THE NEWS:
UPCOMING GIGS:
Sep 2nd - Zenith Bar, London
Sep 19th - Dinner With Daisy Club Night @ Jamboree, London
www.dinnerwithdaisy.com
17 July 2010
The Luxembourgish album release party was just as fun as we thought it would be!
Around 400 people came to celebrate with us at the legendary Atelier and fun was had by one and all! We were told in advance that the clued-in continental crowds demand longer sets than the quick bursts of energy that London-venues prefer, so we enjoyed playing pretty much all the songs we know...as well as a rather unusual interpretation of the Marseillaise in honour of the French national day and a new, very creative cover of an old Counting Crows favourite. Yes, Counting Crows - you heard right. Perhaps we'll play it at our next UK gig too.
You can have a look at some photos from the night over here.
The days before saw some frenetic media activity with Catherine pretty much taking over the Luxembourg media it seems. Have a look at her on national direct TV here - Catherine is on about halfway through. There were also a couple of interviews on RTL radio, Eldoradio, 100.7 as well as Tageblatt, Luxembourg Wort, L'Essentiel etc - all of which probably are available somewhere on the net if you have a look. Here's one of them.
If you didn't get your hands on the new album at the party, you can get your copy at CD Buttek beim Palais, Sound on Grand Rue or the usual internet outlets. To buy one of the lovely T-shirts click yourself over here.
Hopefully see you in Luxembourg again soon!
07 July 2010
Our next single, 'Sitting And Reading', will be out on July 26th and available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and all other places around the world that have mp3s on the menu!
Our very special French version of a very special French song is yet to receive its legal permission to be released, so instead we've got an equally special une cartouche remix as the B-side! That's right, une cartouche is French for cartridge and is the name of our experimental side project. So, we've taken the little avant-pop gem that is "Sitting And Reading" and transformed it into avant-avant, if you like. It's quite fun though!
And if you're living in Luxembourg or environs, don't forget the record release party on July 14th at the Atelier! It's gonna be a very fun night, so tell all your friends and make sure to reserve your free tickets at www.frenchforcartridge.com/event
Also look out for us on TV, radio and a couple newspapers in the days leading up to the party...We'll update www.twitter.com/dinnerwithdaisy with all the latest details as we get them.
23 June 2010
The gig at London Festival of Architecture has been confirmed and will take place on Bromley-by-Bow High St as part of Walk The Line - for more info on this great project have a look at www.walktheline.at.
We're playing at 5 o'clock, which kind of clashes with the football...but if you need a musical alternative or some post-game fun, this should be a really fun one and a bit different from our usual sets. We'll be performing as a duo, but have managed to cram in quite a few instruments as well as a couple of toys into the set! Well worth catching.
And in other news, we're very excited to return to Luxembourg for a gig at the legendary Atelier! This will be a free party to celebrate the release of 'Liquorice', but you need to reserve a ticket over here. It's going to be a great night! Details of DJs and other bands to follow!
16 June 2010
Last week was great! The gig supporting Stereo Total was so much fun and they turned out to be a very nice and polite couple - we like that. We had Henri's brother Anssi on bass with us for this one and a bit of extra low end never hurt anyone.
Our next gig will be on June 27th at London Architecture Festival in Bow somewhere. It all still depends on some local council licence, but it should be a fun one so stick it in your diary - we'll keep you posted.
09 June 2010
Tomorrow we'll take to the stage supporting one of our favourite bands, Stereo Total, at 93 Feet East - can't wait!! Hope to see lots of you people there! More info at www.birdonthewire.net
And on Sunday we'll be screening all the 'Liquorice' videos at the Dinner With Daisy Club Night. Henri's other band Icons of Elegance will also be playing and one of Catherine's pieces for solo baritone and 6 transistor radios will be premiered amongst other equally brilliant stuff. I wouldn't miss that one either. www.dinnerwithdaisy.com for all the details.
In other good news, we're not pretentious art school drone or at least that's what the nice chap at www.playingoutloud.co.uk thinks!
"They have taken a batch of simple pop songs and slightly distorted them into the kind of left field sound that will no doubt preclude them from the mainstream but see them lauded as cult heroes of the indie scene."
Sounds good to us.
26 May 2010
The public has spoken. The overwhelming majority thought we should put out 'Sitting And Reading' as our next single, so 'Sitting And Reading' it is! This was our favourite too, but your help made it a lot easier...
The video for 'A Hundred And One', directed by Dorna Aslanzadeh, was screened at Bray Music Video Festival in Ireland last week and seems to be getting loads of hits on our youtube-channel as well. It's a brilliant video - you should take a look!
19 May 2010
We've got a digital single coming out soon, but there's two small issues. One is we've made a rather brilliant cover version of a French rapper to go as a virtual B-side with it, but it turns out we were a bit too creative and it now counts as an adaption rather than a cover...and adaptations need special permission, which we are currently waiting for.
Our second issue is we can't quite decide what should be the A-side! If you've got any suggestions we'd very much appreciate your input. If you don't own the album yet you can get hold of it in all the usual places or have a listen to it for free on Spotify. There's also some brilliant videos to watch over on www.youtube.com/frenchforcartridge. Email us your suggestions to info (at) frenchforcartridge (dot) com and you'll also have a chance to win a copy of the very limited vinyl edition of "Liquorice" that's coming out later in summer. We did the cutting for that last week and are just about to send it all of to the press - very exciting!
