The XX - crystalised

Laid back rock n'roll played so quietly you can enjoy it one note at a time. The two kids on vocals are a perfect match for romantic tunes.

Enjoy!

Charly

The XX - Crystalised

Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar

Ben and Andy play psychedelic haunted hardcore!

Enjoy!

Charly

Fuck Buttons Surf Solar

Me and the Beast - Take my picture

6 month old London based band, Me and the beast have recently won the BBC's "Live and Unsigned" competition. Sombody please sign them now !!! All we can get our ears on up to now are the band's demos, some very promissing, but horribly low quality, live footage and the homemade video liked below. Anyhow, fresh electro-pop with a playfull attitude you need to discover right now!!!! (only a couple hundred hits on their youtube videos... when i say fresh, I mean it!!!)

Enjoy!

Charly.

Me and the Beast - Take my picture

PS. I personally prefer the track Can't say goodbye, that you can listen to here: http://meandthebeastmusic.com/

Listen to this this! Pony Pony Run Run!

Hey Pony Pony Run Run! No fooling me! Shooting the video in Thailand was jsut an excuse to take a dream vacation and I know it! I'll forgive you because you are from Nantes, in the same corner of France as me. Pony Pony Run Run has a wide range oof references and i'll quote their PR propaganda on that "We love everything. There is no shame in enjoying a synth line from 2 Unlimited" That's pretty much the spirit i go by myself. When the music is good, no need to label it! Pony Pony Run Run is good good for sure!

Enjoy!

Charly.

Pony Pony Run Run - Hey You

Kuduro - African Electro

A little african sun for this summer. Kuduro - litterally Hard Ass - was born in the slums of Luanda around 10 years ago. Computer generated music that combines traditional Angolese beats with western dance and hip hop, Kuduro is one of many contemporary african music styles to emerge on the global scene over the past few years. Kuduro is already very popular in Portugal and Brazil - the portuguese lyrics and general feel clearly resemble Bailé Funk do Rio.

discover and enjoy!

Charly

Vagabanda - Vou le Dar


Tony Amado - the genesis of Kuduro / mad angolese dancers

If mainstream pop was always trhis good... Mini Viva - Left my heart in Tokyo

If mainstream pop was always this good, it would save me a lot of time hunting down underground gems on myspace! Mini Viva, two 20 year old brittish chicks who'll dig a hole in your brain as soon as you hear them. Addictive lyrics, attitude, a good rythm and a flashy top end video should drive these girls up the charts in no time.

Enjoy!

Charly

Mini Viva - Left my heart in Tokyo

Simian Mobile Disco meets Hot Chip

this track could be a dub. the tune is hypnotic and hot, something oriental to the way it sneaks into your head and makes your feet shake. It could be performed accapella too i guess? Alexis Taylor, that cool voice that cruises through HotChip songs, spices this up a notch, as if it was necesary! Bad Blood, definately my sexy dance song for the summer!

Enjoy!
Charly.

Simian Mobile Disco + Alixis Taylor - Bad Blood

while i've been away Chew Lips has been busy

My new favorite pop-band-with-female-singer is back with a second track - Salt Air. I've been hearing a lot of La Roux around... honestly this girl is much better! She loves what she does, and you can see it on her face and hear it in her voice! La Roux, depresive plastic diva, you've found your master!

Enjoy!
Charly

Chew Lips - Salt Air

Naive New Beaters - Live Good

Seems like everything worth listening to this month is frenchies singing in English! These three parisian kids have just released their first album "Wallace"and are bringing bad haircuts back! Heavy beats and a good sense of humour are the driving force for this band. They play music that has never been heard before... cute little french accents aren't the only distinctive feature. Youtube leads me to believe they are really hot on stage! i hope i'll be able to confirm that soon.



Enjoy!



Charly.



Naive New Beaters - Live Good

We Have Band – You came Out

We Have Band – You came Out

London trio We Have Band is overflowing with originality and style. They've fine tuned their signature pop sound : both dark and fun, with a fat dose of humor throughout. All the tracks on their myspace are excellent, and they are even better performed live. They've been compared to the 80's a lot, but honestly, no one back then had this much energy!


The video is fantastic too!



Enjoy,



Charly!

Off the record : Magistrates, Chew Lips, Delphic & Crystal Fighters on stage

Kituné parties are always this good! The four bands on stage last night at La Maroquinerie, in Paris rocked the house, each in their own way. Magistrates put on a fresh rock n'roll set full of emotion and energy. Delphic did the same, with a little more electro and more experience of playing live.
Chew Lips singer Tigs really gt the room alive, the band played 5 tracks of exciting electropop to a crowd of kids with their hands in the air. Tigs has charisma and class, and she's pretty friendly too! had a quick photoshoot with her!




Finaly, Crystal Fighters (no relation with Crystal Castles!) burned the house down with a sound half rage against the machine, half Asian Dub Foundation and a finger pointed to the sky.
Great show overall. Chew Lips and Crystal Fighters really impressed me on stage!


Enjoy,


Charly!


