rendez-vous with French Cinema

This week, London's Institut Francais presents a Rendez-vous with French Cinema. It Starts tomorrow, when they will show what must be the debut UK screening of Gainsbourg: Vie Heroique at the Curzon Soho. I can't make it myself, but I did get a sneak preview of the film and it's definitely been worth waiting for. I'm in London on Friday so the new print of Breathless (À bout de souffle) might be on the cards.

"The event dedicated to French cinema returns to London this June. A showcase of the crème of French films, this year’s Rendez-vous with French Cinema will take place from Tuesday 8 June to Friday 11 June, at London’s Curzon Soho and the Ciné Lumière, plus one special screening at the BFI Southbank. Six French films, representing the strength and rich diversity of French production, past and present, will be given special Gala screenings open to the public, ahead of their release by UK distributors. Directors, both the young and the renowned, will be present alongside up and coming actors and more established stars, to introduce their films and discuss them with the public at post-screening Q&As. So far confirmed to attend are actors Kristin Scott-Thomas, Louis-Ronan Choisy plus directors Radu Mihaileanu, François Ozon, Catherine Corsini and Joann Sfar."

Dim lights

screenings

Tuesday 8 June
6.15pm: GAINSBOURG @ Curzon Soho
9.00pm: LEAVING @ Curzon Soho

Wednesday 9 June
6.15pm: THE CONCERT @ Curzon Soho
9.00pm: THE REFUGE @ Curzon Soho

Thursday 10 June
6.20pm: WILD GRASS @ BFI South Bank
8.30pm: THE CONCERT @ Ciné Lumière

Friday 11 June
6.30pm: BREATHLESS: 50TH ANNIVERSARY @ Ciné Lumière

L'Amour Electronique: Saturday 22 May

Salut! Apologies for the lack of posts of late - things have been a bit busy.

The next L'Amour Electronique is on Saturday 22 May.
We will be joined by special guest DJs Estelle and Didier who will almost certainly show us up because they are both French, and not just a bunch of amateur Francophiles or something!

Come along for 6 hours of the finest electronic sounds, synthesized pop and French bubblegum, freakbeat and ye-ye.

it all takes place from 9pm til 3am at The West Hill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ.

It is Free Entry all night and if you need more persuading, see what The Guardian said by way of recommendation in our previous post.

Battle Of The Planets

There's a been a small battle of the planets going on in the night sky this past month.

[image source]

Mars has been spoiling for a fight since December. You might have seen him up there, an orange-y little blot amongst the stars: Mars, Bringer of War, with an army of little green men always at hand, ready to board their UFOs and launch a Martian invasion.

[image source]

But then, sometime in March, Venus came to our salvation. I caught sight of her the other night, a blinding white thing she was, and she outshone everything in the sky except the man-in-the-moon: Venus, Bringer of Peace, our "sister planet", named after the Roman god of love and beauty and cloaked in swirling, brilliant white clouds.


So, it's Mars, 'The Red Planet' VERSUS Venus, 'The Evening Star'. But which is better? There's only one way to find out... FIGHT!!!!!!!!

Up pops Mercury, the Winged Messenger, to lend the serene Venus a hand. Together they will endeavour to protect us and halt the impending War of the Worlds...

Where's Richard Burton when you need him?

Let's settle this thing with a nice old cliché: "Little men are from Mars, girls are from Venus".

Jean-Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley - The Little Man From Mars
Jean-Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley - Girl From Venus
[buy Perrey & Kingsley: iTunes | Amazon.uk]


But as for Mercury, I'm afraid Mercury is going to feel a bit left out. I don't have a song for Mercury. Sorry Mister Mercury.


.................................................................................................
If you want to keep an eye out for those little men from Mars, or fancy gazing at the bright-white beauty of Venus, pay a visit to Jodrell Bank.

Guardian Guide - clubs Pick of the week

Well we didn't expect that, but it's nice to get some recognition! Cue hordes of people in breton tops and berets descending on the West Hill at 9pm sharp.

We should point out that smoking is not permitted inside the building. Also, we do play non-French electronic and synthesized music too!

TONIGHT! Saturday 24 April
9pm - 3am
at The West Hill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ
here is a map
It is FREE to get in all night.


love and electronics
xxx

Japan

Right you lot, I know there are at least some of you out there who visit from time to time (We have ways of seeing how many times things are downloaded, y'see). I seek tips and advice...

I'm off to Japan next month, has anyone been? Got any tips?

I'll be visiting Tokyo and Kyoto, and a little island, way down off the South coast, called Ishigaki.

Suggestions of record shops where I can pick up some old French Ye-Ye records, plus any other good record emporiums would be greatly appreciated. Plus any other hints and tips for good bars, clubs, eateries, places to visit, etc.

I leave it in your hands, and await in hope for a torrent (or trickle) of comments...

Of course, it would be remiss of me not to post something like this:

Japan - Life In Tokyo

[buy Japan from iTunes | Amazon.uk]

Samedi soir + Jacques Brel homework

The next L'Amour Electronique is this Saturday - it would please us to see you there.

We will be joined by a guest DJ, the charmingly monikered Ray Paul (or Eddie, as his mum knows him) who has promised to add a sprinkling of synth-powered Italo-Disco and maybe a drop of French New Wave.

We'll also be playing the usual concoction of French bubblegum, psych and freakbeat, synthesized pop and electronic music from the early pioneers to the sounds of today.

9pm - 3am
Free entry all night.



And now for some light listening homework
Marc Almond has been presenting a 3 part documentary about Jacques Brel on Radio 2. Part 2 of Behind The Brel: The Story Of A Musical Genius is on the iPlayer now (available until Monday 29th), and part 3 airs on Tuesday 30th March at 23.30.



Think I might dig out some Jacques Brel for Saturday.

Souvenirs Souvenirs

So, we went to Nice. Nice was nice and Nice was tres expensive, and so my hope of coming home arms laden with records was slightly foiled...

We did pick up one or two souvenirs that didn't empty our pockets though:

I picked this one up at the flea market for 1 euro: a seven-inch ep of Léo Petit, ses Guitares et ses Rythmes playing "4 Rocks Formidables", on the Trianon label. No idea what year it's from. On side a, Léo and his band twang their way through surf-guitar fave Kili-Watch and give us a faithful instrumental rendition of Johnny Hallyday's Souvenirs Souvenirs. On the flip there's a slowwwwwwwed down stroll through Apache, and some brassed-up primal screaming in Tu Parles Trop. (It's worth checking out Léo Petit's entry at discogs.com - he has quite a CV!)

a1) Léo Petit - Kili-Watch

a2) Léo Petit - Souvenirs Souvenirs

b1) Léo Petit - Apache

b2) Léo Petit - Tu Parles Trop

[buy Léo Petit from CDandLP.com | search via discogs.com]

I thought I'd give you a couple of bonus comparison songs - other versions I have of 2 of the tracks:

There's nothing like a superlative novelty hit getting cashed-in, and dragged-out across a full-length album, and that's just what seventies Moog-toters Hot Butter did with their Popcorn album. Their version of Apache borrows most of the clever arrangement tricks employed on their breakthrough hit, and you can almost sing that famous Popcorn melody over it in some places.

Hot Butter - Apache

[buy Hot Butter from iTunes | Amazon.uk]

Another Stereo Total song! Fittingly, this one was recorded with Alex Chilton (see previous post). Our favourite Franco-German punkrock-disco-bubblegumpop-chansonieres get all heavyheavy on their own rockabilly rumble through Johnny's 1960 hit.

Stereo Total - Souvenir Souvenir

[buy Stereo Total from iTunes | Amazon.uk]

And here is Johnny himself sur la moto