REVIEW – LARA FABIAN: BEST OF LARA FABIAN

I like a lot of this.

Review here: rockfort: Best of Lara Fabian

Considering their subsequent paths, comparing her’s and Céline Dion’s Eurovision appearances is interesting.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2010

An extraordinary amount of great new things released this year, and some great reissues too.

Three other albums could also have been here as I heard them for the first time in 2010, but they’re not from this year and are nonetheless landmarks: Röövel Ööbik: Ringrada (Universal/UMBLU, 2009); La Grande Sophie: Des Vagues et des Ruisseaux (AZ, 2009); Catherine Major: Rose Sang (Productions De L’Onde, 2008).

After the initial ten or so, the order becomes irrelevant (which is why there are no numbers). The first five are expanded on here: theartsdesk Year Out / Year In: New Music

NEW STUFF

Susanne Sundfør: The Brothel (EMI)
Arnaud Fleurent-Didier: La Reproduction (Columbia/Sony)
MGMT: Congratulations (Columbia)
Our Broken Garden: Golden Sea (Bella Union)
Sylvie Vartan: Soleil Bleu (RCA)
Jane Weaver and Septième Soeur: The Fallen By Watch Bird (Bird)
Kyrie Kristmanson: Origin Of Stars (No Format)
Rose Elinor Dougall: Without Why (Scarlett Music)
Clare Diterzi: Rosa la Rouge (PIAS)
Hjaltalín: Terminal (Borgin Music)
K-X-P (Smalltown Supersound)
Janelle Monáe: The ArchAndroid (Bad Boy/Wondaland)
Françoise Hardy: La Pluie Sans Parapluie (Virgin)
Disappears: Lux (Kranky)
Le Prince Miiaou: Safety First (lpm)
The Concretes: WYWH (Something In Construction)
Islaja: Keraaminen Pää (Fonal)
Mark Ronson & the Business Intl: Record Collection (Columbia)
Frankie Rose and the Outs (Memphis Industries)
Dungen: Skit I Allt (Subliminal Sounds)
Agnes Obel: Philharmonics (PIAS)
Ólafur Arnalds: …And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness (Erased Tapes)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Before Today (4AD)
Efterklang: Magic Chairs (4AD)
Field Music: Measure (Memphis Industries)
Her Name Is Calla: The Quiet Lamb (Denovali Records)
The Besnard Lakes: …are the Roaring Night (Jagjaguwar)
Soundcarriers: Celeste (Melodic)
Wildbirds & Peace Drums: Rivers (Leaf)

Ólöf Arnalds: Innundor Skinni (One Little Indian)

REISSUES

Various: With Love a Pot of Flowers (Big Beat)
Pärson Sound (Subliminal Sounds - vinyl three-album box set)
FJ McMahon: Spirit of the Golden Juice (Rev-Ola)
Various: Listen To The Voices Sly Stone In The Studio 1965-1970 (Ace)
François de Roubaix: L’Antarctique (WéMè)
Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power (Columbia Legacy – the box set)
The Rationals: Think Rational! (Big Beat)
Turid: Stars and Angels: Songs, 1971-75 (RPM International - one of mine, but so great)
Jim Sullivan: UFO (Light In The Attic)
Various: Dansk Rock Historie (Universal)
The Master’s Apprentices (Aztec Music)
I Marc 4: The Beat Sound of the Fabulous… (Heristal)
Efterklang: Tripper + Springer (Leaf)
Buddy Holly: Not Fade Away The Compete Studio Recordings and more (Universal - despite the really poor editing of the text/label copy)
Belbury Poly: Farmer’s Angle (Ghost Box)
Kenny Graham and his Satellites: Moondog and Suncat Suites (Trunk)
Jet (RPM)
Various: Book A Trip The Pop Psych Sounds Of Capitol Records (Now Sounds)
Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg (Light In the Attic – vinyl version)

The Remo Four: Smile!, Peter Gunn…and more (Bear Family)

REVIEW - IMAGINE: RAY DAVIES, IMAGINARY MAN, BBC ONE

Just great.

