L'Amour Electronique is this Saturday

This Saturday you will find us once again on top of a hill overlooking Brighton station, dispensing a generous 6-hour cocktail of electronic goodness, French bubblegum pop and filthy dirty synthcore. Sarah will be absent, but we will be joined by Estelle (who may or may not be DJ'ing under the pseudonym DJ La Cûntte). Estelle is French and she will almost certainly teach us a thing or two...

See last month's setlist below for an idea of what you may be likely to hear should you come.

Address: The West Hill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ
here's a map, should you need it.


Last night we were enlightened as to what the monkey sounds on Bonnie & Clyde are. The instrument is called a Cuíca. Thank you to the good gent who informed us of this, we hope to se you on Saturday...

Onomatopoeia

An English lesson, circa 1991: “AWWWWWWN-OHHHHHHH-MAAAHHHH-TOHHH-PEEEEEEEYAAAAAHHHH-AAHH-AHH!”

It’s okay; don’t be scared, that was just my old English teacher metamorphosing into a disturbing living embodiment of Mumm-Ra The Ever-Living. Yes, it was a terrifying sight that could easily have scarred a youth in his formative years. But in retrospect, I can see she was trying to use the word in a way that would demonstrate its very essence. And I haven’t forgotten it since. Gold Star for my teacher.

The Yé-Yé genre is littered with nonsensical song titles (see previous post Dam Dam ou Dum Dum), and they certainly didn’t shy away from the onomatopoeia-ic. Serge was a particular fan; his lyrics are peppered with clever word plays and vocal tics.

Here’s one he wrote for Minouche Barelli (sweet name / terrifying set of pipes). It’s like a Eurovision* heart attack, boom-bang-a-bang-ing** and exploding out of every black and white telly across the continent. You can imagine Gainsbourg taking her aside and directing her to method-act like her life depended on it. He counts her in “Cinq, quatre... trois, deux, un, zéro…”

BOUM BADABOUM! BOUM! BOUM!

She belts it out, drowning out every instrument in the orchestra, bar the brass section. And she gives them a good run for their money too! Now run for cover!

[image source]

Minouche Barelli – Boum Badaboum
[buy it: Amazon.uk]

*It made the number 5 spot for Monaco in Eurovision 1967. Sandie Shaw romped it barefoot with 'Puppet on a String'
**This was 2 years before Lulu performed 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' at Eurovision 1969.

Something a little quieter now… Mareva hushes down Sonny Bono’s ode to childhood innocence lost. Her duel with Jacno is like a dew-y focussed fairytale shot on grainy cine-film, accompanied, Morricone-style, by a lone ukulele and music box plucking out the fragile melody.
BANG!
BANG!
A pair of toy pistols unfurl red and white flags…

[image source]

Mareva Galanter (avec Jacno) – Bang Bang

[buy it: iTunes | Amazon.uk]

Mareva made these beautiful Scopitone-style videos to accompany her Ukuyéyé album

But we can’t overlook Serge and Brigitte’s ode to onomatopeia, where Serge takes BB by the hand and they leap inside a comic book world of technicolour explosions and brash’n’bold sound effects.
SHEBAM! POW! BLOP! WIZZZZZ!

Serge Gainsbourg et Brigitte Bardot – Comic Strip

[buy it: iTunes | Amazon.uk]

SETLIST from 23 MAY 2009

Here's the setlist from last month. We were joined by our friend and Socialist Leisure Party member Andy who treated us to some sweet and noisy music... See below for mp3 tasters.

