Funky Nôze.

Parisian duo Nôze just released their third album Songs on the Rocks (Circus Company 2008), a exuberant exhibition of minimal beats, big baselines, old world instruments and blip hop. Bearing some similarity to Matthew Dear and Herbert, Nôze fuses minimal house with traditional French folk and menacing vocals to create a sound that is left field, yet intrinsically groovy. I freaking love it.
Nôze "Kitchen" (video)

Parisian duo Nôze just released their third album Songs on the Rocks (Circus Company 2008), a exuberant exhibition of minimal beats, big baselines, old world instruments and blip hop. Bearing some similarity to Matthew Dear and Herbert, Nôze fuses minimal house with traditional French folk and menacing vocals to create a sound that is left field, yet intrinsically groovy. I freaking love it.
Nôze "Kitchen" (video)
Nôze "Kitchen" (mp3) (ZS)
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Also hailing from Ile-de-France is Sporto Kantès, whose latest album 3 at Last (Le Village Vert 2008) takes experimental punk to new bewildering extremes. The album starts out conservative enough with "Concrete," a ethereal little incantation featuring Michael Robinson on vocals (bearing a vague resemblance to Antony Hegarty). But don't get too complacent... to follow is a nutty (at times down-right uncomfortable) exposition designed to assault your senses and leaving you scratching your head. Despite the ensuing chaos, the boys of Sporto Kantès manage to propagate melodies, even if they are in fragmented form.
Sporto Kantès "Whistle" (video)
Sporto Kantès "Liquid" (mp3) (ZS)
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Another new French album comes from Protoypes, an electronic band comprised of members from BOSCO and vocalist Isabelle Le Doussal of BuBBle Star. Their sophomore effort Synthétique is a straight-forward electro record in the Vive le Fête tradition, with retro rhythms and the occasional "punch crunch" to keep things interesting.
Prototypes "Synthétique" (mp3) (ZS)
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I have a strange affinity for balkan-fusion music even though I rarely post about it here. I'm making a quick exception from Brooklyn-based collective Firewater, who recently released The Golden Hour in North America (Bloodshot 2008). It's an aggressive collection of hard-edged world punk that has been described as "an indie rock answer to M.I.A.'s much-ballyhooed Kala" by Mike Usinger of No Depression. With the upcoming ousting of führer Bush and the presidential elections just around the corner, the appropriate selection seems to be "Hey Clown." Raise that frosty mug & bounce to those bass drums!





