Taking its name from the French for metamorphosis or moulting, 'Mue' by Paris-based, Fukuoka-born pianist and composer Koki Nakano feels transformational. Compared to 'Port de Bras', the previous single released for his upcoming album Oceanic Feeling, 'Mue' is much more intimate, less expansive. Nakano's piano playing is light but intense, spelling out a heavy, fluttering ostinato — like a dramatic version of the daytime riding theme from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The track canters along until its final third, when a skirl of electronics needles in from the side, flailing fiercely atop the piano as if the air itself had been set alight. The composer certainly has a knack for combining his classical background with experimental elements to create chimeric sounds like this one, an effortless overlay of synthetic on organic.
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There's also a video for 'Mue'. Filmed at the Paris Hôtel de Ville, it features the combined expertise of choreographers, Nicolas Huchard, Nick Coutsier, and Christian Yav.
RPG meets jazz in 'Atlantico', a sandswept soundscape from Madrid-founded, Paris-based band Quartetto Minimo. With a guitar melody – composed one summer in southern France – that summons a kind of intrepid videogame castle exploration and sparkling harp that harks back to faraway dark-wood-panelled rooms fable baroque (let's talk E.M.M.A's 'Mindmaze') a time and place, nowhere concrete, gets a bold, impressionistic illustration.
"It's funny that you said it sounds like baroque," guitar player Nicolas Arzimanoglou Mas tells us over email, "because for the past 2 years the bass player and I have actually been playing baroque music, with different instruments and bands of course."
Combine it with organic rough textured bass that feels noir and fantasy, and drums that give it pace and intrigue, and there is excitement, the urgency of jazz merging this into the battle music, penultimate level themes; in terms of real videogame comparisons, it sounds much like the 'Gerudo Valley' theme from Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
The medieval-summoning chamber aesthetics with kinetic energy of improvisation and quick tempo gives it that VGM dynamism. A new jazz release that crosses boundaries and conjures a world away from the traditional; it's chamber jazz.
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This track is taken from the album of the same name, Atlantico by Quartetto Minimo. Feel free to stream and/or download it on Bandcamp.
Paris resident and human person Teki Latex has done a lot. From associating with production company and artist collective Kourtrajmé, appearing in videos and shorts alongside people like Vincent Cassel, as well as rapping with seminal French rap group TTC, to heading up A&R on pioneering underground label Sound Pellegrino which he co-founded with fellow TTC member Orgasmic, as well as his own online "DJ-centric" show Overdrive Infinity, Teki has been spearheading a new style of sound this year: Bérite.
Earlier this year Teki posted a mix on SoundCloud called 'Bérite Club Music'. He accompanied this with a description which outlines the birth of the new genre, originating from a group of online acquaintances who would come to Overdrive Infinity every week. "They were all lovers of Grime, US Club styles, Ballroom, Kuduro, Global club music, you name it, just like me," recalls Teki. "As I befriended them, we got the idea to try and think of a new identity for a french club sound that didn’t exist anywhere else and that would be a confluence of some of the various electronic music styles which had an impact on the French audience."
However, as this "embryo of a new genre was slowly being born" a gas explosion in the building next door made the studio unusable and later forced the parent company Dailymotion to shut down all the projects attached to it, including Overdrive Infinity. "We no longer had a place to meet regularly," Teki tells us, "but that idea of a new french sound kept flourishing, becoming more and more concrete as we all kept getting together at club nights and whatnot."
Towards the of 2016, and named after Rue de Bérite in honour of the street where the studio was situated, the first Bérite tracks appeared online and at small club nights.
"And just like that a movement was born."
And as 2017 lays itself to rest, we ask Teki for his top tracks of the year. Arriving from musicmakers 50% French, 50% other European, these morsels are indicative of newness, Bérite, experiments in merging forms and styles, and though dance-ready very suitable for home listening. Plus a surprise at the #1 slot. Read on☟
10) Lorenzo Senni – XAllegroX
I've praised Lorenzo Senni's music so often in the last few years it has almost become ridiculous but what can I say, his latest one is yet another beautiful slice of drum-less trance. With 'XAllegroX' it's almost as if he has reached a point where the difference between his music and the music of Swedish House Mafia has gotten virtually non-existent, which is obviously a fantastic thing.
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9) Finn – Sometimes The Going Gets A Little Tough
I am amazed by Finn's skills and cleverness of selection behind the decks, as I am obsessed with his ability to create music which applies a grimey way of chopping up samples to classic soul-sampling house music. This big end of year banger is a perfect example of that. Even better when played at 150 bpm in the middle of a juke/ghettotech set.
8) Clubkelly – Need U
A French Bérite Club Music-sympathising member exiled in London and signed to Crazylegs, Clubkelly is a musical prodigy, a lovable troll, a troublemaker but also an amazing person to hang out with. With 'Need U' he explores a sound at the crossroad of weird broken club music, vintage Roulé/bangalter house, and Bérite. Filtered house, but distorted and raw with no fucks given.
7) Lanark Artefax – Touch Absence
This one is already in everyone's end of year list, what can I say that hasn't been said already? It's a dope track with a definitive "Detroit by way of Glasgow" feel. I missed electro as a genre and even though it never went away, it's great to have it back in the spotlight through a new generation of producers like Lanark Artefax.
6) Images – Les Démons de Minuit (Le Dom Edit)
A Bérite Club Music anthem and a favorite of my year-long residency at Nuits Fauves in Paris. To foreigners it's a dope Bérite edit of a catchy French boogie song but to French people it carries a whole different sort of weight. 'Les Démons de Minuit' is the song that was playing at my mother's wedding. Since the '80s it has been a bit synonymous with low-brow mainstream French pop in the mind of a lot of so-called purists. So remixing it and tapping into that sort of weird French popular music heritage to create something new and avant-garde is almost a political act in itself. On French dancefloors, it gives that track a kind of "Oh no did he really go there?" dimension which I absolutely live for. Le Dom's Castle Owner EP dropping in 2018 will confirm that he is an absolute genius and a master at creating a new form of electro-tinged Bérite sure to become a landmark.
