V/A Parlez Vous Pop (Bureau B) cd 19.98

MPEG Stream: SANDIE SHAW "Stop Je Peux T'Aimer"
MPEG Stream: PETER KRAUS "Je Pense A Toi"
MPEG Stream: DUSTY SPRINGFIELD "Je Ne Peux Pas T'en Vouloir"

V/A Pop a Paris 2 (Sunnyside) cd 16.98
A couple years ago we got a hold of an irresistible compilation of '60s French-pop perfection called Pop A Paris. One of the best and most fun filled collections of the golden era of suave and sassy French pop delights. Well it's time to put on your finest and most colorful outfits, stir up a tasty cocktail and gather up your favorite friends cause volume two of Pop A Paris is here (although it too came out a few years back) and it's just as fun and infectious as the first collection was. All the names you want from a topnotch French pop collection are here: Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot, Michel Polnareff, France Gall, Eddy Mitchell, etc. Like the first outing there is not one dud in the bunch! Every single song has been making us strut our stuff and it's one of those records that's so fun to put on when the store is crowded and watch all the different kinds of AQ customers tapping their feet, shaking their hips and bobbing their heads. It's pretty damn impossible not to, when the songs are as charged, catchy and perfectly executed as these are!
MPEG Stream: CHARLOTTE LESLIE "Les Filles C'est Fait"
MPEG Stream: SERGE GAINSBOURG "L'anamour"
MPEG Stream: LES YPER-SOUND "Psych Rock"

V/A Pop A Paris: Rock N' Roll And Mini Skirts (Sunnyside Communications) cd 16.98
Ohh La La! This is pretty undeniably AMAZING! A snapshot of 60's French-pop perfection. We dare you to put this on and not start feeling a little more stylish, a little more classy, a little more sassy,and a whole lot more happy! This is hands down one of the best collections of dance-party inducing French pop to grace our ears in ages. While we loved the Swinging Mademoiselles comp covering the same era, this collection almost makes that record pale in comparison. Pop A Paris is pretty much a who's who of French pop during this golden-era. Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall, Brigitte Bardot, Michel Polnareff, Delphine, Marie Laforet, etc etc! But what makes this comp so incredible are the songs! Not one snoozer in the bunch, every single one bursting with color, spunk and f-u-n-! Cover versions of "These Boots Are Made For Walking", "My Generation", "Paint it Black", and "Happy Together" all somehow manage to make us only want to hear these versions from now on and NEVER the originals. And the non-covers are just as spot-on-perfect.
This has been out for a few years now and had been a kind of secret weapon in DJ sets by Irwin. Can't count the times that putting one of these songs on during a show has resulted in a dancefloor packed with wide smiles and shaking booties. So totally recommended!
MPEG Stream: EILEEN "Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher"
MPEG Stream: FRANCE GALL "Dady Da Da"
MPEG Stream: DOMINIQUE WALTER "Les Petits Boudins"

V/A Pop Made In France (Magic) cd 15.98
Subtitled Les Plus Grands Groupes De Rock Des Annees 70 En France, here's a 23 track collection of, indeed, swinging '70s French rock n' pop... we imported 'em directly from France just about as soon as we found out about this and scoped the track list. It's on the same label that brought us those Sixties Girls comps, as well as the now out of print Les Variations and Triangle anthologies, amongst other goodies.
Styles here vary, and not every track is a killer, but that's how comps go. We certainly found enough tres bon poppy psych, prog rock bombast, AM radio sunshine, melancholic balladry, glam production and fat beats and flutes and grooves and blues and more to enjoy, for sure! Some of it's seriously cookin', some of it's on the softer side, and either way for the most part we're falling for the combination of Gallic charm and '70 kitsch on display here.
There's some groups here we'd heard of and many more we hadn't. Here's the line-up: Triangle, Time Machine, Les Variations, Dynastie Crisis, Jupiter Sunset, Ange, Alan Jack Civilization, Zoo, Costa-Yared-Costa, Trust, Tai Phong, Presence, Doc Dail, Martin Circus, Alice, Ilous & Decuyper, Labyrinthe, Trianglophone, Starshooter, Pop Tops, Total Issue, and two "bonus instrumentaux" from Le System Crapoutchik and Pachyderm. Too bad there's not much info given in the cd booklet about all these.
MPEG Stream: TIME MACHINE "Turn Back Time"
MPEG Stream: ZOO "City Break Down"
MPEG Stream: ALICE "Le Roseau"
MPEG Stream: TOTAL ISSUE "Les Marins"

V/A Pop Romantique: French Pop Classics (Emperor Norton) cd 13.98
Intriguing collection of diverse folks doing versions of classics like "Si Tu Dois Partir": Apples in Stereo, Ivy, John Wesley Harding, Lloyd Cole, Heavenly, Magnetic Fields, Sukia, Air featuring Francoise Hardy, and The Ladybug Transistor featuring Kevin Ayers!

V/A Serge Gainsbourg: Great Jewish Music (Tzadik) cd 15.98
French superstar songwriter and performer Gainsbourg, like Burt Bacharach before him, gets the Tzadik treatment here in tribute performances by Mike Patton, Fred Frith, Cyro Baptista, John Zorn, Cibo Matto, Eszter Balint (yes, the actress from Stranger Than Paradise), Kramer, and Medeski, Martin and Wood.

V/A Sixties Girls Volume 1 (Magic) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compilations of vintage French pop have a way of blossoming up much to our delight, only to vanish without a trace just as quickly as they appeared. Well good news folks, we just got a bunch of new-to-us collections that have proven to have some serious staying power. Hurrah! Here is the first of five volumes of the Sixties Girls series from Magic Records, France. We played all five back to back, and had a full-on giddy Francophone afternoon. This fine label has been reissuing music from the '60s for years now, and they've consistently done it up right! Each comp contains at least twenty tracks digitally remastered from the original master tapes and comes packaged with cover reproductions and liner notes. This one features Christine Lebail, Agnes Loti, Christine Delaroche, Francoise Hardy and Les Petites Souris avec Pussy Cat. The ladies are dishing out the sounds of kicky Ye Ye, dreamy lounge, sultry cabaret, perky go-go and sugary girl group pop. Sure to tickle you pink!
Psst, we've also gotten in a few titles by single artists of the pop and psych varieties such as Brigitte Bardot, Triangle, Les Variations and Pussy Cat. Mon dieu, we can't get enough!
MPEG Stream: LEBAIL, CHRISTINE "Deux Jours Avec Toi"
MPEG Stream: LES PETITES SOURIS "Ce N'est Pas Triste"