Tickets are going fast for our gig supporting Stereo Total in June - make sure you get yours in time from www.wegottickets.com or www.ticketweb.co.uk. Also on the bill are The Notes, so it should be a good night all in all.
12 May 2010
Mr Stephen McLeod of www.artrocker.com has some very nice things to say about Liquorice:
"This is a delightful oddity of an album, with all the integrity of an indie heavyweight, but all the jovial frivolity of a European circus. They’re not trying too hard to be ‘weird’, or to bother fitting into any particular style or direction, which is refreshing. A casual meander into the world of sound. Brilliant."
And along the same lines we find Ms Emma Gould of www.roomthirteen.com:
" A very sweet record as the title and cover would suggest; twee indie sits comfortably next to a theatricality that brings to mind comparisons to Regina Spektor and The Dresden Dolls and makes things quite interesting."
Quite right. Read the reviews in full on respective websites.
The first Dinner With Daisy Club Night was a success! We were entertained and captivated by some great people and the settings of Jamboree were perfect for it. The next one is on June 13th and will feature our label mates Icons of Elegance, KawaKawa and a French For Cartridge TV set (we'll be screening all our videos from the new album - that is the correct word, no?) plus lots of other fantastic stuff, we'll keep you posted.
05 May 2010
We're featured on this month's Eppy Gibbon Podcast, where our new album is decribed as "bristling with energy, invention and melody." OK then! Lots of other eclectic and rather brilliant music on this podcast as always - find it at www.epilepticgibbon.co.uk
And if you're fluent in Spanish or just like really good music - head over to http://cieloliquido.canalextremadura.es for the Cielo Liquido-show. Another quality radio program we've been played on at a number of occasions this spring. Gracias.
Don't forget the show this Sunday at the Dinner With Daisy Club Night and grab those tickets for the Stereo Total gig in June while there still are some left!! All the info you need is in the previous two posts.
28 April 2010
Unfortunately, the night we were due to play in Oxford next month has been cancelled - booh! But we're told there will be a rescheduled date very soon - yay!
However, the first instalment of the Dinner With Daisy Club Night on May 9th is still very much going ahead! Read more about it in the previous post and come along for a relaxing way to end the weekend with yours truly and lots of other great stuff.
Also very much happening is our June 10th gig supporting Stereo Total. This is one of our favourite bands and a gig you really shouldn't miss - get advance tickets from www.wegottickets.com or www.ticketweb.co.uk before they sell out.
31 March 2010
We had a great time playing to lots of new faces last Saturday - thank you to God Don't Like It for having us there!
Our next gig will be on 9 May when we headline the Dinner With Daisy Club Night and this promises to be a really fun night mixing up different styles and mediums - sort of like a continuation of the pop-up shop we had last month at Speedie's. You should stick it in your diary now already, we think.
Here's what it says about it all on www.dinnerwithdaisy.com:
Dinner With Daisy Records is proud to present its first label night at Jamboree in Cable Street Studios!
As a label that serves as an umbrella for various art forms it’s only fitting that you’ll get a varied and fun programme of events! This first instalment is based around solo performances – we have the vocal wizardry of beat-boxer Deej Walde, a solo set from Huw Stephens-favourite Dimbleby & Capper and a one-woman-play by actress Sibylla Meienberg. To top it all off, we’ll serve a full band set by label founders and art-pop deviants French For Cartridge as well as an Icons of Elegance DJ set. House of Boing will provide the suitably fashionable dresses for the evening!
24 March 2010
We’re back on stage this Saturday courtesy of über-cool club night God Don’t Like It on March 27th. We’ll be supporting the rather marvellous Meursault and Magic Lantern. It’s a Saturday night and we’re on first, so all you people with real jobs needn’t worry this time! It all takes place downstairs at The Slaughtered Lamb, which is a great pub in Clerkenwell that serves very decent food upstairs and is generally clean and nice. More info at www.theslaughteredlambpub.com and www.goddontlikeit.com Hope you can make it!
There’s some other stuff to look forward to in the next few months as well. First of all there’ll be another digital single with some extra stuff attached to it and later in spring a very limited vinyl edition of the album. We’ll also be launching a Dinner With Daisy Records club night in May as a sort of continuation of the things that went on at the pop-up shop last month – music, art, theatre all wrapped in one, maybe even some liquorice...Finally, on June 10th we’ll be supporting Stereo Total, which we’re well excited about!! They’re the best multi-lingual husband/wife duo/band ever!
10 March 2010
"This band is truly something unique", says another nice reviewer about Liquorice on www.callupontheauthor.com
We've compiled some of the reviews for Oooh!/Picture Negative in one place here, if you fancy a look - many nice words that make us blush.
And if you need a new T-shirt you should definitely head over to www.totomerch.com/shop/french_for_cartridge to get your hands on some very cool French For Cartridge designs made by Stephanie Pau - they come in many, many colours, collect them all!!
3 March 2010
The rest of the album videos are now up on www.youtube.com/frenchforcartridge. Have a look at some great moving pictures made by Riccardo Arena, Ebba Erikzon, Dorna Aslanzadeh, Francisca Bancalari, Ellan Parry & James Burton, Alexia Anastasiadis, Damien Beaton, Christina Zaris and French For Cartridge for each of the album tracks. Let us know what you think!
22 February 2010
Some very talented people have made videos for each of the tracks on 'Liquorice' and you can now head over to our YouTube-channel on www.youtube.com/frenchforcartridge to watch the first five! The other half will be up next week, so don't miss them.