Review here: The Arts Desk - Imagine: Ray Davies, Imaginary Man, BBC One

Seeing as he wasn’t around for this, here’s a reminder of brother Dave.

REVIEW – SIMPLY RED, THE FINAL SHOW, O2 ARENA, LONDON

A statement of what Simply Red meant. Review here: theartsdesk: Simply Red O2 Arena

And here's a reminder of a long, long time ago.

REVIEW – TRANS MUSICALES DE RENNES 2010 / BARS EN TRANS PART 1

As usual, overwhelming. With a bit less emphasis on the dance derived this year.

Ava Luna, Kyrie Kristmanson, Marie Flore and Fredrika Stahl were terrific. La Corda, Manatee, Connan Mockasin and, of course, Shogun Kunitoki were great too.

Here’s the review: theartsdesk in Rennes: 31st Trans Musicales Festival

More pics from this year below.

Last year’s, 2008’s and 2007’s can be found via here: Trans Musicales Festival

Above: Ava Luna by Nicolas Joubard

Above: Kyrie Kristmanson by David McKenna

REVIEW – FRANKIE ROSE AND THE OUTS, THE LUMINAIRE, LONDON

(Picture by Ben Pier)

The debut album is terrific and outstrips Frankie Rose's previous bands: MOJO November 2010 reviews: Frankie Rose and the Outs

But there was a disconnect between the album and the live show. Review here: The Arts Desk: Frankie Rose and the Outs, Luminaire

RPM INTERNATIONAL ROUND-UP

There is more to come. But now that the Môdulo 1000 has been released, it’s a good time for a recap.

Thirteen CDs so far, with the journey taking in Brazil, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Sweden and – of course – France.

Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen.

Here they all are:
A Real Cool Time Revisited - Swedish Punk, Pop and Garage Rock 1982-1989
Blo: Chapters and Phases
Jacques Dutronc: Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi - Jacques Dutronc 1966-1969
The Golden Earrings: Just Ear-rings; Winter Harvest; Miracle Mirror
Johnny Hallyday: Le Roi De France Johnny Hallyday 1966-1969
Love Records Anthology 1967-1976
Môdulo 1000: Não Fale Com Paredes
The Mops: Psychedelic Sounds In Japan
Tages: the Studio album plus
Turid: Stars and Angels – Songs 1971–75
Sylvie Vartan: Irrésistiblement - Sylvie Vartan 1965–1968

RENCONTRE AVEC CASCADEUR

(Photo: Vincent Idez / Franck Esposito)

Out of the blue it came, one of the best live shows of the year.

The debut EP is also one of the best of the year.

Unlike anything else coming out of France, and here is what he has to say: Cascadeur: The Masked Stuntman

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS?

Not sure if anyone would be stuck for ideas, but here's a great and varied suggestion list. Turning cassettes into MP3s? theartsdesk Christmas Presents Guide

REVIEW – THE CONCRETES, THE LEXINGTON, LONDON

First UK outing for the retooled Concretes and the songs from their wonderful new album WYWH.

Review here: The Concretes, The Lexington - The Arts Desk

EDITH NYLON

To restore the French balance broken by the not-superb Katerine album appearing after the superb new Sylvie Vartan album, this is super-classy but lost French new wave from 1980.

Just a wonderful record. Check the ladies in the audience doing the Madison.

The reason for Edith Nylon's appearance here will become apparent in due course.

REVIEW - PHILIPPE KATERINE: PHILIPPE KATERINE

What a disappointment. A waste of time. I understand it’s supposed to give the impression of spontaneity, but oh dear.

Review here: Philippe Katerine: Philippe Katerine

REVIEW – THE ARTS DESK NEW MUSIC CDs ROUND-UP 15: SYLVIE VARTAN SOLEIL BLEU AND ALLERTON & ALTON BLACK, WHITE AND BLUEGRASS

Soleil Bleu is a great album.

Review here: The Arts Desk New Music CDs Round-Up 15 - Sylvie Vartan Soliel Bleu

And in contrast, some splendid bluegrass that’s been rediscovered:
The Arts Desk New Music CDs Round-Up 15 - Allerton & Alton

REVIEW - SONIC VISIONS FESTIVAL 2010, LUXEMBOURG

Just went to this.

Lovely to see the effort being put into helping and propagating the music. Scheduling different styles of music on each bill was a fine idea, meaning that Sonic Visions presented audiences with things they might not otherwise have thought they’d want to see.

As usual, space meant not everything could be covered, but German band Untertagen were great, as was Canadian soloist Miracle Fortress who – oddly – conjured aural visions of John Martyn. Fifth time round, I now know I’m never going to get Naive New Beaters. Hal Flavin were a bit great.

Review here: theartsdesk in Luxembourg: The Sonic Visions Festival

MOJO DECEMBER 2010 REVIEWS: JANE BIRKIN & SERGE GAINSBOURG, ESTHER OFARIM, CLOUD NOTHINGS AND PAUL JONES

France, Israel (via Germany), Ohio and peculiar post-Manfred Mann Bowie-isms

DUNGEN: PARADISO, AMSTERDAM, 17 NOVEMBER 2010

MEGA PLATEN AND CD BEURS / UTRECHT RECORD FAIR

As the 34th of these overwhelming fairs has been going on this weekend, here's something I wrote on it a little while ago. Bargains may not fall out of the sky, but pretty much everything you might've ever wanted would be here.

See: Just for the record: Europe's Largest Vinyl Fair

REVIEW – BARBARA: PORTRAIT EN CLAIR-OBSCUR BY VALERIE LEHOUX

Barbara has been new to me this year.

It's glaringly obvious that this is major, important stuff. Although, for example, Brel and Ferré are great and truly significant it's always been a sticking point how hyper-ventilated they can be. Texture and text-wise Barbara is more subtle and the allusiveness offers a counterpoint to some of the other writer's directness.

The book says much more than the above though, and much more than I could say.

Review here: Barabara: Portrait En Clair-Obscur

RENCONTRE AVEC GILLIAN HILLS – PART 2

As it was rather lengthy. the Gillian Hills’ piece was split into two parts. Part 1 is already up and out

Part 2 is now up and out too. See here: Gillian Hills: Beat Girl Pt 2

REVIEW - HJALTALÍN, HOXTON SQUARE BAR AND KITCHEN, LONDON

Wouldn't it be great if Hjaltalín could break through into the mainstream? There's nothing obscure, nothing difficult about this music.

Review here: The Arts Desk Hjaltalín Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

RENCONTRE AVEC GILLIAN HILLS – PART 1

When I wrote this, it originally appeared in Ugly Things in an issue that’s now out of print.

It’s the first time that Gillian’s story has been told in English, and it’s an important story.

Here: Gillian Hills: Beat Girl Pt 1

RÖÖVEL ÖÖBIK: YOUNG GODZ HAVE FUN

I’d never heard of Röövel Ööbik until May this year, when I was given a copy of their most recent album Ringrada (which has amazing cover art).

From Estonia, they have a long history (formed in the late ‘80s, before Estonian independence) that I haven’t figured out yet. Apparently they were a favourite of John Peel.

This though, from Ringrada, is one of the songs of the year. The drums coming in slightly late after the first chorus is inspired. Just wonderful.

REVIEW – ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI, THE GARAGE, LONDON

Boy, this was an odd show. Huge fun too.

Regardless of all the definition fiddle faddle, Mr Pink came over as firmly in the Todd Rundgren and Bobby Conn tradition (this is a good thing).

Review here: The Arts Desk - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, The Garage

REVIEW – THE ARTS DESK NEW MUSIC CDs ROUND-UP 14: AGNES OBEL PHILHARMONICS

Just covered this for The Arts Desk.

Another fabulous album from Denmark.