V/A Sixties Girls Volume 2 (Magic) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compilations of vintage French pop have a way of blossoming up much to our delight, only to vanish without a trace just as quickly as they appeared. Well good news folks, we just got a bunch of new-to-us collections that have proven to have some serious staying power. Hurrah! Here is the second of five volumes of the Sixties Girls series from Magic Records, France. We played all five back to back, and had a full-on giddy Francophone afternoon. This fine label has been reissuing music from the '60s for years now, and they've consistently done it up right! Each comp contains at least twenty tracks digitally remastered from the original master tapes and comes packaged with cover reproductions and liner notes. This one features Les Roche Martin, Liz Brady, Audrey, Les Twins and Cris Carol. These ladies are dishing out the sounds of kicky Ye Ye, dreamy lounge, sultry cabaret, perky go-go and sugary girl group pop. Sure to tickle you pink!
Psst, we've also gotten in a few titles by single artists of the pop and psych varieties such as Brigitte Bardot, Triangle, Les Variations and Pussy Cat. Mon dieu, we can't get enough!
MPEG Stream: AUDREY "Le Mal De Leurs Vingt Ans"
MPEG Stream: LES TWINS "Je Suis Timide"

V/A Sixties Girls Volume 3 (Magic) cd 17.98
Compilations of vintage French pop have a way of blossoming up much to our delight, only to vanish without a trace just as quickly as they appeared. Well good news folks, we just got a bunch of new-to-us collections that have proven to have some serious staying power. Hurrah! Here is the third of five volumes of the Sixties Girls series from Magic Records, France. We played all five back to back, and had a full-on giddy Francophone afternoon. This fine label has been reissuing music from the '60s for years now, and they've consistently done it up right! Each comp contains at least twenty tracks digitally remastered from the original master tapes and comes packaged with cover reproductions and liner notes. This one features Les Roche Martin, Liz Brady, Christie Laume, Anne Kern and Ria Bartok. The ladies are dishing out the sounds of kicky Ye Ye, dreamy lounge, sultry cabaret, perky go-go and sugary girl group pop. Sure to tickle you pink!
Psst, we've also gotten in a few titles by single artists of the pop and psych varieties such as Brigitte Bardot, Triangle, Les Variations and Pussy Cat. Mon dieu, we can't get enough!
MPEG Stream: BRADY, LIZ "Partie De Dames"
MPEG Stream: LAUME, CHRISTIE "L'Adorable Femme Des Neiges"

V/A Sixties Girls Volume 4 (Magic) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compilations of vintage French pop have a way of blossoming up much to our delight, only to vanish without a trace just as quickly as they appeared. Well good news folks, we just got a bunch of new-to-us collections that have proven to have some serious staying power. Hurrah! Here is the fourth of five volumes of the Sixties Girls series from Magic Records, France. We played all five back to back, and had a full-on giddy Francophone afternoon. This fine label has been reissuing music from the '60s for years now, and they've consistently done it up right! Each comp contains at least twenty tracks digitally remastered from the original master tapes and comes packaged with cover reproductions and liner notes. This one features four single-named gals Clothilde, Cleo, Celine and ZouZou. They're dishing out the sounds of kicky Ye Ye, dreamy lounge, sultry cabaret, perky go-go and sugary girl group pop. Sure to tickle you pink!
Psst, we've also gotten in a few titles by single artists of the pop and psych varieties such as Brigitte Bardot, Triangle, Les Variations and Pussy Cat. Mon dieu, we can't get enough!
MPEG Stream: CELINE "Ne Reponds Pas"
MPEG Stream: ZOUZOU "Petit Garcon"

V/A Sixties Girls Volume 5 (Magic) cd 17.98
Compilations of vintage French pop have a way of blossoming up much to our delight, only to vanish without a trace just as quickly as they appeared. Well good news folks, we just got a bunch of new-to-us collections that have proven to have some serious staying power. Hurrah!
Here is the fifth of five volumes of the Sixties Girls series from Magic Records, France. We played all five back to back, and had a full-on giddy Francophone afternoon. This fine label has been reissuing music from the '60s for years now, and they've consistently done it up right! Each comp contains at least twenty tracks digitally remastered from the original master tapes and comes packaged with cover reproductions and liner notes. This one features Christine Pilzer, Elsa Leroy, Vetty and Elsa. The ladies are dishing out the sounds of kicky Ye Ye, dreamy lounge, sultry cabaret, perky go-go and sugary girl group pop. Sure to tickle you pink!
Psst, we've also gotten in a few titles by single artists of the pop and psych varieties such as Brigitte Bardot, Triangle, Les Variations and Pussy Cat. Mon dieu, we can't get enough!
MPEG Stream: PILZER, CHRISTINE "Dracula"
MPEG Stream: VETTY "La Poubelle"

V/A So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977-1983 (Tigersushi) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After being AWOL for a year or so, this longtime fave is now back in stock, and the timing is perfect since we've been raving about a bunch of similar comps of cool vintage French new wave/punk/electro stuff recently like Bippp and IVG and Des Jeunes Gens Modernes. If you liked those, you gotta check this out, 'especially if you're into the proggier side of things.
This one was kind of a sleeper hit when we first listed it. I mean, we knew it was a cool record, but boy did people like it. We sold a ton and then the label ran out. At last it's been repressed, so here it is again. Definitely recommended!
France. Synths. 1977-83. Intrigued? You should be. This comp, compiled by a couple of today's top trainspotting electronica mavens, highlights what are indeed some obscure, awesome French entries into the field of proto-techno. Richard Pinhas of Heldon we've talked about recently, also Metal Boys, and you might remember Ruth from a reissue a while back, but there's plenty of names here we're getting acquainted with for the first time: Nini Raviolette, Mathematiques Modernes, Kas Product, The (Hypothetical) Prophets, Moderne, The Droids... Sixteen tracks in all of sinister prog/pop electronics, droning ambience, Magmoid robotics, futurepunk, and sci-fi dance darkness. So young, so cold - so stylish.
MPEG Stream: NINI RAVIOLETTE "Suis-Je Normale"
MPEG Stream: BERNARD SZAJNER "Welcome (To Deathrow)"

V/A Swinging Mademoiselle (Sasha Monett Records) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Are you a fan of those great "Ultrachicks" compilations of female French '60s pop? Do you feel like your turntable has been missing out on the fun? Well, here's a vinyl-only comp of similar cute Francophone chanteuses (Stella, Cleo, Charlotte Leslie, Berthe, Delphine, Liliane, and many others mainly with one nme only) circa 1965-1968...