We've also added some more pictures to the pop-up shop diary below here for those of you who missed all the fun!
And there's another very nice 4/5 review on www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk saying that "Liquorice is an early contender for sleeper hit of the year, fusing together mischief and inventiveness. The album branches out beyond the usual constrained art pop boundaries, flying out of the common room and landing smack bang into the exhibit hall." Yay!
20 February 2010
The first reviews of 'Liquorice' have started to drop in and they are all good!!!
www.loudhorizon.com gives it 8.5/10 and enjoys how things "seem to collide in a glorious cacophony of discordant noise...all the toys in the cupboard have come to life and are engaging a celebratory dance."
The reviewer at www.contactmusic.com on the other hand falls for the melodies rather than the noise. He explains how he thinks the more experimental bits "may grab the attention and draw a new audience but its the quality of their more conventional songs that will give them longevity." Nice.
And finally, we quite like it how the guy at www.subba-cultcha.com thinks we are "a mental band who hop, skip and jump between styles like an Olympian jack of all trades hopped off his tits on ecstacy and ‘Ludes", but still can't help recommending us "mental little buggers" to his mates.
FRENCH FOR CARTRIDGE POP-UP SHOP
February 8th - 14th
Celebrating the release of "Liquorice" with a week of exclusive art and live performances at Speedie's, 81 Redchruch St, London E2 7DJ
Open every day 11AM-7PM
Feb 8th
Opening of shop and release of "Liquorice" 11AM
An acoustic set by French For Cartridge feat. DJ Walde (beat-box) 6PM
Feb 9th
Angharad Davies and Tim Parkinson (www.angharaddavies.com www.untitledwebsite.com) 1PM
Feb 10th
KawaKawa (www.myspace.com/kawakawamusic)1PM
KawaKawa + Icons of Elegance (www.iconsofelegance.com) 6PM
Feb 11th
John Cage's 'Cartridge Music' performed by French For Cartridge + guests
Feb 12th
Writer Alexia Anastasiadis (www.alexiaanastasiadis.co.uk) 6PM
------ Record release party Feb 12th 7.30PM - 00.30AM French For Cartridge (full set) with KawaKawa in support plus DJs ------
Feb 13th
Virtuoso recorder duo Saltarello (www.saltarello.co.uk) 3PM
Feb 14th
Actress Sibylla Meienberg performs 'A Love Story' 3PM
Ansuman Biswas (www.ansuman.com) 4.30PM
une cartouche perform graphic scores from 'Carrigal' (a collaborative one-off book featuring graphic scores and art based on the Carrigal farm in Ireland made by Harald Turek, Triona Ryan and une cartouche.) 6PM
Closing ceremony 7PM
All week - sound installation by Mika Sellens (www.mikasellens.com)
Throughout the week you'll also be able to watch specially-made videos for each song off the album, buy exclusive artwork, enjoy liquorice-tea, take part in a liquorice monkey-making competition and lots of other fun stuff - pop by at any time even if you can't make it for a performance!
www.speediesvintage.blogspot.com
Pop-up shop – Day 7
I still have not managed to stop eating liquorice as we set up for the last day at Speedie's. We've decided to go out with a bang and have lots of different stuff coming up today for the hordes of Sunday-market tourists and local hipsters alike. We make some new friends and some curious audience members keep staying longer and longer as the day progresses. The liquorice-monkey competition gets quite a few last minute entries.
As it is Valentine's Day we get to enjoy Sibylla Meienberg's one-man-play "A Love Story" - a series of monologues in English and German centred around today's theme. Great stuff.
And Ansuman Biswas never disappoints! This fantastic performance artist/musician keeps us captivated with a mixture of percussion, flute, bells and singing.
Today we also have 'Carrigal' on display. This is a one-off book made by Harald Turek, Triona Ryan and Catherine Kontz featuring photographs, maps, graphic scores and a 7" vinyl all inspired by the Carrigal farm in Ireland. As we listen to the strangely rhythmic and musical collage made from recordings of milking machines, the sounds seamlessly float into une cartouche performing some of the graphic scores in the book.
This is the last performance of the week! But those in the audience that stay behind still vote for the winner of the liquorice-monkey making competition. It's a close call with only one vote deciding the winner, but in the end one of the amateur contestants edge ahead of the professional entry we were pretty sure all week would win.
As the winner is announced and the shop is closed, the evening ends with a small impromptu party with some bubbles served in our nice Dinner With Daisy paper cups.
It's been such a great week!! A big thank you to Speedie for having us in his shop and to all the performers, audience members and curious passers-by we've had the privilige to spend time with! Look out for a continuation of all the events in form of a Dinner With Daisy club night later in the year...
Pop-up shop – Day 6
It is a rather sleepy, but happy French For Cartridge that make their way to Speedie's for another day of pop-up shopness! The 7" singles are flying off the shelf today and we have to go and get some more. Saltarello turn up and entertain us with their recorders with music ranging from medieval dances to modern dissonant pieces - very nice!
Speedie's assistant Anneka does not utter a word the whole day because she is upset the week is drawing to a close.
Pop-up shop – Day 5
Tonight is the actual release party! Spend most of the day driving back and forth with equipment and furniture, emptying the store a little bit to make room for the fun. Alexia Anastasiadis reads her captivating poetry/storytelling around 6 o'clock - it's so good she has to do it twice.
