TOFM is back! Fans of minimal tech can't avoid downloading this podcast and sending the link to 10 friends, else they will be cursed for a year (unless you send us a cheque).

Dark landscapes have never been so luminous.

TOFM - "Trilogy 2 (part 1)"

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Tracklisting:

01 - Ambivalent - 808 clap
02 - STL - From a distance
03 - Redshape - 2010
04 - Ribn - Cottbus
05 - Sian - Byzantine conduit (Jonas Kopp mix)
06 - Dub Taylor - Represent
07 - Thom Yorke - Cymbal rush (The Field mix)
08 - Queen Atom - Mi ojo negro
09 - Mike Dehnert - Umlaut 2 (Levon Vincent mix)
10 - People get People - Robin hood
11 - Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Luechtoorn
12 - Clara Moto - Hidding in the bottom drawer

In 1964 "Archi-cordes", a little known album by Michel Legrand, was released. At that time, he was a young and talented composer and very much en vogue with the New Wave cinema goers.

In front of the media tsunami of the 1960s, the maestro only saw a mediocre wave. As a reaction to that and with a certain derisory spirit, he composed Jerk, Twist, Hully-Gully themes with talent and imagination. These were all in vogue with the youth.

The irony of the story is that that no one realised that this album was tongue-in-cheek and so it knew a certain success, as it was taken at face value. Time passed and everyone forgot about this album....

But history can be ironice... In 1966, the London DJ duo, Karminsky Experience Inc, exhumed this album from its analogue tomb. We can listen to "Come Ray an Come Charles" and "Di-gue-ding-ding" on their excellent complilation " Inflight Entertainment", an easy-listening must-have for connaisseurs!

Michel Legrand « Archi-cordes » (1964, Mercury)

I've already written an article on the promising group, The Divine's Orchestra, from Rouen, with their very surf-Rock sound. They have lived up to their promise with this new single, still written by Benjamin, but this time accompanied by the singer Manon Grange,  whose voice, both detached and warm, really suits this track.

"The Lover Of Two" is a single which evokes American 60s pop. It has a very west coast psychedelic feeling suited to a lo-fi atmosphere, which really works, in spite of the voice being a bit too much in the background.

In any case, I really love this track, which contains more talent than 3 episodes of X-Factor.

Bring on the album....

Even though the film "The Emperor's March" was released in the US without the original soundtrack composed by this promising French composer, Emilie Simon does not hold a grudge.

After moving recently to New York, she is shaking the Big Apple with her "Big Machine" sound.

This is a work of Pop, with vocals that channel, rather than copy, the great Kate Bush.

Emilie Simon "The Big Machine" (2009, Barclay)

An example of a group who became known via the internet, even before signing with a label. The first album was released at the beginning of the year, a few articles in the press and voila, our duo are on their way to fame and fortune.

Their success begs us to ask questions about the strategy of the big labels, but it is also a prime example of the success of the new modes of diffusion, something we discuss regularly on this blog. Even in the golden age, before Internet, big labels were happy to have the little underground labels unearth new talent and they were then happy to pick them off, once they were established.

As for this Franco-Finish duo, Dan Levy & Olivia B. Merilahti, they've brought us a Rock-Pop epic with various influences, ballads, Hip-Hop and a sound which reminds me both of Cocorosie and Bjork. The result makes for some very interesting listening.

The Do - "A Mouthful" (2007, Cinq7/Wagram)

This husky "sandpaper" voice, along with the black guitar from the South indicate that we are deep in the bayou. However, Don Cavalli is white and was born in near Paris. I can feel the readers disappointment with those last words. You would have preferred to hear a story of an album recorded by a criminal from New Orleans, one who died in his cell in an alcoholic coma after having read Jennifer Aniston's biography.

I am pleased to shatter these prejudices with confirmation that Don Cavalli's music is honest and direct. He has a rare and dry voice, inspired compositions and an impeccable bass-drum pairing. The production is analogical and sounds as though is has just come straight from the Sun studios of Memphis: wah-wah, disco and vintage compressors.

The social welfare should be prescribing Don Cavalli, instead of anti-depressants.

Don Cavalli - "Cryland" (2007, Because)