La Femme — currently, founding members Sacha Got and Marlon Magnée, along with Sam Lefévre, Noé Delmas, Cleémence Quélennec, Clara Luiciani, Jane Peynot, Marilou Chollet and Lucas Nunez Ritter — was founded back in 2010, and the-then unknown band managed to hoodwink the French music industry by lining up a DY Stateside tour with only $3,000 euros and an EP.
After playing 20 gigs across the States, the members of the La Femme returned back to their native France with immense interest from the Parisian music scene. “The industry was like, ‘What the fuck? They have an EP out and they are touring in the US and we don’t know them?” Marlon Magnée told The Guardian. “So the buzz began to start. When we came back to France, it was red carpet. Fucking DIY.”
2013’s full-length debut Psycho Tropical Berlin was a critical and and commercial success, which won a Victoires de la Musique Award. Building upon a rapidly growing internationally recognized profile. La Femme’s sophomore album, 2016’s Mystére was released to praise by Sound Opinions, The Line of Best Fit, The Guardian, AllMusic, BrooklynVegan and a lengthy list of others.
Earlier this year, the band released their first bit of new material in four years, the critically acclaimed “Paradigme.” Continuing upon that momentum, the applauded Parisian act recently released the cinematic “Cool Colorado,” the follow-up to “Paradigme” and the second single from the band’s forthcoming third album which will be released through the band’s Disque Pointu and distributed through IDOL. “This album does not correspond to one specific period of our lives,” the band explains. “We have always composed songs all along the journey of the band. Therefore, this album is composed with temporality, it has to be seen as a big piece of a puzzle we create. It is an ongoing process, but all this stays in the range of a concept and remains uncertain.”
Featuring a bombastic horn sample, shimmering guitars, blown out beats, insouciantly sung lyrics in French and English and an infectious hook, “Cool Colorado” sounds indebted to Scott Walker and Ennio Morricone soundtracks.“‘Cool Colorado’ alludes to freedom, the insouciance of a journey,” the band explains. “We were somewhere between the states of Utah and Wyoming, during our last American tour, when this ode to the San Francisco of the 70s, which is so rare and precious to us even if we never lived in this period, came to us.” The band adds, “Colorado is the first American state which legalized cannabis, this is where the line ‘And I smoke in the streets without stress’ comes from/ This song is also related to the Beatnik spirit, to the literature of Kerouac. Do you remember the Magic Bus? It was going from Europe to Kathmandu on a now-mythical hippie trail.”
Co-directed by the members of La Femme and Aymeric Bergada du Cadet, the recently released video for “Cool Colorado” is a psychedelic romp that brings American Bandstand, T.A.M.I. Show, Top of the Pops and the Playboy mansion to mind. “This is a sort of psychedelic mass parodying the cliché of the ‘teen idol’ in the way of Brian Jones or Swan from Phantoms of the Paradise. Like a pastiche of a past period of time,” the members of La Femme explain.
Population II is a rising Montreal-based psych rock trio that has developed and honed an improvised songwriting approach that meshes elements of rock ‘n’ roll, free jazz and linear rhythms to create an incredibly nuanced yet trippy sound.
The rising French Canadian act’s Emmanuel Ethier-produced full-length debut, À la Ô Terre was released last month through Castle Face Records, and the album has received attention across Quebec and elsewhere for featuring material that’s a mind-melting mesh of hard psych with a punk sentiment — while featuring some exploratory free jazz-inspired moments.
Clocking in at a 7:38 À la Ô Terre’s latest single, “Ce n’est rêve” is an atmospheric Doors meets Thee Oh Sees-like number centered around alternating quiet verses and loud choruses held together by a sinuous bass line and propulsive jazz-like drumming. featuring shimmering keys, slashing guitars and ethereal falsetto crooning before closing out with an explosive and noisy freak out. In Montreal’s scene, they’re one of the most buzz-worthy acts out there — and this track will further cement that growing reputation.
Directed by Ëmémôr and Tristan Lacombe and featuring typography and animation by Laurence Martin, the recently released video for “Ce n’est rêve” is a trippy and murky visual that seems to nod at Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face:” we see the band members faces superimposed over kaleidoscopic colored projections and the other band members’ faces, as well footage of mysterious figures playing the various instruments in the song.
