Ben L'Oncle Soul: Live in London

A reminder that tonight sees the very stylish Ben l’Oncle Soul take to the stage in London, with a show at the
Scala.

I featured his new single Hallelujah !!! (J'Ai Tant Besoin De Toi) last month, as convincing a slice of retro soul as you'll find outside a Northern Soul night.

His debut album was released in 2010, and it attracted the kind of critical praise and award nominations that you might only expect from a more established act.

Ben's got a new album due out shortly, and I suspect it won't be long until he's back in the UK again following its release.

I have a feeling that 2014 will be a big year for the sharply-dressed chanteur.

In the meantime there are more dates in mainland Europe, inclding three shows at the Nouveau Casino in Paris on December 12, 13 and 14.

Mylène Farmer: Diabolique mon ange (Timeless 2013)

Mylène Farmer has released the track Diabolique mon ange as a single to promote her new live album
Timeless 2013.

The track comes ahead of the new album which is due to be released on Monday December the ninth.

The song originally featured in its studio version on her 2010 Bleu Noir album, which preceded her Monkey Me album that came out in 2012.

A few (very short) teaser clips have been released ahead of the new album, which chronicles her tour this year that kicked off with ten nights at Bercy in Paris in September.

The live album was recorded at her shows at the Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon on September  24, 25, 27 and  28.

A DVD of the tour is likley to emerge next year, and she still has a couple of shows before the tour ends on December 6 in Nice.

Les Rencontres Trans Musicales: Dead

Some tough electro from Dead, with a new promo video for the track Revelation.

The track comes from their Transmissions EP, released on Le Turc Mecanique.

The trio from Rennes reclaims the punk spirit that inhabited electronic music by the likes of Suicide and Cabaret Voltaire.

Dead play at the Rencontres Trans Musicales on Saturday evening.

Les Rencontres Trans Musicales: London Grammar - Nightcall

Another look ahead to this week's Rencontres Trans Musicales de Rennes festival, where among the French acts there are a number of well-chosen  international acts, including the much-praised London Grammar, whose latest release is a cover of a track by French act Kavinsky.

Nightcall is the band's new single, released as an EP on December 8.

The track originally appeared on their album If You Wait that was released in September, and for many it was the album of the year for 2013.

A cover of a song as well-known as Nightcall was a bold choice for the band, but their interpretation of the track certainly takes it in a different direction from the  Kavinsky original and makes it something very much their own.

London Grammar play the Trans Musicales  in Rennes on Thursday, and have a date at the Casino de Paris on February 25 next year, along with a show in  Villeurbanne on March the first.

Leonie Pernet : Blue is Dead

Leonie Pernet is one of the many acts taking to the stage at the Rencontres Trans Musicales de Rennes later this week.

She plays sets on each of the four days of the event, so it will be hard for festival goers to miss seeing her.

While operating in the field of electronic music, she's a hugely talented musician capable of moving from subtle and considered musical environments to a more physical and robust context.

While she started in music at an early age playing drums, she's soaked up a huge amount of influences over the passing years, with nods to the likes of Philip Glass and classical composers like Rachmaninov, Chopin and Satie as well as rockers like Marilyn Manson, Korn, Limp Bizkit and contemporary electronic acts like Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin.

All these influences play their part, and Pernet's performance with synths and drums crosses boundaries and creates some very interesting music indeed.

Gaëtan Roussel: La simplicité

A new clip for  a song by Gaëtan Roussel , this time for the track La simplicité, a track from his second solo
album Orpailleur.

The album was relased in September, the track Éolienne being released as the first single.

Roussel is the former singer with Louise Attaque, one of France's most successful bands of the 1990s.

He  was later vocalist with Tarmac, before Louise Attaque reconvened in 2003 for their À plus tard crocodile album two years later.

In 2008 he worked with Alain Bashung on his  Bleu Pétrole collection, his last album before Bashung died, andn wrote songs for Rachid Taha and Vanessa Paradis.

Roussel released his first solo album Ginger in 2010.

Earlier this year, Roussel featured at the  Francofolies de La Rochelle festival with a performance entitled  Re-Play Blessures, where he covered the Play Blessures album that Alain Bashung  co-wrote with Serge Gainsbourg.

Editorial: December 2013

We're already into December, and most of the year's releases are out of the way and the final push for
Christmas sales are under way.

However, a busy month for us here as I'll be over in France later this week for the Rencontres Trans  Musicales de Rennes event, and a chance to see some of the best acts from France and elsewhere.

While names like Stromae are well known, there are many others on the bill that merit attention and I've been featuring a few of them over the past few days and I'll feature a few more in the days before and after the event.

Meanwhile, I'll also be putting my thoughts toward what I reckon to be the French album of the year, a much sought-after award.

November was a an interesting month here at Vive le Roq, with one of the busiest we've had so far in terms of traffic, and hopefully we'll be building on that in the months to come into 2014.

I can be contacted on johnkilbrideAThotmailDOTcom, with the appropriate punctuation where you'd expect it to be.

We're also on Twitter as @viveleroq or you can find me at @karnag

Thanks as always to the various record companies and promoters who have been in touch, and  thanks again to the Institut francais in London and the French Music Office in London for help and encouragement.

Merci et à bientôt

John K