Editorial - November 2020

We live in interesting times. With lockdown we've appreciated the importance of culture and the arts more than ever in sustaining us, but at the same time, these areas and the people working in them that make them happen have been hit harder than ever before.

France's latest measures see bookshops and record shops marginalised as inessential, joining the theatres, clubs, concert halls and artists facing an uncertain future. It's always been a precarious existence in the arts, with margins becoming ever tighter and increasing challenges, but it seems the immediate future will essentially be a fight for survival for many.

It's been difficult before, but I can't remember any time that has been as bad as this for arts professionals. I've always believed that music is at the forefront of artistic development, leading the way for TV, cinema, theatre and literature to follow, and sadly that seems to be the case here, with music being hit the hardest and in the most immediate ways. 

Amidst this existential threat, we want to do what we can. Highlighting what's good in French music might not be the biggest blow against a seemingly insurmountable challenge, but ever step makes a difference in a long journey. It sucks, but hopefully we can get through it.

For acts struggling to get the recognition they deserve every bit of publicity can help them connect with a potential audience, and that audience can sustain their career. 

Even promoting established acts can make a difference. Sure, most even in the UK will be familiar with Johnny or Mylene, but the revenue raised by record companies on the bankable stars can keep the books in the black for another year, and can lead to more signings and more opportunities for other acts.

So we'll try to do what we can here. Our overheads are minimal, our reach is increasing as is our audience, and we'll continue to highlight things happening in French music that deserve your attention, whether new releases and developing acts of activity from established names. 

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.

a bientot

jk

Julien Doré: Nous

Lots of love for this new video by Julien Doré. 

The track Nous comes from his new album Aimée, a number one in France following its release last month.

There's a lot going on here in this video, from Planet of the Apes, 2001 a Space Odyssey as well as perhaps just a touch of Jurassic Park. Bonus credit for the Sea Shepherd patch on the back of the spacesuit.

It's his fifth proper album, following 2016's & and a subsequent acoustic collection of songs from that album two years later.

From an artist who initially emerged from the Nouvelle Star reality TV show in 2007,  it has been quite a journey. He never quite fitted the mould of manufactured pop star, always a bit too smart, not taking himself too seriously and prepared to take a few more risks with his music. As an artist, he's closer to Sébastien Tellier or Jarvis Cocker than to any of the other winners of the show. 

Covid permitting, he's got a tour scheduled from October 2021 of the Zenith arenas and he plays the Accor Arena in Paris on November 25 2021.

Johnny Hallyday: Deux sortes d'hommes

 A new release by Johnny Hallyday on the horizon, with a box set entitled Son rêve américain the latest posthumous release continuing his legacy.

With two significant studio albums and a number of live releases, he's done well to keep up his release schedule despite no longer being with us since 2017. The Mon pays c'est l'amour and Johnny releases were massive sellers, confirming that the demand for new product - particularly in the run-up to Christmas - remains undiminished. 

Son rêve américain differs from other releases in that it is a box set, featuring two films, one chronicling his motorcycle road trip in 2016, and another documenting his US live dates. Three CDs present a live gig from New York in 2014, and the soundtrack for the films, including an unreleased track Deux sortes d'hommes, released as a single ahead of the package.

Deux sortes d'hommes was a blues rocker originally recorded for his 2014 Rester Vivant album, but dropped before release. The video is nicely put together montage of Hallyday archive footage, from the 60s to more recent years, and shots from his road trip.

It's as strong as much of his later material. While not exactly covering much new ground, it plays to his strengths and doesn't sound like a below-par offcut. It does raise the question of how much unreleased material there actually is in the Hallyday vault, as this collection is essentially just another live release with an almost homeopathic level of actual unreleased studio material. 

In the motorcycle footage, Hallyday could easily pass for any elderly biker and would probably not get a second glance from anyone else on the road. 

