Niki N. Phaser

Ok, so the truth is French music gets a bit overlooked around the world. Most non-English-language music does. But even if you might have some difficulties understanding the lyrics, you can still appreciate a well-crafted song. To test the theory give Quand Viendra L’Heure a try. The song is a collaboration between dark rock band, ACWL and Nicola Sirkis, the frontman of not-so-dark rock band Indochine. It’s a two-faced piece of music, half lullaby, half heavy metal lullaby, but all feeling, no surface. It starts gentle with bells and chimes and poetry-reciting-like vocals. Sirkis’ voice is manly and pretty low, but Clin’s adds an unnatural feel to it, as if some Victorian ghost is haunting her husband. The first half is quite soothing, suggesting abstract images dissolving into each other. Then, the drums kick in and bring with them short and heavy guitar hits and you feel the storm coming, but it never does… It all becomes darker, but there is no destructive climax. That reciting of the track’s title is followed by dying voices which stop the song from becoming aggressive. It is weird and lullaby-esque, but still quite a banger, once you get the hang of it. Maybe you woun’t really dance to it, but you woun’t stand still either. You should check out the video, too. Also, even if you are not into Quand Viendra L’Heure, you should “taste” ACWL and Indochine. They are some of France’s best.

THE WONDERFUL VIDEO FOR Quand Viendra L’Heure

Placebo seem to have enraged “the machine” and, of course, by that I mean the labelzilla Virgin, who previously “owned” them for more than a decade. The trio decided to go indie and sign with a label (PIAS) only for distribution, paying themselves for their new album, Battle for the Sun. In recent interviews, they’ve admitted to not being very happy on the Virgin mothership, especially after the guys who brought them in, were fired.

To slap the wrist of the alternative idols and cash in one final check off of them, Virgin decided to release a boxset containing all Placebo albums, except the last one, of course, an album of B-sides, one of live recordings and two dvd’s. As if trying the “if you are a real fan”-blackmail wasn’t enough, the label decided to release the boxset on the 8th of June. For those unaware of recent Placebo history, this is the release date (announced in march) of Battle for the Sun.

So, is this a cautionary tale for bands leaving their violent, brutal, come-home-drunk-late-at-night-demanding-a-hot-meal labels? Well, not in Placebo’s case. Their record debuted in the top 10 in several countries, their gig-agenda is record-breaking (the british band with the most dates this summer). Everybody already knows that big labels are part of the “machine”, so I guess this is just another specific example.

It seems that Smashing Pumpkins frontman, Billy Corgan has found a new drummer for his outfit in the person of Mike Byrne, a 19-year old student and they are currently working on new stuff. It doesn’t really matter who the guy is, but the question that’s on my mind is: will that band still be The Smashing Pumpkins? I mean, now there is only one original member left. The Cure have undergone some changes over the years, some many changes in fact, but, with some pauses, Simon Gallup was pretty much all the time by Robert Smith’s side.

source: www.washingtoncitypaper.com

The answer I choose to sponsor regarding the Corgan-Pumpkins dilemma is: I don’t really care, as long as the music is still good. With their Zeitgeist album, the controversy was pretty much based around the same issue: is it still Smashing Pumpkins without James Iha and Melissa Auf der Maur (who did nicely by herself, by the way)? I don’t know, but the album was part amazing (Bleeding the Orchid), part good (For God and Country) and after all, the music is all that matters. So, Billy, do your best and let us know when it’s done!

On the other hand, I must admit that this whole situation must be really nasty for a hardcore Pumpkins fan. It must be really frustrating to keep changing the posters on your wall… (just joking, sorry).