Review here: Agnes Obel Philharmonics The Arts Desk New Music CDs Round-Up 14

MOJO NOVEMBER 2010 REVIEWS: K-X-P, FRANKIE ROSE AND THE OUTS, CARO EMERALD, GOLD, CLIFF RICHARD RARE AND UNSEEN

Finland (terrific stuff), Brooklyn, The Netherlands, a curious and intermittently entertaining ‘60s film, and a terrible Cliff Richard DVD.

REVIEW – LOST IN MUSIC FESTIVAL, TAMPERE, FINLAND

Went to this.

Kiki Pau are what you dream of: wandering in off the street in some strange place to a band you know nothing about and then having the top of your head taken off. Like the effect of seeing Joensuu 1685 and Murmansk in Denmark a couple of years ago, La Grande Sophie in Canada and Eplemoya Songlag in Norway this year. Kiki Pau began with a concise wigout over which bits of a book were read out: Jeremy Narby’s The Cosmic Serpent. Intense from the off, they conjured an nth degree take on the fadeout from I Am The Resurrection, parts of Electric Music For The Mind And Body, bits of early ballroom-era Quicksilver Messenger Service. Spacemen 3 as well. But no flab and with melody too: a sort of updated Swedish progg, perhaps cousins of Dungen.

Slightly different - Iiris is pretty bloody great. Not-yet fully formed, but it’s obvious she’s a star.

Review here: theartsdesk in Tampere, Finland: At the Lost In Music Festival

Here’s a few more pics, all by Jukka Ässä – from the top: Iiris, LCMDF, K-X-P.

RECORD OF THE DAY: MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

From last week's Record Of The Day magazine.

DOC RECORDS, ISLINGTON - ALESSANDRO 'ALEX' MARIANI RIP

This is dreadfully sad.

REVIEW - GUESS WHAT: YURI GAGARIN

This is great, but times – for this type of thing – may have moved on.

Review here: Guess What: Yuri Gagarin

REVIEW – a-ha: ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON

Review here: The Arts Desk: a-ha, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall

No more needs to be said.

REVIEW - ZAZIE: 14/49

A new album by someone as high profile and long established as this really shouldn’t be this woolly-minded.

Review here: Zazie: 14/49

It's not all bad – moments truly shine. But someone should have taken control. Hear how good it can be from this (but ignore the silly, cod-meaningful, visuals - how sorry can you feel for a snail?):

REVIEW - THE ARTS DESK NEW MUSIC CD ROUND-UP 13: OUR BROKEN GARDEN GOLDEN SEA

Just covered this for The Arts Desk.

A fabulous album.

Review here: New Music CDs Round-Up 13 – The Arts Desk

REVIEW - MARK RONSON & THE BUSINESS INTL / ROSE ELINOR DOUGALL AT THE HACKNEY EMPIRE, LONDON

This was a tremendous show, with the emphasis on the word show.

Here is the review: The Arts Desk: Mark Ronson & The Business Intl/ Rose Elinor Dougall, Hackney Empire

Some pictures have bubbled up, and a couple are below: one of a dapper Duran Duran with Mark Ronson on the right on guitar during Girls On Film and another of Boy George with Alex Greenwald while performing Someone To Love Me.

MOJO OCTOBER 2010 REVIEWS: DUNGEN SKIT I ALLT AND EFTERKLANG TRIPPER + SPRINGER

Sweden and Denmark.

TAGES’ STUDIO IN SWEDEN’S SONIC MAGAZINE

Courtesy of L-P Anderson, I’ve learnt that Sonic has reviewed Tages. Brilliant it’s getting a shout in their home country.

REVIEW - KYRIE KRISTMANSON: ORIGIN OF STARS

This is great.

Hope the UK release gets the attention is deserves.

Review here: Kyrie Kristmanson: Origin of Stars

Jugglers have their place, and it’s limited indeed. But this seems like putting them to good use.

RENCONTRE AVEC PIERRE LAPOINTE A FRANCOFOLIES DE MONTREAL

It shouldn’t be a surprise that someone as good as this is barely heard of outside the Francophone world, and it isn’t. But Pierre Lapointe needs to be heard and seen widely.