Sarah
The Knife – Girl’s Night Out
B-52’s – Hero Worship
Quix*O*tic – Anonymous Face
Fad Gadget – Love Parasite
John Foxx – He’s A Liquid
Momus – The Cabriolet
Serge Gainsbourg – Intoxicated Man
Verity
Vanessa Paradis – Joe Le Taxi
Goldfrapp – Crystalline Green
France Gall – Baby Pop
Pierre Doris – J’ai Pas eu Peur
Simon Bookish – Metal Horse
Deux - Paris Orly
Stereo Total – I Love You, Ono
Dalida – Petit Elephant Twist
Future Bible Heroes – I’m A Vampire
Andy
Leg - Amphibian Love
Frederik Schikowski - ein oktourbass macht noch keinen sommer
Watoo Watoo - perdu
Syntheme - 144a arcacia overdrive
The Names - Nightshift
Elysian Quartet - Prokofiev String Quartet no 2
Telex – Moskow Diskow
Oh Penelope – Lait au Miel
Music At Nite - city to city
Go-Kart Mozart - selfish and lazy and greedy
Bearsuit – Welcome Bearsuit Space Hotel
Edwyn Collins – Welwyn Garden City
Dominic
Serge Gainsbourg – Requiem Pour Un Con
Françoise Hardy – Tout Ce Qu’on Dit
Les Bel-Air – Ils Parlaient Dans Mon Dos
Chorus Reverendus – Dans Son Euphorie
Jean-Jacques Perrey – The Flight of the Bumblebee
Les Gamines – Vis Ta Vie Mon Gars
Dominique Walter – Les Petits Boudins
Chantal Goya – Laisse Moi
Brigitte Bardot – Contact
Delia Derbyshire (BBC Radiophonic Workshop) – Dr Who (original theme)
Sarah
Giorgio Moroder – From Here To Eternity
Grace Jones – La Vie En Rose
Michel Arnaud avec Serge Gainsbourg – Les Papillons Noirs
Sophie Makhno et Colin Verdier – Obsessions 68
Christie Laume – Rouge Rouge
Toni Basil – Space Girls
Pulp – Separations
Verity
John Foxx – Europe After The Rain
Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence
Michel Polnareff – L’Oiseau De Nuit
Mareva Galanter – Pourquoi Pas Moi
Jean-Michel Jarre – Magnetic Fields (pt. 2)
Super Furry Animals – Inaugural Trams
Jocy – Les Dix Premiers
Françoise Hardy – Je Veux Qu’il Revienne
Jacques Dutronc – Les Cactus
Stereolab – French Disko
Andy
Avenue D - orgasmatron
Minnypops - time
Adult. - dont you stop
El Gusano Rojo - desobeissance
Fever Ray - if i had a heart (fuck buttons remix)
April March - mon ange gardien
Frank Alamo – Ma Biche
Stavely Makepeace - slippery rock 70’s
Heaven 17 – Let’s Make A Bomb
Dominic
Hiem – Tweak
Divine – Native Love (Step by Step)
Annie Philippe – C’est La Mode
Stereo Total – Supergirl
Isabelle – Amstramgram
Silicon Teens – You Really Got Me
Miss Kittin & The Hacker – L’Homme Dans L’Ombre
OMD – Electricity
Stereo Total – Mars Rendezvous (We Love Jacno mix) / French language disque
Bertrand Burgalat & Robert Wyatt – This Summer Night
Sarah
Katsen – Cactus
Les Georges Leningrad – Supa Doopa
Add N to (X) – Robot New York
Stereo Total - Hunger
Michel Polnareff – Où est la Tosca?
Devo – Time Out For Fun
Verity
Human League – Sound of the Crowd
Serge Gainsbourg – Bonnie & Clyde
The Field Mice – Missing The Moon
Patrick Wolf – Vulture
Patricia Carli – Le Lion
Sebastien Tellier – L’Amour et la Violence (Boys Noize mix)
Andy
Who Owns The Weather - The Great Leap Forward
Ludus – Breaking The Rules
The Mo-Dettes – Foolish Girl
Gravy Train!!!! – Titties Bounce
Big Stick – Drag Race
Dominic
Röyksopp ft. Robin – The Girl and The Robot
Ssion – Call Out Our Lions
Johnny Hallyday – Noir C’est Noir
France Gall – Laisse Tomber Les Filles
Adèle – C’est Bon
Fernand Reynaud - Oh! Eh! Hein! Quoi!
Sarah
Alan Vega – Jukebox Babe
The Chap – They Have A Name
Soft Cell – Memorabilia
Verity
Stazi – How Sleazy Do You Want It?
Dominic
Die Doraus & Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter
Verity
Françoise Hardy – Quel Mal y a-t-il á ça?
Dominic
Silicon Teens – Sun Flight


