{"id":22716,"date":"2022-04-10T05:30:14","date_gmt":"2022-04-10T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=22716"},"modified":"2022-04-09T21:57:53","modified_gmt":"2022-04-10T01:57:53","slug":"single-review-les-pommes-de-lune-une-fleur-b-w-les-chimeres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/10\/single-review-les-pommes-de-lune-une-fleur-b-w-les-chimeres\/","title":{"rendered":"Single Review: Les Pommes de Lune \u2013 \u201cUne Fleur\u201d b\/w \u201cLes Chim\u00e8res\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: I have a policy of not reviewing singles, but extra-special material warrants an occasional exception to be made. \u2013 bk<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Francophone pop music of the sixties took the form of a somewhat insular scene. Owing to France\u2019s emphasis on French-language popular culture, music and other artistic\/creative forms from outside the country didn\u2019t exert the kind of influence they had elsewhere. Germany, for example, had a vibrant rock scene in those days, and when The Beatles toured there, they did so to enthusiastic crowds. When they played Paris, they received a decidedly more low-key reception.<\/p>\n

To be fair, France had plenty of homegrown talent. Johnny Hallyday was a kind of French Elvis, and Jacques Dutronc, Serge Gainsbourg and (especially) Fran\u00e7oise Hardy<\/a> all created music of lasting value. And while the outside influences didn\u2019t bear heavily upon those French artists, things did work somewhat in the reverse direction. Half a century later, those reverberations can still be felt and heard, especially if one knows where to look.<\/p>\n

And one place to look right now is Montr\u00e9al, Qu\u00e9bec, home to a group calling itself Les Pommes de Lune (that translates as \u201cMoon Apples\u201d). The group presumably takes its name from a song by \u00c9variste; that tune was included on a compilation series called Wizzz! French Psychorama<\/i>. Think of Wizzz!<\/i> as a kind of French Nuggets<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s first release is a two-song single called \u2013 appropriately enough \u2013 Premi\u00e8re Transmission<\/i>. One needn\u2019t speak or read French to figure out its meaning. And the music is thrilling, evoking the best of what one might call retro-popsike.<\/p>\n

The a-side is \u201cUne Fleur\u201d (\u201cA Flower\u201d), originally waxed in 1967 by French singer Christine Delaroche. The remake is built upon a more rocking foundation than the original had, and the booming tympanis, soaring trumpets, swinging strings and \u2013 most of all \u2013 stinging fuzz guitar will take your breath away. If there\u2019s a high-profile modern-day track that could serve as a reference point for the uninitiated, it might be The Who\u2019s \u201cGot Nothing to Prove.\u201d But that track \u2013 with its Austin Powers-<\/i>esque arrangement \u2013 is built on a basic track recorded in the mid-sixtes. Les Pommes de Lune\u2019s recording is wholly new; it merely feels<\/em> vintage, and in the best way possible.<\/p>\n

The flip side is a cover as well, this time a far more well-known tune. \u201cPictures of Matchstick Men\u201d was the apotheosis of British band Status Quo\u2019s psychedelic era; the song employs giddily over-the-top use of the phase shifter effect, with lyrics to match. The song has been memorably covered before, most notably by Camper Van Beethoven (or was it Cracker? They blur together in my mind). But Les Pommes de Lune\u2019s reading \u2013 for some reason titled here \u201cLes Chim\u00e8res\u201d (that\u2019s \u201cChimera,\u201d the fire-breathing lion\/goat\/snake monster of Greek mythology) is at once more faithful to the original and different (because it\u2019s sung in French). Loads more fuzztone guitar and a cavernous vibe make for a worthwhile revisit of this pop-psychedelic classic. A delicious combo organ break near the song\u2019s end will send you scrambling back to Piper at the Gates of Dawn<\/i> for some more Rick Wright-styled goodness.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if this French Canadian outfit can apply its magic to original material; at press time, there are no further recordings available from Les Pommes de Lune. But there exists a wealth of under-exposed music of this type from the style\u2019s heyday, so if they choose that route, it\u2019s likely to be every bit as appealing. Do stay tuned; I certainly will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE: I have a policy of not reviewing singles, but extra-special material warrants an occasional exception to be made. \u2013 bk Francophone pop music of the sixties took the form […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,57,62,65],"tags":[4789],"class_list":["post-22716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-psych","category-rawk","category-review","tag-les-pommes-de-lune","cat-49-id","cat-57-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22716"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22750,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22716\/revisions\/22750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}