April March and Aquaserge: Des tics et des tocs

A great track by April March and Aquaserge, who despite their Rive Gauche retro vibe are in fact a cross trans Atlantic collaboration involving a singer from California and an international band of psychedelic outsiders

April March is a songwriter, singer and francophone from California whose real name is Elinor Blake. She has released nine albums during her career so far, performing in both English and French.

One of her songs, Chick Habit was featured in Tarantino's film Death Prooof. Chick habit was in fact an English translation of Serge gainsbourg's Laisse tomber les Filles, which featured on her 1995 album Gainsbourgsion!, a collection of her interpretations of Gainsbourg's work.

She teamed up with Aquaserge in Paris in 2007, a band featuring Tame Impala drummer Julien Barbagallo, Melody's Echo Chamber collaborator Benjamin Glibert and former Stereolab member Julien Gasc.

Gasc said: "A friend invited us to play as her backing band for the evening."

"I remember Elinor in her fuchsia dress. I thought that she was so classy and splendid in her way of being, moving, of dancing, of singing. She's a muse, our intellectual other half. We're eerily similar in our tastes: music, the arts, literature, cinema, food. We had to do a record together, that was obvious.”

Their forthcoming album was written and recorded between Blake's US apartment and the band's Vallesvilles barn near Toulouse in the French countryside.

On recording there, Blake said: "On warm days we'd have the barn doors to the studio wide open so when I recorded my vocals it'd be to a random audience of birds and chickens."

The album April March and Aquaserge is released on May 13.

Francis Cabrel: Comme Blind Willie Mc Tell

A clip for the song Comme Blind Willie Mc Tell by Francis Cabrel, from his album of Dylan covers Vise le Ciel.

The original Dylan song was never officially released when it was recorded for his 1983 Infidels album, and it remained an out take until it surfaced on his Bootleg Collection vol 1-3 collection in 1991.

It surfaced on bootlegs before its official release, and the quality of the song was such that it was held up by collectors as an example of just how good Dylan's out takes could be, even in what many regarded as the later stage of his career.

The song is now regarded as among Dylan's finest work, Dylan himself performing it live after The Band began performing it and releasing it on their Jericho album in 1993.

Dylan himself said the song was never developed fully and never completed it.

Dylan's recording of the song, a low-key performance that featured him on Piano and Mark Knopfler on acoustic guitar, is one of those rare astonishing works

Despite the song being rooted in an American historical context, the French language version of the lyrics still sounds natural and authentic, with French historically being spoken in some Cajun communities in southern states.

Cabrel's version shows that an artist can still cover a Dylan song, make it his own and keep the magic intact.

Eurockéennes festival in Belfort

Details of another French summer festival have emerged, with some of the acts on the bill of the being confirmed.

 While Blur were already on the list, 18 acts playing at the event have been revealed.

Others headliners are Smashing Pumpkins and Phoenix. There can't be many festivals that Phoenix are not playing this summer. Others include Alt-J, Two Door Cinema Club and Tame Impala, while the ubiquitous -M- is on the bill as is fellow French act Skip The Use.

 More acts will be announces in April. The Eurockéennes festival takes place in Belfort on the fourth to the seventh of July and this year marks the 25th anniversary of the festival, which first took place in 1989.

 More details at the festival's http://www.eurockeennes.fr/ website

 

Izïa Higelin, Oscar and César Awards

A weekend of Award ceremonies, and one that saw a memorable victory for Michael Haneke at the Césars and recognition at the Oscars.

It was a strange situation with almost parallel award ceremonies, Argo winnning best film at the Oscars, best foreign film at the Césars and Amour winning best film at the Césars and best foreign film at the Oscars.

There might not have been a dramatic win at the Oscars like there was last year with The Artist, but for a French cinema industry that has been as badly hit as any by the recession, and while arguments continue to rage over the economics of film making in France, it remains encouraging that the French industry still has a place at the most exclusive table.

You can argue that the Oscars are always going to put the spotlight most favourably on the American film industry, but at the end of the day the USA dominates cinema like no other country, and the fact that France can still compete here is a real cause for celebration.

Meanwhile, the weekend saw the César awards, which put the spotlight firmly on the French film industry. While Haneke dominated, it was nice to see Argo win in the best foreign film category, but for this blog one name did stand out, with Izïa Higelin winning the best female hope award for her role in Mauvaise Fille.

Izïa Higelin is the daughter of singer Jacques Higelin and a singer in her own right. her musical career started when she was 14, and by 16 she was supporting Iggy Pop when he played in Paris and releasing songs on her MySpace.

Her debut album was released in 2009, her second album So Much Trouble coming out in 2011. While musically very different to her father - I doubt he'd have found himself on the same bill as Motorhead -  she's duetted with him on a couple of his releases.

She's no stranger to awards, her debut album saw her scoop two Victoires de la musique awards: best rock/pop album of the year and breakthrough act of the year in 2010, and in 2012 she won another for rock album of the year with so Much Trouble.

Mauvaise Fille was her debut film, and with the reaction she's received she looks certain to be a very big star before too long.

Hellfest 2013

I've previewed the Hellfest three day metal event in previous years, so I figured this year should be no exception.

Hellfest has become one of Europe's premier metal/rock events, with six stages packed with acts over the three days of June 21, 22 and 23 in Clisson, around 35km from Nantes.

Last year saw Guns 'n' Roses, Megadeth and Ozzy and Friends (Black Sabbath by any other name) play, along with acts covering the whole spectrum of rock and metal, from classic and vintage to new and underground.

This year headliners are Def Leppard, KISS and Volbeat, the main stage 2 presenting Avantasia, Korn and Danzig. At the Gates, Morbid Angel and Arch Enemy play the Altar stage, the Temple stage presenting God Seed, Immortal and Cradle of Filth.

Meanwhile, Neurosis, Manilla Road and Swans play the Valley, and Sick of it All, NOFX and The Toy Dolls play the more punk orientated Warzone.

Other acts include Lordi, Bullet for my valantine, helloween, Ghost, Buzzcocks, Sleep, Cult of Luna, Hypocrisy, Marduk, Finntroll, Anti Flag, The Sword, Korpiklaani, Kreator, Voivod, whitesnake, Europe, ZZ Top, Twisted Sister, Accept and
Down.

All in all, around 160 bands play the event. Something for everyone, if you like metal and rock obviously...

The line up at each of the six stages is so strong it could almost pass for six seperate events being held at the same weekend in the same location.

It always surprises me that events like this are not more popular with a UK audience. Maybe a bit more marketing could put Hellfest into the diaries of thousands of fans with the cancellation of Sonisphere in the UK for the second year. While it might be a bit further afield, western France is pretty much on the UK's doorstep and with the line up as packed as it is, it certainly gives value for money.

Indochine: Black City Parade

A very welcome return for French legends Indochine, whose new album Black City Parade has gone to the top of the French album charts after its release last week.

It's the first of 2013's much anticipated album releases, and follows their 2009 collection La République des Meteors,

While the band's history stretches back to the 1980s, the new collection - their 12th - shows that they deserve their continued success.

It's commercial success has been mirrored by a positive critical reaction to the collection in France.

The clip for the track Memoria emerged at the end of last year.

Indochine embark on the first leg of live dates supporting the album in Nancy tomorrow, with dates in the rest of February, March and April. A second leg of dates has been confirmed for the autumn that sees them playing larger arena sized venues around France.

No Paris date as yet, but as Indochine were the first band to play the Stade de France, on their last tour, some large-scale dates in the capital must certainly be on the cards.

Phoenix: Entertainment

The first track has surfaced from the new Phoenix album Bankrupt!

Entertainment was broadcast by Zane Lowe on Radio 1 in the UK, and has since appeared on YouTube with a home made lyric video.

It's probably safe to say that the new album is the most anticipated French release this year.

Earlier details published on the band's website gave the tracklisting as:

Entertainment
The Real Thing
S.O.S In Bel Air
Trying To Be Cool
Bankrupt!
Drakkar Noir
Chloroform
Don’t
Bourgeois
Oblique City

Details of the cover of the album emerged the other week, and the appearance of a new track gives the clearest indication yet of what the final album will sound like.

Phoenix have confirmed festival dates over the summer, with shows in the USA in March and April beforehand. Their festival dates include Coachella, Primavera, Rock Im Park and Rock en Seine, and confirmed yesterday that they would be playing T in the Park.

Worth the wait since 2009? We'll find out on April 22.