Montreal-based collective TEKE: TEKE – Yuki Isami (flute, shinobue and keys), Hidetaka Yoneyama (guitar), Sergio Nakauchi Pelletier (guitar), Mishka Stein (bass), Etienne Lebel (trombone), Ian Lettree (drums, percussion) and Maya Kuroki (vocals, keys and percussion) — features a collection of accomplished Montreal-based musicians, who have played with Pawa Up First, Patrick Wilson, Boogat, Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra and others. Initially started as a loving homage and tribute band to legendary Japanese guitarist Takeshi “Terry” Terauchi, the Montreal-based collective came into their own when they started to blend Japanese Eleki surf rock with elements of modern Western music including shoegaze, post-punk, psych rock, ska, Latin music and Balkan music on their debut EP 2018’s Jikaku.
Last year, I caught the genre-bending Montreal collective play an energetic set of material that reminded me of The Bombay Royale at an M for Montreal showcase at the Cafe Cleopatre, one of the most interesting venues I’ve personally ever been in. (A live music venue with a strip club down stairs? Uh, sure.)
Earlier this year, the members of TEKE: TEKE released “Kala Kala,” the first single off the rising act’s forthcoming full-length debut. Deriving its title from a phrase that roughly translates to clattering, “Kala Kala” captures the band’s frenzied live energy and difficult to pigeonhole sound centered around a mind-melting arrangement and song structure and Kuroki’s wild howling and crooning. Since the release of “Kala Kala,” the rising Montreal-based act signed to Kill Rock Stars Records, who will be releasing their forthcoming debut.
“We are deeply honored to be joining the great Kill Rock Stars family, a label we’ve long admired and that shares our community-oriented values and artistic vision,” the band shares in press notes. “Not to mention, the incredible roster that was pretty much the soundtrack to our lives, featuring artists we humbly look up to. Exciting things to come.” Slim Moon, Kill Rock Stars’ President and Founder adds “I learned about Teke::Teke from Mi’ens, who are another Canadian band on our roster. I love every single thing about them, and I believe they will be embraced by fans of all ages, cuz the magic of the music and their personalities are just impossible to deny. They are perfect ambassadors for what Kill Rock Stars is all about as we head into our 4th decade.”
“Chidori,” TEKE: TEKE’s second single of this year is a cinematic mosh pit friendly freak out that’s part psych rock, part surf rock part of Ennio Morricone soundtrack centered around a propulsive groove, shimmering organ arpeggios, Dick Dale-like guitar lines, delivered with a frenetic aplomb.
Ligne Quatre is en emerging Paris-based hip-hop collective that derives its name from one of the French capital’s busiest lines — Ligne Quatre, which connects the Porte de Clignancourt section and the Mairie de Montrouge section, passing through the heart of the city. The emerging French hip-hop collective — Dr. Lulu, Pif Au Mic, Koco and Exil — live in a 18th century home together off the Chateau Rouge stop of the aforementioned Ligne Quatre.
Inspired by Nepal,Sopico, NTM, Saian Supa Crew, Pablo Servigne and the films of Wong Kar-wai and Jim Jarmusch, the individual members of Ligne Quatre can trace the origins of their careers and of their collective back to a over a decade ago: Koco and Dr. Lulu started rapping ten years ago in Rouen. And around the same time, Pif Au Mic and Exil started rapping in Brittany. The act’s debut effort, the recently released Arret Demande EP thematically finds the act’s material touching upon global warming, lost loves, failure and more.
“Trop de temps,” Arret Demande’s latest single is centered around a slow-burning and brooding production featuring twinkling keys and stuttering, tweeter and woofer rocking beats. The production is roomy enough for each emcee to spit some incredibly self-assured verses in a rapid-fire French. Sonically while the track may remind some listeners of J. Dilla and of Jurassic 5, let it be a reminder that hip-hop is the lingua franca of the hip and youthful. And because of that it may help lead us all out of the tremendous mess we’ve made of everything.
Acclaimed Malian-born, Paris-based kora player Ballaké Sissoko is the son of Djelimady Sissoko, a master kora player, best known for playing with the Ensemble Instrumental Du Mali. Drawn to the instrument at a very young age, the younger Sissoko was taught by his father. Tragically, Djelmady died while his children was very young — and Ballaké stepped up to take on the role of the family breadwinner and took his father’s place in the Ensemble Instrumental Du Mali.