5) Sunareht – Hyul
Like Le Dom, Sunareht is a member of the Paradoxe Club label/crew and like Le Dom he makes Bérite Club Music except his approach to the genre is completely different. His way of paying homage to the French club genealogy is to apply a sort of experimental approach to the art of sampling filtered loops as heard in the classic "French touch" era. He takes French touch music and turns it on its head, mutating it into a drum-less, post-everything, permanent-build-up-with-no-drop state. The result is a beautiful home listening experience which remains playable (or at least mixable – superimposable in clubs – akin to Lorenzo Senni's work). With this first EP he established his signature sound and the demos I heard from the 2nd one confirm that he has now fully mastered this incredible unique style.
4) Kekra – 9 Milli
This was a big hit in France in 2017. Basically a dope French rapper dropping super catchy bars on top of an old school 2-step garage beat. So fresh and alien and made with style and different from everything in the French rap world these days. This song really made a difference and it's a pleasure to hear French kids singing it by heart whenever I played it this year.
3) Errorsmith – My Party
I have been a fan of Errorsmith and all the projects he's been involved in since the early 2000s and his album Superlative Fatigue is the album I've always dreamt he would make. Techno in spirit but rhythmically closer to African and Caribbean dance music rhythms mutated through the filter of the synth he created: Razor. This track is just his voice gone through weird effects + a hand clap. It's a simple as fuck techno-organic crazy weirdo party starter and you wish it would never end. I have never heard anything like this.
2) De Grandi – 94120 Groove
The one original Bérite Club Music hit we needed in 2017 by De Grandi the most active producer in the genre, another member of Paradoxe Club label. This Afrotrap-influenced banger goes so well with everything and bangs so hard as a standalone track as well. I'm so proud of that whole crew for creating a genre and a scene in Paris in 2017. We needed that so much.
1) The Super Mario Players feat. Kate Davis – Jump Up Superstar
So this one has a story. It started when I first watched the trailer for Super Mario Odyssey early in the year. I was scared to commit to buying a Switch, I was still living in my old TV-less apartment with vague dreams of moving in the near future. Zelda looked great but felt like too much of an emotional investment (I remember getting nightmares through Ocarina of Time when I was younger, same with the one where you turn into a wolf – way too stressful – and I never managed to finish any of them) but Mario is the kind of stuff that appeals to an old casual gamer uninterested in first person shooters and fascinated by colorful Japanese graphics like me. So the trailer blew me away and I thought the music was perfect. I moved into a new apartment later in the year and got myself a giant-ass television and I thought, you know what let me treat myself to the maxxx and get a Switch with Mario. I enjoyed the shit out of that game but halfway through it i remember thinking "when the hell are they going to play the fucking awesome song from the trailer already??? Probably at the very end..." Spoiler Alert: it comes right in the middle, in an unforgettable sequence taking place in the fake-New-York-equivalent-level in the Mario Odyssey world "New Donk City" (actually the city where the ancestral game Donkey Kong took place). It's the level that made everyone go "oh that new Mario game looks like GTA Mario!"
So Basically Pauline the girl you saved in Donkey Kong back in the '80s is now the mayor of the city and she asks you to help her putting together a festival. Once that is done, the reward comes in the form of a truly beautiful sequence; It's night time in New Donk City and the whole population is outside celebrating, there are lights, beautiful visuals, business men and women in fedoras (as they should) and fireworks. While the mayor and her band are singing the incredible 'Jump Up Superstar' song, you are required to play a rendition of the old school 8-bit Super Mario Bros. game (actually a cross between that and Donkey Kong) on big transparent panels held in between the skyscrapers of the city, and each segment of the song corresponds roughly to a segment of the game, so it creates some sort of semi-synchronized rhythmic build-up between the action and the music... all the while this crazy, insane, catchy, perfectly-executed Broadway showtune is really resonating with someone like me who grew up with those cliché images and sounds of classic New York with its yellow cabs and pastrami sandwiches and who is fascinated by nocturnal views of big cities with skyscrapers. Add to that the nostalgia effect of playing 8-bit Mario... It was an incredible moment, I was playing alone with the lights off and wondering "what the hell is happening to me, am I, for the first time in my life, ACTUALLY crying while playing a video game?" Simply put it is the most beautiful sequence in a video game EVER and you can quote me on that.
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Keep up to date with the latest Sound Pellegrino releases on SoundCloud.
Mr Oizo, oh Mr Oizo, it's Mr Oizo. I saw a tweet from Mr Oizo at some point in time before today (let's just say this one to be done with it) that said this Charli XCX collaboration called Hand In The Fire was going to drop sometime soon and well, yeah, it's today. It's arrived today, 14 days before Christmas, ho-ho-ho.
The headline and USP of this EP is the Charli XCX-featuring bit and it's what everyone's gone with:
Pitchfork: Mr. Oizo Teams With Charli XCX for "Hand in the Fire"
Stereogum: Mr Oizo – “Hand In The Fire” (Feat. Charli XCX)
Pigeons & Planes: LISTEN TO MR. OIZO AND CHARLI XCX’S “HAND IN THE FIRE”
The FADER: Mr. Oizo And Charli XCX Share "Hand In The Fire"
Idolator: Charli XCX Returns To Springy Electro-Pop On Mr. Oizo Collab “Hand In The Fire”: Listen
Beatport: HEAR MR. OIZO’S CURVEBALL COLLABORATION WITH CHARLI XCX, “HAND IN THE FIRE”
The 405: Charli XCX features on Mr Oizo track, 'Hand In The Fire'
NME: Charli XCX teams up with Mr Oizo – 'I was inspired by Ed Banger'
Paper: LISTEN TO MR. OIZO'S WARPED TROPI-LEANING TRACK FEATURING CHARLI XCX
DIY: CHARLI XCX IS WORKING WITH ED BANGER’S MR OIZO
FACT: Stream Charli XCX and Mr. Oizo’s ‘Hand In The Fire’
And so on and so forth in different languages on multiple sites and blogs around the world (one of the middle ones, The 405, I wrote that one). Oizo and Charli XCX, boom, ruling the world and whatever. It shows that MR OIZO can produce for pop, that's one thing that it shows, and very well at that, of course of course: bass booms and cold skeletal low-end melodies and skiffly swaying beat with orchestra hits exploding, raw tom rolls for extra flavour, plus the hook in FX'd vox wah-wahing in the appropriate places.
