Chris(tine and the Queens): Pictures from London show

Just some pictures from the Chris(tine and the Queens) gig at the Eventim Apollo in London last night.

Martin Smith took the pictures and gave us permission to use them. Thanks!

La Féline: Live in London

Despite the magnitude of today's music news from France, there are many other things going on that deserve a mention on the blog.

One such event is a concert in London by La Féline, appearing at the Institut francais du Royaume-Uni, with former Stereolab singer Laetitia Sadier as support act.

Quite a bill for the latest of the IFRU's Music Rendezvous events, with the acts performing and intimate show in the historic building's Art Deco library.

Following their performances, the two acts will have a chat with their audience.

La Féline singer Agnès Gayraud appeared on BBC Radio's World at One news programme this afternoon to pay tribute to Johnny Hallyday, with a thoughtful interview that gave a good flavour of what he represented in France, and an idea of the ambiguities surrounding him. She performed an acoustic version of Hallyday's Quelque Chose de Tennessee.

It's available to listen to online on the BBC Player, about 40 minutes into the programme.

I'm a big fan of Gayraud's work and while the circumstances are difficult, it's hard to imagine a better ambassador for French music today.

Manchester and London

A weekend of events that again juxtaposes terrorism and music in a way that sees, once again, those who would bring us to our knees only succeed in making us rise up onto our feet.

Our thoughts are again with the victims of these atrocities. After the Bataclan we could only hope nothing like that would ever happen again. 

The memorial concert in Manchester, remembering the victims of the horrific suicide bombing was a triumphant, joyous and colourful commemoration and celebration. It acknowledged the tragedy of what had happened, reflected on it respectfully and with humanity, but it was also true to the youthful and colourful heart of pop music.

It was a difficult balancing act, but one that the event organisers managed with style.

Of course, Sunday's show unfolded in the aftermath of another horrific event in London. Saturday night revellers targeted with brutality and death on the streets of the UK's capital.

London and Manchester are great cities, and two of the musical capitals of the world. Bright and bold places in a world that others would like to see slide into fear and darkness. However hard they try, they will fail, and fail again.

Bands are playing the Bataclan again. Manchester and London can take it. The terrorists can be assured that whatever cause they fight for will be long forgotten before the victims are.

Daesh want us to live in fear, but their failure can be heard in the sound of our children singing along to Ariane Grande.

Mick Harvey: Je T'Aime Serge event

Another mention for tonight's Je T'Aime Serge event at the  Institut Francais du Royaume-Uni in
London, with Mick Harvey discussing his three albums of English language covers of Serge Gainsbourg songs.

Harvey is of course a bona fide legend in his own right, from his part in The Birthday Party to his role with Nick Cave as one of the key members of the Bad Seeds.  As part of Crime and the City Solution to his work with PJ Harvey.

He's also an established solo artist and has also released a number of film soundtracks over the years.

I've loved both Intoxicated Man and Pink Elephants, his first two volumes of Gainsbourg songs that were released in the 90s. Quite simply, they're albums I've listened to repeatedly for years.

This year's  new collection - Delirium Tremens - is every bit as classy in its sympathetic re-imagining of Gainsbourg's work. Another volume is coming out early next year.

In the meantime, tonight's a great opportunity to find out more about Mick and Serge.

Saycet: Culturethèque interview

Hats off to Culturetheque for an interview with Saycet during his trip round the UK  as part of the Oui Love 2015 tour.

The tour saw him perform in London, Newcastle, Glasgow and Manchester alongside St.Lô & Acre Tarn.

The video features some nice footage of him performing as well.

Calogero: Live in London

 A night in London tonight from Calogero, who plays a show at the Scala.

His 2014 Les feux d'artifice album, his sixth, was a massive seller. The album, which was released in August 2014, was a number one seller.

The song Un jour au mauvais endroit won a Victoires de la musique award in February for the best original song.

A live album by Calogero, entitled Live 2015, is expected to be released at  the beginning of next month.

Benjamin Clementine: C à vous session

A live appearance by Benjamin Clementine on the French talks show C à vous, with a memorable
version of the track London.

Clementine tonight plays l'Olympia in Paris, a sold-out show.

Although London born, Clemintine's established himself as a musician in his adopted home of Paris.

His debut album At Least For Now has been a massive success, which most recently saw him nomimnated for the Mercury music prize in the UK.

He has a number of dates in the UK in early December, amongst dates across Europe.

Julien Gasc, Lenparrot and Lèse Majesté: Shuffle Festival

A chance to see a couple of interesting French acts in London this evening, with Julien Gasc,  Lenparrot and Lèse Majesté taking to the stage as part of the Shuffle Festival.

The three acts play at the The Migration Pavillion, Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Julien Gasc and  Lenparrot are no strangers to this blog, Lèse Majesté certainly deserve a mention, while if not French by nationality, they certainly are by name.

They're also pretty good as well, which always helps.

So three interesting bands in an unusual venue. If you are in the area, well worth getting along to this if you can.

We Were Evergreen: Dormant (with The Hermes Experiment)

An unusual clip from We Were Evergreen, London's favourite resident French indie stars.

It features the band in a classical context, playing alongside The Hermes Experiment, a Harp/ Clarinet/Soprano and Double Bass act.

