En novembre 1993 je fais pour la première fois le Festival des Inrockuptibles à La Cigale à Paris. A l’affiche ce soir là il n’y rien d’autre que la crème de la crème de l’époque : Divine Comedy , Dominique A, Tindersticks, Sylvain Vanot. Cependant un groupe totalement inconnu va leur voler la vedette, son nom « ME », un combo composé d’anglais et d’irlandais. Pas moins d’une demi- douzaine d’hurluberlus montés sur ressorts. Leur prestation live de ce soir là est une anthologie Dantesque sans commune mesure : plus proche d’une performance que d’un concert pop lambda. Une danseuse très courtement vêtue qui se dandine de façon ostentatoire , un chanteur qui apparaît sur scène couvert d’un sac de couchage, se coupant ensuite les cheveux en direct live. Je vous fais grâce du reste des détails. J’ai vu des centaines de concerts dans ma vie mais celui-ci restera parmi mon top 5 des 90’s, totalement inoubliable. Peu sensible au merchandising en temps normal, à la fin du concert j’ai couru acheter un tee-shirt et un CD. Mais bien plus qu’un simple petit mirage d’un soir, « ME » s’avère être sur disque un très bon groupe. Leurs albums sont des petites mignardises Pop Psyché matinées de Beach Boys à la sauce Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.
On gravestones, there are usually two dates: the year of birth and that of death. In between is a short dash – that person’s life. It is this space that Rob Bremner’s photography is concerned – creating a record for posterity of the people he meets – family, friends and strangers – on his own journey through life.
In 1971, Takuma Nakahira was invited by the 7th Paris Biennale. He created an in situ project and made an exhibition in « real time »: everyday, he shot his life in Paris, developed the photographs and then exhibited them on the walls of the Biennale. As the walls became filled of photographs, the artist threw away the prints to be able to hang the new ones. This controversial project caused a disagreement with the organizers ans Nakahira had to cut short his process. His conceptual approach of showing the accumulation of images rather than one single picture already questioned the role of photography. The book Circulation: Date Place, Events is the reflect of this existentialist experience of the world.
Catalina Matorral is a duo; Marion Cousin and Borja Flames make up its double head and four hands. At the beginning of the 2010s, they were called June et Jim — they released some disturbing EPs before joining the label Le Saule (a small, chivalrous table whose holy grail is everything unheard, where folk-singing is avant-garde and avant-garde is synonymous with enchantment). Their first LP, Les Forts (2012), evoked the songwriting of indie-hobos inspired by Latin America, contributing to the rejuvenation of French music. Noche Primera (2013) went even further by vibrating in various reveries, from African songs to Spanish medieval music, from Purcell to Bach. It blew hot and cold under a psychedelic candlelight. The record in question has been maturing for seven years in eccentric barrels, marinating in the shadow of Marion and Borja’s respective evolutions, nourished by their individual obsessions. Marion fixated on songs and dances from the Iberian Peninsula. This gave birth to a minimalistic, organic record featuring the cellist Gaspar Claus, where humming trembles among frowning pizzicatos, thin drones and throbbing arpeggios. She went on to release another album with the electronic duo Kaumwald, an oeuvre at the crossroads of vernacular narratives and experimental music, simmering everyday songs in an insolently modern production. Meanwhile, Borja leaned towards an intellectual, synthetic and furious pop; made two albums to awaken the dead, somewhere between Moondog and Battiato. They are two conceptual, electrifying and dance-inducing recordings for the phosphorescent masses.
‘London’ is the new edition of Gian Butturini’s 1969 original of the same title. In June 1969, Butturini traveled to London and was instantly captivated by the dynamics of the “Swinging City” in a decade defined by social revolution, freedom of expression, and political controversy
Belgian-born photographer Wouter Deruytter’s first book BRUSSEL…? is an intimate view into a world of difference and tolerance. (Drag-) Queens of the night welcome the photographer and his camera, obviously recognizing his honest intentions. There are echoes here of Christer Strömholm’s
perseverancevinylique 