Mr Oizo has collaborated with singers before, twice on Lamb's Anger (2008): with Uffie on 'Steroids' and with Carmen Castro, whom Oizo calls "a mysterious person", on 'Two Takes It'; and more recently with Marilyn Manson on 'Solid', which scared and worried me but it was fun nonetheless. None of these, however, overshadowed a whole release, which is the case with the Charli XCX collaboration – three other tracks appear on the Hand In The Fire EP, one of which is an instrumental version of the Charli-featuring title track so what's up with that?
What is up with that? What is the actual problem here? Is there even a problem? Maybe, maybe there is. Like, the instrumental version, although it's a nice instrumental like I said a couple of paragraphs above, does not excite me a great deal, like it's definitely been made with a conscious effort of leaving space to putt a vocal on top, making it with a cyclical formula in pop song format. The actual song 'Hand In The Fire' feels weird: here's a different scenario: This is a Charli XCX track and then it's revealed that the producer is Mr Oizo, nice yeah, it's a catchy tune, jostling and slithering — somehow that feels cooler and more natural than this in its actual obvious collaboration state. Why?
Because the other two tracks on the EP are sooo Mr Oizo you'd be a fool to miss how typically Oizo-sounding they are, and how similar they are in feel and speed, which many publications indeed seem to have overlooked, drooling instead over the "curveball" (misfit???) collaboration itself because Give Pop A Chance and because Pageviews Mean Prizes and because Dat SEO.
I mean, there's 'A Rekurd', which with all its unrelenting repetition of the eponymous sample – "a record, a record, a record" – and mad sirens is an intense dance track, ending with a simple juggernaut of overdriven crunchy kicks and the vocal sample itself, filled throughout with familiar creeping atonal arpeggios. But sitting above this both actually in terms of track number on the EP and also in my esteem is 'Being Flat': yaaaaa! This one is nuts, perfectly nuts, wtf does nuts even mean, it just came out, I'm sorry. It's that blaring dissonant menacing groove that is so comfortable and yet so nerve-singeingly body-affecting that you can almost feel the tiniest hairs on your body vibrating with it.
It's those little ad-libs to the beat, a slicing hi-hat thrown into the pattern; it's that ambient soaring synth break providing liquid gentle oasis between the hard jittering notes of the second part and the delicious substantial bass patterns of the first half. It's the robust sounds in the beat, thumping and full of texture. It's the crowd noises in the background, which add depth and effuse the placebo effect of feeling like you're at an actual party.
When these two tracks finished, and the instrumental 'Hand In The Fire' began to play I paused it. I PAUSED IT. Now all I have in my head is the Charli XCX collab and I'm confused at why I don't like it all that much if it's in my head? I guess labelling things really does change your opinion even before you've sampled such things.
"The medium is in the message": in this instance the message is Charli XCX song, clearly that is the case. The medium, however, via or as part of a Mr Oizo release, loads it with meaning and expectations. Association kicks in and, being a human being, I cannot help but be influenced by how things are packaged; everyone's perception of something changes depending on its delivery. If you don't know Mr Oizo, then cool, Charli XCX is working with someone; do a little google, oh yeah, this Quentin Dupieux, he's done some cool stuff, he's pretty well known – therefore Charli is held in even higher esteem. But for those who know Mr Oizo, or know and like Mr Oizo's music rather, having a Charli XCX song delivered through his musical output feels jarring, even wrong.
This leads me to conclude that this song, this EP with its typical and more digestible Oizo sound outside of the title track, is meant for those who are not well acquainted with the French producer or his music. At the same time, it's sort of fan service because both these tracks do not exactly push new ground for Oizo, serving as a nostalgic vessel for pre-existing Oizo-lovers; indeed as of this current moment, 'Being Flat' has had more plays than 'Hand In The Fire', showing that fans will find their way to the morsel they like the most and play it maybe a few times cause they love it and they gotta show someone else, too. Oizo fans get to see Oizo tackle pop production, and he does it well – perhaps the reason why the instrumental version is also included.
Charli XCX fans, on the other hand, get to hear a new and unique somewhat Santigold-sounding song and then, hidden behind the cover story, there's these other tracks from the same producer, buzzing but not too abrasive and instantly addictive for those with an ounce of dance-leaning tendencies in their souls. Everyone's happy.
Not sure where this guy is from but I'm going to make some sort of half-educated guess. So… yeah, I think he might be from Paris. And in fact – could be male or female. So let's say… them. They might be from Paris because they tagged the song as 'Paris' (also a Parisian musicmaker commented on the track, too, so…). Then again, they've also tagged it with The, Imaginarium, Midnight, Beats, 2015, and Hadrian. So who can say anything for sure? Not I. Not I.
So anyway, the track is called 'Past Midnight' and it's by somebody making music under the name GHOST CRUISE. The etymology of the name… a ghost cruise I suppose. Either a cruise for ghosts or a cruise you go on to see ghosts. Sorry, too much talking.
The track itself is gloriously wonky, owing not only to the skipping off-kilter beat that thuds and thumps along, nor just to the the seemingly arhythmic synth bass bouncing throughout, but also to the sounds higher up the scale. Harp flourishes sweep as if endlessly conjuring a flashback, backdropped with phasing sounds and punctuated with zither icicles and delicate strings. Something wholly fitting the title 'After Midnight', summoning the unreal moods and atmospheres that effuse from the heart of night itself.