The performance was for  London-based concert producers Listenpony, and took place on the Crypt on the Green in London on May 12 2015.

The original version of Dormant featured on their Towards album, which was released in 2014.

Their most recent release was a cover of the Disney song Be Like You, this new version of Dormant
certainly shows them in a different light from that release.

Live in London: The Dø

A gig in London tonight by The Dø, following the success of their Shake Shook Shaken album.

The collection, released in France last year and reaching the top ten, was released in the UK earlier this year.

The band recently celebrated a significant win at the Victoires de la Musique awards in Paris last month, where they won the best Rock Album of the year award.

There is, of course, more to The Dø than just last year's album, their 2008 debut A Mouthful reaching number one in the French album chart, a feat that had never been accomplished before by a French act performing entirely in English.

The Dø play at Koko tonight.

Yelle: Live in London

French electro-pop favourites Yelle take to the stage in London tonight.

It's a welcome return for a fabulously French act, who have been in recent years making inroads to an anglo audience.

For all their electroopo and dance credentials, Yelle have always been a

Yelle dropped a remixed version of the track Moteur Action a few days ago, a nre take on the song re-built by Sophie and A.G. Cook.

Yelle play in Paris on March 11, and after that they are off to perform shows in North America including the Coachella festival in California.

Acid Arab: Mosaïques Festival

Acid Arab take to the decks n London tonight for a DJ set as part of the Mosaïques Festival.

The festival, the 14th time it's been held, also sees a screening of the acclaimed film Benda Bilili! and panel discussions , plus world food stalls and mint tea.

It's being held at Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road in Shoreditch.

Acid Arab  recently remixed the track Think Of Me on the recent Judah Warsky EP

March this year, meanwhile, saw them release their second EP.

Acid Arab played at the Transmusicales festival in Rennes last year, bringing an intense and vibrant sound to an exhibition hall on the outskirts of the city in the early hours of the morning that bordered the middle of the night.

 

-M- : Live at the Roundhouse, London

A reminder that this evening sees the French music legend that is -M- taking to the stage in the Roundhouse

in London.

The artist known to his family and friends as Matthieu Chedid, continues to tour supporting his Îl album that was released last year, to both commercial and critical acclaim.

The album included the track Mojo, which gave him a top thirty hit, and also provided one of the most memorable videos of recent years.

The tracks Baïa and Océan have also been released as singles, and he's been touring extensively.

He will also be playing in Paris before the end of the year, with shows at Bercy on December 12, 13 and 14.

Before that, he releases a live album entitled (ÎL)S on November 18.

In the meantime, some lucky people in London get the chance to see one of France's most exciting artists perform live.

OohLaLa! festival in London

I've been meaning to write about the OohLaLa! festival that's being held in London  in October, so the

release of a promotional video for the event give me the perfect excuse.

For three days, October 21-24, some of France's top acts take to the stage at the Village Underground.

It's a great line up of contemporary French acts, many of which should be familiar to readers of this blog.

The first night sees Fauve, Petit Fantôme and Moodoïd.

The second night has Dominique A, Rover and Mélissa Laveux, and the final night has Lescop, Christine and the Queens and Tomorrow's World.

There are also dj sets from Laetitia Sadier, The Line of Best Fit and The Quietus, and appearances at the Rough Trade shop by artists appearing at the event.

If you're in the London area, the chance to catch so many quality French acts at one is one not to be missed.

Hopefully the attention that the likes of Phoenix and Daft Punk have been getting will spread to these acts, and ideally we'll see more of them playing at this side of the channel before too long.

I mentioned that I've featured some of these acts before in the blog, and I'll certainly feature them again before the gigs take place.

Live: Charlotte Gainsbourg at Somerset House

Charlotte Gainsbourg plays a rare UK show on July 19, at Somerset House in London.

She's been touring in mainland Europe and the show looks set to be the only chance to see her in the UK this year

Somerset House is an arts and cultural centre in the heart of London, with fountains in its courtyard over the summer while the space is used as an outdoor skating rink over the winter.

The open air show is one of a series of concerts at the venue, which also sees M83 and Tindersticks playing along with acts including Paloma Faith, The Enemy, Katy B and Jill scott.

She'll be joined by London-based New Zealander Connan Mockasin.

A new album by Ms Gainsbourg is expected to be released later this year following last year's Stage Whispers 2CD collection of live and unreleased material.

News: Johnny Halliday at the Royal Albert Hall

With Johnny Hallyday confirming his first ever UK gig next year, I thought a track by the former M. Smet en anglais might be a good way to mark the occasion.

Johnny is playing the Royal Albert Hall on October 15 2012.

It'll I reckon almost certainly be a sell-out, I'm reminded of the time when he played Las Vegas in '96 , with 6,000 fans flying over in chartered planes and probably one of the most interesting dates in his tour.

Still, it was certainly a surprise to see Johnny appearing in page three of the Sun newspaper this morning!

He has already confirmed a number of arena dates around France through the summer of 2012 including three dates at the Stade de France in Paris in June.

Johnny is also expected to release a new album next year, a follow up to Jamais Seul.

Not bad for guy who announced his retirement in 2007. And also in 2009...

Despite his health scare in recent years, Johnny seems in fine form again, and is currently appearing on stage in Paris in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams play.