By 9 o'clock the store is rammed with people and KawaKawa plays a blindingly good set! More people arrive and French For Cartridge play an, I'd like to think, equally blinding set! People seem to love it, we enjoy playing, we sell lots of copies of the fresh album, we party and it does really feel like the record is now finally finished and out there! What a great night!! Thanks to all of you familiar and new faces alike for joining in and helping us to celebrate this!
Now a short nap before we continue tomorrow.
Pop-up shop – Day 4
Today is so much fun!! Ever since forming the band we've wanted to perform the John Cage piece we've taken our name from. Today we finally get to perform Cartridge Music and it turns out it was a fitting choice to draw inspiration from - it's experimental and a lot of fun at the same time!!
The score takes ages to decipher, but we manage to sort it out. Lots of dots and lines, but they all serve a purpose.
The piece involves a lot of running around, moving furniture and fighting over who plays which cartridge. Speedie's is perfect for this, wtih four record players from different decades scattered around the shop. I especially like the portable one with matching yellow speakers, but the instruments of the day are definitely the hoover and the bar stool that we miced up for this. Nothing beats the sound of an old hoover.
A big thank you to Speedie and James Bull for helping us perform this!
The liquorice-monkey competition also gets lots of new entries today. Nothing should of course be said before the judges have had their final say, but there is one clear front-runner at the moment for the winner of the grand prize which is a dinner with Daisy.
Tomorrow is the big party with a full French For Cartridge set as well as KawaKawa supporting - very much looking forward to that!!
Pop-up shop – Day 3
Manage to stay away from the liquorcie for about half an hour. Hope there's some left for everyone coming at the weekend.
Today is reserved for the other artists on Dinner With Daisy Records - KawaKawa and Icons of Elegance. And boy are they good! KawaKawa treats us to a lunchtime set of his beautiful melodic songs with a slight gospel/old-timey yet modern feel and Catherine and Henri join in on cello, organetta and backing vocals.
In the evening there's more KawaKawa plus we have the rare privilege of seeing some Icons of Elegance tunes perfromed live in the UK! One brother is missing, but nevertheless it's great. Inbetween sets Henri's organetta seems to be very popular with Speedie's customers, but it is of course not for sale!
All the events are fantastic, but as you may have gathered there's also lots of other things going on at the store all week. Catherine and Speedie's helper Cyril find Mika Sellens' sound installation particularly enjoyable today.
Right, getting ready for tomorrow already - ever since forming the band we've wanted to perform John Cage's Cartridge Music and we can't wait to finally get to do it.
Pop-up shop – Day 2
Starting to show signs of a liquorice addiction.
Highlight of the day is Tim Parkinson and Angharad Davies improvising with various objects and instruments scattered around the store creating a fantastic world of sound that should never go away. This is preceeded by Tim's equally mesmerizing piece for melodica, chopping boards and cork.
You can tell Speedie's assistant Anneka is also really getting into it. In the background you can see the Dinner With Daisy TV showing all the "Liquorice" videos.
And here's a nice review about last night's performance on www.history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2010/02/french-for-cartridge.html
Pop-up shop – Day 1
After some frantic last minute arranging the pop-up shop opens its doors to its first customer just after eleven o’clock! As it goes the person in question is a theatre designer and has a good eye for visual details, so we get a last polish of it all on top of our first sale – yay! Everything seems to be in place and all the liquorice is very popular at least with the Nordic section of the band…
DJ Walde joins us for an ‘acoustic’ set at 6 o’clock. It's good fun to play the new songs a bit differently with DJ’s beat-boxing and general vocal wizardry sounding great. Speedie’s assistant Tanja joins in on some percussion…We’ll try and post some of it on Youtube soon.
08 February 2010
“Liquorice” is officially out today!!
You can buy it from all good record shops as well as www.hmv.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.play.com etc. It’s of course also available on iTunes and all the usual digital download sites, but if you’re digitally inclined you should consider heading over to www.groundlift.org where you’ll get it for slightly cheaper and in 16-bit CD quality with a digital booklet beautifully designed by Damien Beaton.
We’ve been overwhelmed by all the great reviews for the 7” that was released late last year – 4 stars in Artrocker, some very nice words in The Wire, Organ-recommended and appearances in numerous other blogs and magazines. If you agree with all these people, we think you’ll like the album too! It’s a 10-song-strong collection of beautiful and fun tunes that should hopefully keep you surprised all the way through. Recorded in Finland and the UK, we worked very hard on this for most of last year and the icing on the cake was the fantastic mix made by S. Husky Hoskulds, which added another creative layer! Can’t wait for all of you to finally get to hear it!
Now, as you may already know, to celebrate all of this we’re opening a French For Cartridge pop-up shop TODAY at Speedie’s on Redchurch St in Shoreditch, London!! Later on tonight, Feb 8th, we’ll play a short acoustic set together with DJ Walde on beat-box at 6 o’clock, which promises to be a bit different from our usual sets. And on Friday Feb 12th you can see a full electric set in all its French For Cartridge glory when there’s a big release party 7.30 ‘til late! We’re on at 10, KawaKawa is supporting at 9 - it’s free and the drinks will be cheap, so do come along!
BUT there’s plenty of other events happening all week as well with lots of talented friends and artists doing their thing! And you get a chance to enjoy specially made videos for each of the album tracks, buy exclusive artwork and T-shirts, take part in a liquorice-monkey making competition and loads of other fun stuff. Have a look at the full programme above here. All events are free and we’re there every day from 11AM-7PM, so you can pop by anytime you like for a cup of liquorice tea with us.