I first wrote about these guys a while ago, finding the beat and vocal harmonies and, well, everything about their track 'Camel' quite difficult to not become addicted to. They're from Paris and they're French and they're called SAUVAGE and this track is called 'Marée Noire' which is an epithet (literally means "black tide") for an oil spill in French.
This one is quite different to what I've heard before; it rings with juddering electro energy, bass jouncing along with the rollicking beat joining it, electric chords jolting across the galloping path of the rhythm. This is at least how it sounds in the first half. But a middle section announces the arrival of a fresh-rain-against-a-window gentle drum pattern, the entry point for the vocals, too, which almost whisper in this quiet section.
The track's second half is all groove, a contrast to the first half; synth chords seem full of feeling zap into life – which seem to breath heavily at the end – the bass holds court with its simple groovesome rhythm accented with octave-skipping notes, the vocal melody is not over-highlighted and smoothly sails across the crashing, raging waves as electric arpeggios sparkle like twinkling stars in the eventual crescendo of the track. All that's left is the kinetic beat.
This totem for a new wave of indie music comes from SAUVAGE's very recent four-track Jadis EP ("jadis" is like a way to say "once" in French with connotations of "long ago", too). Check it out here if you wanna hear more from these guys.
I stumbled across this the other day and was literally like wtf where has this been hiding. It is an EP called AVRIL by Parisian musicmaker, Loumar. Bass-heavy, experimental and all-encompassing, it is a captivating collection of sounds. To give you an idea of what that is like, I've selected 'GROUND' (or 'Ground'? whatever) – surprisingly the least popular track on the EP, but by far the most… unique.
Beginning with, and punctuated throughout by, samples from the 2012 Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom, it feels like an ode to dreams – not sleepy dreams, but waking, real-life, what-do-you-want-to-do-when-you're-older dreams; the kind of dreams that you forget and remember years later having done nothing about them. In 'GROUND', Loumar presents a personality that will support your dreams, the booming submarine kicks of the beat playing beneath the repeated words: "I don't let you hit the ground, no."
But this head-in-the-clouds mentality is underpinned by a miasmic soup of sounds, a confused swirling of clap clusters, ambient whale-song synth, disco-conjuring cowbells alongside ticking shakers – suggesting that this is the ground, i.e. real life, somewhat doom-laden, deep, and difficult to comprehend at the best of times. Even the refrain itself is spookily pitch-shifted, effusing this feel of dangerous delusion; you would think that the sample at the end – "I wanna go on adventures, I think. Not get stuck in one place" – would cancel this out, carve out a warmer feeling, but even this is cold.
On the whole, it feels like inverted dance music, narcotic and nauseating, dysphoric, warped beyond recognition, leaning almost towards witch-house in genre (if you excuse my saying so), having extended its tendrillar feelers into the deeper burrows of Loumar's mind. But it's brilliant.
Premiering on Mixmag blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah here is Parisian producer Bobmo with new track 'It Is Happening Again'. With a Twin Peaks-inspired name – "It is happening again" is what The Giant says to Detective Cooper in a nightmarish premonition – and actually sampling those very words from the cult show, it's taken from Bobmo's upcoming two-track EP, When I Look, released on Marble, a label which he calls home (also home to other French acts including Myd, Canblaster, Para One, etc.).
So what can you expect from this dancefloor-destined number? It's dark and brooding, matching the subject material of its namesake, exploding with the brutal thump of techno, each kick snare-hit bringing up distorted dust – rattling floorboards and thundering skies float in its atmosphere. Distorted squelch bass bounces along in stuttering madness as high pitched overdriven whistle saw-wave synth rises and falls in and out of earshot, sometimes chirping pulsar blips, sometimes screaming sawmill grinding. Listen for nightmares and dance-desire.
There's this wondrous mechanical fuzz to it, a cautionless evaporation of clear-cut sounds for something deathly organic, frying in dry dust darkness – a pressure cooker of noise and danceable beats. Noisy and explosive, it's techno with acidic lilt, and you can't help but let yourself become infected with its virulent pulse. So yeah, if you liked this, there's another one where this came from on the When I Look EP, out 31st March. Eat it up if you feel like it.
Encore une autre semaine se glisse dans le passé; encore un autre article en français. Si tu ne sais pas de quoi je parle, écoute – je suis anglais, j'écris sur de la nouvelle musique une fois par semaine en français, je lutte. Ça me fatigue.
Mais la bonté de mon coeur me persuade d'écrire plus en plus en plus en français, en anglais, en n'importe-quoi-ais, afin de partager la musique avec de plus en plus en plus des gens dans le monde. Quel noblesse! Tu penses pas? Bof, alors, lis ce que j'ai écrit, écoute la musique que j'ai trouvée, passe un bon mais bref moment. À plus.
YES/NO Guest Mix 007 :: BLUFRANK's Driving Alone Mix
Le septième guest mix pour YES/NO, celui-ci vient d'un producteur BLURFRANK du Caire. Il s'appel «Driving Alone» (français: «conduire seul») Mix, qui montre ses influences musicales, allant de super ultime chillwave de Toro Y Moi, à la danse lisse du millénaire (c'est-à-dire, Moloko). Les deux sons habitent dans ce morceau de BLUFRANK, où il mélange des cordes chaleureuses et une ambiance hallucinante avec un rythme dure et une tendance pour danser. Sa chanson «TR-808 & A Babe» est un bon exemple.
Lindsay Lowend – Basement Dweller Overture
Mon dieu! Merde! Cette chanson est géante, sérieux – son créateur est un génie (toutes ses chansons sont incroyables) appelé Lindsay Lowend. Pas «Lohan» – LOWEND. Tu le connais? Si oui, bon, si non, c'est bon aussi, parce que maintenant tu va le rencontrer et sa musique. Dans «Basement Dweller Overture» (français: sous-sol-habitant ouverture) Lindsay Lowend, nom et prénom Antonio Mendez, évoque l'ambiance des jeux-vidéo sans leurs images pour créer une atmosphère imaginative et aventureuse. Presque en trois mouvements symphoniques, le morceau progresse de l'electro qui suinte avec le dubstep lourd et sa basse dodue, puis une rafale de piano frais, finissant avec electro-funk glitch-chargé. Les sons de Lindsay Lowend sont trop délicieux, introduisant le style urbain (hip hop, juke, dubstep, etc.) à la geekerie de la musique jeux-vidéo. Je l'adore.