Mp3s
B-52’s – Hero Worship
[buy iTunes / Amazon]

Pierre Doris – J’ai Pas eu Peur
[re-released on Pop a Paris vol.3: C'est La Mode - buy it from Amazon.Fr]

Telex – Moskow Diskow
[buy iTunes]

Les Gamines – Vis Ta Vie Mon Gars
[re-released on Girls in the Garage vol.10: Groovy Gallic Gals, which is seemingly unavailable!]

L'Amour Electronique DJ at IDLE HANDS @ Hotel Pelirocco (Thursday 4 June)

ATTENTION!

We will be guest DJing la musique L'Amour Electronique this Thursday 4 June at

IDLE HANDS @ Hotel Pelirocco, Regency Sq, Brighton

4 hours of the choicest French Pop, electronic music and synthesized sounds

8pm -12am

FREE ENTRY

here is a farcebook event page

Q: Which came first the “Bon!” or the “Quoi!”?

BOOM! TISH! BOOM! TISH! BOOM! TISH! BOOM! TISH! It’s 1966, and Nino Ferrer’s rhythm-section is coming on like a pair of cavemen with a back-to-basics Kick’n’hi-hat stomp and a dirrrty old bass line. Some jazzy Hammond organ tones give it a bit of lo-fi warmth to counter Ferrer’s ever-so-slightly sleazy vocal stylings, as he lists all the things he keeps losing: his uncle, his sausage, his cousin Célestin, who’s an academician…

Then, 54 seconds in a chimeric transformation takes place: the organist goes off on one and Nino gets gruffer and gruffer, until he has a choking fit and emerges sounding like a Muppet with bad laryngitis:
“la la la la, la la la, la la la la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la la la la la,la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la la la LA, BOFF!!!”

Nino Ferrer - Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon!
[buy Nino Ferrer: iTunes | Amazon.co.uk]

I’m convinced that Fernand Raynaud was the voice of the father-figure in all the French listening tapes I heard at school. I can hear him now saying “Hrm, Je voudrais un sandwich au JAMBON!” He always seemed to have a short-fuse, hence the caps and exclamation of "JAMBON!"

Raynaud’s version is certainly a cover of Nino Ferrer, but it works almost as a response/riposte. Likewise it is credited as a 1966 release. It’s way bigger on production values, though, so it must have come out later that year.

There’s that familiar opening salvo: “Oh! Eh! Hein! QUOI!” then the band drops into a slinky, but primitive, disco passage (about 5 years before disco was even invented). He seems to have roped in his listening-tape family to back him up on the “Oh! Eh! Hein!” bits.

You’ll notice the subtle change in the title: an “Eh!” for a “He!” and a “Quoi!” for a “Bon!” It makes for a much more quizzical vocal, as he looks for his uncle, and his sausage, and his cousin Célestin…

The whole thing sounds bigger, brasher and full-to-bursting thanks to some big, bold brass which just about errs on the right side of comical.

Monsieur Raynaud never quite hits the gravelly mania of Monsieur Ferrer, he just sounds a little more resigned, and ends with a shrugged, raspberry-blowing “BOpppFFF!”

Fernand Raynaud - Oh! Eh! Hein! Quoi!
[this song was re-issued on Pop a Paris Volume 1 which is discontinued]

A: The “Bon!”

Nino Ferrer wrote it, though apparently he dismissed it as something of a novel throw-away song. Bring on the majorettes...