In the Bastille Mixtape that I posted on Monday, I included tracks from late 70s/early 80s underground French synth-wave acts Ruth and Marie Möör. Following up, I wanted to mention two excellent compilations from that time period, which do a great job of capturing the French electro/no-wave/synth-pop/punk movement and at the same time are easily obtained (unlike some of the artists they contain). As synth-based post punk was on the rise on the other side of the English Channel, with Human League’s single “Don’t You Want Me” beaming over the airwaves, a similar movement of futuristic robot eroticism took hold in France. This movement of synth-based cold-wave acts had prompted punk-musical journalist, Yves Adrien, to write a lengthy essay in 1980 titled, NovöVision, that conjured up a Zamyatin-type of dystopian society focused on drugs, robots, sex, and even robotic sex.
So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music (1977-1983) begins with the steady spacey synth pulses, atmospheric organs, and ethereal French-sung/spoken female vocals of Nini Raviolette’s “Suis-Je Normale.” Forgive me for the comparison, because the movie is fresh in my mind, but the track would have made the perfect accompaniment for a less “Hello Dolly” opening of Wall-E. A lonely robot rolls around a lifeless, abandoned, and eerily unfamiliar Earth set against the stark tone and icy synths of the somber song, while, in almost a robotic tone, female vocals ask “suis-je, suis-je normale? (am I, am I normal?)” The track pretty much sets the cold-wave tone for the rest of the comp which includes the austere robotic grooves of Ruth’s “Polaroid/Roman/Photo,” The Druids rare illustrated concept of “The Force,” and the cyberpunk of Artefact on “Mae.”
[MP3]: Nini Raviolette ”Suis-Je Normale”
So Cold So Young, Tigersushi; 2004
[MP3]: The Droids ”The Force (Part 1)”
So Cold So Young, Tigersushi; 2004
If So Young But So Cold was the first-course that aroused your appetite, then BIPPP: French Synth Wave (1979-85) is the gluttonous main course of obscure French synth-wave singles. Initially released by Parisian-imprint Born Bad in 2006, BIPPP was released in the States earlier this year via Everloving Records. Like their European counterparts, The Human League, Depeche Mode, Gary Newman, Soft Cell, and Kraftwerk, the artists compiled on BIPPP share the love of the analog synthesizer. A brief blurb on the album jacket gives an outline of the birth of French synth-wave, which gives credit to the rise of the genre to ex-Stinky Toy member Dennis Quillard (aka Janco) and singer Elli Mederios and their instrumental Kraftwerk-worshipping single “Rectangle.” Like So Young, BIPPP paints an icy-synth laden landscape that covers a six year span. Unlike the perfect pop that some UK artists were churning out, BIPP shows that the synth sounds remained more stripped in France at the time.
[MP3]: A Trois Dans Les WC ”Contagion”
BIPPP: French Synth-Wave 1979/85, Everloving; 2008
[MP3]: Ruth ”Polaroïd/Roman/Photo”
BIPPP: French Synth-Wave 1979/85, Everloving; 2008
For much more information on French synth-wave, as well as an extensive list of acts, check out the informative French New Wave site.