Meeting him was fascinating. See this: Pierre Lapointe: Le Meilleur

He is straightforward to talk with, but the thought put into everything is clear. He treats all that he does as an art project.

These make the case too. Je reviendrai is a wonderful song, Deux par deux rassemblés is irresistible

JOHNNY HALLYDAY, LE ROI DE FRANCE, 1966-1969 IN LES INROCKUPTIBLES

Tages in The Times was cool, but this is super surprising.

It’s from the issue of Les Inrocks dated 1 September. Amazing.

MÔDULO 1000: NÃO FALE COM PAREDES ON RPM INTERNATIONAL

Few records from the past that bubble up genuinely sound like nothing else – one that really sounds nothing else is Môdulo 1000’s sole album, 1970’s Não Fale Com Paredes (Don’t Talk To Walls). Opening cut Turpe Est Sine Crine Caput sounds like a junior Black Sabbath crossed with early Devo, but with a Brazilian sensibility. Môdulo 1000 show that Tropicalia was part of the story – Brazil was home to even freakier music. An extraordinary album, it has to be heard.

An easily available version of Não Fale Com Paredes has been needed and now – with the help of the band – RPM International is releasing a special, band-approved reissue of the album, supplemented by all the tracks they recorded for singles and rare compilation albums. Founder member Daniel Romani has been interviewed for the package.

Tracklist below, and it’ll come out in November (exact date not yet set).

Não Fale Com Paredes (Top Tape TT1000, 1970)
1. Turpe Est Sine Crine Caput
2. Não Fale Com Paredes
3. Espêlho
4. Lem . Ed . Êcalg
5. Ôlho Por Ôlho. Dente Por Dente
6. Metrô Mental
7. Teclados
8. Salve.Se Quem Puder
9. Animáia
Bonus tracks
10. Gloriosa (A Juventude, Odeon MOFB-3601, August 1970)
11. Cafusa (V Festival da Canção, Odeon MOFB 3657, 1970)
12. Big Mama (single A side, Odeon 7b440, 1970)
13. Isto Não Quer Dizer Nada (single B side, Odeon 7b440, 1970)
14. Ferrugem E Fuligem (Posições, Odeon MOFB 3657, 1971)
15. Curtissima (Posições, Odeon MOFB 3657, 1971)
16. The Cancer Stick (as Love Machine, single A side, CS 0104, 1972)
17. Waiting For Tomorrow (as Love Machine, single B side, CS 0104, 1972)

REVIEW - LE PRINCE MIIAOU: SAFETY FIRST

An affecting album that needs to be widely heard.

Review here: Le Prince Miiaou: Safety First

The album is home made, and here’s the home-made film for Football Team:

REVIEW - THE MOONS AT 93 FEET EAST, LONDON

Based on this show, can’t see any reason why The Moons shouldn’t reach out to an audience that’s not defined by Andy Crofts’ association with Paul Weller.

Review here: The Arts Desk - The Moons, 93 Feet East, London

What a bizarre and unsatisfactory ending to their set though.

LOVE RECORDS IN FINLAND’S SOUNDI MAGAZINE

This was a surprise. I thought I was just choosing a Love Records’ Top 5 to go alongside a review of the compilation (i.e this: Love, From Finland - The Love Records Anthology 1968-1976).

But this, from the August 2010 issue of Soundi, is more than that – and also a wonderful chance to spout off about some of the great music that’s currently coming out of Finland.

So, thank you Esa Kuloniemi.

REVIEW - THE ARTS DESK NEW MUSIC CD ROUND-UP 12: ROSE ELINOR DOUGALL WITHOUT WHY & FOR A MINOR REFLECTION HÖLDUM Í ĀTT AÐ OREIÐU

Just covered these for The Arts Desk. The Rose Elinor Dougall album is obviously amongst the year’s best and For A Minor Reflection are super.

Reviews here: New Music CDs Round-Up 12 - The Arts Desk

Here’s some nice footage of FAMR recording the album.

REVIEW - JAMAICA: NO PROBLEM; 1973: BYE BYE CELLPHONE

Both of these French exports are ok; good enough at what they do.