V/A Swinging Mademoiselle Vol. 2 (Sasha Monett) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the second in the vinyl only series of 60s French girl groups. This the perfect vinyl companion the sporadically in-print "Ultra Chicks" CDs.

V/A Swinging Mademoiselles Deux (Silva Screen) cd 16.98
It's impossible not to have a soft spot for the breezy, sassy and sensual sounds of '60s French Pop. We can never get enough, so it was an exciting day when the second volume of Swinging Mademoiselles came our way, as the first volume has become one of those records we've played in the store countless times over the years. With its focus on the lovely ladies who delivered infectious gems of Gallic pop in the '60s, volume deux brings the goods once again with songs that treat our ears to such saucy and sophisticated delights. We love how this collection has a nice selection of the more seductive side to sixties French Pop. Of course there are some total hip-shakers and party tracks on here but this collection is really so perfect for a long ride with the windows down, or lounging by the pool with refreshing libations or just laying in bed on a lazy Sunday morning with that someone special by your side. Filled with so many of the era's greats: Jacquelin Taieb, Cosette, Zouzou, Pussy Cat. Brigitte Bardot, Clea, etc. These were the people and sounds that would inspire some of the best pop music that would come decades later from folks like Stereolab, Belle & Sebastian, Broadcast, Saint Etienne and El Perro Del Mar. OoooLaaaLaaaa what a perfect end of summer treat!
MPEG Stream: JACQUELINE TAIEB "Le Printemps A Paris"
MPEG Stream: COSETTE "Les Cheveux Dans Les Yeux"
MPEG Stream: CLOTHILDE "Fallait Pas Ecraser Le Queu Du Chat"

V/A Swinging Mademoiselles: Groovy French Sounds From The 60s (Silva) cd 16.98
'60s French girl group compilations come in and out of print so sporadically that you've gotta nab 'em when you see 'em 'cuz you never know if they might vanish the next week. Have to say, we haven't had much problem with the quality of the comps we've carried thus far in this delightful genre, and Swinging Mademoiselles maintains the standard already set by long out-of-print cds such as Girl Group Power, Histoires de Filles: Quebec 60's Go-Go Music and the Ultra Chicks series. Sassy, perky fun!
MPEG Stream: PILZER, CHRISTINE "Cafe Creme"
MPEG Stream: DESYEUX, DELPHINE "Je Suis La Tigresse "

V/A The BYG Deal (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 15.98
For a lot of us, buying comps and reissues and stuff put out by Finders Keepers / B-Music is pretty much a no-brainer. These folks know their stuff. They can DJ for us anytime! So mentioning that The BYG Deal is the latest from 'em might be all we need to say, though dropping some names like Brigitte Fontaine, Jean-Claude Vannier, Daevid Allen & Gong, Giorgio Gomelsky, Robert Wyatt, Vangelis, Ame Son, and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago couldn't hurt. Or perhaps a name like Inter-Groupie Psychotherapeutic Elastic Band - never heard of 'em before, no, but they've gotta be good, right!!? (And they are, their track "Floating" anyway being a blissful bit of la-la-la space psych ceremony).
What we have here is a collection of tracks released by France's BYG, a post '68 radical rock/jazz label that flourished 'til about 1974. We'd heard of 'em before mainly in conjunction with the famed BYG/Actuel series of African-American jazz releases, stuff by the Art Ensemble, Don Cherry, Sunny Murray, etc. But this disc demonstrates that BYG (which according to one graphic here stands for Beautiful Young Generation, though elsewhere we're told it's the initials of the three label owners) was as much about psychedelic pop rock and groovy "hairy funk" as it was about avant-garde free jazz... an awesome blend in our opinion, and blend they do, some of these tracks really hard to classify. Maybe it's the "Total Space Music" of which they speak. In any case, whatever discotheque played this stuff must have been REALLY hip and happenin'.
The music here is almost all super groovy, but often quite quirky too (take Gong's circusy nursery rhyme freakout "Hip Hypnotise You" for instance!), these various tracks loaded with flute, orgasmic female vocals, heavy psych guitar, and equally heavy prog organ (running wild alongside frenetically shuffling drums on Vangelis' "Stuffed Tomato", for example, among many standout spots here). From chanteuse Valerie Lagrange's ye-ye grooves to the poppy psychedelic stomp of Coeur Magique to Banana Moon's Beefheartian crunt, this is pretty far out and awesome.
Here's the complete lineup of artists appearing here: Alice (2 tracks), Francois Wertheimer, Brigitte Fontaine and Areski, Gong (3 tracks), Alan Jack, Couer Magique (2 tracks), Valerie Lagrange, Jacques Barsamian, Alpha Beta, Ame Son (2 tracks), Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Freedom, Vangelis, Paul Semana, Inter-Groupie Psychotherapeutic Elastic Band, Banana Moon, Joachim and Rolf Kuhn. Yep, the disc is crammed, 22 tracks, almost 80 minutes, and the thick cd booklet is equally full up with full color graphics and extensive liner notes, it's amazing the compilers could dig up so much info on this stuff, considering how obscure a lot of this is, but that's their biz!
There's a few tracks you could have run across elsewhere on other reissues, but most of 'em you haven't, that's for damn sure. For instance, the awesomely named track "Astral Abuse" from the rare 7" by Alpha Beta, a one-off Vangelis project. And there's plenty more from other collector's-only, never before on cd sources.
If you liked other B-music compilations like Andy Votel's Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, this ought to be right up your alley. Likewise if you enjoyed the two Pop Made In France comps we've listed, this is a bit like those (some of the same artists appear, in fact) but way weirder. And of course any fan of Jean-Pierre Massiera's strange productions is gonna find this of interest as well... in fact there's personnel connections to his Visitors project, and connections also to the likes of Magma and Aphrodite's Child for that matter.
Another keeper from Finders Keepers that's for sure, thankfully available domestically, complete with slipcover!
MPEG Stream: BRIGITTE FONTAINE AND ARESKI "Ca Va Faire Un Hit"
MPEG Stream: ALAN JACK CIVILIZATION "Ny Change Rien"
MPEG Stream: INTER-GROUPIE PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC ELASTIC BAND "Floating"
MPEG Stream: JOACHIM AND ROLF KUHN "Bloody Rockers"