If you’re not living in London, you can follow each day’s events on our online diary and we’ll also be posting footage from all the different performances on Youtube.
1 February 2010
The new French For Cartridge album, ‘Liquorice’, will be released next Monday 8th February!
To celebrate this Dinner With Daisy Records presents the FRENCH FOR CARTRIDGE POP-UP SHOP at Speedie’s, London, 8th-14th February 2010.
Open 11AM-7PM every day with performances by French For Cartridge feat. beat-boxer DJ Walde (8th), Angharad Davies and Tim Parkinson (9th), Icons of Elegance and KawaKawa (10th), a performance of John Cage’s ‘Cartridge Music’ by French For Cartridge and guests (11th), Alexia Anastasiadis and a special late-night release gig and party with French For Cartridge and support by KawaKawa (12th), avant-recorder duo Saltarello (13th), Sibylla Meienberg’s ‘A Love Story’, Ansuman Biswas and une cartouche playing graphic scores from the ‘Carrigal’ project (14th).
Plus video installations, a sound installation by Mika Sellens, exclusive artwork, T-shirts, complimentary liquorice tea and a ‘liquorice-monkey’ competition.
It’s going to be a fun week! All the details you need are above here – hope you can join us at some point either for an event or just to say hi!
16 January 2010
Happy New Year!!
We’re back on stage on January 18th when we will perform at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington. Part of an evening of new work from the Release The Hounds-theatre company, it will feature a live score by une cartouche (the more experimental side of what we do) as well as a full French For Cartridge band set. It should be a really fun night and will only cost you £3, so do come along! More info over at www.pleasance.co.uk
February 8th-14th will see us celebrate the release of our new album, "Liquorice", with a pop-up shop at Speedie's Vintage that will feature lots of exciting stuff - special performances from us and various talented friends scattered around the week, exclusive artwork, videos for all album tracks, T-shirts etc etc. And a proper release party on February 12th - stick it in your diary now! The full program will be announced soon on here.
Finally, the 7" with Oooh! and Picture Negative has been out there now for a while and keeps getting loads of great reviews on blogs and in magazines alike - we'll try and get them all up on our website as well. If you haven't gotten yourself a copy yet you can buy it from www.roughtrade.com, www.puregroove.com and all the usual good indie shops or download from iTunes. It's quite good.
07 December 2009
Our double A-side 7" "Oooh!/Picture Negative" gets its official release today!! It's been getting loads of great reviews and we're quite excited that you can now go to an actual record shop and buy it from a real person over the counter! Or from iTunes if you prefer that.
You can of course also buy it straight from us or follow these links below here and get it delivered straight to your front door. Each 7" comes beautifully packaged and also includes a download voucher for both songs as well as an extra track that won't be on the forthcoming album. It'll cost you £3.50 and be worth every penny.
www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=320625
www.puregroove.co.uk/itemview.aspx?item=1160
www.banquetrecords.com/DWDFFC091
www.normanrecords.com
Now if you order it straight away you'll probably get it tomorrow or the day after, which means you have a couple of days to learn the lyrics by heart and come and join us on Thursday December 10th when we're playing at Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel, London. We're on at 9.45, it costs £5 to get in and all the other bands have been described as sounding like Deerhoof so it should be a fun night if that's true! This is our last gig before Christmas, so do make the most of it! Rhythm Factory is easily found right inbetween Aldgate East and Whitcehapel tube stations on 16-18 Whitechapel Rd or a short walk from Aldgate and Liverpool St. www.rhythmfactory.co.uk
We'll start the New Year with a bang supporting the fantastic GaBLé at Old Queen's Head on January 6th - tickets are selling fast for this one so it's best to buy in advance from www.bloodyawfulpoetry.com ! After that there will be slightly different sorts of gigs around the release of "Liquorice" on February 8th, but more on that later...
26 November 2009
Thank you so much to everyone who came to Club Fandango last night, we had such a great time! Hope you enjoyed the dancing penguins too.
We've just gotten the master of the forthcoming album. As you may know, it's called Liquorice and will be out February 8th on Dinner With Daisy Records. As a taster from the album we'll put up a few songs from it over on www.myspace.com/frenchforcartridge over the next few months. We thought we'd start with A Hundred And One and TV Dinner as the demo versions of these have been up for a while and some of you may be interested in seeing how the songs have evolved!
A Hundred And One is pretty much the same track with some added drums and bass by Anssi Vaxby and Harri Ala-Kojola and a great mix by Husky Hoskulds, whereas TV Dinner has been completely re-recorded, but still retains a lot of the same ideas and energy!
Incidentally, these two songs are available on Pink, Yellow, Red and Green, a digital EP exclusively available on www.groundlift.org. Groundlift is a new web label/artist community that we're very honoured to be part of. Lots of great stuff on there including Henris and his brother Anssis band, Icons of Elegance, and people such as Matt Chamberlain, Roger Manning Jr. & Brian Reitzell, Daniel Carson etc etc. All the downloads are 16-bit CD quality and cheaper than iTunes so if you prefer you're music digitally that's a great place to start.
The other two tracks on the EP are Oooh! and Picture Negative, which of course are the two single tracks released on 7inch on December 7th. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these, you can pre-order it for £3.50 from www.roughtrade.com right now!
Our next gig is on December 10th at the Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel - hope to see you there if you're around!
23 November 2009
Quite a few blogs have popped up with reviews of the single and it definitely seems we have the fish people on our side!