SUNSET – Ava
Pour une fois, je suis en train de parler de musique française. Enfin. SUNSET est un duo qui vient de Paris: l'artiste Raphaël Siboni, et Franck Rivoire (mieux connu comme producteur/DJ, Danger). Dans leur nouveau morceau le cerveau est déchiqueté par les synthés épais, pendant qu'une voix ferme parle lentement sur quelqu'un qui est née sur la piste de danse, si c'est métaphorique ou non – c'est à toi de voir. Alors avec des paroles cryptiques et des synthés qui cassent les oreilles, le son deformé coupe avec précision bien produit, je suis sûr que SUNSET va gagner certains fans cette année.
Onra – Gonna Make You Mine
Maintenant un autre parisien: c'est Onra. Si t'es français tu dois connaître Onra: c'est logique, non? Si non, découvre Onra – c'est un beatmaker né en Allemagne, qui a habité entre la France et la Côte d'Ivoire depuis l'âge de 3 ans, mais il a habité depuis 2000 à Paris. Euh, maintenant il a crée pour la compilation Saint Valentin de Colette (appelé «French Kisses»), la chanson funky «Gonna Make You Mine». Pas exactement le hip hop traditionnel – et plus comme la «future funk» adoptée par vaporwave – c'est plein de guitares punks éclatantes et la basse pulsative et renflée, avec des samples vocaux expressifs et des melodies synthés rosées luisantes. C'est parfait pour la Saint Valentin: doux, lisse, savoureux.
Aux Jennings – Need Me
Le rap canadien. Et alors? Euh, ben, c'est le rap canadien. Et ce rap notamment – de producteur/MC Aux Jennings – c'est cool, très cool, et il semble d'origine. Avec le hi-hat ombrageux cliquetant et la sub-bass de la grosse caisse lente, le rythme se balance, du lourd, pendant que des cordes synthés simplistes flottent dans l'air répercutant. C'est la perspective nouvelle, avec de la musique totalement pleine d'entrain. Tu peux télécharger gratuitement ce morceau, et aussi le nouvel album «MuckAFolly».
House Of Tapes – Last Words
Viens d'un nouvel EP, qui s'appel «Last Words» aussi, j'aime bien ce morceau par le japonais House Of Tapes. Ce n'est pas pour le club, c'est pour nul part en fait, en partie parce que ce n'est pas crée à cet effet, mais aussi car c'est bizarre. Ouais, c'est bizarre. Il a un son foncé mais affirmatif, évitant du genre et à la place examinant les sons pour la création d'une atmosphère pseudo-cauchemardesque d'un autre monde. Tout les sons répercutent, comme des bruits dans une caverne secrète; les guitares font cliquetis, avec leurs cordes conjurant le coucher de soleil. Alors, enfin, c'est expérimental, débordant de facticité fantomatique.
Ben c'est ça, ok? L'écrivant en français est de plus facile, mais encore ce n'est pas parfait ni correcte, probablement. Lis-toi ici la prochaine semaine pour quelques choses nouvelles écrit par moi. Et merci encore pour l'assistance de Nicolas Barrois. Vive YES/NO. Ciao.
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Hmm… you know those days that just seem to float like a nothing-mist, yet zip hastily to their own sunsets? Today is one of those days, and before I've even finished one cup of coffee it seems as though hours have passed by without my noticing their disappearance. Deary deary me. Anyway, we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about music. And in particular, we're here to talk about Onra.
Who is Onra? A maker of music of Vietnamese descent who lives in Paris; is that specific enough for you? I wrote about him before, when he created an awesomely slowdown-dreamy remix of Disclosure's 'F For You'. Only checking out his stuff when it appears in front of me, rather than actively seeking it out, I'm surprised that I don't indeed search it out – cause it's real nice yo. This time around we have a tasty little number from a compilation by "brick-and-click" clothing-etc. store Colette called French Kisses; essentially it's a Valentine's Day compilation. 'Gonna Make You Mine' – a romantic title, of course – is Onra's offering to this compilation.
Fading into your mind with a future funk feel – carried by a beat with plunging kicks, crashing snare, skiffly rush of hi-hats – the song is an instant body-mover. At least, for me it is. Maybe I'm just impressionable. But with that bass, bulging and pulsing along with the accented bass drum, it's difficult not to be dragged onto the virtual dancefloor. Minimalist funk chords in popping palm-mutedness whistle by, with occasional saxophone aching into the mix with supreme nocturnal romance flavours — cut-up vocal samples seem to be set to flanger, sounding like a synchronised crowd of voices. That's before the vocal samples proper come in (after a break with sharp-sharp cymbals), singing soulfully with reverb added, dew-dropped with glistens of icy synth.
It's a heavenly sound that takes the "piracy" of hip hop and sets it to work in a less brutal way, preserving sounds and snippets in order to build a neo-soulfunk track, rather than cutting sounds to insert above an equally cut-up beat; this – and some other recent tracks of Onra – suggest that this musicmaker, usually associated with hip hop, is taking a swerving towards something different. Not necessarily something new – just look at the vaporwave pirate-punks and Keats Collective's future funk, for instance – but certainly something full of life and worthy of a larger audience. Also, it just so happens to be a perfect sound for a Valentine's Day compilation: smooth, dance-inducing, flavourful.
