Air France - Collapsing At Your Doorstep (video)

Swedish label Sincerely Yours latest output is this video for the better-than-wonderful "Collapsing At Your Doorstep", one of the best songs of the year so far. I've already written more than a few superlatives over Air France's latest EP here, so this time just enjoy it with some idyllic windmill images (apparently filmed by none other than Eric Berglund from label mates The Tough Alliance). Really, with a song like this, it's easy to say: "This place is amazing..."

MySpace page

Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto

Coming from Leeds in England, Wild Beasts are probably one of the most antagonizing projects in music right now, mainly because of its vocalist's unique operatic falsetto voice, one that seems to annoy more than a few people. And yes, it can get a bit distracting at first, honestly it also happened to me. But once you get over it, it will make sense: this is one of the most original bands in recent times, with its out-of-the-book structures, intricate instrumentation, amazingly-written songs, an attitude somewhere between the satirical and the absurd (hence why THAT voice starts making a lot of sense), and an ear for drama and adventure that dares to make indie music sound like a brain-fucking opera played inside an old cabaret. As DIS so well put it: "Sally forth of a Saturday evening into any one of Britain’s murderous provincial town squares; the smell of testosterone mingles with sweating lamb’s flesh while punters duck into dive after dive as refugees pleading for sanctuary. What do you see? A zoo? Wild Beasts see a ballet." (8/10)

Wild Beasts - The Devil's Crayon (video)



Official site
MySpace page

Polaroids # 21

Below, some of the reasons why I may have to rethink my previous opinions about beach holidays...




(Pictures taken in Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal, between 4th - 9th August 2008)

65daysofstatic - The Distant And Mechanised Glow Of Eastern European Dance Parties (EP)

Definitely something you can't miss, here's the latest release from 65daysofstatic, a glitch-punk project coming from Sheffield in England. Consisting of loose reinterpretations of an awesomely-titled song taken from their own last year's album "The Destruction Of Small Ideas", it's no exaggeration to say that the 4 tracks from this EP manage to single-handedly take music to sparkling new extremes, bringing on its way some trademark elements of industrial and experimental electronics and then completely subverting them (and thus, here's the main reason why they've often been compared to Aphex Twin). Full of violent incessant beats, spiralling rave synths, bombastic guitar riffs and pulsating digital effects, "...Dance Parties" is nothing less than a non-stop assault on the senses, one to send the incautious listener into repeated and ecstatic convulsions. Wanna get political? These shameless techno terrorists do nothing less than applying the principles of pure anarchy to their sound and they end up with some uniquely explosive and overpowering results. (7,5/10)

65daysofstatic - Dance Parties (Distant) (video)



Official site

Happy Birthday M

Today, August 16, Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone turns fifty, proving that 50 is the new 35. Thank you for the music, the visuals, the freedom, the liberation and those killer dance moves. Happy birthday to you! Keep on cracking that whip...

Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel

After almost two years of intense hype-building, with an initial self-released record ("Zarcorp Demo"), jumping on and off the nu-rave bandwagon, and a handful of infectious singles and awesome videos, the culmination of all this is finally here with this debut album, confirming that there's much more to these four Nottingham boys than just being the latest fashionable band. With a very important hand from producer Erol Alkan, "Fantasy Black Channel" is a glorious collection of songs that further explore their trademarks (twisted structures applied to catchy anthemic lines), while also adding a vibrant confidence to their energetic world that is truly addictive. With a wide range of influences that go from glam rock to space electro or synth pop, they manage to build a whole new parallel universe using a healthy portion of modern paranoia mixed with an infectious dose of youthful enthusiasm. Comparisons to Klaxons and their "Myths Of The Near Future" have abound and, although a bit understandable (besides the unfair "nu-rave" thing, they both have a very specific colorful approach to their universe and, most importantly, to their music), these can also be quite reductive. Make no mistake, Late Of The Pier live in a place of their own and that's a hell of a non-stop futuristic party thing to be in. (8,5/10)

Late Of The Pier - Heartbeat (video)



Official site
MySpace page

Isaac Hayes 1942-2008

Polaroids # 20

Björk at the SW08 Festival







Goldfrapp at the SW08 Festival





(Pictures taken on the 7th and 8th of August 2008 in Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal)

Home Videos # 12

Björk - Army Of Me (live)



No questions here: after more than one year on the road, the Volta tour has sublimed itself to the point of absolute perfection. More fluid, still making no concessions, with an intense and hypnotic build-up set, and amazing new details in every song, inducing an even more complete and out-of-this-world sensory experience that starts as a ritualistic ceremony and ends up in a total ecstatic and celebratory mood. So if the concert I saw last year in Switzerland was already splendid, this one was simply beyond words.


Goldfrapp - Ooh La La (live)



I have to confess that although I really like Goldfrapp, I also had some reservations towards the "Seventh Tree" album, but this show completely won me over and actually made me look at that record with a different perspective. So from its beautiful more-intimate numbers like "Utopia", "A&E" or "Little Bird" to the roaring energetic electro anthems like "Number One", "Ooh La La", "Train" or "Strict Machine", it all really felt like a collection of very special moments.


(filmed by JP on the 07 and 08-08-2008 at the SW08 Festival in Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal)

Sebastien Tellier - Divine (video)

One word: Summertime!

Myspace page