ghosts of halloween past

Does this look awfully lazy me re-visiting ghosts of halloween past? Sorry if it does, but I just don't have the time to find and compile anything new (and I like to think there are still people out there who haven't come across either of these mixtapes yet).

Quelle Horreur! is my original mix of ghoulish Gallic psyche, creepy freakbeat and blood-thirsty femme-pop...

1. Stella - Si vous connaissez quelque-chose de pire qu'un vampire, parlez m'en toujours, ça pourra peut-être me faire sourire

2. Serge Gainsbourg - Docteur Jekyll Et Monsieur Hyde

3. Christine Pilzer - Dracula

4. Les Maledictus Sound - Kriminal Theme

5. Evariste - Connais-Tu I'animal Qui Inventa Le Calcul Integral

6. France Gall - Frankenstein

7. Jany L. - Mon Joli Vampire

8. Gérard Manset - Animal on est mal

9. Les Maledictus Sound - Monster Cocktail

10. Nicole Paquin - Mon Mari C'est Frankenstein

11. Brigitte Bardot - Le Diable Est Anglais

QUELLE HORREUR! VOL. 1 (40.9mb zip file)

Quelle Horreur! vol. 2 is dripping with sinister synths, creepy claviolines, demonic drum machines, and eerie electronica...

1. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind - The Shining (Main Title)
2. Kap Bambino - Batcaves
3. Relaxed Muscle - Beastmaster
4. Future Bible Heroes - I'm a Vampire
5. Ladytron - Miss Black
6. John Carpenter - Halloween Theme (Main Title)
7. Zombie Zombie - Walk Of The Dead
8. Broadcast - Evil Is Coming
9. Les Georges Leningrad - Cocktail Vampire
10. Suicide - Ghostrider
11. Mount Vernon Arts Lab – Hobgoblins
12. Stereo Total – Film D’Horreur
13. Lio - Bébé Vampire
14. I Monster - The Blue Wrath
15. The Moontrekkers - Return of The Vampires

QUELLE HORREUR! VOL. 2 (57.1mb zip file)

Lou Reed RIP

(I've been trying to upload this mp3 for the past two days. Better late than never....)


This is for Lou Reed who has been with me ever since I bought a cassette of the best of The Velvet Underground when I was 17 and no-one in my year at school could understand what I could hear in it.

I love this photo of Lou and Nico, I like to imagine they're working out Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.

Here is my own tiny L'Amour Electronique-esque tribute to the man: a melancholy 8-bit cover of Stephanie Says by one of my favourite bands Stereo Total.

[image source]

Stereo Total - Je Rêve Encore De Toi (We Love Taxigirl Mix)
[nb. until I can work out a way of embedding a player through my new file hosts, you'll need to click the link to listen and download the mp3]

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.21

Greetings Chaîne fans, for link 21 you just need to take the title of the last song 'Metal Horse' and drop the equine noun, and you get...

'Metal'.

By Gary Numan.

Metal is taken from Numan's 1979 The Pleasure Principle album, his 1st 'solo' album after two under the collective Tubeway Army guise. It sees Gazza dropping the guitars completely and embracing full electronic/synthetic instrumentation throughout. And on the cover he appears to be trying to divine 'Pleasure' from a small red pyramid.

Hmmm, nice conceptual cover Gary, wonder where you got the idea from?

According to the wikipedia entry (your only trustworthy site on the interweb kids!*), 'Metal' is sung from the "perspective of an android longing to be human". Which leads me to ponder once again: Is Numan Human?**

Gary Numan - Metal
[you can buy The Pleasure Principle from all yr usual online outlets. Or you can go to a real shop and buy it for real from a real person.]


*joke
**I used to have a badge with a rather crude Numan drawing on it and the legend "Is Numan Human?" in a hi-tech digital typeface

...................................................................
L'Amour à la Chaîne: what will be the next link in the chain? Join in...
Please leave your suggestions and any reasons in the comments.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Amour à la Chaîne > Françoise Hardy - Je Changerais D'Avis > Les 5 Gentlemen – Cara-Lin > Add N To (X) – Monster Bobby > Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas > Les Shades – Orage Mécanique > Gillian Hills - Rentre Sans Moi > Zombie Zombie - Psychic Harmonia > Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman? > Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père > Violaine - J'ai Des Problèmes Décidement > Dutronc - Dodecaphonie > Fabienne Delsol - Ce Jour La > Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu > Miss Kittin & The Hacker - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre > Andre Popp - L'Homme Invisible > Future Bible Heroes - Love Is Blue > Sandie Shaw - L'Orage > Ars Post Tergum Introet - Ford Mustang > Simon Bookish - Metal Horse > Gary Numan - Metal > ?