A long-held fascination with genres and sounds outside of the scope of the Mandinka people’s scope – – i.e., flamenco guitar and sitar — inspired a series of critically applauded collaborations with a diverse and eclectic array of musicians across the globe, including a acclaimed French cellist Vincent Segal, Toumani Diabaté, legendary bluesman Taj Mahal and Ludovic Einaudi.
Slated for a February 19, 2021 release through Nø Førmat Records, Sissoko’s 11th full-length album Djourou will feature solo compositions and a number of thoughtful collaborations with diverse and unexpected artists outside of Mandinka musical genre for which his griot caste is celebrated — and the list of collaborators include Nouvelle Vague’s Camille, African legend Salif Keita, leading female kora player Sona Jobareth, the aforementioned Vincent Segal and Malian-born, French emcee Oxmo Puccino among others.
Djourou, which derives its name from the Bambara word for string, can trace its origins to when Sissoko approached Nø Førmat label head Laurent BIzot with the proposition of blending solo kora pieces with unexpected collaborations. With a mutual emphasis between the artist and the label, that they take he time to confirm enriching and challenging partnerships with artists, who were also fans of Sissoko’s work, Djourou has been a slow-burn album in the making since 2018.
Djourou’s first single is the mediative “Frotter Les Mains,” featuring acclaimed French emcee Oxmo Puccino. Deriving its name from the French term for “rub hands.” the track mirrors some of the song’s percussive elements that Sissoko created in the studio. Centered around Sissoko’s gorgeously cascading kora chords and Puccino’s dexterous flow, “Frotter Les Mains” is a much-needed bit of peace, thoughtless and kindness in a world gone absolutely batshit. Additionally, the song — in my mind, at least — serves as a vital connection between the ancient and the modern, between the West and Africa, and as a reminder that hip-hop is the lingua franca that binds us all.
Puccino was among the first artists to be recruited for the album. And interestingly, the studio sessions was a personal and professional highlight: he recalls that, he was introduced to Sissoko by Vincent Segal “as an uncle.” Puccino continues, “Life never leaves me alone: it either makes fun of me or it makes me feel so small. This time the staging was perfect. Vincent Segal helped me to take my art to the next level. This day he presented me to Ballaké, who my parents used to listen to when he was playing in Mali’s National Orchestra. I used to dream when Vincent was speaking to me about Bamako and their recording session. I have been waiting for this opportunity and to meet together. When I was invited to take part in the album, I only thought for 2 minutes before finding an obvious theme; the voice of our body, or rather its subtitle: our hands. I’m coming from a lineage of Blacksmiths and Ballaké is descended from a long line of kora players.”
Directed by Julien Borel and Vladimir Cagnolari, the recently released video for “Frotter Les Mains” features intimately and gorgeously shot footage of the duo in the studio.
Hailing from the Parisian suburbs — bouncing between the 18th, 92nd and 93rd arrondissements — Bambino is a rising emcee and vocalist, who has contributed toplines and melodies to the work of acclaimed French artists like Amir, Kendji Girac and others. The tracksuit and Afro wearing emcee and vocalist is the first signing to French label Local Records, who will be releasing his debut, EP Enfant difficile.
The six song debut EP finds the rising French artist crafting a genre-defying, club friendly sound centered around his dexterous flow, which finds him spitting bars and singing infectious melodies. Thematically, the EP’s material touches upon several things — his love of wild parties and beautiful women, and the heartaches and lingering ghost of the past that still haunt.
Enfant difficile’s latest single “Kekra” is a smooth reggae-influenced banger centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, stuttering trap beats and the rising French artist’s self-assured rapid fire flow and smooth melodies, and an infectious hook. Sonically, the track may remind some listeners of Sean Paul and others –but while managing to eb the sort of song you’f wine down with a pretty young thing at the club.
Directed by Romain Habousha, the recently released video for “Kekra” is cinematically shot visual that employs a bold color palette while being a perfect vehicle to show the rising French artist’s infectious, Busta Rhymes-like energy.