Here is what The Devil Has The Best Tuna has to say about us:
Une Cartouche Is...
London's genre defying, style blending, art-pop geniuses (or should that be genii?) Cartridge changed their name to the very similar if slightly longer French For Cartridge. While they've been busy changing their name they've thankfully not tinkered around with their incomparable sound.
If you check your dictionary (do people still have dictionaries in these days of the internet and smart phones??) for the definition of unique you'll find a picture of French For Cartridge. If you don't then you need a new dictionary.
The duo's new single 'Oooh!' has more originality than a Salvidor Dali retrospective, a Terry Gilliam box set and a Yoko Ono happening. If you don't check it out today your ears will never forgive you!
French for Cartridge herald the changing of the avant-garde.
http://besttuna.blogspot.com/2009/11/une-cartouche-is.html
We're blushing! And furthermore we are tune of the day over on www.tunatheday.com
Today's TunA is a weird and wonderful piece of discordant art-pop/jazz that could easily have fallen from the pen of Bjork, Regina Spektor or Mariah Carey (probably not the last one).
That's it! Don't forget the Club Fandango gig on Wednesday Nov 25th if you're around!
18 November 2009
The official release of Oooh!/Picture Negative - the first single from our forthcoming new album Liquorice on Dinner With Daisy Records - getting closer! On December 7th you will be able to get this rather nice and beautifully packaged double A-sided piece of black vinyl from all quality record shops. But you can already pre-order it from Rough Trade by following this link: http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=320625
It’s well worth its price tag of £3.50 and maybe you’ll find some other goodies in their shop…you’ll of course receive a download voucher of both songs plus an exclusive extra track unlikely to be available anywhere else. We know you’re tempted – just click, click away!
Or perhaps you prefer buying it in person at one of our upcoming gigs? At the same time you’ll get to see the little penguin do its dance on the auto-harp and other fun party tricks accompanied by our music!?
Wednesday November 25th sees us headline Club Fandango at Camden Head, 100 Camden High Street (2 minutes from Camden Town tube). We’re on at 10pm and entrance is a feeble £4 if you download a flyer from www.clubfandango.co.uk - otherwise £5.
Thursday December 10th we can be found at Rhythm Factory over in Whitechapel, 16-18 Whitechapel Rd (a few hundred meters from either Aldgate East or Whitechapel tube) and again it’s only a fiver to get in.
These will probably be our last gigs before the album release in February, around which time there will be slightly different kind of things happening live-wise, so do make the most of it and come along!!!
Finally, here’s what Byron Coley writes about us in the latest issue of The Wire:
London art pop duo with a sound that's somewhere between Japanese twinkle-core and David Vorhaus on one side, and is wedged between The Left Banke and music for Disney films on the flip. Pretty damn progressive! In an arch sort of way.
Nice!
08 October 2009
You've been able to get our new single "Oooh!/Picture Negative" straight from us for a little while, but it will now get its official release on November 30th through Dinner With Daisy Records! That's when you'll be able to go to nice record shops and buy it from real persons with real smiles or if you prefer downloads from iTunes for an automated shopping experience.
To coincide there are a few gigs coming up in London - it would be lovely to see some of you there! We've got lots of new songs and we'll play some old favourites for you too. Check out the dates and links above for more information.
Hopefully see you soon!
09 September 2009
Oooh! got its first UK radioplay on the brilliant Organ radio show on Resonance FM last Sunday. Apparently also where the fresh Mercury Prize winner got her first plays so you never know...Either way, Organ always play and support good new music, so make sure to check them out on www.organart.net
You might also have heard us on The Svelte Selection and The Epileptic Gibbon, two great internet shows and podcasts which are definitely worth a listen:
http://www.last.fm/user/thesvelteone/journal
http://www.epilepticgibbon.wordpress.com/
Over in Luxembourg we’ve been playlisted on DNR and played by Tribute To Malkmus on Radio Ara. Both stations also had us over for a chat when we played there a couple of months ago as did the venerable RTL! We’ve put some pictures from the festival on our myspace for you to have a look at.
And in case you’re wondering what it all sounds like, here is what Artrocker has to say about the single:
“French For Cartridge’s recently released double A-side 7"/download EP with Oooh! and Picture Negative is a bizarre mix of piano, dreamy guitar twiddlings and almost sounds like Mary Poppins on an acid trip.
‘Oooh!’ starts off with an almost cringe-worthy dark ‘Oooh!’ none the less, which seems a bit forced, but quickly makes up for it with its jaunty carnival like bounce. I feel like I’m always comparing bands with female vocalists to Deerhoof, but it’s not a bad thing, and in this case is definitely true - on this track at least.
‘Picture Negative’ is probably my preferred one out of the two tracks, but only just. Henri’s vocals lightly introducing the sounds to our ears, and then when the main melody kicks in, we have a definite resemblance to the Magic Numbers - if they were a bit more obscure and less smiley. (Who said anything about crash diets?!)
This band are fair-ground, and probably what Alice would have as a soundtrack if she fell down the rabbit hole in 2009, and was confronted with scary bobbing sunflowers.
Check out the band’s Myspace here - and order the EP there. Tell them to hurry up and release a second album whilst you’re there. I want more.”
- Stephen McLeod –
www.artrocker.com
Actually we think that’s a very good idea – why don’t you click on this link and buy yourself a copy for £3.50 + postage: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7240622
26 June 2009
So, we've sent off the 7" to be pressed and should have it ready for you sometime mid-July. But if you can't wait, you can pre-order it already now over on www.myspace.com/frenchforcartridge. Not only will we be extremely grateful for your interest and support, but we'll also send you high quality mp3s plus an extra track so you can enjoy it all straight away! The bonus freebie is unlikely to be available anywhere else, so make the most of it!
The A-side, Oooh!, has already been up for a while and we've also added Picture Negative to our player in case you want to have a listen before you buy. And if vinyl isn't your thing, it's available on iTunes as well!
5 June 2009
We had a great time at the Foundry playing some new songs for old friends and new faces alike! Literally falling off tables while doing so...
And now, finally, we have the great pleasure to announce that we’ve finished the first single from the new album! It will be out on vinyl and download later in summer on Dinner With Daisy Records, but you can already hear the A-side on www.myspace.com/frenchforcartridge. It’s called Oooh! and is a suitably jolly piece of music with lots of fun things going on! An action-packed 2 minutes and 12 seconds is what is on offer.
We’re very lucky to have worked with Icelandic sound wizard S. Husky Hoskulds, who has sprinkled some of his magic on the mixes just like he’s done on albums by Tom Waits, Mike Patton, Joe Henry and My Brightest Diamond before us! So far he has done all the work over in LA while we’ve been stuck in the fog in London, but we’re hoping a trip to Iceland is imminent for the rest of the tracks!
The single will be a double-A side, with Picture Negative as the other song - we’ll let you know when that’s up on myspace, but in the meantime have a listen to Oooh! and let us know what you think!
And remember:
“Pink, yellow, red and green!”
25 May 2009
Here are more details for the June gigs:
On June 3rd we’re back with Kabarett Spielraum for another night of art and music at The Foundry in Old Street, London. We’re promised poetry, comedy and strangely incidental noises from Robin Ince, Transfere Project and Grassy Noel as well as our apparently perfect pop! It should be good fun and it’s all absolutely free – don’t miss it!
If you haven’t been to The Foundry before it’s probably worth just for that. Plus you’ll get a chance to hear our forthcoming single live for the first time, while it’s being mixed somewhere in sunny California! We’re on last so probably 9.30/10 o’clock, but get there early for all the other stuff. Oh, and there’s lots of different art exhibitions opening at The Foundry at the same time and DJs Debs Elemental and Spike Spiegel are playing the hits. More info at www.myspace.com/ks23
Unfortunately the gig with Morton Valence on June 4th at the Islington Academy has been postponed, but if you’re one of our Luxembourgish fans you should head to the Rock-A-Field festival on June 28th, when we’ll share the stage with Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings and Minipli among others. We’re very much looking forward to that! More info over at www.atelier.lu/raf/
June 3rd – doors 7.30 – Free entry
The Foundry
86 Great Eastern Street
Shoreditch
Tube: Old St/Liverpool St
June 28th – 47€
Rock-A-Field
Roeser
Luxembourg
21 April 2009
Those of you that can’t make it to the Rock-A-Field festival in Luxembourg on June 28th can catch us in London at two gigs earlier in the month instead. On June 3rd we’re back with Kabarett Spielraum at The Foundy in Old Street for some art and music for free! And the next day we’ll be joining the fantastic Morton Valence for Bob and Veronica’s Book Club at Islington Bar Academy – come to one or come to both! We’ll post more details a bit closer to the date.
We’re just back from Finland where we spent a week in the studio recording our new album – we had a great time and can’t wait for you to hear it! There are a couple of rough mixes over on www.myspace.com/frenchforcartridge and the first single should hopefully be out sometime in summer – yay!
24 March 2009
Thanks to everyone who came to The Macbeth a couple of weeks ago - we had a great time and it was lovely to play some new songs and hear all your reactions to it! Look out for some more live gigs in May/June – April will be spent in Finland recording our new album! If you can’t wait, there are a couple of new demos over at www.myspace.com/frenchforcartridge to tie you over till you get the real thing.
We’re also very excited to play the Rock-A-Field festival in Luxemburg on June 28th, sharing the bill with Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings and Minipli among others! If you live in Luxemburg or somewhere around, it’ll be well worth the trip. More info over at www.atelier.lu/raf/
19 February 2009
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? A bit too long, but we haven’t exactly been lazy, don’t you worry! And now we’re back with new tricks, new songs and a slightly modified new name!
We’ll be playing at The Macbeth in Hoxton on March 3rd. It’s a night organised by Goodbye Faithful Kingdom! and features the rather excellent line-up of us, Piney Gir & The Age of Reason and The Monroe Transfer. We’re on around 8.30/9 o’clock and it’ll only cost you £5 to get in – there’s more details below if you need them.
We had a few duo gigs in Bristol and London last year, but this time we’ll bring a drummer along. There will be some old favourites, but plenty of new material as well, so we do hope you can make it down and cheer us on!!
We’re also very excited to have finished recording the demos for a new album and have booked a fancy studio in April for the real thing, so you can expect some new additions to you record collection soon. In the meantime we’ve put up a few of the demos on our myspace for you to hear – hope you like them!
As you might know, Tom and Dave left us a while back – for some quality music check out Royal Treatment Plant and Outhouse, which is what they’re up to now!
Oh, and the name? French For Cartridge. We’re the band that takes its name from its side project (‘une cartouche’ - which is French for cartridge, you see) which in turn took its name from what the band used to be called!