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.20

Looking at my blog stats the other day, I was heartened, yet slightly baffled, to see some of the most visited posts are those from my ongoing L'Amour à la Chaîne sequence. So with that knowledge under my hat, I s'pose it's time I added another link to the ongoing chain.

Previously on L'Amour à la Chaîne it was a Portuguese cover of Serge's 'Ford Mustang'...

The Mustang was named after the free-roaming horses descended from those brought to the Americas by the Spanish, and now regarded as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people."

Each and every Ford Mustang has a metal horse emblem affixed to the radiator grill (unless it's been half-inched), so in tribute to this iconic hunk of chrome, here is METAL HORSE!

"Glittering horse, you were sold, in a shady shop on the Edgeware Road"

[image source]

I still love this hefty slab of cutandpaste 8-bit reductivist electro pop by Simon Bookish, hope you like it too!

Simon Bookish - Metal Horse
[Metal Horse was originally released in 2005 as a limited seven-inch on Tomlab Records. You can still buy it direct from Tomlab's European and US online outlets. There was no mp3 release.]

...................................................................
L'Amour à la Chaîne: what will be the next link in the chain?
Leave your suggestions and reasons in the comments.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Amour à la Chaîne > Françoise Hardy - Je Changerais D'Avis > Les 5 Gentlemen – Cara-Lin > Add N To (X) – Monster Bobby > Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas > Les Shades – Orage Mécanique > Gillian Hills - Rentre Sans Moi > Zombie Zombie - Psychic Harmonia > Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman? > Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père > Violaine - J'ai Des Problèmes Décidement > Dutronc - Dodecaphonie > Fabienne Delsol - Ce Jour La > Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu > Miss Kittin & The Hacker - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre > Andre Popp - L'Homme Invisible > Future Bible Heroes - Love Is Blue > Sandie Shaw - L'Orage > Ars Post Tergum Introet - Ford Mustang > Simon Bookish - Metal Horse > ?

L'Amour Electronique mix 4

!!!NEWSFLASH!!! Part 2 of this mix now added below!!!

I felt I should commemorate the fact that a whole year has passed since the final L'Amour Electronique soirée on 26 May 2012, so I dug out a mix I had sitting on my hard-drive and dusted up for your listening pleasure.  This one was mixed live at one of our nights on 26 February 2011. Hopefully it'll keep y'all entertained while we wait for the mp3s to come back...

Here is some blurb that I spewed out to introduce it on mixcloud:

You want an epic prog-electroni-folk lament from Air? CHECK! You want a seriously DEVO-lved Toni Basil space-oddity? CHECK! You want to swoon as Gillian Hills makes dragging on a cigarette sound like the sexiest thing EVER? *PUFF PUFF* You want naked thighs and leather boots? CHECK! You want the Kili-watch rush of a surf-guitar instrumental? CHECK! You want early J-J Perrey Moog-pop? CHECK! You want Da Da Da en Français? CHECK! You want Christophe to leave behind his blue-eyed years and get on a grinding, motorik groove? CHECK! You want obscure pre-beat orchestral pop from Tienou; electro-pop from The Knife and Future Bible Heroes; Françoise Hardy, Liz Brady, Adèle (not that one), Polnareff and Brigitte Bardot? yé-yé! yé-yé! yé-yé! THEN HIT PLAY NOW >>

L'Amour Electronique mix 4 (pt.1) by Lamourelectronique on Mixcloud

tracklisting for mix 4 (pt.1)

Air – Sex Born Poison

Stereo Total – Cannibale

The Knife – Kino

Toni Basil – Space Girls

Brigitte Bardot – Le Diable est Anglais

Adèle – J’ai Peur Parfois (acoustic version)

Gillian Hills – Ma Premiere Cigarette

Françoise Hardy – Pas Gentille

Serge Gainsbourg – L’Homme à Tête du Chou

Philippe Nicaud – Cuisses Nues, Bottes de Cuir

Liz Brady – Palladium

Léo Petit et Ses Guitares et Ses Rhythmes – Kili-watch

Jean-Claude Vannier – L’Ours Parasseux

Michel Polnareff – Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta

Jean-Jacques Perrey – Porcupine Rock

Toss – Da Da Da (Est-ce qu'on s'cherche ou est ce qu'on triche?)

Christophe – Rock Monsieur

Tienou – Tu N’Peux Pas T’Empêcher de Rire

Future Bible Heroes – Love Is Blue

Jean-Michel Jarre – Equinoxe (pt.4)

Françoise Hardy – Le Premier Bonheur du Jour

And now for PART 2! 

Allez-Allez! The mix continues >> obscure indie-poppers do Serge > pure synth-pop > moody French disco > sugary & soulful femme pop > In/Out > lo-fi electro-pop > analogue synth abuse > filthy dirty freakbeat > a hefty dose of road rash > proto-electronica > sounds of summer > psyche-noir. And all for your listening pleasure.