Formed back in 2013, Mariachi Las Adelitas, features members originally from Mexico, Cuba, Colombia and the UK – and is Europe’s first all-female mariachi band. Created by its members to shatter stereotypes within a very male-dominated genre, the septet features a collection of fantastic instrumentalists and no less than three lead vocalists. (That’s right, three!) Their repertoire includes the mariachi classics, as well as mariachi-styled arrangements of well-known and beloved classics — in English.
Earlier this month, I wrote about the sepet’s debut single “El Toro Relajo.” Rearranged by the band’s founder Anita Adelita (a.k.a. Anna Csergo) and recorded during pandemic-related lockdowns, the gorgeous Mariachi Las Adelitas rendition reveals a super talented band that can really play – and a vocalist, who reminds me at points of a young Linda Rondstadt. Shortly, after the official release of the single, the members of Mariachis Las Adelitas played a streamed set at this year’s virtual International Women’s Mariachi Festival, where the official video for “El Toro Relajo” saw its world premiere.
The DIY video was filmed and edited during pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions. And as a result, we see the individual band members performing – in full regalia – in their backyards, in their home studio set ups, in a local church or on the street. And there’s an adorable appearance by Csergo’s kids, also in full regalia dancing and stomping around in her backyard. It’s a homey family affair.
I recently conducted an emailed Q&A with Mariachi Las Adelitas’ founder Anita Adelita (a.k.a. Anna Csergo) – and we discussed women in mariachi, her and the band’s inspirations and aims, their recent International Women’s Mariachi Festival performance, their new video and more. Check out the video and the intenrview below.
WRH: I’ve mentioned this on Twitter: I happen to adore mariachi. Way before the pandemic, you’d occasionally come across a mariachi – in the full uniform, too! – on the subway. Every single one of them would be amazing, I can think of maybe one or two all-female mariachi groups here in the States/North America. Your group, Mariachi Las Adelitas is currently Europe’s only all-women mariachi act. So how rare is it to come across a female mariachi? And why is that the case?
Anna Csergo: Although now enjoying growth and recognition, female Mariachi bands are rare even in Mexico and the U.S, let alone in Europe.
Mariachi is traditionally a very male dominated genre, perhaps it doesn’t help in a society where women are traditionally the main caregivers to children, that gigs are often last minute, late at night, at dawn, and sometimes with a very drunk clientele!
Female mariachi bands are not a new phenomenon however. The original Mariachi Las Adelitas was formed in Mexico in 1954.
WRH: How did you get into mariachi?
AC: I was already intrigued by mariachi firstly due to the prominent violin sections and then by all of the rhythmic elements slotting together, and the power in the vocals and the trumpets! So, when I saw an advertisement in a local paper, I replied straight away . . . the rest is history!
WRH: What is the inspiration behind Mariachi Las Adelitas? What do you and the other women in the group hope to achieve?
AC: The warrior women of the Mexican revolution, known as the ‘Adelitas’ or ‘Soldaderas‘ are our greatest inspiration. These women, despite their caring duties, took to arms in the frontline alongside the men, and were pivotal in revolution’s success.
The black and white photos of these women holding a rifle in one hand and a baby in the other are mind-blowing.
We hope to empower and inspire women from all nationalities, and young men too, to know that anything is achievable.
Being a woman or a mother or coming from any background doesn’t have to limit your expectations or the possibilities available to you as a professional.
WRH: The band does a mix of the mariachi standards along with mariachi renditions of beloved and familiar classics in English. How do you pick the songs in your repertoire? How do you go about rearranging a song?
AC: We pick songs that strike a chord with us. It’s not difficult in a genre which easily stirs up the whole spectrum of emotions and has so many amazing rhythms to choose from.
The most important thing for us is to ensure that we are respectful and faithful to the genre in our arrangements.
We didn’t want to do straight covers of English songs with only our instruments and mariachi suits making the difference. We wanted to do everything to remain faithful to traditional mariachi style even when covering non-mariachi songs. I think that is a unique feature of our band.
WRH: The band features women from Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Italy and the UK. With pandemic-related lockdowns affecting everything and everyone, how have you and your bandmates managed to remain creative. How has your creative process changed as a result?
