Vive la Résolution

Overdid it at Christmas? Time to start that exercise regime.

Here’s Professeur Dutronc with a quick aerobics lesson:

Jacques Dutronc - La Leçon de Gymnastique du Professeur Dutronc
[buy Jacques Dutronc from iTunes / Amazon]

As a child, I remember being taken along to the village hall to hang out with the other toddlers whilst our mums partook in the latest exercise craze ‘Pop Mobility’.

Looking back, I can see this experience probably had more than a little influence on my musical tastes…

(image courtesy of retro trash)

Let’s start with a gentle warm-up:

Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene (Part IV)
[buy Jean-Michel Jarre from iTunes / Amazon]

Even the penguins have over-indulged during the festive season

(image courtesy of retro trash – look! This one’s got Space on it!!)

Got those muscles all warmed-up? Time for a hi-energy workout, just keep something in reserve for when those break-beats kick in:

Hot Butter – Popcorn
[buy Hot Butter from iTunes / Amazon]

[We love Popcorn round here! Verity is particularly fond of her French Version Originale 7”. The original was written by electronic pioneer Gershon Kingsley, but we think the Hot Butter version is the best. Someone’s dedicated a whole website to the song (including an ace Russian surf-guitar version). Not even the Crazy Frog could spoil it! One day well dedicate a whole post to Popcorn.]

At the end of each Pop Mobility session they would have a warm-down to Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross. But we’ll ignore that one...

Joyeux Noël

****Happy Christmas / Joyeux Noël****

We're a bit too busy dealing with Christmas to give you a post about Christmas. But we will be providing some support over the festive period for those who choose to remain in Brighton...

We know we’ll all be bored of our new toys, and sick of arguing with relatives come the end of Boxing Day, so here’s a chance to escape for a few hours:

SATURDAY 27th DECEMBER
L'AMOUR ELECTRONIQUE
The West Hill (formerly The Belle Vue),
Buckingham Place, Brighton
(it's just up the hill next to Brighton Station!)
9pm – 3am
FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT LONG.


Dom and Verity will be playing French bubblegum pop, synthesized sounds and electronic nuggets to ease you on your way from Christmas to New Year’s Eve.

We will be joined in record playing duties by Estelle (who is properly French and will show us up).

Come along it will be pleasant and booze-y.


Here's a yuletide youtube to get you in the mood
MERRY PROG-ING CHRISTMAS (don't fear the Prog, kids)

Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas

CAUTION HORSES

Polly is a girl, and Polly has a horse. The horse suffers from depression and is troubled by the voices in its head. The horse is called Blue Monday.

Blue Monday lopes around a windswept paddock to an internal soundtrack of early 80’s Factory Records, as played in 2008 by a bunch Parisian kids on glacial synths, lowwwwww-slung bass and strict, metronomic drums.

It’s Koko Von Napoo.

Now, let’s check those credentials:

• Four young Parisians (3 girls, 1 boy) – CHECK
  
• A love of Factory Records and the sound of crumbling, early 80’s Manchester – CHECK
  
• A name that apparently references a Pre-War Manchester gang: The Napoo (as mentioned in Andrew Davies’ Gangs of Manchester) – CHECK
  
• A name that makes them sound German – CHECK
  

Koko Von Napoo - Polly

[buy Koko Von Napoo from Rough Trade / iTunes]

Now, I had this idea that chevalier was French for cavalier – being that cheval is French for horse, it seemed logical. But I foolishly looked it up. It’s actually French for knight.

But let’s go with my idea anyway… we’ll just imagine it’s a knight on a horse, like this one. Okay?

So, I’m sat there listening to Le Chevalier by Jiji, thinking: that must surely be an intentional pun or in-joke, getting a sweet pop songstress called Jiji (a phonetic mimicry of gee-gee –English slang term for race-horse) to sing a song about a knight (on a horse)… Does this pun work in French? Was someone back there in les années 60’s having a little chuckle as they set the hooves in motion for this record? Am I clutching at straws?

Jiji – Le Chevalier
[this song was re-released on the now deleted compilation Ultra Chicks Vol. 6: Vous Dansez Mademoiselle.  Weirdo Records (USA) have copies apparently...]

Next one out of the horse-box: a slab of avant-hard synth-abuse courtesy of Miss Ann Shenton.

In which our heroine mounts her statuesque, battery-powered steed and summons a choir of heavenly Mellotron-ic beings to lead into battle with an army of evil theremin wielding robots…

Add N To (X) – Ann’s Eveready Equestrian
[buy Add N to (X) from Mute / iTunes]

And we couldn’t do a post about horses without including perhaps the best electronic song ever written about a horse (in our humble opinion). 