L'Amour Electronique mix 4 (pt.2) by L'Amour Electronique on Mixcloud

tracklisting for mix 4 (pt.2)
Addictive Larsen – Bonnie & Clyde
The Human League – Open Your Heart
Kraftwerk – Airwaves
Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
Mareva Galanter – Les Filles C’est Faites Pour Faire L’Amour
Bébé Suong – Mine De Rien
Elizabeth – Madame Superman
Les Roche Martin – Les Mains Dans Les Poches
Serge Gainsbourg – Qui est ‘In’, Qui est ‘Out’?
Sue Wilkinson – You’ve Got To Be a Hustler
Stereo Total – Baby Ouh
Add N To (X) – Ann’s Eveready Equestrian
Jesus – L’Electrocuté
Christophe – Macadam
The Normal – T.V.O.D.
Mathématiques Moderne – Disco Rough
Bertrand Burgalat & Robert Wyatt – This Summer Night
Johnny Hallyday – Noir C’est Noir

Cactus versus Brezel

It will no doubt surprise you, dear reader, that my position in society as a music blogger/artist/musician/DJ/toy maker/father has not yet made me my millions. It is because of this that I, plus the good lady V and the little O, found myself in a Holiday Inn up there in up-and-come-and-pretty-much-gentrified Hoxton, East London.

Caught in a moment of pure glamour, we were awaiting the only working lift to reception, and as the doors slid open, who should we spy amidst the packed-in-like-sardines passengers? None other than our old friends Stereo Total (over from Berlin for one night only)...

[I wondered aloud if they always stayed at the Holiday Innn, but apparently they rather regret writing that song: "Next time we will write about a more upmarket hotel!"]

We checked out and found a café bar to pass the time until their flight, and they very kindly furnished me with a vinyl copy of their new LP Cactus versus Brezel. And then they were off, refreshed by breakfast, Guinness and rosé wine.

There was no sign of the fisticuffs promised by that title, but just supposing...

"LAYDEEZ AND GENTLE MEN, in the coin Français, on vocals, kazoo and banging the drums: FRRRRANÇOISE CACTUSSS!!!"

*DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A*
"It doesn't pay to try, all the smart girls no why..."

Trust Françoise, she's a smart cookie and she knows.

She knows it makes good sense to take a rough pop diamond by smacked-up heartbreaker Johnny Thunders and to turn it into a dirty, shuddering, synthetic hymn to love, loss and empty arms.

*this is the sound of a filthy, dirty arpeggiator*so there*

Françoise Cactus - You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

[only released on the 3-disc Girl Monster compilation (Chicks on Speed Records), which is out of print, but there are 2nd hand copies here]


"And in the Deutsche ecke, on guitars, synths, trautonium und neu!-ses:  
BRRRRREZEL GÖRRRING!!!!"

*BEEP*
"We can hear you coming through loud and clear on the answerphone."
*BEEP*
"No, you're breaking up. You're breaking up into a stuttering, electro cut-up xerox of an old Serge Gainsbourg Freggae number..."
"Is that you Françoise? Brezel? Just what is this bad news filtering in on the solar winds? Tell us, what news from way up there in the celestial heavens?"
...
"No, you're breaking up again..."
*BEEP*
---message terminated---

Brezel Göring - Bad News From The Stars

[originally released on the Brezel Göring/Barom One split LP (buy it from Gagarin Records); confusingly, a virtually identical version also came out on Stereo Total's Discotheque remixes album (buy); and then there's an alternate version, with our other friend Vice Cooler rapping over it on Hawnay Troof's sprawling double album Dollar and Deed (buy)]

Françoise, Nicolas, Jean-Benoît et Jeanne

Let's toddle back to 1998 when Air released their, oft-copied/seldom matched, sci-fi lounge masterpiece Moon Safari. Tucked away on the b-side of simian-disco smash 'Sexy Boy' was a gem that saw them calling on the voice of a certain first lady of the French yé-yé scene.

This passed me by completely at the time, and though I loved the song 'Sexy Boy', I could only afford to buy the album and not the single too, and so I missed out on those bonus b-sides.  Instead I discovered something magical when my now wife and I did a tape swap, where we both compiled some Gallic-flavoured numbers for our first holiday together in Paris.

Back then, neither of us had much of a French record collection, so we had to be imaginative: anything with even a hint of the old ooh la la about it was recorded and sequenced, and a certain track on her C90 shone through. It was taped off an Elefant Records compilation Pop Romantique: French Pop Classics (1999) - a tasty little album if you can still find a copy: it has French language covers and originals including that Heavenly/France Gall one I posted recently; and Chaîne 17 contenders-by-proxy The Magnetic Fields doing a creaky version of 'Le Tourbillon' from Jules et Jim, that sounds like a busted old merry-go-round.

But I digress. The song by Air with a guest vocal by Françoise Hardy is entitled 'Jeanne' - a beautiful, breathy wisp of pastoral synth-pop with possibly the most melancholy oscillator solo I have ever heard. Make sure you have a handkerchief nearby before you listen...

Air feat. Françoise Hardy - Jeanne

[as mentioned above, this was issued as a b-side to Air's 'Sexy Boy' single, and also on Pop Romantique (Elefant Records/Emperor Norton). There are cheap used CD copies of both on the usual 2nd hand sites, and a couple of reasonably-priced vinyl copies of Pop Romantique on discogs.com]

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.17

This was to be my inaugural post of 2013, however it has now taken about 2 weeks to finish composing, and it has been well-and-truly bumped down the list.  I had it clear in my mind that I had no intention of heralding the new year by blowing hot air about how grand resolutions to keep the posts coming and write more regularly for you, my handful of readers. But the lesson has been learned and the stock has been taken, and nowadays I have even less time to devote to hollering into the ether in the vain hope that more people will hear me. Soooooo.....

Instead I shall get on with the next instalment of la Chaîne.

Cast your minds back, dear readers, to my previous link, and that dastardly Invisible Man was getting a bit too touchy feely with his wandering hands, musically aided by Monsieur Andre Popp...

Back in 1967, a young greek chanteuse by the name of Vicky came in fourth representing Luxembourg at the 12th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. The song was 'L'Amour Est Bleu' and it was co-written by Andre Popp and Pierre Cour. The song has been covered by everyone from Jeff Beck to Johnny Mathis, and was a number 1 hit record in the US when Paul Mauriat released an easy listening version in early 1968.

Favourite recordings round our way are Claudine Longet's swoonsome version, and this more recent(!?!) electronic Europop cover by Future Bible Heroes (one of many projects led by the sickeningly prolific genius and indisputible Eeyore of lo-fi indie pop Stephin Merritt)

Future Bible Heroes - Love Is Blue

[this was released in 1997 on the Lonely Days ep (Slow River Records), which is out of print. There are 2nd hand copies out there, current market value £10-£13]

...................................................................
L'Amour à la Chaîne: what will be the next link in the chain?
Leave your suggestions and reasons in the comments.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Amour à la Chaîne > Françoise Hardy - Je Changerais D'Avis > Les 5 Gentlemen – Cara-Lin > Add N To (X) – Monster Bobby > Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas > Les Shades – Orage Mécanique > Gillian Hills - Rentre Sans Moi > Zombie Zombie - Psychic Harmonia > Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman? > Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père > Violaine - J'ai Des Problèmes Décidement > Dutronc - Dodecaphonie > Fabienne Delsol - Ce Jour La > Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu > Miss Kittin & The Hacker - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre > Andre Popp - L'Homme Invisible > Future Bible Heroes - Love Is Blue > ?

Witch Culture on the BBC

Remember my post about The Eccentronic Research Council? Well, there was a creepy feature on them on last week's Halloween Culture Show which is still available for a couple more days.

You can watch the full show here >> [available until 2:39AM Fri, 9 Nov 2012]


And in case you're too late and it's not yet been re-posted to youtube by some form of analogue-to-digital witchcraft, there is an edited highlights clip of the feature here >>

C'est Halloween, moi j'ai peur

Time to dust off those Halloween mixtapes again.

If you like ghoulish Gallic psyche, creepy freakbeat and freaky femme-pop, look no further...

1. Stella - Si vous connaissez quelque-chose de pire qu'un vampire, parlez m'en toujours, ça pourra peut-être me faire sourire

2. Serge Gainsbourg - Docteur Jekyll Et Monsieur Hyde

3. Christine Pilzer - Dracula

4. Les Maledictus Sound - Kriminal Theme

5. Evariste - Connais-Tu I'animal Qui Inventa Le Calcul Integral

6. France Gall - Frankenstein

7. Jany L. - Mon Joli Vampire

8. Gérard Manset - Animal on est mal

9. Les Maledictus Sound - Monster Cocktail

10. Nicole Paquin - Mon Mari C'est Frankenstein

11. Brigitte Bardot - Le Diable Est Anglais

>>DOWNLOAD QUELLE HORREUR VOL. 1 (40.9mb zip file)>>
[previously posted here >>]

This one is chock-full of sinister synths, creepy claviolines, demonic drum machines, and eerie electronica...

1. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind - The Shining (Main Title)
2. Kap Bambino - Batcaves
3. Relaxed Muscle - Beastmaster
4. Future Bible Heroes - I'm a Vampire
5. Ladytron - Miss Black
6. John Carpenter - Halloween Theme (Main Title)
7. Zombie Zombie - Walk Of The Dead
8. Broadcast - Evil Is Coming
9. Les Georges Leningrad - Cocktail Vampire
10. Suicide - Ghostrider
11. Mount Vernon Arts Lab – Hobgoblins
12. Stereo Total – Film D’Horreur
13. Lio - Bébé Vampire
14. I Monster - The Blue Wrath
15. The Moontrekkers - Return of The Vampires

>>DOWNLOAD QUELLE HORREUR VOL. 2 (57.1mb zip file)>>

[originally posted here >>]



***BONUS PIECE OF DISTURBING SCREAMO FREAKBEAT NASTINESS POUR VOUS***

Jacques Filh - Wraaaach!!!

[you can buy this Jacques Filh track on the new Beginner's Guide To French Pop compilation]

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.15

Bet you didn't expect another L'Amour à la Chaîne post quite so soon...

You can thank Darby for planting the seed for this next one. In response to Chaîne no. 14 (Johnny Hallyday's Son Amour Pour Un Jeu), she asked if I could post Françoise Hardy's later version of the song: L'Ombre. Which I duly did, here >>.

Next we have Miss Kittin & The Hacker: synthetic disco rhythms and filthy dirty synthesizers, with a bored sounding European girl making banal observations over the top. This is what we used to call "Electroclash" (Is that still a dirty word? Or is there enough distance yet to re-appraise the seedy/glam niteklub fad? Someone at The Quietus reckons there is >>)

This is taken from their inspiringly titled First Album, and we find Miss Kittin adrift in a vortex of swelling, synthesized strings and hard-edge, detuned oscillators, confessing her fears about the man in the shadows who lurks behind her...

...Ah, turns out she's just talking about The Hacker, though perhaps it's not such a sugary relationship: He seems to have enslaved her, and has taken her out on a never-ending tour, forcing her to sing every night in a new city, in her new life. No wonder she sounds so cold and emotionless. And no wonder it took so long for them to get together for album Two.

Miss Kittin & The Hacker - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre

[you can purchase First Album from Zero"]

...................................................................
L'Amour à la Chaîne: what will be the next link in the chain?
Leave your suggestions and reasons in the comments.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Amour à la Chaîne > Françoise Hardy - Je Changerais D'Avis > Les 5 Gentlemen – Cara-Lin > Add N To (X) – Monster Bobby > Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas > Les Shades – Orage Mécanique > Gillian Hills - Rentre Sans Moi > Zombie Zombie - Psychic Harmonia > Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman? > Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père > Violaine - J'ai Des Problèmes Décidement > Dutronc - Dodecaphonie > Fabienne Delsol - Ce Jour La > Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu > Miss Kittin & The Hacker - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre > ?

meanwhile, back in 1612...

We're getting a little damp in the crotch about this new record by The Eccentronic Research Council, a brave high-concept  album/long-form electronic sound poem, based around the events of the Pendle Witch Trials of August 1612, and performed by electronic musician-producers Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer with actress Maxine Peake.

There is a free mp3 (or mpfree) of an early demo Her Kind Wicked Sister available via the ERC Tumblr site. Which proves that you can be high-concept, experimental and pop all at the same time: It's ace, like Shostakovich gone analogue-pop, with a gritty monologue from a paganistic kitchen-sink melodrama,  and a rabble of chanting black-magic kids dancing sing-song circles round and round and round.
>> GET YR FREE PAGAN POP HERE >>>>


1612 Underture by The Eccentronic Research Council  is available on ltd. hand made vinyl, CD and Download through the Finders Keepers Records 'Bird' imprint. You can read an elaborate précis, listen to soundclips, and purchase it here >>>>>>>>>>

...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.

la fin de la soirée

After nearly 10 YEARS of giving Brighton the finest in Synthesized Sounds, vintage French Pop and Electronic Delights we have decided that it’s time to go out with a great big SHEBAM! POW! BLOP! WIZZZZZ!
 
SATURDAY 26 MAY 2012
la dernière L’Amour Electronique
9pm – 3am
The Westhill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ
FREE ENTRY as it has always been

So please join us for one last late-night cocktail of 60s Yé-Yé, 80s Synthpop, Electronic Pioneers, 8-Bit, Québécois, Gallic Freakbeat, Chanson, Synthcore, Moog Pop, Swinging Mademoiselles, Casio Pop and Synth Disco.




But L’Amour Electronique n’est pas morte, the blog will live on, and on, and on.

love + electronics
Dom, Verity and Sarah

8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< CUT 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8<

setlist from 28 April 2012

Seeing as it was our 2nd to last ever L'Amour Electronique I felt I should at least make an effort and get the setlist up on here so people can kick themselves/congratulate themselves on missing out if they didn't come!