V/A The BYG Deal (B-Music / Finders Keepers) 2lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON (IMPORT) VINYL!
For a lot of us, buying comps and reissues and stuff put out by Finders Keepers / B-Music is pretty much a no-brainer. These folks know their stuff. They can DJ for us anytime! So mentioning that The BYG Deal is the latest from 'em might be all we need to say, though dropping some names like Brigitte Fontaine, Jean-Claude Vannier, Daevid Allen & Gong, Giorgio Gomelsky, Robert Wyatt, Vangelis, Ame Son, and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago couldn't hurt. Or perhaps a name like Inter-Groupie Psychotherapeutic Elastic Band - never heard of 'em before, no, but they've gotta be good, right!!? (And they are, their track "Floating" anyway being a blissful bit of la-la-la space psych ceremony).
What we have here is a collection of tracks released by France's BYG, a post '68 radical rock/jazz label that flourished 'til about 1974. We'd heard of 'em before mainly in conjunction with the famed BYG/Actuel series of African-American jazz releases, stuff by the Art Ensemble, Don Cherry, Sunny Murray, etc. But this disc demonstrates that BYG (which according to one graphic here stands for Beautiful Young Generation, though elsewhere we're told it's the initials of the three label owners) was as much about psychedelic pop rock and groovy "hairy funk" as it was about avant-garde free jazz... an awesome blend in our opinion, and blend they do, some of these tracks really hard to classify. Maybe it's the "Total Space Music" of which they speak. In any case, whatever discotheque played this stuff must have been REALLY hip and happenin'.
The music here is almost all super groovy, but often quite quirky too (take Gong's circusy nursery rhyme freakout "Hip Hypnotise You" for instance!), these various tracks loaded with flute, orgasmic female vocals, heavy psych guitar, and equally heavy prog organ (running wild alongside frenetically shuffling drums on Vangelis' "Stuffed Tomato", for example, among many standout spots here). From chanteuse Valerie Lagrange's ye-ye grooves to the poppy psychedelic stomp of Coeur Magique to Banana Moon's Beefheartian crunt, this is pretty far out and awesome.
Here's the complete lineup of artists appearing here: Alice (2 tracks), Francois Wertheimer, Brigitte Fontaine and Areski, Gong (3 tracks), Alan Jack, Couer Magique (2 tracks), Valerie Lagrange, Jacques Barsamian, Alpha Beta, Ame Son (2 tracks), Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Freedom, Vangelis, Paul Semana, Inter-Groupie Psychotherapeutic Elastic Band, Banana Moon, Joachim and Rolf Kuhn. Yep, the disc is crammed, 22 tracks, almost 80 minutes, and the thick cd booklet is equally full up with full color graphics and extensive liner notes, it's amazing the compilers could dig up so much info on this stuff, considering how obscure a lot of this is, but that's their biz!
There's a few tracks you could have run across elsewhere on other reissues, but most of 'em you haven't, that's for damn sure. For instance, the awesomely named track "Astral Abuse" from the rare 7" by Alpha Beta, a one-off Vangelis project. And there's plenty more from other collector's-only, never before on cd sources.
If you liked other B-music compilations like Andy Votel's Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, this ought to be right up your alley. Likewise if you enjoyed the two Pop Made In France comps we've listed, this is a bit like those (some of the same artists appear, in fact) but way weirder. And of course any fan of Jean-Pierre Massiera's strange productions is gonna find this of interest as well... in fact there's personnel connections to his Visitors project, and connections also to the likes of Magma and Aphrodite's Child for that matter.
Another keeper from Finders Keepers that's for sure!
MPEG Stream: BRIGITTE FONTAINE AND ARESKI "Ca Va Faire Un Hit"
MPEG Stream: ALAN JACK CIVILIZATION "Ny Change Rien"
MPEG Stream: INTER-GROUPIE PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC ELASTIC BAND "Floating"
MPEG Stream: JOACHIM AND ROLF KUHN "Bloody Rockers"

V/A Ultra Chicks, volume 5 cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Volume 5 in the popular Ultra Chicks series which compiles underground French girlpop tunes that would've been consigned only to memory were it not for the intrepid loyalty of one guy that's compiling these tracks onto disc and pressing them in small quantities. We usually run out of this series within days after it arrives, so don't delay.
RealAudio clip: MANON "Si Vous Connaissez Quelque Chose..."

V/A Wizzz! (Musiques Hybrides) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This peppy French compilation is so good. So stylistic and classy, people in the store took notice immediatley when I put it on. The songs are fast and a bit psychedelic. There're silly backup vocals and sexy girl voices throughout. The years span 1966-1971, which were rumoured to be musically uninspired years in France. This is a handful of the the best France had to offer, which I find lovely. Total cocktail party music, but in a good way, not all lounge nation.
RealAudio clip: CHARLOTTE LESLIE "Les Filles C'est Fait"
RealAudio clip: LES FLEURS DE PAVOT "A Degager"

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE Electro Rapide (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 16.98
Jean-Claude Vannier is best known for his amazing work as an arranger and producer for some of French pop's greatest stars like Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, Francoise Hardy, and Brigitte Fontaine. We also got a taste of his singular, warped and mind melting musical vision when Finders Keepers unearthed his fucked up masterpiece from 1972, L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches.
Now they've dug deep into his vaults for this short but sweet (under half an hour) collection of rare, unreleased archival recordings from 1968-1973, that demonstrate what a master of mood and sound Vannier is. With tracks that range from tribal and trance inducing ("L'ours Paresseux 1969") to the perfect soundtrack for an absurdist cartoon ("Claquez Klaxons") to a chant filled show stopper that sounds like an Ella Jenkins record doused in acid ("Le Ballet Des Accouchesuses"). You can imagine how folks in the Stones Throw crew, or the late J Dilla, would be drooling over the chance to sample so many of these tracks. Vannier's music is like an amazing crossbreed of David Axelrod, Raymond Scott, and Joe Meek, but with such a pronounced French sensibility.
MPEG Stream: "Bombarde Lamentation"
MPEG Stream: "Le Ballet Des Accoucheuses"
MPEG Stream: "Claquez Klaxons"
MPEG Stream: "Je M'Appelle Geraldine"