Sample lyric:
“Oh glittering horse, you were sold
in a shady shop, on the Edgeware Road”

We give you Simon Bookish.
Everybody scream METAL HORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simon Bookish – Metal Horse
[buy Simon Bookish direct from the horses mouth / iTunes]

Re-Launch imminent

Only 1 day to go...

Come and find us barricaded with Eiffel Tower models into a Tricolore-d corner, treating your ears to a late night 6-hour cocktail of electronic goodness, French bubblegum pop and filthy dirty synthcore.

If you come (which you should), you can expect to hear Serge Gainsbourg, Soft Cell, Francoise Hardy, Human League, Stereo Total, Brigitte Bardot, The Knife, Jacques Dutronc, OMD, Michel Polnareff, Glass Candy, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Stereolab, Pulp, Magnetic Fields, The Chap, Add N to (X), Devo, Air, early electronic delights, Ye-Ye and synthesized weirdness.

Entry is still FREE

Opening times 9pm – 3am

To celebrate the move, there will be a special mix CD for the first 25 who come and ask us for one.

Let the countdown commence...
Pulp - Countdown

To recap:
L’Amour Electronique
Saturday 22 November 2008
(and every following 4th Saturday of the month)
9pm – 3am
FREE entry

The West Hill
(formerly the Belle Vue)
67 Buckingham Place
Brighton
BN1 3PQ

Ssssssh! Quiet in the stacks please…

Hold tight! Here comes a shameless plug.

Today sees the release of Miss Pain’s latest record Shelf-Location ROM / Kiss Cuddle Torture. It's released by Nylon! Friction! and it’s quite good, you know.

It comes pressed onto 2 sides of a crisp vinyl biscuit measuring seven inches in diameter and limited to a mere 500 copies. Or, if you are hip with the times, there is a more profuse, yet slightly elusive mp3 version that you can have but not hold, this includes 6 bonus remixes from the likes of:

Tony Tronic (UK) – slick dance-floor friendly synth-disco
MC Fashion (UK) – a hyperactive 8-bit gabba meltdown
Kemper Norton (UK) – kraut-rock musique concrete
Katsen (UK) – pure and perfect 8-bit electro-pop
r@zorbla.de (Germany) – darkwave trancefloor goth-Soft-Cell disco
Hawnay Troof (USA) – camped-up hi-NRG Euro disco


You can listen to all 8 tracks here!
You can buy the seven-inch here!
You can buy mp3s on iTunes here!

Since the library is the scenario for one of the songs (Shelf-Location ROM is, of course, where you will find the romance novels), let’s celebrate with a couple more library and book related pieces of music:

It’s Cursor Miner with a jaunty little paean to the wonders of the public library, it always makes me think of all those short informational films they used to show in the middle of Play School in the eighties (shots of cans trundling round the conveyer belts in the baked-bean factory set to a sprightly Radiophonic Workshop tune).

Knowledge is power, and there’s a lot of knowledge to be had down the library. And as if that isn’t enough, Mister Miner reminds us that: “The library, the library, it’s the place where books are free”. Unless, that is, you borrow one and don’t return it – then you’ll get a hefty fine, an admin charge, and you’ll have to refund the cost of a replacement book. Make sure you get your books back on time kids!

Cursor Miner – Library


And now, we Broadcast some shuffling electronic/harpsichord dreaminess for all you book lovers out there – I’d forgotten quite how strange and beautiful this one is:

Broadcast – The Book Lovers



Bonus edition:
Here’s a lo-fi version of Shelf-Location ROM recorded purely with battery-powered instruments live on Radio Reverb last October. Mmmm, tinny…

Miss Pain – Shelf-Location ROM (battery-powered – live on Radio Reverb)

Cease and Desist

A few days ago we received notification from blogger that someone has served a Cease and Desist notice against our humble little blog. The objection was to our post "SETLIST + PODCAST - 26 APRIL 2008", which has now been removed by blogger.

At first we thought it was a joke, but it would appear not.

We have not been able to obtain information as to what part of the content is in question, but we can only assume that someone out there objects to having their music included within our hour-long mix, and they're the kind of person who can pay someone to sit and trawl the interweb for sites that have posted music by the artist in question. They could have just emailed us at lamourelectronique(at)misspain.co.uk and we would have removed it ourselves...

