L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.10

We've been clearing Grandmother's house following her recent passing.  So much stuff hoarded away throughout her long and colourful life.  Lord knows what we'll do with Grandfather's clock, that great hulking Victorian beast of a time-piece which forever lurked in the dingy hallway.

Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père

[buy Christine Pilzer from CDandLP (if you have lots of money)]

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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 > ?

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.9

Pssst!  I think the coast is clear, haven't seen a zombie for weeks now.  The post of the living dead is over.

In the interim, some sad news: A death in the family - Dear ol' grandma shuffled off this mortal coil.  It doesn't look as though she succumbed in the zombie invasion. No, I suspect there my have been foul-play afoot.

But who killed Grandmother?

Perhaps this ecclesiastic euology from Polnareff will shed some light.  And even if it doesn't, it's sure to get all the tears a'flowing*.

Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman?

[buy Polnareff from itunes | amazon.co.uk]

Thank you Michel, that was beautiful.  Not sure why you had to spoil the moment by dressing up in Grandmother's clothes and baring your arse at the congregation though.


* to paraphrase a certain Mr. Cave (who, coincidentally, once covered Polnareff for a tribute album)
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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? > ?

Samedi chez L'Amour Electronique

Following last month's dalliance with the Vive La France festival, we're back in our usual haunt this Saturday 25 February for another evening of the finest in vintage French pop, synthy sounds and electronic delights.

Don't believe us?  Give our latest mix a listen and then tell us what you think...

L'Amour Electronique is 9pm-3am at The West Hill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ
Entry is FREE all night long.

[you can join the pre-match, er, fun on the facebook event page]

François Truffaut 80

And finally... Today would have been François Truffaut's 80th birthday.

There's a nice tribute on the Guardian site in salute to the great Nouvelle Vague film-maker.

The one and only fitting song I could think of to post was this curio discovered via the blowupdoll mixtape exchange last year...  

"Antoine Doinel, Antoine Doinel, Antoine Doinel, Antoine Doinel, Antoine Doinel..."

Elisa Point - Paris Ressemblait À Un Film De F. Truffaut

[buy Elisa Point from fnac | amazon.fr]
[Elisa Point informations: myspace | facebook | wikipedia]

The 200th Post

*FANFARE* This is the landmark 200th post on the L'Amour Electronique blog! Of course, L'Amour Electronique was in existence for a few years before the blog began, but I still couldn't let it pass without flagging it up.

But how to commemorate this double-century?

At first I thought I could post a song or artist with "two-hundred" in the name or title - but a quick search through my hard-drive put paid to that idea. So thinking laterally I give you a song that is 200 seconds long, or 3 minutes 33 seconds in old money.

Of all the mp3s I had that fit this criteria, one stood out from all the rest, by an artist who quite probably started this whole obsession with French music for me. Step forward Monsieur Gainsbourg. And the song: a classic that featured on the very first album I picked up by old Serge, and has been a mainstay at our little soirées since the very start.

I give you his homage to the divine Brigitte Bardot in all its bass-funk and Ski Sunday string-fuelled drama.

Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.

[buy Serge Gainsbourg from iTunes |  Amazon.co.uk]

I do love this film clip of footage from the Initials B.B. studio sessions.

Charlotte Gainsbourg's Stage Whisper

News reaches us that Charlotte Gainsbourg's new album Stage Whisper was released in the US before Christmas.  Hopefully it'll be out in the UK before too long (should have been out on Monday according to Amazon uk).

The good news is she's apparently been working with Beck again, and also Connor J. O'Brien from Villagers.  The bad news is that she has also worked with privileged-folk muppets Noah & The Whale.

Watch a video of Charlotte perfomring 'Out of Touch' with Connan Mockasin HERE.

Kraftwerk on 6Music

Depending on which DJ you believe this week/month/weekend is "Kraftwerk week/month/weekend" on that there BBC 6Music.  They keep playing a trailer, which is of course in schoolboy German (it is on as I type!), that seems to suggest it begins on Thursday.  The programme schedule on the website lists a 30-minute documentary titled "Kraftwerk: The Men Who Invented Pop" (Celebrating the influential German band Kraftwerk, Alex Kapranos tells their story.) to be aired at midnight tonight/tomorrow.  Though the information page hasn't been updated and gives details of a Lenny Kravtiz narrated doc' about Curtis Mayfield.

All very confusing.  One thing is for certain: the reasons for scheduling a "Kraftwerk week/month/weekend" at this point in time is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Model going to number 1 in the UK singles chart back in February 1982.



These are the dedicated programmes I have found in the 6Music schedule:
Thursday 02 February
00:00 Kraftwerk: The Men Who Invented Pop
Celebrating the influential German band Kraftwerk, Alex Kapranos tells their story.
04:00 The Live Hour: Kraftwerk at Tribal Gathering
Continuing 6 Music's celebration of Kraftwerk, a chance to hear the influential band recorded live at Tribal Gathering in Bedfordshire in 1997

Friday 03 February
00:00 Andrew Collins Meets the Man Machine
Famously reclusive Kraftwerk founder Ralf Hutter interviewed by Andrew Collins in 2003.
19:00 Now Playing @6Music: #Kraftwerk6Music

As 6 Music Celebrates Kraftwerk, Tom Robinson asks listeners to help put together a playlist. 

Saturday 04 February

13:00 Liz Kershaw

Liz is joined by Andy McCluskey of OMD as part of BBC 6 Music celebrates Kraftwerk. 

16:00 Tom Ravenscroft

Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Jon Holmes with three hours of artists influenced by Kraftwerk. 

Sunday 05 February

07:00 Nemone

Dandy Warhols frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor celebrates Kraftwerk in his Most Played.

[hmmm, seems they'll seek anyone's opinion on Kraftwerk]

10:00 Cerys on 6

BBC 6 Music celebrates Kraftwerk with Wire editor Chris Bohn. 

12:00 The Man Machine: Kraftwerk, Krautrock and the German Electronic Revolution

Jarvis Cocker looks at Kraftwerk and their influence on the music industry. 

13:00 The Huey Show 
As 6 Music celebrates Kraftwerk, Huey reflects their unlikely influence on hip hop.
[as I said, seems like anyone can be an expert on Kraftwerk]
16:00 Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service
Jarvis spins Kraftwerk rarities as part of BBC 6 Music's celebration of the band.
18:00 Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone
Stuart celebrates Kraftwerks fifth studio album, Radio-Activity.
20:00 6 Mix - Mark Jones: Kraftwerk Special
Mark Jones explores Kraftwerk's huge influence on electronic music.

So if you like your electronic pop auf Deutsch, keep your radio tuned to 6Music and keep an eye on the website.

Just for a little nostalgia trip, here is Kraftwerk on the BBC's layman's science prog Tomorrow's World.