It took many months of procrastination…a trip to and good night out in Nantes, coupled with a wave of excellent releases by a bunch of French artists to finally get back into it. I happen to think there has always been a vibrant music scene…
(I think the video is supposed to be available only until late July…so enjoy it while it lasts) And send us a postcard!
What I consider to be one of the best bands on the planet, on disc and on stage…..is back!
Their new song is streaming here
Et c’est très fort….
And in case you missed previous episodes, they have a number of classic tunes out on disc
and on stage….
Play it loud
It is hard to miss it this week since its rainbow cover is on every media outlet – respectable (Pitchfork, Clash) or not (iTunes) – but Jamie XX’s In Colour is truly an excellent and enjoyable album.
It is a brilliant collection of tunes. One that comes across as his interpretation of the best of UK electronic musics from the last few years – XX (of course), Burial, SBTRKT, Four Tet etc.
An essential album of the summer and of the year…
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-colour/id978362006
There hasn’t been an album that’s really standing up right now. So in the meantime, I thought I’d pull together a few tracks that I think should give anyone an excuse to take a chair outside, open a bottle in the middle of the afternoon and chill under the sun….
The idea here is simple: a list of tracks that were released in the last 9 months..or so…or maybe it’s just list of what I think needs to be on everyone’s playlist this summer
The Avener ‘fade out lines’
Technically this should have probably been on last summer’s list but I only discovered this track after Les Trans this past December. And since it is just plain awesome, it’s got to be on.
The entire album is well worth buying too by the way….it’s not available digitally in the US, people, so you’re going to have to buy that good old CD if you want it
Jamie XX ‘loud places’
Awesome dubstep track from the XX-man. The rest of the album is also likely to become an essential play this summer
Hot Chip ‘need to know’
I know already talked about that track but: a summer playlist without Hot Chip on it, it’s like a Saturday afternoon without apero…it’s NO BUENO
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba ‘musow fanga’
Their 1st album came out on Subpop a couple of years ago and I just love the energy he’s getting out of his instrument plugged on a wah-wah pedal…….
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/musow-fanga/id980250484?i=980251572
I couldnt find the track to stream so here is a cool teaser on the making of the album
Balthazar ‘then what’
Every so often, we get a reminder that Belgium is essential to the world music scene. I probably don’t come across these as frequently as I wish now but Balthazar’s Thin Wall is a great indie, classic album…and this track is the highlight.
Blur ‘thought I was a spaceman’
Out of respect for these guys who put together a pretty decent album after years off the music map..
and it proves the point that, in fact, old glories are sometime able to pull off a great record. I would attribute that to all the side projects Damon Albarn nurtured in the last few years experimenting across the board. And of all those, ‘Mali music’ remains the best one
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mali-music/id862514861
Bonus Track: Kazy Lambist ‘doing yoga’
I have no idea what music they play in a Yoga class….but this the music for Papa & Mama to play after the kids went to bed…..
St. Germain just dropped a new song….with a new album on the way in the fall…
This is worth a mention, 15 years after his masterpiece Tourist.
It’s a crowded field now in the genre – that he pretty much invented by the way – but it is still well worth hitting that ‘buy’ button.
Another classic from Hot Chip
Unfortunately this will probably only be a hit in Brooklyn’s outdoor flea markets this summer -and any BBQ where I manage to hijack a Bluetooth speaker of course.
So let’s say we do it that way….I don’t feel like of setting expectations that I will write about the album of the month, or the week, or the day….And I absolutely don’t want to commit to a regular post – nor do I think there are albums worth talking about every day, week or month. I am finally not sure I will bother taking time talking about crappy albums being released….until Oasis gets back together of course…
All this to say that we’ll call it ‘album of the moment’….and right this moment it is ‘Fast Food’ from Nadine Shah.
Personal favorite are ‘Stealing cars’ and ‘Jolly Sailor’ for anyone wanting to make it to Rough Trade in Williamsburg and get the Ltd edition CD…because, yes, these still exist and, yes, they still are worth getting.
I know there is a lot of similarities with PJ but I am all for new bands who sounds a lot like their influences when they bring passion and energy to the record. 9 out of 10 it ends up being better than aging past-glories who are trying to stay relevant, and pay for their mortgage. Except for anything PJ Harvey does, of course.
As I am writing this, I have no idea how this is going to end up – for the blog or for me for that matter….but I guess the only way to find out is to start and see where it leads. As Nationwide was saying after their Superbowl add outshine everyone else’s: “all we wanted to do was to start a conversation”
So let’s keep it low-key for a 1st post and do something classic….like the best stuff of the past year- 2014
I think all the respectable media out there have something for best song, something for best album, and then a bunch of category…so maybe if I even aspire to be respectable I should do something like this too….and maybe even try to embed links to the songs into the site (like the big guys do)
Voila!
This song has nothing ground breaking to it but I have been playing it all year….No much to add except that his old band – Portico Quartet – is also worth checking out.
I have a couple of best albums in mind so since I cannot make my mind up I am going to create my own categories.
First, best “pop album that was made by une Nantaise like me
If you want to full album from the US, you have to get the real CD on amazon
Otherwise, iTunes has her US EP
For the best electronica album, it will be We are shining. I love how you can hardly tell this is just a DJ
And finally, for the best Jazz Album, it is an easy one and it will be Go Go Penguin. Best album this year…and in the last few years actually. Probably the best one since Esjborn Svenson had the bad idea to not come back from a Swedish diving trip and dismantle his trio, this is an excellent new exploration in the genre…
http://gogopenguin.bandcamp.com/album/v20-deluxe-edition
And I think that’s it for now….so for the 2 people who will be reading this, I hope it will raise some curiosity, get you to check out some new tunes…and above all to post some witty comments that we can all joke about. I think I figured out how to do nested comments on this thing.
And thank you to Diana for all the encouragements….:-)
les galettes 