AC: It was deflating to suddenly lose all of our work and suddenly not see one- another anymore. When a musician stops practising his or her art something falls apart inside. We are hugely grateful to Arts La’Olam organisation who secured funding for us from Arts Council England so that the musicians could be paid a fee for their recordings. Although initially it was just going to be ‘amateur’ lockdown videos, the purchase of some very basic recording equipment (mic and soundcard) made it possible to create quality audio recordings from our homes on a budget. We are very pleased with the results and are now inspired to keep going!
WRH: How was it like to record remotely?
AC: It was a challenge since it was very hard to explain exactly the feel I was looking for and then make revisions after the musicians had sent in their recordings.
It will definitely be easier to be with the musicians when recordings are made in future. Here’s hoping Covid19 conditions allow!
WRH: How do you and your bandmates balance being a mother with professional and creative work?
AC: It is certainly not easy! I fell pregnant with my triplets soon after forming the band and had their baby brother within less than 2 years. For the first few years it really was about survival for the band as well as for the children! To be honest, I really don’t understand how we managed it, we literally scraped through somehow!
Now the children are a little older we try whenever possible to rehearse during the school or nursery day, but there are many times when they are with us for rehearsals and even performances. Luckily, they have learnt to love and respect what we do, often pulling out their little instruments and joining in with the noisemaking or coming up onto the stage and dancing!
WRH: You recently participated in the International Mariachi Women’s Festival for the second time. How did that go for the band?
AC: It’s an absolute honour for us to be slotted between Jose Hernandez from Sol de Mexico‘s Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles and twice Grammy award-winning Mariachi Divas! We are just a drop in the ocean and have been self-taught through listening to recordings and watching YouTube, so to have our music featured in between these two institutions is surreal! Thanks to the organiser of the festival and founder of the Mariachi Women’s foundation Dr. Leonor Xochitl Perez for coming to London, finding us and believing in us!
WRH: This year’s International Mariachi Women’s Festival also featured the premiere of the video for “El Toro Relajo.” The video was also shot and edited remotely. The video features your four children dressed up in Mexican outfits and dancing in your garden. it’s adorable. How did the video treatment come about? How was the video received?
AC: As with the audio, the video was shot in or around our own homes during lockdown. Schools were shut and our children were with us 24/7. Mine wanted to join in so instead of resisting I had them dress up in their Mexican outfits and dance around in the garden. A short clip of the video has been available for a few days on Facebook and has already had a crazy number of views, let’s hope the audio and full video do just as well!
WRH: What’s next for the band?
AC: Our next step is definitely to continue the process and complete our first album. In pre-pandemic times we were so busy with gigs and special requests and our own families that recording has always taken a back seat. So, we are using the pandemic as an opportunity to focus on creating and recording.
Over the past few months, I’ve written about the rapidly rising Persian-born, New Zealand-based emcee and producer, CHAII. When the Persian-born Kiwi-based artist was eight, her family migrated to New Zealand — and as the story goes, she was introduced to hip-hop through Eminem, who at the time had just released The Marshall Mathers LP. Fueled by a growing interest in his music, the rising Persian-Kiwi emcee was rhyming along to his work before she really learned how to speak English. “Mr. Eminem was my English teacher,” CHAII recalls in press notes.
When CHAII turned 11, she started to write her own rhymes to express everything she was feeling and experiencing at the time — from being a confused, third culture kid to her troubles adapting to a new way of life in a new country. By the time, she was in high school. the Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist started to make beats to accompany her rhymes. Around that time, she began to realize a deep and abiding love for all aspects of creating and writing music, including producing, recording and music. And after several years of experimenting, the Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist began developing her own unique sound, which features elements of traditional Persian music, experimental pop, electro pop and hip-hip.
And from that point onward, the material she began to release was “the closest music to me and who I am,” she says. As an adult, she developed an interest in film, which has lead to a synergistic approach to all of her creative efforts, fueled by a decidedly DIY ethos. Earlier this year, CHAII released the Lightswitch EP, an effort that has served as her global coming out party — and as a teaser for what we should expect from her forthcoming full-length debut Safar (Journey). Now, as you may recall the rising Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist has released three attention-grabbing, genre-defying singles this year:
“South:” CHAII’s debut single, which was featured by FENDI.
