Editorial: July 2016

Another month begins, with July smack in the centre of festival season. Some of this year's big ticket events in France have already taken place in the last month, from Hellfest to Solidays, Les Eurockeenes to Mainsquare.

Other high profile events are happening in the next few weeks, such as Les Francofolies and Vieilles Charrues.

We've been quieter here than usual, but aim, to make up ground again this month. There's certainly no shortage of things requiring an urgent listen to.

Again, we've seen another record number of visitors to the blog, which is always encouraging. Hopefully we'll see this continue month, with a significant milestone on the horizon.

June of course saw the UK take a massive step backwards on the international stage, with a vote to leave the European Union. It was a vote influenced by blatent xenophobia, misinformation, small mindedness and political shortsightedness. If anything, it shows the scale of the challenge anyone who is an advocate for French or any other European culture faces in the UK. The scale of the decision is horrific, and more will no doubt emerge in the months to come, and it will be a long time until the dust settles.

Ironically it happened at a time that saw French acts enjoy more success in the UK than they have for a while, with Christine and the Queens crowned at Glastonbury, Gojira delivering the molten metal materpiece that is their Magma album, while Kungs takes some French deep house to the high end of the UK charts.


As always, I can be contacted on johnkilbrideAThotmailDOTcom, with the appropriate punctuation where you'd expect it to be. I'm always pleased to hear from record companies, PR companies and promoters, so do get in touch.

The blog is also on Twitter as @viveleroq or you can find me at @karnag

If you're around Facebook, remember to like the French Music Podcast UK page, where you can get regular updates with both fresh and vintage French music.

Thanks as always to the French Music Office in London and to the Institut francais in London for their help and encouragement.

Merci et à bientôt

John K