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE Electro Rapide (B-Music / Finders Keepers) lp 24.00
Now on import wax!
Jean-Claude Vannier is best known for his amazing work as an arranger and producer for some of French pop's greatest stars like Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, Francoise Hardy, and Brigitte Fontaine. We also got a taste of his singular, warped and mind melting musical vision when Finders Keepers unearthed his fucked up masterpiece from 1972, L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches.
Now they've dug deep into his vaults for this short but sweet (under half an hour) collection of rare, unreleased archival recordings from 1968-1973, that demonstrate what a master of mood and sound Vannier is. With tracks that range from tribal and trance inducing ("L'ours Paresseux 1969") to the perfect soundtrack for an absurdist cartoon ("Claquez Klaxons") to a chant filled show stopper that sounds like an Ella Jenkins record doused in acid ("Le Ballet Des Accouchesuses"). You can imagine how folks in the Stones Throw crew, or the late J Dilla, would be drooling over the chance to sample so many of these tracks. Vannier's music is like an amazing crossbreed of David Axelrod, Raymond Scott, and Joe Meek, but with such a pronounced French sensibility.
MPEG Stream: "Bombarde Lamentation"
MPEG Stream: "Le Ballet Des Accoucheuses"
MPEG Stream: "Claquez Klaxons"
MPEG Stream: "Je M'Appelle Geraldine"

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches (Finders Keepers) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK!
Some reissues of long-lost gems arrive here with little fanfare and turn out to be great nonetheless. This one though, came our way emblazed with blurbs proclaiming its immense awesomeness quoting the likes of Jim O'Rourke, Tim Gane, Jarvis Cocker and David Holmes. And guess what? Those guys do indeed know what they're talking about! This IS pretty fantastic. Here we have an action-packed instrumental concept album whose title translates into English as The Child Killer Of The Flies, which musically narrates a simple but creepy story by Serge Gainsbourg (written *after* he heard the album, not before, and included the liner notes, explaining each track title) about the horrific revenge of flies on a child who had tortured them. This musical story-telling is by way of schizoid arrangements of tracks that range in sound from groovy pop to jazz to avant-garde tape music to fuzz guitar rock! Sounds good, eh? Good n' weird for sure.
L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches is a "Fellini-esque psychedelic symphony" originally released (but poorly distributed and relegated to general obscurity) in 1972, credited to a unknown group called Isolitudes. The man behind Insolitudes, though, was one Jean-Claude Vannier, a musician and producer from the happening '60s French pop ("Ye Ye music") scene who had scored film soundtracks and collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg, most famously providing the arrangements for Gainsbourg's highly-rated L'Histoire De Melody Nelson album (the reissue of which we wish we had in stock also, but haven't been able to get a hold of lately). This record is thereby cited as the follow-up to that one-of-a-kind conceptual classic. Itself it's pretty much one-of-a-kind too. Funky and groovy, as well as deliriously, disorientingly hallucinogenic, this will hit you with lush string arrangements one moment, sound effects of sheer terror the next... it's psych, it's prog, it's funk, it's musique concrete. There's even a chorus of car horns put to good use here! It's the freakiest 'sploitation soundtrack that never was. This cd reissue includes two bonus tracks from a rare 7" single entitled Point D'Interrogation, and also boasts extensive and informative (and quite laudatory) liner notes by DJ Andy Votel. Very recommended!
MPEG Stream: "L'Enfant La Mouche Et Les Allumettes"
MPEG Stream: "Le Roi Des Mouches Et La Confiture De Rouse"
MPEG Stream: "Mort Du Roi Des Mouches"

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 16.98
Alright everyone, once more with feeling! Last year (2005) we got this amazing reissued treasure in stock and it came with two bonus tracks from a rare 7" single entitled Point D'Interrogation. We simply couldn't say enough glowing things about it! Now just one year later the album has been reissued again, not only with the pair of extra audio treats but also with an exclusive video of "L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches Et Les Allumettes" performed live on the Roland Petit Show ('twas a musical accompaniment to Yves Saint Laurent's fashion show)!
Here's what we said about the 2005 edition:
Some reissues of long-lost gems arrive here with little fanfare and turn out to be great nonetheless. This one though, came our way emblazoned with blurbs proclaiming its immense awesomeness quoting the likes of Jim O'Rourke, Tim Gane, Jarvis Cocker and David Holmes. And guess what? Those guys do indeed know what they're talking about! This IS fantastic. Here we have an action-packed instrumental concept album whose title translates into English as The Child Killer Of The Flies, which musically narrates a simple but creepy story by Serge Gainsbourg (written *after* he heard the album, not before, and included the liner notes, explaining each track title) about the horrific revenge of flies on a child who had tortured them. This musical story-telling is by way of schizoid arrangements of tracks that range in sound from groovy pop to jazz to avant-garde tape music to fuzz guitar rock! Sounds good, eh? Good 'n' weird for sure.
L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches is a "Fellini-esque psychedelic symphony" originally released (but poorly distributed and relegated to general obscurity) in 1972, credited to a unknown group called Isolitudes. The man behind Insolitudes, though, was one Jean-Claude Vannier, a musician and producer from the happening '60s French pop ("Ye Ye music") scene who had scored film soundtracks and collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg, most famously providing the arrangements for Gainsbourg's highly-rated L'Histoire De Melody Nelson album (the reissue of which we wish we had in stock also, but haven't been able to get a hold of lately). This record is thereby cited as the follow-up to that one-of-a-kind conceptual classic. Itself it's pretty much one-of-a-kind too. Funky and groovy, as well as deliriously, disorientingly hallucinogenic, this will hit you with lush string arrangements one moment, sound effects of sheer terror the next... it's psych, it's prog, it's funk, it's musique concrete. There's even a chorus of car horns put to good use here! It's the freakiest 'sploitation soundtrack that never was. The insert booklet boasts extensive and informative (and quite laudatory) liner notes by DJ Andy Votel. Very very recommended!
MPEG Stream: "L'Enfant La Mouche Et Les Allumettes"
MPEG Stream: "Le Roi Des Mouches Et La Confiture De Rouse"
MPEG Stream: "Mort Du Roi Des Mouches"