“Digebasse,” an urgent, club-banger collaboration with Aussie emcee B Wise. Featuring lyrics in English and Farsi, the track offers a fiery commentary on millennial social pressures and urges the listener to say “that’s enough!” and to stand up for their rights — right now.
“Trouble,” continued a run of club-banging material paired with incisive social commentary on the social pressure millennials face — in this case, millennial women.
Her latest single “Wow (Look at Me)” is centered around a dense, club-friendly production featuring thumping beats, synth arpeggios and wobbling low end, the track is a perfect vehicle for the rising Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist’s swaggering and self-assured flow. Of course, the track finds the CHAII at what may arguably be her most brash and bold, challenging any and all comers to battle her, because she’ll soundly defeat them all. Interestingly, the track appears as part of T-Mobile’s attention grabbing ad campaign for the new iPhone 12.
Archibald Smith is a rapidly rising Viry-Châtillon, France-baesed emcee, singer/songwriter, topliner and actor. Smith recently earned a diamond record — 10,000,000 or more streams — for cowriting Aya Nakamura’s viral hit “Pookie.” Initially known as a behind-the-scenes talent, Smith amassed over 200,000 Instagram views with a series of freestyles that he recorded during pandemic-related confinement.
Building upon a growing profile, the Viry-Châtillon-based emcee, singer/songwriter, topliner and actor released his first solo single and video “Renaissance” to positive reviews. Smith’s second single “Anelka” is a slickly produced synthesis of trap, hip-hop and house. Featuring stuttering beats, wobbling, tweeter and woofer rocking low-end, fluttering synths and the rising French artist’s self-assured delivery, the song is effortlessly crowd pleasing: it possesses a club-banging thump paired with a gritty street swagger.
Directed by Djo Calmant a.k.a. L’Oeil2Djo, the recently released video for “Anelka” follows the rising French artist through a glitchy and cinematically shot trip to Bangkok that shows some of the dizzying sights — while showing Smith balling.
Poundo Gomis is an emerging Guinea-Bissauan-French singer/songwriter, dancer, writer producer, , blogger and fashionista who currently splits her time between her hometown of Paris and New York, who performs under the mononymic moniker Poundo. Exposed to and influenced by the best of Africa and the West, Gomis immersed herself in the performing arts as a dancer and vocalist — and in fashion.
Over the past few years, Gomis has been incredibly busy. She has worked with some of the world’s top directors and choreographers — including Opéra de Paris’ Marie-Claude Pietragalia, Jérôme Savary, Georges Momboye, and Anne Fontaine. She was a featured danced in the Broadway musical Fela! — and since then, she has worked with Alicia Keys, Bill T. Jones, Spike Lee, The Roots and Cirque du Soleil, Aya Nakamura, Gims, Dadju, Vitaa, Amir, Hyphen Hyphen, Sting and a growing list of others.
As a recording artist Gomis has crafted a global, genre-defying take on pop music. Drawing from trap. pop, hip-hop and Mandingue music, the Paris-born artist’s work draws from her own personal experiences paired with political statements — while being accessible and club friendly. Slated for a November 27, 2020 release, the Guinea-Bissauan-French artist’s debut EP features a collection of touch upon her love of fantasy while bravely exploring her vulnerability.
The rising Guinea-Bissauan-French artist’s latest single “O Wassa Waru,” which means “A Beautiful Soul” in Mandjak is a slickly produced, club banger with a cinematic quality. Centered around looping twinkling kora lines. African polyrhythm, staccato handclaps, stuttering trap beats, staccato handclaps, wobbling low end and an infectious hook paired with Gomis’ self-assured delivery in English and Mandjak. Switching between swaggering rhymed versions and sultrily sung vocals, the track suggests that Gomis may have been influenced by Lauryn Hill and others — but with a brash, global bent and a righteous message. “It’s an ode for girls and women,” Gomis says. “I wrote and produced the track between New York, Paris and Conakry. I sing in English and Mandjak because I couldn’t do it a different way. 🙂 I grew up speaking Mandjak, French, Wolof and later learned English & Spanish at school. That’s why this song shows how international I am.”
Directed by LDITCH, the recently released video for “O Wassa Waru” is a gorgeous and cinematically shot visual featuring some serious black girl magic: beautiful and talented black women being badass in equally gorgeous settings,