For all his love of America, and his years living there, Hallyday was never as big a name there as he was in France. Perhaps the anonymity that gave him is one of the reasons he liked it. 

We Love Green 2021

It's great to have some good news. 

After all the cancellations, most recently the MAMA event in Paris, a confirmation that one of next year's major music festivals is taking place, and with a special act confirmed for the opening night.

Gorillaz are to headline Thursday June 3, with a set described as a mini-festival within the festival, featuring Damon Albarn and a host of special guests.

Gorillaz new album Song Machine is released later this month, with the song The Pink Phantom already arrived, featuring a collaboration with Elton John and 6lack. The album includes contributions from Peter Hook, Robert Smith, St Vincent and Skepta.

Whether any of these guests - or guests from their previous albums - appear at the show remains to be seen, but what's certain is that Gorillaz will be putting on the kind of unforgettable multimedia performance that never fails to astonish.

It's the event's tenth anniversary. The festival, held at the Bois de Vincennes, fell victim to Covid-19 cancellation earlier this year. Recent years have seen performances by Christine and the Queens, Tame Impala, Booba, Orelsan and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

We Love Green takes place on June 3- June 6 next year. More details of the other acts on the bill, as well as prices and when tickets will be available, will be released shortly,

Carpenter Brut: Release Party

A great opportunity to catch a live performance by the mighty Carpenter Brut thanks to the good people at Arte.

Our favourite purveyors of 80s horror soundtrack electro-rock star in a performance at an American high school gig we all wish we were at some time in the early 90s.

Carpenter Brut recently released their soundtrack for Blood Machine, a 50-minute SF film collaboration between the band and director Seth Ickerman that follows up their Turbo Killer music video.

The film's in the final stage of production and the soundtrack is available on digital platforms, and to be released on vinyl later this year.

Meanwhile, this live set has all the 80s/early 90s movie style elements in place, with a set that's not a million miles from Nirvana's Smells like teen spirit video, and an audience who have come straight from teenage late-night movie central casting, with a little bit of appropriate narrative suspense to add to the flavour.

Clair: Danser ou crever

Here's something nice. In difficult times there's a need for something that's apparently simple, perfectly crafted and 

Clair's Danser ou crever is like a welcome reminder of better times, and a hope that things might be that good again. We can choose to die or we can choose to dance. 

As long as we keep a metre apart.

The song's by Philippe Katerine and was produced by Philippe Katerine and Pierre Daven-Keller. Daven Keller is a long-time friend of this blog, first coming across his  Reaction in C album in 2015, to enjoying his Kino Music collection that was released last year.

Philippe Katerine's Confession album was released in November last year, and Clair features on the track Un Jour Sans.

Feu! Chatterton: confinement cover version

As the lockdown lifts gradually in France, with shops beginning to open and movement restrictions loosened, some great material recorded under the confinement continues to emerge.

Here's a great new track from Feu! Chatterton which appeared on their Facebook page at the end of May,  a cover of  Mon nom, originally by Rodrigo Amarante. It featured originally on Amarante's 2013 Cavalo solo album. Amarante, a member of Brazilian band Los Hermanos as well as Little Joy, a band also featuring Fabrizio Moretti from The Strokes.

Feu! Chatterton's most recent release was last year's Feu! Chatterton Live 2018 EP, released as part of last year's Disquaire Day event. The five-track release was recorded on their live dates promoting the  L'Oiseleur album, a collection that was nominated in the Best Rock Album category in the Victoires de la Musique 2019 awards.

Singer Arthur Teboul featured on Christophe's final album, Christophe, Etc. Vol. 2 - released in December last year -  on a re-recorded duet of Le Beau Bizarre.

Feu! Chatterton's plans for a run of eight sold-out live dates at the  Bouffes du Nord theatre in Paris in March and April were cancelled. 

It won't be long until things are back to normal, and hopefully more new material from Feu! Chatterton and more live dates will be confirmed before too long.