Well, here's something exciting. Music can be fun, lighthearted, addictive, and it can also be exciting. And in this instance, I mean exciting in the way that something epic is exciting. Because this song right here just effuses "epic" – but before we get too much into it. Who or what the hell is SUNSET and why should you care? That's what you're thinking right? Right? Anyway, SUNSET is a duo from Paris, made up of artist Raphaël Siboni and Franck Rivoire (aka Danger). Not much is known about them, but it's that intrigue that keeps people guessing and, in a roundabout way, interested in the music. That's kind of beside the point though, because the music itself works just fine without any intrigue at all (check out their previous song 'Krystal'). Aren't I just contradicting myself… Sorry.
As for the song. It's called 'Ava' and it reaches you in the form of a lyric video; usually badly animated fan-created items, instead SUNSET have created it themselves and literally just provided the lyrics, in small writing, at the bottom of a black screen. And it's a good thing too because I don't speak very good French so understanding the lyrics is a little difficult (not that they matter 100%). Since they're given, it's interesting to note that the lyrics are wildly original, featuring the fictional account of someone's – this Ava perhaps – birthday at a club, where they were born to a techno song on the dancefloor. Bizarre? Yes, but totally captivating in a way. These, I believe, come from the artistic mind of Raphaël Siboni.
On the other hand, we have the music itself. The stoical nature of the spoken-word vocals, in its low register, is drowned by the track's hefty truckload of synth. We have it in lighter, more airy forms, where higher notes criss-cross like icicles in a glitter of reverb; then we have it in almost suffocating, heavy bass crunch form, a dark tooth-grinding saw-wave collapsing your mind and giving it away to the pulse of the song. The drums, booming along in a slow motion ache, almost cripple your ears – the kick in particular nearly escapes the speaker to scoop out your skull. It's a massive sound, wholly entrenched in the mystic, Crystal-Castles-esque side to trance music, yet with a sensibility towards live sound that comes with the high-end production, the distortion being paradoxically cut with precision. What will come next from these guys? It will be interesting to find out; pairing cryptic poem-like lyrics with such a sound is something that will turn a few heads, I'm sure, whilst also breaking some ears with their menacing sound.
Oh and if you're wondering about the "1789" at the end of the video: it's the start of the French Revolution and also the name of Franck Rivoire's label.
It's been a while since I wrote about Paris duo TOYS – the last time, in fact, was when they were kind enough to agree to an interview, back in June. Around the same time, TOYS shared a video for their new-at-the-time track, 'We Are' – an epic track with an equally epic, and strange, video that followed a strange guy who was seemingly able to bring people back from the dead. Before that, way before that, their song 'Noise' entered my ears and never left: it's still one of my favourites (and I urge you to check it out, too).
Just a little bit over a week ago, the duo were at it again – this time far from their native Paris. Filmed in New York City, their new video – for a song called 'Hey Boy' – showcases various yet connected subcultural pursuits of the city, namely: street art, skateboarding, basketball and breakdancing. All in glorious black and white, filmed up-close-and-personal to its participants, we have director Louis de Caunes to thank for this visual treat. For the music, however, we of course must look to TOYS themselves.
Beginning as a dreamlike trickle of haunting sounds, including a hugely glossy column of sub-bass surging its way through everything, the song soon gets an understated R&B-flavoured beat to drive it forward, complete with sandlike hi-hats and popping-gunshot snares. Vocal samples, from where I dunno, are rhythmically dropped into the song with increasing frequency as wide synth chords build up and up, joined by shots of sharpened electro buzz-bleeps. Everything becomes increasingly distorted by these all-engulfing synths, sounding like a white noise organ with a subverted atmosphere of urban consecration. With its laid-back yet intense atmosphere, 'Hey Boy' provides the perfect soundtrack to the city-based pastimes you see in its video, mirroring the frustrations and determination you can see on the faces of the video's protagonists. I want to hear and see more from these guys.
NB. The video, as nice as it is, has already racked up over 30,000 views in a week AND has been featured on Vimeo as one of their staff picks. Nice going!
A crazy thing happened the other day. It might not seem so crazy to some people, but to me it was insanely crazy. I felt bizarre about the whole thing. But once I'd done it, everything felt fine. What was it, you ask? Did I lose my virginity? Did I die and come back to life? Did I get a sex change? No. None of those three things.
What happened? I was interviewed. Yeah, me. At first I didn't think it was for me. But it was. Nico Prat, journalist and host of Popcorn Sur Le Mouv, an weekday evening show about music and pop culture on French radio station Le Mouv, invited me for an interview on Tuesday 19th November. It was on the radio, I had to talk out loud (luckily not in French cause I'm not as proficient as I'd like to be - is anybody?) but despite my fears of talking out loud - especially considering this was a live broadcast - I think I did pretty well. My family said so. But then again, they're supposed to say that.
I haven't listened to the interview yet. I've downloaded the podcast, so I have forever the data that contains me being interviewed on radio, even if I won't listen to it for a while. However, if you would like to download it (free-of-charge) and have a listen to some of the tunes they play on Popcorn Sur Le Mouv and/or listen to me say some words about my site and what kinda stuff I'm into at the moment, then please feel free. You'll find it here: lemouv.fr/diffusion-echolove-un-amour-de-decouverte.
I would like to thank Mr Nico Prat for following YES/NO and sharing a selection of my music taste to a wider audience. And thank you, whoever you are that's reading this, for reading YES/NO. I would like to continue on this journey of finding and writing about new music from all directions and if you want to come along for the ride there's a lot of room. Please feel free to get in touch for whatever reason, especially if you are an artist or band looking for someone to have a listen of your music. I would like to hear it.
Taking cues from typically urban music like R&B, garage, bassline and even dubstep in the halftime swing of the beat, this is 'Blank Field' by Paris band Backbone. Having formed in August (the 15th, specifically) of 2012, Backbone is a five-piece band that mixes female and male vocals; organic, "real" sounds and synthetic, mechanical noises. They describe their sound as "feutré, absorbant, rythmé" - that's hushed, absorbing and rhythmic. Certainly there could have been a little bit of inspiration here from The xx, especially in the dual vocals, the sub-bass and the general atmospheric feeling of the songs. But that's not a bad thing at all.