Chew Lips - Solo



Crystal Fighters - Xtatic Truth

Two door cinema club Vs. Phoenix

(Something good can work Vs. Lisztomania)

Three north irish kids with a mac in the first corner, four survivors of the late 90's french touch bubble in the other. These two bands have little in comon when you put it that way. But when you listen to the two tunes you can't miss the similarities. The frenchie lyrics seem to be half yoghurt and half musical history name droping, they are performed with incedible sincerity and no sexy French accent. The irish vocals are angelical and the guitar line is great. However, as i'm typing this, the song i can't get out of my head is phoenix!

Enjoy,

Charly

Phoenix Lisztomania


Two door cinema club Something good can work

Cazals - To Cut A Long Story Short

Two teenage guitar heroes, one mad dummer, one bass player on steroids, and a singer who looks too small for his voice. Cazals plays a new kind of rock that even an electro geek like myself can relate to. On this track, a simple guitar riff takes you from start to finish of a simple story about life. These “London Lads” sing about a girl in the park or an invitation to a party and turn everyday situations into universal messages. To cut a long story short, it’s a fantastic tune off of an excellent album!

Enjoy,

Charly

Crystal Castles - Crimewave

The tune has been around for a while but its its the sexiest music i've heard in ages, so i can't help but pôint it out to anyone who hasn't yet heard it. Crystal Castles has pretty successfully developed a sound that didn't exist yet in electronic music. Their use of simple rythms and sophisticated voicework creates a mysterious and sensualy violent athmosphere track after track. Who knew it could get so hot in Canada?

Enjoy,

Charly.

Oxmo Puccino & Olivia Ruiz - Sur la route d'Amsterdam

Driving to Amsterdam is an institution for us frenchies who enjoy tulips. This track is from rapper Oxmo Puccino's latest album "l'arme de paix" and features Olivia Ruiz, failed pop idol turned respectable quality pop singer with a strong French attitude. The encounter of these two carachters paints a great portrait of French youth and its expectations, losely based on Jacques Brel's legendary "dans le port d'Amsterdam". We learn that tough ghetto boys and romantic girls from the south enjoy the same pleasures in Amsterdam. What really makes the track is the shock between two very distinctive voices.

Enjoy,

Charly (PS: whoever chose this illustration for the song is a fool)

Kid Cudi - Day n' Nite

This track has been played in loops on all the mainstream radios of the planet... but i didn't know that because i don't listen to those radios. I first heard it on a vacation in Miami, and it seemed like the perfect soundtrack for a tropical roadtrip. The tune is deep and psychedelic, it floats somewhere in between eletro and hiphop, and its been remixed about a thousand times. Radio Edit is still the best.

Enjoy, or re-enjoy,

Charly.

Paco - Pas de jugement hâtif

Since when do white frenchies sing reggae??? Well, to be specific, the first one was Serge Gainsbourg, who recorded in Jamaica back in 1979 with the Wailers and Robbie and Sly. Since then, reggae rythms have always had a place in French Music.

Business school student turned rocker, then rapper, and finaly rastaman, Paco truely sings his life and lives his songs. Just like him they are easygoing and carry a perma-smile. Just like him though, his songs also have a depth that you don't realise at first. "Pas de jugement hâtif" is the first professional quality production on this young artist, who really thrives on a small stage in a bar full of friends. I'm usually in the front row singning the chorus!

Enjoy,

Charly

Paco - Pas de jugement hâtif
envoyé par PacoIrrecuperable. - Regardez la dernière sélection musicale.

autoKratz - Stay the Same

The best way to hear new music is live! I saw autoKratz at "La Maroquinerie" in Paris a few months ago at a Kitsuné party. I had a prejudice against one of the guys who looks like Moby when he walked on stage, but very quickly they made me - and the whole room - change my mind. The two-headed autoKratz mix up a powerfull minimalist sound that gets everyone dancing in seconds. I'm looking forward to seeing them again in front of a muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch larger audience at Solidays open air music festival, in Paris.

Enjoy,

Charly.

CSS - Let's Reggae All Night

CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy - Tired of being sexy) is a killer! Led by Lovefoxxx, the Brazilian rockers from Sao Paulo have found their signature style in their second album Donkey. Its all about bass and partying. Its hard not to groove when the bassline of "let's reggae all night" kicks in. and its hard not to smile at the "global teenager" lyrics. - I first thought their english was terrible, then looked into some of their portuguese lyrics... same stuff, so i'm accusing them of being text-message whores who don't know how else to write!

Enjoy,

Charly

Metric - Help I'm Alive

I first heard this song by Canadian band Metric a few days ago, and it has all the ingredients i love : a ghostly voice (Emily Haines), passion and a progressive beat that goes up up up even when it slows down. It's a very inspiring and punchy song but it stays sweet and mystical all the way through. Perfect music for the morning train ride, and probabaly works good at 4AM too. I've listened to the band's new album Fantasies. The accoustic version of "Help I'm alive" is also fantastic, i'm not sure about the rest yet.

Enjoy,

Charly.

Studio version :


Live version : dirty sound, but you can see up Emily's dress!