It was a good night, I think, nicely busy with a good crowd who seemed to appreciate the music - some even came and asked what things were, which is always a sign you're doing something right.  I'd even go so far as to say it felt a bit like it did back when we used to DJ at The Penthouse in the early years!

Thanks to all who came out on such a wet and turbulent night.

Dominic

Michel Colombier - Ballet Des Soupirs /

H. & G. Rapid Learning Systems: French – General Expressions: Salutations

Michel Polnareff – L’Oiseau De Nuit

Christophe – Excusez-Moi Monsieur Le Professeur

Fabienne Delsol – Ce Jour La

Stereo Total – Lunatique

Jean-Claude Brialy – Boomerang

Brigitte Bardot – Contact

Space – Magic Fly

Grimes – Oblivion

Léonie – En Alabama

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Le Chat du Café des Artistes

Sarah

Chantal Goya – Mon Ange Gardien

France Gall – Nous Ne Sommes Pas Des Anges

Les Roche Martin – Les Mains Dans Les Poches

Stereo Total – I Wanna Be A Mama

Vic 20 – Sweet Child O’ Mine

Ladytron – The Way That I Found You

Bat For Lashes – Two Planets

Glass Candy – Beatific

Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Torso Corso

Verity

C++ - Comme Dans Les Films

Add N To (X) – Hey Double Double

The Human League – The Things That Dreams Are Made Of

Hair (version original Française) – Laissez Entrer Le Soleil

Jacques Dutronc – Je Suis Content

Michel Polnareff – La Mouche

Fat Truckers – Anorexic Robot

Jean-Michel Jarre – Magnetic Fields Pt. 2

Dominic

YACHT – Le Goudron (edit)

Air – Parade

Jacky Chalard – Super Man–Super Cool

The Blackburds – Absolument Hyde Park

Anna Karina – Rollergirl

Katty Line – Un Petit Peu D’Amour

Jenny Rock – Mal

Brezel Göring – Ich Bin So Süchtig (feat. Christiane F.)

David Whittaker – theme from The Tube (ZX Spectrum 128K)

Dakkar & Grinser – I Wanna Be Your Dog

Christophe – Macadam

Sarah

Guerre Froide – Ersatz

Ruth – Polaroid-Roman-Photo

DAF – Kebabträume

John Foxx – 20^th Century

OMD – Pretending To See The Future

Devo – Girl U Want

The Knife – Kino

Verity

Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling

Ray Davies/BBC Sporting Themes – Breezy Bounce

Stereo Total – Tas De Tôle

Jacques Dutronc – On Nous Cache Tous, On Ne Dit Rien

Brigitte Bardot – Ca Pourrait Changer

Mareva Galanter – Les Cornichons

The 6ths (feat. Gary Numan) – The Sailor In Love With The Sea

Yazoo – Only You

Michel Polnareff – Qui à Tue Grand’Maman

Stereolab – Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations)

Patricia Carl – Le Lion

Jocelyne – Nitty Gritty

Dominic

Arlette Zola – Je Suis Folle De Tant T’Aimer

Les Gammas – Satsfaction

Larry Greco – Comme Un Poker

Johnny Hallyday – Noir C’est Noir

Pussycat – Aucune Fille Au Monde

Claude Denjean – Venus

Add N To (X) – Revenge Of The Black Regent

OMD – Messages

Simple Kid – The Road

Les Bel-Air – Ils Parlaient Dans Mon Dos

Sarah

Jacques Dutronc – L’Espace D’un Fille

Brigitte Bardot – Un Jour Comme Un Autre

Stella – Pourquoi Pas Moi

Françoise Cactus – You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory

Soft Cell – Memorabilia

The Human League – Only After Dark

Eurhythmics – Love Is A Stranger

Stereo Total – Hallo Damenklo

Devo – Swelling Itchy Brain

Strike a pose... MOOG!

Dominic

Claude Denjean – The House Of The Rising Sun

Stereolab – Sun Demon

Antoine – Ma Fête Foraine

France Gall – Cet Air La

Les Sunlights – C’est Fini

Pussycat – L’Arret D’Autobus

Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan – Electronic Movements: Syncopation

John Baker/BBC Radiophonic Workshop – The Chase

Bainc Didonc – 4 Cheveux Dans Le Vent

Les Brummels – BOF!

