please Fall and Deep Sunk, and it follows her Walls EP and You've Never Been Alone single and remix EP releases last year.

Writing about her new video on Facebook, She said she was: " So proud of this collaboration with Natalia Stuyk and her team, it was an amazing experience. Wasn't easy but we made it!"

Andrea Balancy performs at the Great Escape festival in Brighton in May.

NLF3: Oui Love Exchange tour

Another look at the Oui Love Exchange tour, which got under way at the end of last month and
comes to Edinburgh tomorrow on Thursday October 2.

The shows features Andrea Balency and NLF3, two quite different but strikingly cutting edge acts.

I mentioned Andrea Balency previously on the blog, so I thought it only fair to give a mention to co-headliners NLF3.

They're a a rock band, but one that goes beyond any regular categories and venture into a territory more associated with contemporary electro acts.

They've been active since 2000, their debut album Part 1 - Part 2 coming out that year. The band consists of brothers Nicolas and Fabrice Laureau and since 2006 drummer Mitch Pirès.

Along with their albums, they've also performed live scores for silent films, their Music For Que Viva Mexico! album collecting their musical backing for the Sergei Eisenstein classic.

There are more details about the Oui Love Exchange tour on their Facebook page 

Andrea Balency: Remix EP and Oui Love Exchange Tour

September and October  sees the  Oui Love Exchange Tour in the UK, with French acts Andrea Balency and NLF3 playing in Birmingham, Brighton, London, Edinburgh and Middlesbrough.

The announcement of the tour comes as Andrea Balency released her remix EP You'll Never Be Alone this week.

The remix EP features six versions  of the song, includung the original. It follows her Walls EP that was released in June this year, featuring the original version of the track.

She's originally from Paris, with a French-Mexican background, and is currently based in London.

Her R'n'B flavoured electronica has been attracting critical praise from a number of quarters. She's supported the Cure on a recent tour, and has played shows at events like SXSW and Sonar.

Andrea Balency's music is a sophisticated and modern pop, a distinctive voice and artistic vision, with the possibility of achieving a genuine popular success.

There are more details about the Oui Love Exhange tour on their Facebook page, and we'll have more coverage of this ahead of it taking place.