Friday, October 13, 2006:

Pédaler en grand braquet

Triplets of Belleville
[camarades et amitié]
Matthieu Chedid -- Belleville Rendez-Vous (French Version)
Kraftwerk -- Tour de France (French Version)
A young boy grows up to become a cyclist whom the French mafia want to kidnap to use as a power source. Yes. This is a common problem.

A few points about the French mafia:
1. They are better-dressed than the American mafia.
2. They are less interested in practicality than in the je ne sais quoi of an idea.
3. They tend to be broad and squarish and so thin they nearly disappear when they turn to the side. For this reason, they could be lurking anywhere.

Childhood events exercise a curious power over the mind (whether human or canine). Yes. They are called "formative years" for a reason.

A few points about The Triplets of Belleville:
1. It's quirky (you guessed that).
2. It's visually innovative.
3. It has sparse dialogue.

Benoit Charest writes, and Matthieu Chedid sings,* warm organic music with real instruments. Kraftwerk makes cold computerized music with circuits and knobs and switches.

A few points about Belleville Rendez-Vous (French Version):
1. acoustic guitar, muted strums.
2. classical guitar with the fingers breakdancing down the frets.
3. the voice. the voices. the harmony.

A few points about Tour de France (French Version):
1. drum machines, bike chain, grunts of a cyclist up a long hill.
2. the guitar, sounding like steel drums, with an unlikely melody.
3. the harp suggesting that might be the warmest Kraftwerk get.
[Triplets of Belleville]
[I think the French version is the same as the Francois K. remix on this disc but I'm not sure, as I only have the LP EP.]

...
If you don't read Girish's site you probably missed the notice, and even if you do read it, you might have forgotten about it, but I'm calling for a horror film blogathon on October 31st. (And today is a bit late to make the announcement, yes; suffice it to say that organizing movements is not one of my strong points.)

The blogathon is an idea Girish cooked up: bloggers write about one topic and all post on the same day; all you have to do to be a part of it is to post on the topic and say you're a part of it. In the past people have written on Showgirls, avant-garde film, Abel Ferrara's films, Hayao Miyazaki's films, Michelle Pfeiffer's films, and Code Unknown. If you decide to take part, please send me the URL once you've posted so I can link to it.

Elsewhere:
Soulheads, don't miss Darcy's post on The Ohio Players, Dan Phillips' post on Bobby Rush, and Soul Sides' post on Johnny Otis.

...
The House Next Door with a Jonathan Rosenbaum interview.

...
Fast Film, an animated movie mashup short. I've seen this before, though I can't remember where.

...
For the sidefills, can we have two great big enormous things please, of a type that might be venerated as gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his underpants, and driven by amplifiers that could provide the power for a Monster Truck Rally.
Iggy Pop's concert rider

...
Free Hugs: much better with the sound off. I like it with Ernie K-Doe's "Te Ta Te Ta Ta."

...
one-dimensional Tetris.

*Thanks to Vincent for correcting me on the attribution.

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Comments:
This is not Benoit Charest, this Mathieu Chedid

Huh. When I put it in the computer, iTunes identified all the tracks on the CD as by Benoit Charest. I've been looking for the actual physical CD but haven't yet found it in the various stacks; I'll post back once I have.

Enjoyed, regardless, ta.

I'm glad, Rantz.

Vincent, I finally found the disc again; the liner notes say it's adapted and performed by -M- and composed by Benoit Charest, with guitars by Thomas Dutronc & Benoit Charest with bass, guitar, and lyrics by -M-, and backing vocals by Beatrice Bonifassi.

And from this page it seems that -M- is Mathieu Chedid, so you are right. I'll change the post.

Thanks, and sorry for the delay.

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