Marc Hamilton – Tapis Magique

Verity

Sandie Shaw – Toujours Un Coin Qui Me Rappelle

Françoise Hardy – Les Petits Garçons

Serge Gainsbourg – Requiem Pour Un Con

Cerrone – Supernature

Sebastien Tellier – Sexual Sportswear

Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene pt. 4

Deux – Dance With Me

Vanessa Paradis – Joe Le Taxi

Visage – Fade To Grey

Dauerfisch – Peter Thomas Kann Nicht Zählen

Dominic

Nicoletta – Ca Devait Arriver

Christophe – Sunny Road To Salina

Jean-Jacques Perrey – Pioneers Of The Stars

H. & G. Rapid Learning Systems: French – General Expressions: Salutations

“Goodbye: Au Revoir; Au Revoir…”

The End of The Road

I never really noticed Simple Kid when he was active, (maybe I was put off by the trucker's cap he always seemed to be hiding under), and now it seems he has sold all his music making toys and kit and retired from "The Biz".

But he did at least leave us all with something to remember him by in the form of a "lost demo" which was picked up by Mister Marc Riley and played out on his 6music show.  The response was good and in turn the good people at Static Caravan Recordings had their arms twisted to put it out into the wider public domain.

So, here it is, The Road: sounding like simultaneously listening to a life-instruction tape whilst playing a Death Race 2000-style game on the Commodore 64. Which, in case you were wondering, is a good thing.



You can download The Road by Simple Kid from Static Caravan Recordings.

And maybe, if the response is good, Simple Kid might unlock the cupboard where he keeps his "lost album" and share that with the world too.

L'Amour Electronique mix 3

***MIX 3 PT. 2 NOW ADDED - SEE BELOW***

Another mix of vintage French pop, eclectic electronics, psychedelic sweetness and synthetic sounds from your trusty L'Amour Electronique DJs (originally recorded live at our soirée on 22 January 2011).

Mix 3 begins with a little lesson in parler en Français, a spooky analogue symphony from Add N to (X) and then a steamy French version of Nancy & Lee's 'Summer Wine'. Onwards with some classic Gainsbourg, a rare Québécois garage cut, Nicoletta's eerie take on 'I Put a Spell on You', and some obscure Turkish Francophone garage. A little 70s segue leads us into more modern electronic territory with the brutalist synth-pop of Electronicat and Sebastien Tellier's epic Sexual Sportswear. Ending with a bittersweet 8-bit ballad from Yazoo and some Dutronc-ian absurdist psychedelia.

L'Amour Electronique mix 3 (pt.1) by Lamourelectronique on Mixcloud

tracklisting for part 1
H. & G. Rapid Learning Systems: FRENCH – General Expressions: Salutations /
Add N To (X) – On The Wires of Our Nerves
Marie Laforêt (avec Gérard Klein) - Le Vin De L’été
 Serge Gainsbourg – Ballade De Melody Nelson
Les Bel-Air – Ils Parlaient Dans Mon Dos
Nicoletta – Ça Devait Arriver
Jacqueline Taïeb – Bienvenue Au Pays
Broadcast – Message From Home
Galatasaray Lisesi – Zazie
Les Roche Martin – C'est Toi Qui A Gache Notre Vie
Philippe Clay – Dis Ma Femme
Sylvie Vartan – Ballade Pour Une Fugue
Grace Jones – La Vie En Rose
Stereo Total – Miss Rébellion Des Hormones
Electronicat – Frisco Bay
Sebastien Tellier – Sexual Sportswear
Yazoo – Nobody’s Diary
Jacques Dutronc – Ma Poule N’a Plus Que 29 Poulets


Our third mix continues with a mod-dancefloor classic and a tasty bit of boogaloo from Monsieurs Polnareff and Ferrer, some classic Stereolab and a truly sinister slab of analogue-synth abuse from Add N to (X). Next a Dutronc cover from Les Lolitas and one of my favourite Françoise Hardy songs. We also have garage femme pop (Les Princesses), porno go-go music (Gracy et Paje), Frrrrrench R’n’B and Ra-Ra-Ra-Rollergirl, then a swerve into 8-bit and space disco. Then Leonie takes our breath away with her epic, breathy Lilith, leading us into a little French/electronique finale.

L'Amour Electronique mix 3 (pt.2) by Lamourelectronique on Mixcloud

tracklisting for part2

Michel Polnareff - Time Will Tell

Nino Ferrer - Les Hommes A Tout Faire

Stereolab - French Disko

Add N To (X) - Revenge Of The Black Regent

Les Lolitas - Les Cactus

Françoise Hardy - Pourtant Tu M’Aimes

Les Princesses - Oh! Dis Moi

Joe Gracy Et Michel Paje - Les Danseuses à Go-Go

Les Problèmes - Dodécaphonie

Ronnie Bird - Elle M’Attend

Anna Karina - Rollergirl

Dave Rogers - Theme From Cybernoid (ZX Spectrum 128k)

Herman's Rocket - Space Woman

Leonie - Lilith

Air - Ghost Song

Coralie Clement - Vis-à-Vis

Deux - Game + Performance

Serge Gainsbourg - Ford Mustang

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene (Pt.4)

Future Bible Heroes - I'm A Vampire

France Gall - Les Sucettes

Quelle Horreur vol. 2: Sinister Synths and Monstrous Machines

At last! Quelle Horreur vol. 2. A halloween mixtape for fans of sinister synths, creepy claviolines, demonic drum machines, and eerie electronica.

1. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind - The Shining (Main Title)
2. Kap Bambino - Batcaves
3. Relaxed Muscle - Beastmaster
4. Future Bible Heroes - I'm a Vampire
5. Ladytron - Miss Black
6. John Carpenter - Halloween Theme (Main Title)
7. Zombie Zombie - Walk Of The Dead
8. Broadcast - Evil Is Coming
9. Les Georges Leningrad - Cocktail Vampire
10. Suicide - Ghostrider
11. Mount Vernon Arts Lab – Hobgoblins
12. Stereo Total – Film D’Horreur
13. Lio - Bébé Vampire
14. I Monster - The Blue Wrath
15. The Moontrekkers - Return of The Vampires

DOWNLOAD HERE [57.1mb zip file]

L'Amour Electronique mix 2

At last, the 2nd L'Amour Electronique mix! This one was recorded on 27 November 2010.

Another 2 hour mix of French pop, Gallic freakbeat, 60s garage, popsike, synth-pop, Franco-funk, bubblegum, chanson, ye-ye, synthesized sounds and electronic delights, for your listening pleasure.

For the first installment, we give you europop from Sebastien Tellier, call-and-response courtesy of Antoine and Jacques Dutronc, I Monster's sinister synth epic, a rare cut from France Gall, a Serge Gainsbourg soundtrack dalliance, Polnareff Computer funk, and more, and more, and more...


[for some reason the embedded player doesn't work with the Safari browser. It definitely works with Firefox though, or you can listen to it at the Mixcloud page]

L'Amour Electronique mix 2 (pt.1) by Lamourelectronique on Mixcloud

track listing for part 1
Boy From Brazil – Le Claqueur De Doigts

Joanna – Hold-up Inusité

Serge Gainsbourg et Jean-Claude Brialy - C’est La Cristallisation Comme Dit Stendhal

Stereo Total – Comme Un Garçon

Antoine – Les Élucubrations d’Antoine

Jacques Dutronc – Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi

John & Jehn – 20L07

I Monster – Who Is She?

Les Charlots – St. Rock

Michel Polnareff – Computer’s Dream

France Gall – Zoï Zoï

Brigitte Bardot – Le Diable Est Anglais

Liz Brady – Bas Les Pattes

Sylvie Vartan – Koibito Jidai

Chantal Goya – Une Écharpe, Une Rose

Charlotte Gainsbourg – AF607105

Sebastien Tellier – Divine

Vive La Fête – Maladie d’un Fon

Stereo Total – Alaska

L'Amour Electronique mix 2 (pt.2) by Lamourelectronique on Mixcloud

Hour 2 begins with a slow-burning Dutronc freakbeat classic. The mix takes a pure pop line until the urgent electro-meltdown of Dauerfisch and some oddball latterday Polnareff. Back to early 80s synth-pop (Human League, Telex), then off on a widescreen trip with Jean-Claude Vannier; next, some sweet ye-ye from mademoiselles Hardy, Hills and Goya, before Eddy Mitchell reprises the Anna soundtrack from part 1. It ends with an accordion duel between Jacques Brel and Adèle. Adèle wins with a bullet. 

track listing for part 2

Jacques Dutronc – Je Suis Content

Pete Shelley – Qu’est-ce Que C’est Que Ça

Serge Gainsbourg – Marilu

Baby Birkin – Orangutan

Mareva Galanter avec Jacno – Bang Bang

Françoise Hardy – Comment Te Dire Adieu

Brigitte Bardot – Tu Veux Ou Tu Veux Pas

Dauerfisch – Peter Thomas Kann Nicht Zählen

Michel Polnareff – Y’a Que Pas Pouvoir Qu’on Peut

Human League – (Keep Feeling) Fascination

Telex – Moskow Diskow

Large Number – The Number People

Jean-Claude Vannier – Je M’apelle Geraldine (up-tempo version)

The Blackbirds – Promenade dans le Forêt du Brabant

Françoise Hardy – Apprends Le Moi

Gillian Hills – Oublie

Chantal Goya – Laisse Moi

Eddy Mitchell – Baseball

Serge Gainsbourg – En Melody

David Bowie – Weeping Wall

Jacques Brel – Amsterdam

Adèle – Je Ne Veux Plus D’Accordéon