But some individual identity would have been nice. And without that, each comes over as a laboratory experiment.

Review here: Jamaica: No Problem; 1973: Bye Bye Cellphone

MOJO SEPTEMBER 2010 REVIEWS: DAVID GRAY FOUNDLING AND FELT BOOK

REVIEW - CLAIRE DITERZI: ROSA LA ROUGE

An extraordinary piece of work: a truly impactful album that balances the serious subject matter with accessible music.

Review here: Claire Diterzi: Rosa La Rouge

Here's the label’s promo.

REVIEW - THE BESNARD LAKES AT THE GARAGE LONDON

The headliners were great, and a surprising treat to see two good bands on before them.

Some good tips from Jace Lasek on Canadian ‘70s music too.

Here's the review: The Arts Desk: The Besnard Lakes, The Garage

TAGES’ STUDIO IN THE TIMES (!)

NEW RELEASES: a-ha (HUNTING HIGH AND LOW & SCOUNDREL DAYS) AND SLOWDIVE (JUST FOR A DAY, SOUVLAKI & PYGMALION)

I’ve recently worked on two sets of reissues: a-ha and Slowdive.

It was great to speak with a-ha and revisit their first two albums. After so many years it becomes clear how they approached what they doing with a distinctly arty perspective.

Listening to all of Slowdive’s releases raises so many questions about why they weren’t recognised as the unique template-setters that they were back then.

The two a-ha CDs were issued in July:
a-ha Hunting High and Low
a-ha Scoundrel days

Following on from these (released 4 October) will be 25: The Very Best of a-ha – the 25th-year anniversary 2-CD set:
a-ha 25

And the three Slowdive albums are issued on 18 August:
Slowdive Just For A day, Souvlaki, Pygmalion

REVIEW - FRANCOFOLIES LA ROCHELLE 2010

The definitive event for French music in France. It really delivered:
http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2010/08/francofolies_la_rochelle_2010.html

Photos from the festival below.

The idea of seeing Jacques Dutronc was very exciting, but he really was not good. A huge disappointment.

Of the things I’d never heard before, Cascadeur and L were way ahead – way ahead – of anything else.

Space, as usual, meant some things weren’t mentioned, so here’s a random few:

CATHERINE MAJOR: From Canada. Her 2008 Rose Sang album is superb. Live, just her at a grand piano was really effective. Powerful too.

JEANNE CHERHAL: I’d gotten the wrong idea here and had thought of Jeanne Cherhal as a sort of modern chansonish singer-songwriter, but live she is a lady of rock. Could do with a bit less bludgeoning guitar though. Sloppy drummer too. But once the surprise passed, it worked. And really well.

JILL IS LUCKY: The OKish acoustic-driven toe tapper Wanderer has been picking up big time in France. Live, however, the set ends with a rock-out white-noise blast that washes that out of your head.

WAX TAILOR: Tiresome textbook trip hop.

ARIANNE MOFFAT: From Canada. On album, the R&B elements are occasionally an uncomfortable fit (e.g. Je Veux Tout on 2008’s Tous Les Sens), but live it made perfect sense, the set starting reflective and getting gradually more dancey. Great.

DIAM’S: Make show = irritating.

EMILIE SIMON: Hadn’t seen her with the band before: bassist and drummer, both pin-sharp and precise. Hugely memorable version of Chinatown.

ARNAUD FLEURENT-DIDIER: Wondered if this would work in a massive outdoor setting. It did and was super.




Above: Jacques Dutronc and friend at La Grande Scène (© Franck Moreau/Francofolies)

Above: Cascadeur at La Coursive (© Théophile Trossat)

Above: L at La Coursive (© JM Patron)

Above: Alexandre Désilets at La Coursive (© Ariane Charbonneau)

Above: Standing ovation for Alexandre Désilets at La Coursive (© Ariane Charbonneau)

Above: Catherine Major at La Coursive (© Franck Moreau/Francofolies)

Above: Jacques Higelin at La Grande Scène (© Franck Moreau/Francofolies)