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It’s unavoidable. The 90s are back in style. It’s the natural way of things. I used to love this picture going through my older sister’s records. I love BLUR. I love them because everything about them is so British, like THE SMITHS. I asked Phil Maier to use these very 90s orientated colors & contrasts for the last F(JF) photo shoot. I simply can’t think of better ?
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This picture was taken at the ICEAGE gig we opened for in August at the Cake Shop in Manhattan. I just love this pic. I love ICEAGE. Makes me feel like I’ve played at a genuinely legendary gig.
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‘Tomorrow’ is quite simply my favorite Morrissey track. But what makes this video very very special is the fact that it was filmed in Nice - French Riviera, where I grew up.
The riviera is such a God forbidden vicinity when it comes to rock music that I couldn’t believe that above all places, Moz chose this town to film one of his best tracks ever.
You can’t possibly imagine how emotional it was to witness this. Moz walking in my streets. Singing my favorite song. Now my heart is full.
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Legendary French cold wave band Asylum Party performing on FR3 in the late 80s. This super rare TV ‘performance’ is finally available for all to see.
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I come across this beautifully haunting image when I was attending history class in high school (France). “La Lanterne” (The Lantern) “Journal Républicain Anti Clérical” (Républicain Newspaper Anti Clergy) “Voilà l’Ennemi!” (There’s the enemy!). This poster hit the walls of Paris in 1902. The scenery is based in Montmartre and the evil priest is clawing the Sacré Coeur.
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Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”. Dr Seuss
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I just got this chorus guitar pedal for dirt cheap.
Why ? Because it looks fucking amazing. And why does it look amazing ? Not just cause of the old school knobs and general display, but because it’s Pink + Black which is a color combination that is unheard of for a chorus pedal.
Once again, built by Yamaha intentionally for me. They knew I’d want it one day.
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Viktor Oliva (1861-1928) was a Czech painter and illustrator.
His most famous painting, ‘Absinthe Drinker’ ( Czech: ’Piják Absintu’ ), hangs on the wall of the historical Cafe Slavia in Prague, Czech Republic.
I love this painting so much because it depicts the ambiance of the typical Parisian café so well, with a healthy dose of green fairy spleen…As his newspaper contains no words, just white emptiness.
In 1888 Viktor Oliva was drawn to the Montmartre area of Paris to be part of the ever rapidly expanding artistic community there. He lived there for some years and became good friends with other Bohemian Parisiens. This group of actual Bohemians (from Bohemia in Czechoslovakia) were right in the heart of the Bohemian Revolution.
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This slideshow-video of illustrations depicting the 1754-1763 Franco-Indian war with FORTERESSE’s ‘Honneur et Tradition’ blazing through my speakers sent a thousand shivers down my spine.
It’s hard to describe how poignant these images of East coast Indians are. So extravagant, fearless and terrifying, aligned with both British & French troops; as the latter battle over possession of American and Canadian territory. Today, we can say that the East coast Indians have been decimated. They’re culture is trampled on and their identity has pretty much vanished. Honneur et Tradition (in english ‘Honor and Tradition’) is the perfect soundtrack to this vast human tragedy.
FORTERESSE is a nationalist band from Quebec, CA. This position in my opinion brings them closer to Indian culture as a lot Francophone Quebecois are in fact Métis, meaning of both French and Indian heritage, culturally and ethnically.
Anywho, it was my good German, francophone and Slavophile friend Thyl Zagal who shared this Black Metal gem with me not too long ago. Musically, it purveys what I enjoy most in black metal: minimal abrasive hooks with drum machine and savage vocals, reminiscent of my favorite South of France band Kristallnacht.
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KATIA NELSON (with a little <3 on the ‘i’) is a dream come true. I can’t think of a more perfect cover with it’s typical 80s parallelism, Katia’s ‘not cool at all’ portrait; all in black and pink s’il vous plaît. If that wasn’t enough, ‘Le Dernier des Samouraïs’ (The last of the Samourais) was released in 1986 - the year of my birth. It’s as if this track was intentionally made for me.
From what I gather the idea behind this single was of course to launch another new Mylène Farmer (something that many ambitious French producers attempted to do back in the days) but the cheap production granted to this track differs from traditional New Wave studio production. Consequently, this is few of the best sounding minimal synth tracks you’ll ever hear.
