SLP #11: Normy

[Norman Bates]

Le playlist de the France: les French peuvent rocker

I know I'm late, no need to rub it in.

Anyway, one famous person once said: "French rock is like British wine: it doesn't exist". Or something. Here's proof that, while, French rock is a nonsensical entity, what do you know? French music might work. And all this without Gainsbourg or Air or Daft Punk or M83 or whomever.

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FUCKING NEVER!!!

Noir Désir - Tostaky (Le continent)
Les Thugs - And He Kept On Whistling
Suprême NTM - Ma Benz
Camille - Money Note
Thee, Stranded Horse - Swaying Eel
Stupeflip - La menuiserie
NonStop - Devant ma nuque
Motorbass - Ezio
Vitalic - La Rock 01
Bed - Nightcap

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We're gonna win this though.


https://open.spotify.com/user/iago75/pl...Ch3N0HZahL

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will be getting on this shortly, and will be writing something on it eventually...

[Norman Bates]

Also: there might be something very clever to be said on how the best French music relates to the USA in some way or other. Too drunk to start it, but if you're keen, I'll be game.

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Basically enough to convince me that France rocks harder than the US of A ever could. That staccato guitar rise on the first track interspersing some crazy riffing... ah man. Also I initially read the band name as "Trotsky", so while I was a little disappointment to find the truth, the song continues to rule. This next jam here sounds very post-punky to my ears. Think in big part because of the up-front bassline and the dude's baritone (which I naturally associate with post-punk). Dense but emotive, and all around dope. Is there a full Les Thugs album you can recommend me? Because I really love this track.

Ay French hip-hop. Nice. (I only really know MC Solaar, TTC, and IAM). Love the contrast between the first emcee's gruff delivery and the suaveness of the latter, not to mention that beat is bangin. Most certainly gonna look into these guys further.

Ok so I couldn't find that Stranded Horse track (was unavailable on skype), so I substituted with a live version on youtube, and if the version you picked is anything like that then yeah I approve big time. Very expressive stuff. Very beautiful.

Oh shit, the bass on this Camile track. Oh man... oo and then back into more hip-hop! Awesome. This one feels a little more left-field than the NTM track. Cool juxtaposition to the more boom bap feel of the previous rap joint. Oh and then some more hardcore hip-hop, El-P vibes I reckon. Bangs.

I've heard both Motorbass and Vitalic before (the only two here I've heard previously actually), and those two tracks back-to-back made one hell of a synth-laden 1-2 punch of awesome. Perhaps a tad abrupt moving from the energy of those to the quiet atmosphere of the final track, but I certainly can't complain about the quality of the track itself. Love how this sounds like it was recorded lo-fi in this guy's living room. Almost reminds me of Sofronitsky's Scriabin Chez Scriabin in a way, and believe me that is a very positive comparison.

Fabulous job Norm. You've give me more than a few new toys to play with here. Vive la France

[Norman Bates]

Cheers Gabe! The best Thugs album is I.A.B.F. imo, but the three-LP run from Still Hungry, Still Angry up to As Happy As Possible (and therefore containing I.A.B.F.) is pretty much all on the level.

[cestuneblague]

Qui, c'est formidable. While it may be a bit of a cliqued, blanket cultural statement, it just seems European music (and most art in general) are so much more adept when it comes to atmosphere, and using the whole enviornment (in this case soundscape) for maximum effect. All these are great, and def do "rock" hard in their own way, digging deeper into les thugs and camille's albums. Would def be interested in a french hip-hop list in the future.

[Norman Bates]

[andyw110183]

I remember that vitalic track very well from my clubbing days of yesteryear. What a belter of a tune!!!

[RoundTheBend]

Opener and closer were absolutely fantastic.

The rest were just not my thing. I just haven't really gotten into much electronic music and while the hip-hop was interesting, I didn't really get into it. Like... the Teddy Bears is about as far in I've gone and that's pretty sad seeing that they really aren't... I guess I like RAM... ahaha.

It's totally just me being a dumbass.