je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais

On march 2nd 1991 (it was actually the night of saturday march 1st to be exact), i remember being in a small club in paris called Le Studio A, dancing with my friends to The Soup Dragons, Dee Lite and The Rolling Stones. I was 14 years old and way too young to be out dancing, but this club was where all the rock kids went on saturday nights, and my parents were nice enough to let me pretend to be a cool faked-ID 18-year old at the time. That night, at around 2 am or so, the DJ stopped the music completely to make an announcement. He was giving us the news that Serge Gainsbourg had just passed away from a heart attack. Everyone just gasped and got really sad for a few minutes, then the music came back on and we resumed our dancing activities. The following days, weeks, and months, the news of his death was all over the radio, papers and TV. France had just lost its most important anti-hero, and musical/pop culture icon. I was always familiar with the more commercial side of his work, but it wasn't until the day of his death that i really started to dig into his catalog and finally get him and his talent. Since then, i've been a huge fan and admirer of everything Serge has touched. And although there are so many incredible musicians out there, i don't think there has been anyone since him who has demonstrated such amazing command of both melodies and words.

Today, it's been 15 years since Gainsbourg died, and we still reference him, cover his music, use Gainsbourg-isms and recognize him as the genius that he was. His influence and legacy are tremendous, and even though this web site is not about him per sé, i hope that in some way, i've been able to trigger curiosity about his music. Over the past four years of this blog's existence, the best part of meeting people (and making new friends!) who read this site has been to have someone recognize the name reference of the site, or tell me how much they love Serge and how they got into him. It's fascinating to me to know that non-francophones can get into his music (and the music he wrote for others) just as much as everyone else.

In early april, i, in conjunction with my partners from Le One Night Stand, will be paying my homage to Gainsbourg by putting together a big tribute night with local bands playing covers of his classic tunes, DJs spinning his immense repertoire and a bunch of other surprises (including a guest performance by none other than myself!). If you're in new york at that time (first week of April, venue TBD), it would mean the world to have as many people as possible come to celebrate his music with us. It's going to be a very very exciting evening, keep your eyes opened for the details here.

In the meantime, what a better way to mark the day by reading this thorough and well-crafted article on Serge's life and work (the intro alone is brilliant, says it better than i ever could!), and listening to one of the most memorable bass lines from one of his classic songs and albums that inpsired this blog. Also check out this blog dedicated to everything Gainsbourg. And if you don't own any of his music, you owe it to yourself to buy any kind of compilation out there. Enjoy!

Serge Gainsbourg :: Ballade de Melody Nelson [yousendit]

Serge on the cover of french newspaper's Libération - march 1st, 2006.

Photo taken from the graffiti-covered wall outside of Gainsbourg's last apartment, rue de Verneuil in Paris. Serge forever.

in the beginning

A bunch of new music is popping left and right. First, check out this cool video for the new Secret Machines single Lightning Blue Eyes. This is my first taste of the new material. I've been a a big fan of their last album Now here is nowhere, and this song is definitely satisfying my expectations. Can't wait to hear more.

The Stills are back! Second album, Without Feathers will be out on may 9th. In the meantime, you can download this brand new song called In the beginning. Let me just say, this tune is everything you will not expect from The Stills. Make sure you download it though, i think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Tonight, join Eamon and myself at CALLING ALL KIDS at Sapphire Lounge. It's been such an awesome weekly party, and we want more people to come and enjoy the night with all the regular kids. There's no cover, lots of cheap drinks, and yes dare i say the best mix of music.
Tomorrow (thursday), i'll be guest deejaying at SOULPUSHER at The Delancey. I've heard only great things about the party, plus Clear Static is playing downstairs and i've been meaning to check them out for a while now.

glamour for glamour

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs show on saturday at Bowery was short and good... not exceptional, but good. The problem (and good part) with a YYYs show is that the quality of the gig relies as much on the vibe and interaction with the audience as it does on the performance itself. Karen O, as well as the rest of the band, was in top shape, being the adorable and nutty performer that she always is. I love the addition of the new guitar player, and i really thought the band sounded great and was giving out their best to an unusually quiet audience, although i wouldn't blame the audience for being that way... most of them did not know the songs, and what did i say a few days ago about standing through a bunch a songs you have never heard before? It really can be hard to get as excited when you don't know the material. The band played new songs for the most part, except for Art Star, Y-Control and Modern Romance. Out of the new songs, the stand outs were by far Honeybear, Cheated Hearts and Phenomena. I say wait until the album comes out and the kids start obsessing over the new tunes, and the future shows will be nothing but fierce!

When Sheila played Glamour for glamour from swedish band The Ark at our One Night Stand party special sandi-pop night back in november, i immediately loved it. They describe themselves as Abba meets Queen meets David Bowie... their album, The State of the Ark will be out in the US on april 11th. Listen to One of us is gonna die young, and watch a live video recording of Glamour to glamour, both great sing along tunes:

The Ark - One of us is gonna die young - QT | RP [audio]
The Ark - Glamour for glamour - QT | RP [video]

The state of The Ark.