Skywriter

After Danger’s April release, compatriot and co-conspirator DatA releases the album Skywriter (available on iTunes). Four of the tracks had been released under DatA’s various EPs but the full album delivers a great listen from start to finish with few lapses in quality. Benjamin Diamond of Stardust fame and Sebastien Grainger feature in two songs each, giving performances with a familiar French touch twist.

09/16 2007 EP

French electro artist Danger released a new EP titled 09/16 2007 which I’ve been listening to religiously for the past few weeks. After his exceptional first effort, this new EP bodes well for the album due to be released later this year.

The new EP is available for just a few bucks on Amazon and iTunes, or for free on Spotify. For your instant gratification here’s a preview of the indubitable highlight, the track “88:88”.

Manual for Successful Rioting

Birdy Nam Nam is a group of four DJs I’ve come to love over the past couple of years. They made an impression internationally with their awesome talents on “Abbesses” (a must-see video). Their use of four turntables made for an experimental but overall enjoyable first and self-titled album. Since then, they’ve released new material in the form of a live album and a few EPs.

They’re back in 2009 with a second studio album titled Manual for Successful Rioting. Whereas the first album had a relaxed, jazzy but decidedly experimental and unclassifiable tone, the new release is very much in line with the current French electro scene. This started to become apparent with the issue of the Trans Boulogne Express EP which features as one of the highlights of the new album.

While it is a marked shift, Manual for Successful Rioting remains familiar in style. The tempo is certainly faster and the sounds coarser but the arrangements remain uniquely within the realm Birdy Nam Nam have created for themselves.

The last track of the album, “The Parachute Ending”, produced in collaboration with Justice has unsurprisingly caught the attention of music bloggers, as has “Trans Boulogne Express” which I mentioned earlier, and “Worried” which also featured in an eponymous EP. Just to show the breadth in quality of this album, here are two more tracks – the soft and beautiful “Homosexuality” and the more representative and energetic “Love Your Enemy”.

Lambs Anger

Quentin Dupieux AKA Mr. Oizo continues his belabored progression towards surrealism with a new studio release entitled Lambs Anger. By this point, Oizo has certainly defined his sound and hasn’t diluted it much for Ed Banger. Though some critiques have suggested Lambs Anger is a more danceable effort I should maintain that aside from brief moments of clarity, this album remains very much an experiment in sound – not music. As Oizo moves in and out of the melodious realm, the stark contrast between his chaotic synths, beeps and clicks, and the familiar Ed Banger grooves (e.g. “Two Takes It”) makes Lambs Anger a rather challenging listen. Ultimately this is an unbalanced and unsurprising effort. Dupieux shows flashes of brilliance in rare intervals and attributes the rest of his confusing mélange to surrealism (the cover being an obvious reference to Un Chien Andalou). I’m not convinced, Quentin. I’m not convinced because if you have to explain that it is surrealism, it just isn’t surrealism any longer.

I’ll finish on my personal highlight of the album, the fearsomely titled track, “Cut Dick”.