'Blank Field' begins as a relatively quiet foray into a world of rich, low attack synth chords and drips of electronic percussion - in the background, samples of what sounds like a crowded room pan from left to right. Smooth columns of sub-bass gleam beneath the chords. Each vocal sounds unaffected, clear, pure even, with just the right amount of big room reverb tailing from each. The beat grows busier with hi-hat rolls and the addition of snapping snares; beautiful guitar licks like flecks of sunshine appear from the chill of the song for a lovely euphoric flavour.
By the end, that guitar lick sinks into the background, the volume on everything coming to a crescendo, a rising tide of synth and a violently bubbling collection of random synth bleeps, which is all we're left with at the end. The slow nature and smooth vocals of the song give it a sense of laid-back yet passionate R&B, a slow jam direct from Paris complete all the delicate trappings and trimmings of experimental electronic music. It's always nice to hear people doing something different and Backbone are no exception; their mix of electronic and live instruments supports their gentle yet intense sound as much as the flighty vocals do. Lovely stuff.
I don't think there are any releases as yet but their SoundCloud definitely hints towards an EP in 2014. It could be a long time, it could be a short time. But here's hoping that it will actually materialise. You can download this, and past songs, on their SoundCloud so deffo check it out ya.
This is a cool surprise. If you liked the original Disclosure song 'F For You', especially if you liked it for its housey, garagey flavours, then you may not necessarily like this unofficial remix by Paris-based man of hip hop, Onra. Not only is it a completely different speed, but it has a completely different feel. Some will like it, some will not.
I like it though. It's really cool to hear a song so huge get this kind of treatment is very nice indeed. I liked Disclosure's original, but it wasn't my favourite track of theirs, nope not at all. I think in this instance, Onra has given this song such a makeover that it can never return, at least in my eyes, to being that original song. I basically prefer this version.
If you've heard of Onra before, good for you, you're really clever at music; if you haven't, then... well I was going to write his biography out and then I realised that, well, Wikipedia has done it just fine already. Anyway. Now it's time to listen, so do it.
Onra gives it a retro feel, glints of metallic sound shine throughout, with a chord progression in the glistening synth that breathes an organic spirit into the track. Before, 'F For You' was clinically produced - in this remix, there is an earthiness to it that cannot be denied. A super slo-down hip hop beat and waves of mean, pulsing bass underpin these major changes to the fabric of this song; above, it's decorated with a nearly indiscernible tinkling of bells. All these throwback sounds give a charming appeal to the remix, whilst keeping the original hook of the original preserved like something in an echo tunnel. Laid-back and nicely chilled.
Gotta keep the electro flag flying. And when I say electro, I mean like, well, the kind of electro that is dirty and buzzy and has 'Flat Beat' for its ancestor, in a way. Repetitive but glorious. Well as Hot Chip mentioned to us all, there is such thing as a "joy of repetition". Over and over and over and over. It kinda whips you up into a frenzy doesn't it?
And so I introduce the unrelenting beats of 'Super Golfer' by Parisian electronic duo InShape. They're made up of A.Abela and O.Boutinaud and this song that they have made really piqued my interest. Why? Because I hadn't heard anything like it in a while. Despite it being "derivative" or whatever you want to call it, it struck me as a fresh sound. Maybe they will be dancing the Tektonik in France again before we know it.
With a simple 4/4 house beat as the foundation, the two have created a genuine head-bopper of a track. I'm currently tapping my foot but that's neither here nor there. The beat, either way, is thick and reeks of attitude - there's no decoration here; it's nothing but a meaty metronome but it is the perfect fit for this situation. Yep, along with the fidgety hi-hats it's just the ticket.
This video as well is just... so silly. I love it.
With a menacing intro, there are nasty distorted synths in this song, giving it a very dirty sound. Bouncy bass synths back up from behind, providing support for the staccato sound. Brief washes of chorused synth come and go in waves. Towards the halfway point there's a REAL distorted synth that sounds something like a chainsaw being started - grindy and gravelly. At this point the funk of the song begins to appear, bringing the song to life even more than it already was.
There are little touches along the way that ensure that the song doesn't lose your attention - the sounds are twisted, added to, layered, switched around and blown up. With or without them, however, it's a pretty brash and brazen track and that is is exactly why I like it: InShape know that in 'Super Golfer' they have created a dirty electro track. And that is precisely what it is. If you dug this as much as I dug-digged it then you can purchase InShape's debut album Full Measures right away.
It's always nice when someone comes back to you after you've written something nice about them. So I was really happy when Alma Elste kindly sent us over her brand new song, 'Virtualism'. A couple of months ago I'd written about a song of hers called 'Julian', an bass-assaulted drawling acoustic song - very pretty indeed. The strange thing was that barely no one had listened to the song, despite it being something that the world-at-large would have gladly enjoyed. I don't really like to make comparisons, but at a time when Lana Del Rey is like, well popular, the heartache and lone-lovers vibe of Parisienne Alma Elste is bound to appeal.
'Virtualism' however is not an acoustic number: it's electro. From the start it brims with wide, warm electro - it's a comforting sound, something that's familiar on the ears, so easy to fall back into like a very well-designed armchair. Thudding kicks and muffled snares hide behind this buzzing wall of noise, later joined by circuit-board arpeggios and whooping soft synth solos.
The most entrancing thing about this song, however, is Alma Elste's voice itself. It is husky and laid-back, a caramel croon that's charming in the slight vibrato at the end of each line and beautiful in the effortless almost whispered glide between notes. Could just listen to her sing all day without the music, to be honest. A close second to this are her endearingly mundane yet cryptic lyrics - this is a lovesong, but one that speaks in stark poetry instead of sloppy balladry:
I'm in your car
We run red lights
I don't give a damn about here
drinkin forties, playin GTA
I stole some baseball cards
the end's behind
give up timeline
we can always sleep tomorrow
We'll last until sunrise
We'll make it
I like your Corvette
I could almost see myself with you
Her references are indeed images of "virtualism" - the world of Grand Theft Auto spilling over into reality with the petty theft of baseball cards, the traffic offences, making you wonder what else they did together. But of course the highest sense of "virtualism" in the song is the almost tragic last line, "I could almost see myself with you" - even the subject of the song, whoever it may be, is not a true reality yet. And it's quite nice that these are touched with that synthpop vibe (co-created by Willy Duft) because it gives a dreamy appeal, something not real, a little bit videogame if you get me. Escapism. A summer romance that never was nor will be.
