by Bill Pearis

Bertrand Burgalat @ Pop Montreal 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Zut alors! Bertrand Burgalat's CMJ appearances (tonight [10/16] at the "France Rocks!" party, tomorrow [10/17] at Fat Baby) have been "postponed" according to a post last night on BB's Facebook. These were to be his first NYC shows in 10+ years. Let's hope Bertrand gets whatever issues he's having sorted out and have him over soon. (I am personally really bummed.) His new album, Toutes Directions (listen on Spotify), is quite good.

The rest of tonight's France Rocks! show (Yan Wagner and Juveniles (UPDATE, they canceled too), who are both supposed to be quite good live, and We Are Evergreen) is still happening and if you want to go it's free with RSVP. Tomorrow (10/17) at Highline Ballroom, there is another showcase of French bands, headlined Air side project World of Tomorrow.

by Bill Pearis

Bertrand Burgalat @ Pop Montreal 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

When we first posted that French artist Bertrand Burgalat would be coming to NYC for the CMJ Festival we didn't know much, but we now have specifics. He plays the Union Square Ballroom on October 16 and will be at Fat Baby on October 17. He recently played Pop Montreal (check out ze photos) and there's video footage of what looked to be a super fun show below.

The Union Square Ballroom show is part of an all-French, dance-oriented line-up that also includesSkip the Use, Juveniles, Yan Wagner and Total Warr. The show is free and open to the public with RSVP though the RSVP ...link on this page doesn't seem to be working just yet.

Tomorrow's World

France seems to be fairly well represented at this year's CMJ and in addition to Bertrand Burgalat and the artists above there is also Tomorrow's World, which is the new project from Air's Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Lou Hayter who was (is?) keyboardist in New Young Pony Club (and put out a great solo single a few years ago under the name The New Sins). Tomorrow's World's track "So Long My Love" has been floating around the web for most of 2012 but it just now getting a physical release.

Tomorrow's World are on another mostly-French CMJ bill, this one at Highline Ballroom on October 17 with Housse de Racket (Cassius side project), Lescop and UK electrop group Citizens!. Tickets are on sale now for this one now.

Citizens! will be playing a few additional gigs during CMJ though their schedule hasn't been fleshed out. Keep your eyes peeled and in the meantime you can check out their video for "True Romance" below.

Additionally, Irene and Francis Jacob will also be here, playing 10/14 at Shrine (info), 10/19 at Joe's Pub (tix) and 10/20 at Barbes (info). You make recognize Irene from starring in '90s arthouse hits The Double Life of Veronique and Krzysztof Kieslowski's Red.

In non-CMJ French artist news, Etienne de Crecy, one of the big names in the late '90s "French touch" sound (along with Cassius, Alex Gopher, etc) will play Santos on November 5. Tickets are on sale. Etienne is also playing The Voodoo Experience in New Orleans and FFF Fest in Austin.

There are a few other videos for French bands playing during CMJ below.

Continue reading "French bands coming to CMJ; Bertrand Burgalat shows; Etienne de Crecy & Air side project Tomorrow's World too"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

St. Vincent / Julia Holter

When it came down to it, [Annie] Clark's voice was the star. Though [David] Byrne, a shock of white, was the one the thousands came to worship - and it's hard to deny the unadulterated joy hearing of "This Must Be the Place" and "Burning Down the House" in such a pristine setting - it was Clark who made the deepest impact. Free of reverbed guitar heroics and floating above a cloud of brass, her rendition of "The Party" during the evening's second encore was a revelation. Drawing from the gigantic church's natural resonance (not to mention its massive pipe organ), the song began with the brass band walked down the aisles as Clark appeared onstage alone, spinning a macabre rhapsody till its eventual sonic denouement.

Closer "Road to Nowhere" wasn't too shabby either. [National Post]

POP Montreal returned to Montreal for its tenth annual year this past week with countless artists across multiple venues in the city. Like CMJ and SXSW, there are so many good options at POP Montreal -- newcomers and old favorites alike -- that it's impossible to catch everyone. While we were there on Friday (9/21), we caught David Byrne & St. Vincent (who are on a tour which hits NYC three times this week -- have you checked out Kelly Pratt's tour diary with David and Annie?), French electronic artist Bertrand Burgalat (who plans to make his way to NYC for CMJ), Julia Holter, Solar Year, and recent Sub Pop-signees METZ (who have also been on the road a lot, and will be back in NYC for CMJ and again on their November tour).

POP Montreal pictures from Saturday (9/22) and Sunday (9/23) are coming soon. More pics from Friday are below.

Continue reading "POP Montreal -- Friday pics (David Byrne & St. Vincent, Julia Holter, Bertrand Burgalat, METZ & Solar Year)"

by Bill Pearis

Among the surprises in the 2012 CMJ line-up is French electronic artist Bertrand Burgalat who hasn't played NYC in ten years. While specifics aren't available yet, he does list October 16 on his tour schedule for NYC. Hopefully he'll play a couple shows while here.

Burgulat, who's playing Pop Montreal this weekend, has been making records since the late '90s when he started Tricatel, one of the labels associated with retro-future chic scene that also spawned Air among others. His 2000 album, The Sssound of Mmmusic, is an early-'00s classic (listen via Spotify) and he's continued to make groovy records since, including 2007's Cheri B.B. that featured the great Robert Wyatt collaboration, "This Summer Night," and this year's Toutes Directions which is another classy serving of Burgalat's well-honed élan. You can stream it too, like most of his albums, at Spotify.

Below are a few Bertand Burgalat videos and all listed tour dates.

Continue reading "Bertrand Burgalat playing NYC during CMJ (dates)"

The full list of artists confirmed for the 2012 CMJ Music Marathon so far is below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2012 initial lineup announced"

POP Montreal is returning to Montreal this year from September 19 - 23. The initial lineup was revealed and it includes Grizzly Bear, Gang Gang Dance, David Byrne, Tim Hecker, Julia Holter, I Break Horses, Hot Snakes, Dirty Three, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Cate Le Bon, Bertrand Burgulat (!), and more. The full initial lineup is listed below and many more announcements to come. Early Bird tickets are on sale until June 30, when regular sale begins.

Meanwhile, Montreal will be getting the Ohsheaga Festival even sooner.

Initial POP Montreal lineup below...

Continue reading "POP Montreal initial 2012 lineup revealed (Grizzly Bear, Gang Gang Dance, David Byrne, Tim Hecker, Hot Snakes & more)"