Rock and roll campaign

Ok guys, I know that's not my job to talk about US Politics, If it was the case, I would have called this blog "What ever happened to politics ?".
Even if I like this bright potential title I leave this fantastic subject to people way more funny, concerned and qualified, like for instance Jon Stewart, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and so on...

I won't, like many others foreign bloggers cry about, the choice Americans have to make and the fair and natural right, for each and everyone citizen of the world to vote, in order to choose their future "real" president (the people out of the count are the terrorists and all the sick weirdos who would rather die than do that).
And, anyway, if you read this blog for a while, you have probably already figured out who i'd like to vote for (if I was American of course).

Instead of crying,let's take it like a chance, to every 4 years take the pulse of the american society (that, no matter what they say, a lot of French don't know), by observing the campaigns and then, deeply anlayze the results of the vote.

A thing that i would love to do, but no I'm sorry. It is my sacred duty to report what I know about the rock and roll side of this mediatic campaign to design the future ruler of the world. And I'll stick to that.
A lot of you guys are going to be surprised, but apparently, the ultimate rock and roll fan taking part in this campaign is Meghan Mc Cain, one of the daugthers of candidate John Mac Cain, war hero and stuff.
I take quite often a look on her blog, a very interesting way to see the real backstage and organisation of such an event. And moreover the essence of the American mentality (like we like to call it n Europe).

I bet that you'll be surprised scrolling her playlists and finding a bunch of very interesting artists, far from the MTV marketed world that Paris Hilton is trying to sell us, and a lot of things that you don't expect to find in the iPod of the daugther of an republican presidential election candidate:

David Bowie, Elliot Smith, The White Stripes,Jesus and Mary Chain, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, The Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, Johnny Cash (okay, you could expect that), Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, The Editors, The Cure, Janis Joplin, The Ramones, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, BB King, Blondie, Sid Vicious (who is fucked up enough to listen him in solo), The Doors, The Misfits, Gang of Four (damn, I'm gonna ask her to write this blog with me), Bob Dylan,The Who, Wolfmother, Buddy Holly, JJ Cale, Muddy Waters, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Blur, The Clash (damn I'm gonna ask her to spent the rest of her life with me)...

I know that you don't trust me, you nasty non believers, "duh Everybody can do some name dropping" but I browsed the entire Playlists and there's not only hits and singles in it.
There are also some ignored hidden beauties issued in the best albums of all times like "Castles Made Of Sand" a soft song by Jimi Hendrix or "The Thrill Is Gone", a heart breaking blue by BB King.

A person with these tastes can't be bad, no matter the father.

The lesson by Johnny Rotten remains the same, but is always good to be told: Don't judge a book on his cover...unless you publish an other.

Did you say new wave ?

A pal living in Spain and another in Brussels told me that my modest blog was starting to be red worldwide.
So much pressure over my tiny shoulders…
Well I’ll try to post here in English more often, but you know when you come back from work it’s hard to start writing new reviews and chronicles.

In the objective to spread out there some cool musical knowledge, I’ll try to talk about French (or European) musical and cultural exceptions…if I consider them valuable.
If you know some cool bands in others countries, please let me know, I’m eager to discover new pop rock sensations that you’ve heard about.

Let’s get back to the music; the band is called Nouvelle Vague (New Wave in English).
All the concept of this collective is to play some new wave and Punk bands covers, in a bossa nova, pop, electro and definitely jazzy way.
The result is quite surprising.
All the great bands like the Clash, the Undertones, the Dead Kennedys, XTC, Joy Division, the Cure, and PIL… of this period are covered.

Some people said many things about this project like denaturalisation, jeopardy of the sacred punk rock heritage, a classy amusement or a funnier one “a stylish arty joke for bobos”.
The last one is not totally false but you know if you stop listening music because of the average audience, I’d certainly burn my collection of Blondie (again), Wampas and Ramones (new idols of the annoying more than threatening Parisian baby rockers) records.
This new approach brings a brand new sound to famous songs like “Guns of Brixton”
A realistic and dramatically banal scene of everyday life becomes a slow cynic jazz anthem, like this guy lying on the pavement, shot to death.

In the case of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, the unfortunately conventional evidence of arty Parisian good taste, is supported by some shiny Caribbean percussions, a girl is taking the micro and sings her shattered love in a delicate and sensitive way.
If the regretted Ian Curtis would have heard that before, well maybe the rock history could have been richer.

Nevertheless, don’t think that is album is just an accumulation of sad and depressing songs always dealing with death and deceived love.

The cover of the Dead Kennedys “Too Drunk to fuck” is a real breeze of fresh air: a tipsy girl is telling you about her crazy night, helped by the some realistic party noises and some rich vocabulary that you’ll recognize if you’re used to French parties.

“This Is Not A Love song” sang years ago by the great John Lydon himself is not a pust punk joke anymore but a great slow beat love song, and almost 30 years after finally smoothly sung.
“Teenage kicks”, already mentioned in this blog sounds like a Buena Vista Social club bossa nova composition.

Yes, no more great booming drum parts or raging and aggressive guitars to carry these beautiful texts, but acoustics guitars, congas, keyboards, marimbas, accordion, and exotic night noises.
You’re not standing in the grey and freezing streets of the Anglo saxon world anymore but on the sunny beaches of Cuba, Brazil or Mexico.
Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux already had a great idea trying to give a new style to those songs by mixing influencees, but the second one is to give the mic’ to several talented French females singers, using perfectly their sexy and groovy voice tone among them, Camille (better than usal), Mélanie Plain or Marina.

Finally, despite all their defaults, those punks knew how to write some poetry, to paraphrase someone, dancing on a stash of shit.

Now you can do it on a stash of sand.