Anyway, that was that. She's got a lovely voice and she's working on releasing an EP at the start of 2014. What's not to like?
Well this was a mega surprise. When I first saw the link to this news on Twitter the other day, I thought that it surely SURELY must be a joke. I mean, who could or would ever put Mr Oizo and Marilyn Manson together? They both make noisy music, sure, but other than that I was confused. I was already imagining M Manson singing a 'The Dope Show' style song alongside something like 'Gay Dentists'. I really didn't know what to expect.
In reality, the song - 'Solid' - features a rumblingly bass-heavy beat beset by frantic synths, which you would've heard from Mr Oizo before, if you are a fan, in songs like 'Positif' - the kind of song that gets everyone really worked up, pumped up, tripped out and losing their minds. In the right environment of course. Mid-set in a sweaty Paris club would be the perfect venue for this song. And what is MM's contribution? It comes in the form of a spoken vocal sample, played around with by Oizo of course, that simply says: "You look like shit when you dance".
Listen up.
It makes me feel kinda uneasy, for like the first minute, but then you really get into the beat and the sound of it, sorta sucked into that thundering bass as if it were made of molten Maoam or something. The synth totally creeps out, like an electrified version of the villain music used in silent films. It's dark, basically. And heartily electro. And I can see how it would be really easy to get crazy to this song. Except for the fact that the MM vocal sample would make me feel so self conscious that I wouldn't want to dance - what if I really DO look like shit when I dance? Do I look ok? Am I dressed like an idiot? Why am I even out? I give up.
But it's a fun song. In a sardonic way.
It comes from the upcoming Mr Oizo EP called Amicalement (it's like the French equivalent of the ubiquitous English sign-off "Best regards" or "Kind regards" or "All the best" or etc.) out 1st July. You can download it for free from his website, so get ready to do that on Monday!
Oh and if you're wondering how Mr Manson got involved with Mr Oizo, he's actually in Oizo's film Wrong Cops. Check www.wrongcops.com and MM's character is right at the start of the trailer that plays when you arrive. But then we have the mystery of how THAT happened...
Firstly I would like to thank the guys from TOYS (or is it Toys?) for taking the time to answer the questions of my "lazy interview". It is very much appreciated.
ANYWAY. Yes, this time around it's Paris duo TOYS firing over their answers to my carefully constructed questions. After hearing and writing about their Natural Plastic EP last year, I was almost literally gobsmacked at their unknown-ness: they had a completely unique sound, coupling dirty beats and noises with aching-heart pop vocals and melodies.
Now, following the release of new song 'We Are', the duo's sound has retained those same sensibilities - rough, urban production, pop melodies, and a kind of retro nostalgia - yet with this song it's a richer, fuller sound. I suppose we will all find out how things have changed properly until their new EP release later this year.
For now, however, have a little read and find out what makes TOYS tick.
Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
P: I'm Paul, I'm from Paris and I'm a songwriter.
B: I'm Bastien, I'm from Paris and I'm a music producer.
Why did you decide to start creating music?
P: I started classical guitar when I was 6, then I discovered the piano and have been sticking to it ever since. I studied arrangements and music theory through jazz for years. Then Toys made me apply music theory to production work.
B: I started music as a DJ in the hip hop scene, this is how I got into music production. It became my job. I worked on others' albums first before focusing on the Toys project.
How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
B: We try to make a music that suits us, sounds from the past, a production a little dirty because I guess we like ghetto music, and dreamlike melodies showing our attachment to pop music.
P: Toys is one of these projects that intentionally uses a lot of codes and tries to get an original sound and identity out of the arrangements and the mix.
Although we are two to write and compose everything, we see Toys as a band. Electronic music can sometimes look and sound rigid and lifeless. This is why we like to use acoustic instruments too. On stage we play with 2 other musicians (rhythmic section) without whom it would be impossible to perform our songs.
Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
While driving, in bed, at work, in the subway, in a club, we try to make a music that can be listened to anywhere..
What inspires you most when writing a song?
Difficult question. We like when music brings us into a nostalgic mood. This might be something that drives our songwriting.
Who do you most admire in the music world?
Daft Punk for being able to make the whole world agree on their music, all generations considered.
In your opinion, what is the future of music?
En dépit de la crise du disque, nous pensons que les gens vont continuer à produire de la musique de qualité, et ca de plus en plus..
Despite the music crisis we are living in, we hope and believe that people will keep on producing quality music independently, more and more..
What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
Our next EP in September and a tour to follow..
What, aside from music, is most important to you?
Our girlfriends, our families, our mates, bad jokes, good food, good movies, good daily moments we can share with people we like..
So there you have it. Two different people from different musical backgrounds making music together could go one of two ways I suppose: very bad, or in this case, very good. The mix of Paul's classical and jazz influences, as well as skills in arranging songs, with Bastien's DJ/production experience and penchant for hip hop has resulted in a great sound. It goes to show that individual differences are important within the music world, not just between bands and artists themselves, but even within bands. Out of the relative chaos comes order - in theory. Is that too deep?
Either way, I fully respect and endorse their views on people making music independently. If you want to do it and you feel like you can do it, just do it - if it's good, people will pick up on it and share it (that's not to say it's easy, however). I hope that you've had fun reading this anyway, whoever you are, and I hope that you check TOYS out. Like they said, their EP is coming out in September - it feels like a long time, but we'll be boogying to their sounds soon enough!