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches (Finders Keepers) lp 27.00
Repressed! Some reissues of long-lost gems arrive here with little fanfare and turn out to be great nonetheless. This one though, came our way emblazed with blurbs proclaiming its immense awesomeness quoting the likes of Jim O'Rourke, Tim Gane, Jarvis Cocker and David Holmes. And guess what? Those guys do indeed know what they're talking about! This IS pretty fantastic. Here we have an action-packed instrumental concept album whose title translates into English as The Child Killer Of The Flies, which musically narrates a simple but creepy story by Serge Gainsbourg (written *after* he heard the album, not before, and included the liner notes, explaining each track title) about the horrific revenge of flies on a child who had tortured them. This musical story-telling is by way of schizoid arrangements of tracks that range in sound from groovy pop to jazz to avant-garde tape music to fuzz guitar rock! Sounds good, eh? Good n' weird for sure.
L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches is a "Fellini-esque psychedelic symphony" originally released (but poorly distributed and relegated to general obscurity) in 1972, credited to a unknown group called Isolitudes. The man behind Insolitudes, though, was one Jean-Claude Vannier, a musician and producer from the happening '60s French pop ("Ye Ye music") scene who had scored film soundtracks and collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg, most famously providing the arrangements for Gainsbourg's highly-rated L'Histoire De Melody Nelson album (the reissue of which we wish we had in stock also, but haven't been able to get a hold of lately). This record is thereby cited as the follow-up to that one-of-a-kind conceptual classic. Itself it's pretty much one-of-a-kind too. Funky and groovy, as well as deliriously, disorientingly hallucinogenic, this will hit you with lush string arrangements one moment, sound effects of sheer terror the next... it's psych, it's prog, it's funk, it's musique concrete. There's even a chorus of car horns put to good use here! It's the freakiest 'sploitation soundtrack that never was. Very recommended!
MPEG Stream: "L'Enfant La Mouche Et Les Allumettes"
MPEG Stream: "Le Roi Des Mouches Et La Confiture De Rouse"
MPEG Stream: "Mort Du Roi Des Mouches"

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE Roses (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 16.98

VANNIER, JEAN-CLAUDE Roses (B-Music / Finders Keepers) lp 24.00

VARIATIONS, LES Nador / Take It Or Leave It (Magic) 2cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Last list we featured Docdail and Triangle, now here's more rare Francais Metal de Proto for y'all, this time from Les Variations! That's right, another French band from the late '60s/early '70s playing an unexpected blend of hard rockin' proto-metal, psychedelic freakiness, Moorish exotica, and groovy pop. This double disc set includes Variations' first two albums -- Nador (1970) and Take It Or Leave It (1973) -- plus 13 bonus tracks.
Nador is the primary reason to get this, as Take It Or Leave It more-or-less lives up to its title. But Nador is a seriously smokin' album, with the exception perhaps of one cheesy commercial pop tune and a detour into oldies rock n' roll territory (the Jerry Lee Lewis piano-pounding of "Mississippi Woman"). At its best though, which is most of the time, Nador is the high-energy, heavy-duty French answer to the likes of Led Zep, the Rolling Stones, and the MC5! Zut alors! Pounding stormers like "Generations" and "What A Mess Again" are gonna please anyone into long-haired, bell-bottomed riff-rock. Meanwhile, Variations mix it up with segues into mysterious Moroccan hippie-raga, as on the acoustic instrumental title track. Basically imagine Leaf Hound with some North African ancestry. We've read that Nador was the heaviest album from a French band ever when it was originally released, and we believe it.
The bonus tracks following Nador are also equally badass, with lots of wild psych guitar and headbangin' rhythm action goin' on. "Come Along" sounds pretty much *exactly* like something by local San Francisco retro-stoner power trio Genghis Khan, actually. There's also the excellent psych-pop ballad "Down The Road" as well.
Disc two's Take It Or Leave It certainly rocks and rolls too, but starts to suffer from some of the fashion faux pas the '70s were known for, shall we say. Way too much honky tonk piano this time around, and overproduced arrangements. The psych side of things is long gone. But it has got its moments though. And several of the bonus tracks found on this disc most definitely live up to the killer standards of disc one ("I Was Down" and "The Jam Factory" ferinstance). So while Nador's great by itself, we're happy to have these two discs worth of Variations! Vive la Francais Metal de Proto!!
MPEG Stream: "What A Mess Again"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For The Pope"
MPEG Stream: "Love Me"
MPEG Stream: "The Jam Factory"

VIAN, PATRICK Bruits Et Temps Analogues (Staubgold) cd 17.98
French prog from the seventies can move us in just the right ways, especially if it hits that sweet spot between Kosmiche new age and sublime Euro-jazz, yet still has that individually eccentric feel that you only get from the French. Patrick Vian's sole 1976 lp Bruits et Temps Analogues, famously included on the Nurse With Wound list, is just such a record. An amalgam of Michael Rother sky gliding electronic music and a mellower take on the "Superficial Music" of Bernard Szajner, Vian packs a lot of punch into his compositions, propelled forward by the hypnotic counterpoint of sunny guitar lines, analog Moog washes, flutes and all kinds of dazzling rhythmic instrumentation, such as kinetic jazz drumming, and deep vibraphones, the latter thanks to the help of Mino Cinelu (who had played with the likes of Gong, Weather Report and Miles Davis). There's also an exotica quality at play here especially on the track, "Orenock" which feels like we're on safari on some strange desolate planet, as well as some avant-garde tendencies, such as using tape manipulations of recordings of American sporting events on the musique concrete piece, "Tricentennial Drag". Vian began his musical career in the legendary French prog /free jazz band Red Noise, but the vibe on Bruits et Temps Analogues is way more serene and groovy. It lives up to its awesome cover painting. Originally released on the Egg / Barclay label, it's about time this stellar album got reissued. Thanks Staubgold! Highest Recommendation!!
MPEG Stream: "Sphere"
MPEG Stream: "Oreknock"
MPEG Stream: "R&B Degenerit!"
MPEG Stream: "Tricentennial Drag"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott (Fontana) cd 16.98
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed.
While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4. Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Although comprised mostly of covers, Walker already began to show strong songwriting skills on his first solo record, Scott, especially with "Montague Terrace (In Blue)" where he describes unsavory neighbors in his tenement flat, one as a "bloated belching figure", and another "whose thighs are full of tales to tell of nights she's known". But it's "My Death", one of three Brel covers that is the album's centerpiece. Later covered by David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase, Walker's version features such hypnotic orchestration, serpentine guitar passages and swelling stabbing strings that it almost feels like we're being brought to the threshold of death on a cloud of poisonous perfume.
Overall, a fine selection of songs that show his range of performance and promise for the records to come.
MPEG Stream: "Montague Terrace (In Blue)"
MPEG Stream: "My Death"
MPEG Stream: "Such A Small Love"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 2 (Fontana) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed.
While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 2 is one of our favorites, not that it's necessarily different from the others but the choice of songs flows perfectly together. In fact the first side of Scott 2 is pure pop vocal perfection, beginning with the Brel cover "Jackie", whose enthusiastically fast delivery is mind-boggling (You-tube this!). Then the bitter torch of "Best of Both Worlds", the Tim Hardin cover, "Black Sheep Boy", the original "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg" about a man escaping from the claustrophobia of domestic life into a tragic fantasy. "Next" is next, one of Brel's most visceral and theatrical tunes about the dehumanizing experience of a military coming of age, which is then followed by Walker's companion sequel "Girls From The Streets" told by the same character as a man resigned to a life of bitterness and depravity. Yet the centerpiece is the fantasia "Plastic Palace People, which begins side 2. A dizzying dualistic fairy tale about a boy's embrace of his youthful innocence and a girl mourning the loss of hers. This kills!
MPEG Stream: "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg"
MPEG Stream: "Next"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Palace People"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 3 (Fontana) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed.
While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 3 has the best cover of the bunch. The others are pretty straight ahead portraits, but 3 is a close up of an eye with vibrantly purple eyelashes. Inside the pupil we see a melancholy Walker, which is apt, as Scott 3 is the most melancholy of the four records. The tempo is slower and apart from the Brel inspired original, "We Came Through" and the quirky acoustic tribute to Cryogenics of "30th Century Man" (featured on the soundtrack to Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic"), most of the tracks on Scott 3 are ballads to the ghosts of romance. Definitely a rainy day record, and probably not the best place to start for newbies.
MPEG Stream: "It's Raining Today"
MPEG Stream: "We Came Through"
MPEG Stream: "30th Century Man"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 4 (Fontana) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed. While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 4 is definitely the most unique of the four. It's all original compositions for one thing, but also the arrangements are more upbeat, and while the orchestral elements are there, folk, rock and country elements of guitar and drums appear more than ever before. Still eccentric songwriting abounds. The opener, "The Seventh Seal", a flamenco pop tribute to the Bergman film of the same name about a medieval knight's chess game with Death is full of the pomp we love in Scott Walkers music. And while there are no Brel covers on 4, his influence can be heard on centerpiece "The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)", as well as "Hero of the War". A sequel of sorts to "Plastic Palace People" on Scott 2 can be seen in "Boy Child", one of the most beautifully arranged ballads, while the strings in "The World's Strongest Man" brings tears every time. Yet, weirder still, the final three songs take a strange turn into lush country pop with slide guitar, and back-up vocals (for the first time!) that allude to the direction Walker persued unsuccessfully through the seventies. Still very Stellar!
MPEG Stream: "The Seventh Seal"
MPEG Stream: "World's Strongest Man"
MPEG Stream: "The Old Man's Back Again"

X RAY POP Pirate! (Finders Keepers) lp 25.00
A few weeks back we listed an amazing French synth-pop rarity on the Dark Entries label called The Dream Machine by duo X Ray Pop, a compilation of early singles and demos that was equal parts Les Rita Mitsouko, Mo-dettes and Stereo Total. Now Finders Keepers follows that up with a reissue of the band's first full length, Pirate!, from 1985. Pirate! was originally released on cassette in a small edition of 100 copies, so it went down the rabbithole of obscurities pretty quickly. So it's awesome that it's getting reissued! We did notice that 5 of the tracks on both releases were the same, but then a glance at the subtitle on this release, The Dark Side Of The X, clued us into the fact that while the songs are the same, they are VERY different versions. The Dream Machine demos were more stripped down and gave a lighter touch to the French pop created by vocalist Zouka Dzaza and instrumentalist Doc Pilot. On Pirate! however, the songs have more overdriven synthesizers creating a much darker Suicide-ish feel heightened by the rapid-fire drum machines. Still catchy and cool, but closer to the cold wave of Deux and Gina X on this go round than the way they were to Pizzacato 5 and Stereolab was on the last one.
MPEG Stream: "Nous Sommes"
MPEG Stream: "Nana Electronique"
MPEG Stream: "L'Eurasienne"
MPEG Stream: "Un Petit Plume"

X RAY POP Pirate!: The Dark Side of The X (Finders Keepers) cd 16.98
A few weeks back we listed an amazing French synth-pop rarity on the Dark Entries label called The Dream Machine by duo X Ray Pop, a compilation of early singles and demos that was equal parts Les Rita Mitsouko, Mo-dettes and Stereo Total. Now Finders Keepers follows that up with a reissue of the band's first full length, Pirate!, from 1985. Pirate! was originally released on cassette in a small edition of 100 copies, so it went down the rabbithole of obscurities pretty quickly. So it's awesome that it's getting reissued! We did notice that 5 of the tracks on both releases were the same, but then a glance at the subtitle on this release, The Dark Side Of The X, clued us into the fact that while the songs are the same, they are VERY different versions. The Dream Machine demos were more stripped down and gave a lighter touch to the French pop created by vocalist Zouka Dzaza and instrumentalist Doc Pilot. On Pirate! however, the songs have more overdriven synthesizers creating a much darker Suicide-ish feel heightened by the rapid-fire drum machines. Still catchy and cool, but closer to the cold wave of Deux and Gina X on this go round than the way they were to Pizzacato 5 and Stereolab was on the last one.
MPEG Stream: "Nous Sommes"
MPEG Stream: "Nana Electronique"
MPEG Stream: "L'Eurasienne"
MPEG Stream: "Un Petit Plume"

