eine kleine lift muzak

It was the wee, small hours as I was passing through Gatwick Airport recently. I found myself stood in a lift full of over-tired Brits, inappropriately dressed for an inclement British summer night, as they returned sun-blushed and liver-pickled from their package-holidays in the Costa-del-Sun.

In a distorted, almost apologetic voice, the elevator spake: GOING DOWN

A split-second of weightlessness sent a shiver up my spine and we descended; a faint smile passed across my face as Malcolm Clarke from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop programmed the behemoth "Delaware" which fed whimsical electronic lift-muzak into my ears...

Malcolm Clarke (BBC Radiophonic Workshop) - La Grande Pièce de la Foire de la Rue Delaware

[buy this on Music From The BBC Radiophonic Workshop on vinyl from discogs.com, or on CD re-issue of the 1975 album The Radiophonic Workshop from amazon.co.uk]

...I was very nearly tempted to step back through the shutting doors, press a button and enjoy my Radiophonic lift experience for just a little longer, but I had a bus to catch and a bed waiting for me to rest my own weary head.

Oh so high

Yesterday, all eyes were on the London skyline as Europe's new "tallest building" The Shard was opened in a laser show that might have made Jean-Michel Jarre jealous...

...had Jean-Michel Jarre not been able to play his lasers, that is!

It doesn't actually look that tall in real life, and I can't say I'll be queuing up to pay 25 quid to see the view from the top.  No, this post is really just an excuse to give you some L'Amour Electronique friendly songs about tall buildings.

Serge Gainsbourg - New York USA

[Gainsbourg's New York USA was re-issued on Couleur Cafe and Comme Un Boomerang, both still available]

The Human League - Empire State Human

[you can buy Reproduction by The Human League from yr favourite online music emporium]

Le Premier Amour

The new Wes Anderson film has a Françoise Hardy song on the soundtrack - this is a good thing.

It's not surprising that he chose the Jacques Dutronc-penned Le Temps de L'Amour: a song which perfectly captures the wide-eyed innocence and burning intensity of first love, and is a perfect introduction to the delights of mademoiselle Hardy.

Unfortunately, bringing such music into the populist consciousness means it will very quickly be picked up and sullied by crass TV execs from Channel 5...  Oh thank you Mr Anderson!

...meanwhile, back in 1982

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past month, I've been stuck in 1982* after listening to Scraps' ode to the lovelorn computers and robots whose affections went unrequited in all those archetypal films of the 80s like Electric Dreams.

The song really reminds of me of the kind of twisted electronic pop that tender pervert Momus used to put out, and also of Transformer Di Roboter's song for Bob Ross, hero of amateur painters everywhere. Dig that painfully hip low-rent video style too!

You can visit Scraps at her BandCamp page, where you can listen to and buy her album on all digital formats under the sun - 11 songs of lo-fidelity, shuffling Casio pop with titles like Simple Minds and Devo and Owl Power and Pet Mess.  You may also be able to buy a seven-inch if you ask her nicely.



* Actually I've had a super busy month doing all sorts of things like working&seeingrelatives&painting&havingaclearoutofthegroaningmountainoftatthatwasthreateningtoburyL'AmourElectroniqueHQ.

Francoise and the Man from Mars

Ask me what my favourite era of Françoise Hardy records is and I wouldn't hesitate for a second to say the mid- to late-60s. A time when the production values on her records went HUGE, the arrangements (by Charles Blackwell, Mickey Baker, Jacques Denjean, Johnny Harris, et al) were GRAND and the songs were unashamedly POP (see her London-based 60s TV special The Piccadilly Show for some Hardy evidence).

So when someone comes along and tells me that an album from 1971 is one of her best, I refuse to believe them.  This was the case with La Question, recommended to me by a few bods (in person, and in print).  I had to see what the fuss was all about so I downloaded it, stuck it on and did some work whilst it passed by like so much background noise.  I dragged it onto my i-affixed personal stereo and forgot about it until one day I needed something gentle to block out the sounds of the commuter train on the way home from work.

Then the magic happened...

La Question is much sparser than the baroque pop of her output throughout the 60s, but the high production values are still there albeit in a far more tempered and subtle form.  Orchestrated throughout with pared-down strings and intricately plucked Spanish guitar, Françoise's voice is pushed to the forefront, sounding intimate and confessional - it's almost as if she's leaning in close to your ear to confide in you, the listener.

Studio trickery is simple but effective, panning voice and instruments across the whole Stereo spectrum, with a light and airy reverb added to everything. The only bells and whistles are a bit of piano and organ, sleepy upright bass, plaintive whistling, and the desolate winds of the Martian tundra as manifested by the human voice in this song...

Please do yrself a favour and stick yr headphones round yr ears before listening. Do this and I promise you're in for a spine-tingling and majestic listening experience.

Françoise Hardy - Le Martien

[buy La Question from amazon.uk or allmusic]

a little bit o' Blue for the dads

I've just heard the new Sébastien Tellier album, or rather, I listened to his message (as he requests: "N’écoutez pas mon disque, écoutez mon message...").  On his new long-player, Monsieur Tellier seems to have swapped Sex for Religion, with maybe a bit of sex on the side (he sings of volcanoes, golden ladies, and a magical hurricane...). Or maybe Sex IS Religion?

The title of this latest opus is My God Is Blue, and Sébastien appears on the front, swathed in an azure glow, looking like the second coming of Jesus. Or possibly Dennis Wilson at his beardiest.

We find Sébastien adrift in a topographic ocean of the deepest blue, such is the expansive nature of My God Is Blue. The slick synth soundscapes of Sexuality have given way to great, big helpings of bombast: ecclesiastical choirs, fugual organs, prog-tastic arpeggiators, filmscore strings, and slick guitar histrionics.

In getting across his "message" he gifts us choral overtures, smooth mellotron confessionals, space-y disco musik (Cochon Ville), synth-rock operatics, pastoral folk with glass harmonica (Magical Hurricane), gently parping synthesized brass, and mournful piano. And Sébastien's voice drifts over it all, whispering sexual sweet-nothings in your ear.

Yes, like all great Frenchmen he takes his art seriously, but I also get the feeling Mr. Tellier had *whisper it* fun making this record. There are points when I've found myself almost laughing out loud at the brazen ludicrousness of some of the music: surely anyone who can follow the epic, Bolshevik-strings fuelled Russian Attractions with the syrup-y, lounge-soul of Mayday must have their tongue quite firmly lodged in their cheek?

In an era of quick fix mp3s and 2-second attention spans, you've surely got to have some balls to release an expansive concept album as ridiculous, pompous and brave as this. But that's just the way we like a Sébastien Tellier record.

[you can buy My God Is Blue direct from Record Makers]

France Gall's Baby Pop

I noticed with joy on the last Ready Steady Girls mailout that there's a new France Gall comp coming out. Made In France: France Gall's Baby Pop is released this Monday 4th June on the always-dependable RPM records and collects together all of her Gainsbourg penned output recorded for Phillips between 1963 and 1968.

Aside from the classics, there are a few titles which are new to me (Rue de l'abricot, Mon Bateau de Nuit, Quand on est ensemble, Tu n'as pas le droit...), and it's good to have a proper release of her version of Bloody Jack and Poupée De Cire... in Japanese too!

If you want to start your France Gall collection, buy it!  If you have a France Gall collection, buy it, there must be something you don't already have! If you hate France Gall, why are you still reading, go buy it too, you might be surprised by the sugary audio confections within!

You can buy Made In France: France Gall's Baby Pop direct from RPM/Cherry Red.