Just a quickie before I take a week off in a non-html compliant mountain retreat...
(Original) Factory Records fans should by all means check out John's very resourceful Factory blog, cerysmaticfactory.
A bientôt...
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Tony Wilson & Da Ladz
The man who brought us unknown pleasures in the eighties and the Hacienda in the 90s launches F4 Records, fourth - and final? - instalment of Factory Records. Totally independent and download-oriented.
First artists signed to F4 include Manchester hip-hop / UK garage collective Raw-T, Factory veteran Vini Reilly (The Durutti Column) and err... typical mancunian fare 'The Young Offenders Institute'.
F4 Records
Raw-T website (1st single 'Where We Live' to be released on F4 Feb. 21)
The Durutti Column website
The Young Offenders Institute website • We're The Young Offenders mp3
The lowdown : 'So Register and fucking pay for it.'
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Camille - Le Fil
Forget everything you thought you knew about the new French scene.
Meet Camille, 26. A vocal sensation of her own. And a lot more. A Paris-based singer and pianist, Camille has a major in politics and her very own take on songwriting.
You might have spotted her unique tone on last year's 'Nouvelle Vague' concept album (bossa & 60s pop covers of new wave hits from the 80s) or as a guest on Jean-Louis Murat's 'Lilith'. Camille's cover of Clash's 'Guns of Brixton' with Nouvelle Vague can be sampled here (ram).
'Le Fil' (Virgin / EMI), released today in France, is her second LP, and a major follow-up to her debut 'Le Sac des filles' (2002, Source / Virgin). An incredibly personal set of 15 tracks pieced together by a 'humming thread', 'Le Fil' is about love, loss, identity, sense and nonsense.
Strangely woven lyrics combined with vocal rhythmic wizardry, piano, double bass, distant horns and Camille's very own tricks make 'Le Fil' the most interesting French album released in what... decades?
Musically, it sounds as a hypnotic mash-up of Steve Reich, pygmy chants, organic R 'n B, and gallic gospel. But don't be offset by these references. Camille is in a league of her own.
A must-have.
Camille's Website
Buy 'Le Fil' from Amazon (France • US)
If you're in Paris early March, make sure you catch one of her upcoming gigs (Théâtre des Blancs-Manteaux, March 2-5 and 9-12). On stage, she'll definitely win you over.