YAMASUKI SINGERS, THE Le Monde Fabuleux Des (Finders Keepers) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everytime we've played this delicious reissue in the store, people have eagerly inquired, "Oooh, what's this?!" If you dig music that gleefully jumps boundaries and melts together genres with whimsical abandon (but NOT in the current irony-sodden, just-fuckin'-around fashion) -- in this case, a cross-cultural funneling in on the sounds of French Ye Ye Girl pop, far-out Japanese psych and prog influences, some almost-Carpenters level sing-song-y glorious pop, and assorted other vintage Euro-funkiness -- well then, Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki is for YOU!
Lovingly mastered from the original tapes by one of the original producers Monsieur Jean Kluger, this is the first time these recordings have been released on cd. Apparently there was originally one album and two singles released under the name The Yamasuki Singers on the French label Biram back in 1971. Needless to say, they've been next to impossible to find for years. If you're eager to get the skinny on Yamasuki, the project's lively history is printed in English in the liner notes, but there's also an added bonus on the back page of the booklet. If your French comprehension is any good, you can find out how to do the dance moves -- le salut, la joie, la peur, la grace, le combat, attaque (translation of this move's description: one assumes karate positions while shouting "caa ooh") and hara kiri!
By today's standards, you might find some of the 'oriental' (ahem, Asian) elements downright corny (the first song begins with a gong, and songs are introduced by a black-belt judo master!), but the sheer exuberance of the performances sweeps away any possibility of scowling criticisms. The sticker on the front proclaims "A fuzzed-out-educational-multi-cultural psych-rock-opera from 1971. Proto-psychedelic hip-hop with overweight drum beats and basslines!" Who's gonna argue with that?! Not us, we particularly appreciate the record label's use of the word "overweight". Yeah, we can hear what they're gettin' at -- the rhythm section is pretty thumpin' and hefty -- but it still made us giggle. Anyways, not to be super nit-picky but although this is indeed a conceptual album, after reading the liner notes we deduced that it's not so much a 'rock opera' per se, but more like a dance performance with lots of choral accompaniments. So who was behind all of this wonderful madness? Two French producer/composers, the aforementioned Kluger and Daniel Vangarde... and various children's choirs singing in Japanese. Ultra bizarre, campy, freaky and outrageous (again, even by today's standards!), we've got a sneaking suspicion that Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks probably saw/heard Yamasuki 'cause there sure are some striking resemblances with their own deliriously fantastic Kimono My House album that came out a few years later in 1974. You might find it sorta Zappa-ish too. Heck, it even spawned a dance move, "The Yamasuki"! Oh yeah, and if the fifth song "AIEAOA" sounds oddly familiar, you might recognize it as a song covered by Bananarama. Apparently the gals heard a version recorded by a band from Zaire (!), and loved it so much that they covered the cover "Aie A Mwana" and made it their first single!
Cup sez "Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Who's gonna argue with that, either?! Recommended, along with the other amazing reissue on the Finders Keepers label we reviewed last week, Jean-Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches.
MPEG Stream: "Okawa"
MPEG Stream: "Aieaoa"
MPEG Stream: "Abana Bakana"

YAMASUKI SINGERS, THE Le Monde Fabuleux Des (Finders Keepers) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everytime we've played this delicious reissue in the store, people have eagerly inquired, "Oooh, what's this?!" If you dig music that gleefully jumps boundaries and melts together genres with whimsical abandon (but NOT in the current irony-sodden, just-fuckin'-around fashion) -- in this case, a cross-cultural funneling in on the sounds of French Ye Ye Girl pop, far-out Japanese psych and prog influences, some almost-Carpenters level sing-song-y glorious pop, and assorted other vintage Euro-funkiness -- well then, Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki is for YOU!
Lovingly mastered from the original tapes by one of the original producers Monsieur Jean Kluger, this is the first time these recordings have been released on cd. Apparently there was originally one album and two singles released under the name The Yamsuki Singers on the French label Biram back in 1971. Needless to say, they've been next to impossible to find for years. If you're eager to get the skinny on Yamasuki, the project's lively history is printed in English in the liner notes, but there's also an added bonus on the back page of the booklet. If your French comprehension is any good, you can find out how to do the dance moves -- le salut, la joie, la peur, la grace, le combat, attaque (translation of this move's description: one assumes karate positions while shouting "caa ooh") and hara kiri!
By today's standards, you might find some of the 'oriental' (ahem, Asian) elements downright corny (the first song begins with a gong, and songs are introduced by a black-belt judo master!), but the sheer exuberance of the performances sweeps away any possibility of scowling criticisms. The sticker on the front proclaims "A fuzzed-out-educational-multi-cultural psych-rock-opera from 1971. Proto-psychedelic hip-hop with overweight drum beats and basslines!" Who's gonna argue with that?! Not us, we particularly appreciate the record label's use of the word "overweight". Yeah, we can hear what they're gettin' at -- the rhythm section is pretty thumpin' and hefty -- but it still made us giggle. Anyways, not to be super nit-picky but although this is indeed a conceptual album, after reading the liner notes we deduced that it's not so much a 'rock opera' per se, but more like a dance performance with lots of choral accompaniments. So who was behind all of this wonderful madness? Two French producer/composers, the aforementioned Kluger and Daniel Vangarde... and various children's choirs singing in Japanese. Ultra bizarre, campy, freaky and outrageous (again, even by today's standards!), we've got a sneaking suspicion that Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks probably saw/heard Yamasuki 'cause there sure are some striking resemblances with their own deliriously fantastic Kimono My House album that came out a few years later in 1974. You might find it sorta Zappa-ish too. Heck, it even spawned a dance move, "The Yamasuki"! Oh yeah, and if the fifth song "AIEAOA" sounds oddly familiar, you might recognize it as a song covered by Bananarama. Apparently the gals heard a version recorded by a band from Zaire (!), and loved it so much that they covered the cover "Aie A Mwana" and made it their first single!
Cup sez "Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Who's gonna argue with that, either?! Recommended, along with the other amazing reissue on the Finders Keepers label we reviewed last week, Jean-Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches.
MPEG Stream: "Okawa"
MPEG Stream: "Aieaoa"
MPEG Stream: "Abana Bakana"

YELLE Pop Up (Source / Caroline) cd 13.98
As we sit in the middle of an atypical heatwave here in San Francisco it's made us think hard about what our summer jams are going to be, and luckily the debut album from Yelle has just hit stateside and we can officially proclaim that this will be one of our party records of summer '08! Hailing from France, Yelle evokes that special infectious magic of French pop in all its incarnations with a healthy dose of electro and a fun hip-hop disposition. It's sort of how we would imagine a collaboration between Stereo Total and M.I.A. would sound. Yelle is fun and full of color but sharp and strong enough sounding so it doesn't just become disposable fluff. This is exactly what we hoped would be playing everytime we ever walked into a dance club. Suave and and so damn sassy!
MPEG Stream: "Dans Ta Vraie Vie"
MPEG Stream: "Ce Jeu"
MPEG Stream: "Jogging"