Here's the full set-list (minus the podcast link), take a look and see if you can guess which of them it might be

Sarah
Silvery – “Horrors”/“Orders”
Ladytron – Another Breakfast With You
Les Roche Martin – Tu As Peur De Bruit
Ginette Reno – Des Croissants De Soleil (Pour Dejeuner)
Large Number – Chronosynclasticinfundibulation
Kid Carpet – Your Love
Tracey & The Plastics – Queerion
Terre Thaemlitz – Cars
Stereo Total – Ta Voix Au Téléphone
Monster Bobby – Heaven Hides Nothing
Einsturzende Neubauten – Blume (French Version)
Verity
Jacques Dutronc – L’Idole (Je N’en Peux Plus)
Jarvis Cocker & Kid Loco – I Just Came To Tell You I’m Going
Pet Shop Boys – Shopping
Petula Clark – Le Coeur Qui Bat
Françoise Hardy – Le Temps De Souvenirs
John Foxx – Europe After The Rain
Stereolab – Motoroller Scalatron
Ivy – L’Anamour
Godley & Creme – Under Your Thumb
Dominic
The Passions – In Love With a German Filmstar
Suzanne Gabriello – Z' Avez Pas Lu Kafka (Mirza)
Silicon Teens – TV Playtime
Fabienne Delsoll – I’m Gonna Catch Me A Rat
Felix Da Housecat feat. Miss Kittin – Madame Hollywood
Crystal Castles – Crimewave
Ladytron – Black Cat
Clothilde – La Chanson Bête et Méchante
Annie Phillippe – Pour La Gloire
Sarah
Noisy Pig – Magic Pee (feat. Brezel Göring)
Hot Chip – Pure Thought
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love
Peepholes – Trouble In Heartbreak High
Blue Minkies – Kevin
France Gall – Ne Sois Pas Si Bête
Ria Bartok – Tu Te Moques De Moi
Roxy Music – Re-Make/Re-Model
Miss Pain – Shelf-Location ROM
Verity
The Human League – Love Action
Neon Neon – Belfast
Michel Polnareff – Oiseau De Nuit
France Gall – Les Sucettes
Add N to (X) – Adding N to X
Soft Cell – Bedsitter
Magnetic Fields – Swinging London
Ray Davies/BBC Sporting Themes – Breezy Bounce
The Normal – Warm Leatherette
Depeche Mode – Master and Servant
Dominic
Stella – Je Ne Peux Te Voir En Pe
Anna Karina – rollergirl
Serge Gainsbourg – Qui Est ‘In”, Qui Est ‘Out’
Stereo Total – Vive Le Weekend
Best Fwends – Dream Off
Ssion – Call Out Our Lions
Large Number – The Number People
Adèle - Je Ne Veux Plus d'Accordéon
Echokrank – AbwAerts
Les Hou-Lops – Oh Non!
Jacques Dutronc – Sur Une Nappe De Restaurant
Cobra Killer – LA Shaker
Liz Brady – Palladium (The Hip)
Sarah
*******PODCAST BEGINS*******
Dandi Wind – Balloon Factory
Motormark – Eat Sleep Drink Think
The Associates – Club Country
Glass Candy – Love After Sundown
Mick Harvey – Ford Mustang
Hefner – The Science Fiction
Verity
Vanessa Paradis – Joe LE Taxi
Yazoo – Don’t Go
Neon Neon – Neon Theme
Cerrone – Supernature
Devo – Mongoloid
Les Georges Leningrad – Mammal Beats
Stereo Total - Vilaine Filles, Mauvais Garçons
Serge Gainsbourg - Shu Ba Du Ba Loo Ba
The Knife – Bird
Dominic
The Mae-Shi – Lamb and Lion
Margaret Berger – Seek I’ll Hide
Jany L. – Restaurant Chinois
Adèle – C’est Bon
Stereo Total – Lunatique
Kap Bambino – Took Life
*******PODCAST ENDS*******
Françoise Hardy – Apprends Le Moi
Jane Birkin – 18-39
Sarah
Luke Haines – Off My Rocker at The Art School Bop
Bis – Action and Drama
Metal Mickey – Lollipop Lollipop
Verity
Stereolab – Wow and Flutter
Pete Shelley – Homosapien
Pulp – She’s A Lady
Dominic
The Ting Tings – Fruit Machine
Jacques Dutronc - A La Queue Les Yvelines
MGMT – Time To Pretend
Sarah
Devo – Uncontrollable Urge
Verity
New Order - 586
-FIN-

Look! New Poster!

Yes we have a lovely new poster to show-off our lovely new night in a lovely new venue.

Here it is: