Phoenix Release Free Live Album!

Ultimate crossover French indie rockers Phoenix just released a live album from a performance in Sydney today! The recording is great, the setlist is awesome (a bit Wolfgang Amedeus Phoenix heavy, but whatevs) and they included the perfect amount of young, presumably hot Australian girls screaming in the background. For those of us who have been with Phoenix ever since the beginning, when Pitchfork named them the "soft rock strokes," -booooo, P4k, - this little live album is a great victory lap for the band that deserved the success they've found the most. Grab it! Listen to it! Love it!

1901 collaboration video

PHOENIX | MySpace Music Videos

Phoenix - OS|MS

Phoenix - Lasso (Live in Sydney)

Phoenix - 1901 (Live in Sydney)

Charlotte Gainsbourg Tour!!!

Yeah, she's hot. And French. And an awesome singer. And she just announced the dates for her North America tour. And she'll be in Seattle on April 14th @ The Crocodile Cafe.

Yeah. Look at that picture one more time. Now be fucking stoked. Unless you're going to Portland on that same day to see The xx @ The Crystal Ballroom. Decisions, decisions...

KAVINSKY MOTHERFUCKERS

Kavinsky. The man behind of some of my favorite French speed electro that ran parrellel to the bloghouse era of 2k8 is back a new EP entitled Nightcall. An EP which was mixed by SebastiAn, who turned Kavinsky's "Testarossa Autodrive" into the most testosterone fueled electro explosion of the whole era. An EP which was produced by motherfucking Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk. With vocals from Lovefoxxx from CSS!

"Nightcall" itself is not exactly a return to that unabashed energy, but its a super slick track thats definately worth a listen.

However, the true highlight, at least, for myself, is "Pacific Coast Highway," which is a return to that energy, and is perhaps the closest thing to "Testarossa Autodrive" that there can be, as a reporter tracks an high speed chase. I have no idea why Kavisnky knows how to perfectly soundtrack an 80's influenced high speed pursuit, but he does, and it works.

You should probably check out "Testarossa Autodrive" if you missed it, because its one of the coolest things ever.

Kavinsky - MS

"Nightcall"

"Pacific Coast Highway"

Removed at request

Charlotte Gainsbourg

I'm about to do two things that I am highly loathe to do: comment on something Pitchfork already got their grubby hipster hands on, and add to Keegan's "France" tag count. But alas, I have to, so I will keep it short:

I am quickly becoming convinced that IRM by French actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg easily one of if not the best albums released within the past 12 months. If you haven't listened, just get it. Now. Her voice is saucy and all but one of the songs were written/produced by Beck. I mean, fuck, what else does a growing boy need?

Artist Profile: Irish Steph

As Tim was kind enough to bring to my attention, it has been quite a long while since we've had any of that genuine French electro banger shiz up on the cheetah. So I present to you - Irish Steph. Despite what the name implies, he is very, very French, being from Cannes, and even though he labels his music 'Electro/Celtic', his work is very, very banger. I've been watching this guy ever since he appeared on Vogelspand about a year ago, but Ive been waiting for him to drop something new since I wasn't really posting much back then. However, in the interest of helping them gain a little buzz, he is only 17 after all, and because our neighbors to the north Trashbag Kids posted working links (cheetah luvs Trashbag)

Irish Steph plays out alot like Justice did when they wrote Planisphere for that fashion show. Its got the electro banger energy and beat, but with some absolutely vicious guitar riffs that grab your attention and send the music on its own trajectory. Power is a good example, opening with some very Sebastian style bass noise and distortion, until some straight heavy metal guitar arrives to rock your world (with a nice "Prepare --- To Headbang").

Irish Steph - Power

The Guide is another great example, with a super Justice-esque opener moving into some glorious funk movement before coming back to catch the listener off gaurd, before punching it in twice as hard.

Irish Steph - The Guide (ft. Apricot'Yo)

Again, not alot of his stuff is accesible on the blogosphere, but enjoy the stuff below and remember - long live French Electro!

Irish Steph - MS

Irish Steph - Leprechauns Eat Red Socks

Irish Steph - Shamrock (Deluce Remix)

Irish Steph - Leprechauns Head Bang tinymix

ST

Oh god yes.

I feel like there is a lot to look forward to in 2009. And ST is helping me to reinforce that right now.

Kind of banger. Kind of fucking awesome. Kind of from France. I promise I'm not biased. It's just fact that France contains enough electro to power a planet the size of Jupiter.

I don't know what it is with French people and naming shit after colors, but tonight, I won't even mention it.

ST (MS) - Blue | Orange

Pillage (France Strikes Back)

I've been in a bit of an electro drought lately. I freaked out on it for a while and then slowly slowly everything started to lose it's luster. And then today happened.

Pillage.

From Valerie of course. From France of course. And something out of Toulouse for once!!

Basically, I love every Valerie artist. They all share a very similar aesthetic - an aesthetic that I really see carrying the electro banner in the future. Pillage shares bits of that aesthetic, but in a much more accessible way. It's just a tad more clubby. It's just a tad more punchy. It's just a tad more... nineties. A small deviation for Valerie, but certainly not in the wrong direction.

I love it. It's three in the morning and I want to dance.

Pillage (MS) - Okay

Live Music: Minitel Rose @ Cargo de Nuit (Arles, France)

The lady and I made our way over to Arles last night to catch a glimpse of my new favorite electo pop band (excluding Passion Pit, which is too godly too compare) Minitel Rose. Hailing from Nantes, the band, a trio, is signed to Valerie, the clear leader in new wave 80's electro so far as record labels go (imho). Their name is inspired by a form of pre-internet cybersex, from France in the early 80's. This band is a minitel rose for your ears.

The venue had an incredible setup. Two bars at the back where you walk in, right into a large open space with tall ceilings. Stairs going up to another large area on a balcony. Some tables in back and some benches on the wall. An insane amount of lights and lasers. And a fog machine that didn't fuck around. Overall, the venue was pretty small. Though I don't doubt you could pack A LOT of people in there, the venue had a very comfy feel. cheers.


Cargo de Nuit (Arles, France)

We stood through a pretty decent opener, Delete, that absolutely stank up the stage. Their music production was wonderful, but they were a long way away from good delivery. As much as I love to just stare at four bodies standing there, making music... it just doesn't make for a good show. There was a group of five 12 y/o's that were the only people dancing in the venue; it was just a little embarassing. Nevertheless, the music that came from the band called Delete was a nice band the just chill to. I think they would fall into the genre of electro funk, as the majority of their music was driven entirely by a single emotionless man with a bass guitar. Though, at other times they were certainly on different parts of the map. You can tell that they are a very new band, and I think they have a long way to go. Delete, if you are reading this.... DON'T SING. It's not working with your music for now.


Delete @ Cargo de Nuit (Arles, France)

Minitel Rose was explosive right out of the gate, and the crowd was susceptible to their wiles. They hit the stage like no one's business, and they didn't mess around, opening their concert with two songs from their freshman album <>, including the incredibly catchy "Magic Powder." They threw down some new songs on the crowd, one in particular that had an incredible energy behind it; and energy that could rival, perhaps, the likes of Justice. I'm excited to hear these songs when they're polished and packaged. All three members of the band were crowd pleasers, and did a very good job getting people moving and creating an atmosphere. Their sound was punchy and precise, again, great production here. At one point during the show, the lead singer ripped his keyboard off its stand and played it over his head like he was about to smash it at any second. He didn't smash it, thank god.


Minitel Rose @ Cargo de Nuit (Arles, France)

As they left the stage the crowd erupted in cheers and clapping and stomping and whistling, truly an amazing call for an encore. Five minutes passed, and Minitel Rose did not show their faces. It's kind of a dick thing to pull after such a great show, but honestly, I think the band just ran out of songs. A sad move really. I hope they consider saving one for the encore in the future. The crowd was really dissapointed :-(

Anyways, overall it was a wonderful show. Delete flopped and Minitel Rose more than made up for it. Incredible stage presence mixed with some inredible sound production, NOT TO MENTION fucking sweeeeeeet lights, it all made for an excellent spectacle.

Now listen here...

Delete (MS)
Minitel Rose (MS) - Be With You|Magic Powder

Artist Profile: Danger

While Cheetah Love may be running a risk of becoming a bit too electro-centric, there is one artist whom I cannot wait any longer to spotlight, and that artist is the single most bad of the badass, motherfuckin' DANGER.

Danger is the mask wearing alter ego of Frank Riviore, a 23 year-old Parisian graphic designer currently signed to Ekler'o'shock. I first heard of heard Danger early this year, after a heads up from the phenomenal blog Good Weather For Airstrikes (R.I.P.), shortly after his first EP featuring the celebrated "11h30" dropped in Europe.

Danger's particular brand of speedelectro evokes at first a reiteration of the stark electronic minimalism and insistence of artists such as Kavinsky and Blackskirt. Also markedly present in his music is a manipulation of hip-hop bass aesthetics, highly comparable to the thunderous remix work of SebastiAn.


What makes Danger so particularly remarkable and, honestly, better than these titans of French Electro House is his ability to so fluidly manipulate the melodrama of sound and tension to influence the real feelings and emotions imparted from his music, a feat matched perhaps only by the unfuckwithable Justice. That, coupled with the careful manipulation of image being presented by the artist help combine to make Danger sound not only like that elusive sensation of danger itself, but to embody the very essence of it. Danger's myspace page is perhaps the most excellent example of this, the tight composition of mysterious and sinister imagery coupled with his innately intriguing music turning the site from a mere information gathering resource into a visceral element of his music itself, changing forever the way one identifies and connects with the actual sound of Danger. Again, the only other electro group that can be observed matching such a complete degree of control with this element of their music is Justice, whose adoption of the "religious-symbolism-through-the-lens-of-70s-era-metal-iconography-and-also-leather-jackets" look has created one of the most intriguing images a band has enjoyed in years.

Unfortunately, one of the great annoyances regarding Danger is the sheer difficulty of collecting any information regarding him. Only one EP has been released, titled 09/14 2007, and both his system of naming songs - such as "00h00" - and his name itself do not exactly lend themselves to simple Google searches. Even more frustrating than that is that the most informative looking sites containing information about Danger are in French, and the French happen to be one of the few cultures with audacity to produce amazing music and then not feel obligated to explain it in English.


Information is out there, however, as evidenced by this poorly translated interview posted at Trash Menagerie.

Equally essential to experiencing Danger is his amazing AV presentation, as can be glimpsed here.

But, of course, beyond all of that is Danger's unbelievably fantastic music. His original work is, quite simply, mind blowing. This is evidenced by hard to find cuts of "00h00", "13h12", and "19h11". Some of his greatest achievements, however, lie in his remixes, which demonstrate beyond anything the sheer range of his versatility. In his amazing reworking of "American Boy (feat. Kanye West)" by Estelle, he is able to completely transform a wholly boring and mediocre song into an wonderfully expressive sonic adventure. Further representation of his incredible talent can be seen in his galactic remix of Sebastian Tellier's "Divine" as well as in my personal favorite, "Revolte at 22h10", original artist unknown.

"Revolte at 22h10" - Danger ((cheetah <3s))
"00h00" - Danger
"13h12 (Live Edit)" - Danger
"19h11" - Danger
"American Boy (Feat. Kanye West) (Danger Remix)" - Estelle
"Divine (Danger Remix) - Sebastian Tellier

What I've Learned About French Electro

If you've been sleeping through the new electro movement, you might have missed the fact that many of the gems that are emerging are coming from France.

"Electro house," to be more exact, is led by the likes of SebastiAn, Danger, and Teenage Bad Girl - all French artists. Bands like Justice and MSTRKRFT are injecting new alt/indie/new rave sounds into the rapidly expanding genre, bringing us to electro today which is, as Keegan so perfectly put it "creating some of the most intense, energetic and driving music being produced."

Electro is quickly becoming a choice genre of the altkids and slowly taking over the mainstream. In the coming years it will surely shed the stereotypes that have plagued it for generations. In fact, don't be surprised if electro alone completely changes the face of the world... bringing with it flying cars, plastic clothes, and SPACE!!

But you don't need me to tell you about electro. You know.

And here's some hot shit from France.

Anoraak - Nightdrive With You
College - Teenage Color
sayCET - Opal [Opalowsky Error::Love remix)
Jupiter - Starlighter
Metronomy - Heartbreaker (Jupiter Remix)
Minitel Rose - Magic Powder
Blackskirt - III
Teenage Bad Girl - Cocotte
Mustard Pimp - Oh La La Satan
Justice - Planisphere

PS Cheetah <3s Valerie!
The eighties are back yall!
love love love