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Juveniles – “Fantasy”

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Juveniles - Fantasy

Remember Yuksek? The Frenchman we have been loving for years here at TBE but who has never got the respect he deserved? Well now he producing for the new French crew Juveniles and its damn good. Perhaps even better than his own stuff. Swinging nu-disco magic for weekends and cocktail hours. Cheers to the tem-up!

[LP] C2C – TETRA (w/ “The Beat” + “Down The Road”)

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C2C - Tetragoodbye baby, yes i’m going, have no place to go

  • Who: 4 DJs: 20 Syl, DJ Pfel, DJ Greem, DJ Atom
  • What: Indie scratch grooves, like folk, blues, hip-hop, & dance in a blender.
  • Where: Nantes, France + Facebook
  • When: Tetra is out now.
  • Why: Damn, I’m sorry. I’ve been loving this album so damn hard it’s made it hard for me to write about. How will I ever do it justice!? Well, you know what? I won’t. The jams themselves will speak for themselves.

The 4 DJs in C2C got together as far back as 1998, have over a 1/3 million likes on FB, have been covered by TBE fave Bernhoft, and are just now starting to make waves in the US. Their upcoming appearances at Coachella are the single most exciting thing about that desert (fuck)fest. Just watch any of their live videos to get a sense of the mind bending talent and music they dish out. While the quartet ranked #1 in the DMC World Championships four times in a row (2003-2006. Watch the amazing 2005 video here), I have no patience for turntablism for turntablism’s sake. I do have patience for the way they deftly blend insane scratching skills with blues samples to make downright catchy and infectious grooves. Get into it!

Paradis – “Hémisphère” & “Je m’ennuie”

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Paradis

Some people say “Sunday Fun-day.” I say “Sunday let me relax a little day.” And there is no better soundtrack for that these days than Paradis. Fans of The Whitest Boy Alive will get down with these pared down beats that lull you into a hypnosis of head bobbing. 8 minutes never felt so good. Now, would someone please help translate?

[STREAM] Chill Bump – “It’s Alive!”

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Chill Bump - Its Alive

like latin a language dies when it does not move

France has a long and illustrious career of making exceptional hip-hop. I have a long and illustrious career of missing great bands on first listen. These two institutions collided recently when my girlfriend recommended Chill Bump and their jam “It’s Alive.” I kinda meh-ed it. Fast forward a few weeks when it gets submitted by the band and then I’m all over it. Sorry RC. Hello Chill Bump! Now let’s all get down n dirty to the sinister grooves going on here. Thats something we can all be on the same page about.

[STREAM] Exsonvaldes – “Seahorses”

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Exsonvaldes - Seahorses

i understand why this won’t last

  • Who: Simon and 3 others.
  • What: Chill indie pop, like Death Cab, Digits, No
  • Where: Paris, France + Facebook
  • When: New LP Lights out March 18
  • Why: Exsonvaldes are French. So French that most of their Facebook is in French. Exsonvaldes has also been around a while. Such a while that they were founded in 2000. So how do they only have 2.5K likes on Facebook? Because the music world is a weird and twisted one. Although I could totally see the lulling beauty of “Seahorses” putting me in such a blissful trance that when it was done I wouldn’t want anything to do with a computer and the banal motion of clicking a “like” button. I would rather go into the world, smell the fresh rain on the ground, and love the ones around me.

[STREAM] We Were Evergreen – “Baby Blue”

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looking for my common sense, looking for it, oh, did i ever have it?

  • Who: Michael, Fabienne, William
  • What: Hyper-twee, like Walk The Moon, San Cisco, Set Sail.
  • Where: Paris, France + Facebook
  • When: The “Baby Blue” single is out with “Second Hand” as B-side.
  • Why: “Baby Blue” kicks down the door of your speakers and bursts through but not before politely shutting it behind itself. This si the kind of the song to have pillow fights and jump on the bed to. Can I coin the term “sleepover rock”? Never mind that, just enjoy the bright summery sounds of this French trio and hope they release more goodness before summer is over. [via The Guardian]

[MP3] Jjanice+ – “Aleas”

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???

♫ Jjanice+ – Aleas

  • Who: Joel Janice & friends.
  • What: Groovin pop/rap, like Harlan, Seye, Nick Waterhouse,
  • Where: Montreal, Canada + Facebook
  • When: A 2010 EP and this new jam.
  • Why: French-Canadians have a long history of groovy music but bright tropical summers aren’t really Montreal’s forte so it’s fun to hear such perfect summer fare from them. It  is also fun to hear it in French. My French skillz are very limited but I imagine he singing about how him and friends do mad chill stuff like drink beers, kick it by the pool, go out late and are generally awesome.  That chick part is probably her rebuttal about how her crew of girls is better cause they do other better chill stuff. Whatever, you guys, just get it on already! OK, so having just watched the video I don’t think that is what the song is about at all. But thats the fun of music!

[MP3] La Femme – “Sur La Plache”

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je recherche des sensations

♫ La Femme – Sur La Plache

  • Who: 5 dudes. 1 girl. All blonde.
  • What: Punkish surf rock, like Civil Civic, Is Tropical
  • Where: Biarritz, France + Facebook
  • When: EP Le Podium #1 is out now.
  • Why: I don’t think France has very epic surfing but La Femme have more than made up for it with this jammer so groovy you could probably hang ten a baguette off that bass line. Bust out the short-shorts and Hawaiian print berets! And somebody make me a wine-cocktail, I’m gonna need some fuel to keep these stereotypes up. [via The Guardian]