March 3rd @ The Macbeth
70 Hoxton Street
Shoreditch
Closest tube: Old Street/Liverpool Street
www.wegottickets.co.uk/event/44126
26 June 2008
Too much football and tennis on TV! Won’t keep you long, just wanted to let you know that we’re keeping ourselves busy with new songs and new demos for our next album. A bit more pre-production to be done in August and then we’ll head into the studio! It’s sounding rather brilliant!
20 April 2008
Very excited about two great gigs that we’ve got lined up in the next few weeks! First we’ll be in Bristol where you can see us at the TinyRadio night at the Blue Lagoon on Tuesday April 29th and a few days later on May 1st you should head down to New X in London where we’ll play the brilliant Big in Japan night at the Amersham Arms.
These gigs will be the first outing for our new duo line-up with lots of drums and analog synths and things being thrown around the stage – it’s sounding pretty good we think! Also on the cards are some new songs so there’s plenty of reason to try and make it to one or the other! And you needn’t worry, there will be full band gigs later in the year as well!
18 February 2008
It’s been quiet over here, but we’re not being lazy! We’re working on new material which you’ll get a chance to hear live sometime soon – in the meantime head over to our myspace to listen to some of the tracks we did for Dandelion Radio in September. These should give you an idea of what to expect! Hope you enjoy them!
5 September 2007
Hope you all had a great summer!!
We've recorded a session for Neil Jenkins' show on Dandelion radio, the John Peel inspired internet station. The show is aired all through September at different times each day so you can catch it when it best suits you. To find out when it's on and to have a listen just log onto www.dandelionradio.com.
Songs include something old, something new, something borrowed and, hmm, a surprise. We don't do blue...
Let us know what you think!
18 February 2007
We've been nominated for an Indy Award! It seems to be a very decent competition - it's the live performances they reward and we've been nominated for our Kabarett Spielraum/Luminaire gigs. So if you were at one of these fabulous nights or if you just like to support our independent spirit, then do vote for us here at http://www.indyawards.co.uk/site/london_bands/vote.php?bandid=186&bandname=Cartridge before April 2nd. We'll buy you a drink.
10 February 2007
Our e-mail has been down without us realising it, so if we didn't reply that'll be why! It should all work now, so just send it all again or message us on myspace or something.
So, a year where we finally got our debut album out there, were called things like album of the month in Organ, got played on Radio 1 and played lots of good gigs in places where people were real nice, ended with us being voted into the Peel Festive Fifty - nice! We were in pretty good company we thought, you can read the whole list over at www.dandelionradio.co.uk .
On that note we wish you all a happy new year! We've started recording some new stuff and we'll be back with some more gigs as soon as we learn the lyrics - in the meantime you can still buy 'Cases' here on our page or at Rough Trade in Notting Hill who still have a few copies left!
25 November 2006
You can now download the whole of 'Cases' from the lovely guys at www.northernstarrecords.co.uk for £6.99. They've got plenty of other great stuff too, so check it out. If you need a taster, 'Fooling Around' is still going for free on www.myspace.com/cartridge.
27 October 2006
The Luminaire was good fun! A nice guy called Andy Willis took some photos of us which you can find at www.flickr.com/photos/urbanwhaleshark/sets/72157594328189350/
'Cases' is back in stock at Rough Trade, but you can now also get it right here for the same price and we'll send it to your for free. We might even write a personalized greeting for you! You know you want it.
We're on Dandelion Radio this month on Neil's show. It's a great radiostation with nice people playing good music - check it out on www.dandelionradio.co.uk We've been asked to do a session for them as well, but more about that later!
08 September 2006
So, an eventful summer is nearly over. We had a blast at the festival in Cornwall despite several broken strings and general mayhem, there's been more good reviews and radioplay, we've heard rumours we're on some other über-cool podcast for people in the know and Rough Trade sold-out of 'Cases' - nice!
There's a few gigs worth catching in October if you haven't seen us for a while - by all means come to all of them, but we'd especially recommend the one at The Luminaire on October 12th. It's our favourite club night Kabarett Spielraum's 2nd Birthday Bash and as it happens to be John Peel Day it's been renamed Spiel for Peel for the occassion! It's a great line-up and you can find more details, the address etc on www.theluminaire.co.uk
If you don't like going out on Thursdays, catch us the Saturday before, October 7th, at The Face Club - Archway Tavern, 1 Archway Close, off Archway Rd (closest tube would be Archway)!
Be nice to each other!
18 April 2006
We're quite excited. We just got 'Cases' back from the press and it looks great! You'll be able to buy the CD at gigs and all sorts of places soon, but if you can't wait go to www.roughtrade.com or one of their shops and get your copy now! They say some really nice words about us too. If you're in New Cross get it from Morph's Music.
More nice things said about us can be found on www.organart.com where our 3-tracker is demo of the week. The review is also in the paper version of Organ's April issue and you can find it at all good venues and records shops around the country. "A different band, a band with personality, a band who don't want to sound like a low-rent version of their record-collection, different breathing patterns." Nice.
The Kabarett Spielraum gig was brilliant fun and we've been asked back for their birthday bash in June, which we're looking forward to a lot! Norwich was great too - hooray for Club Hungry Audio! Oh yeah, check out www.flatfourradio.co.uk - it's a great indie/experimental station playing us on their Ock-show right now.
02 April 2006
We're supporting Data Panik (ex-Bis) on April 6th at The Luminaire in Kilburn, London. It's a night run by Kabarett Spielraum - a great underground cabaret combining art rock and punk funk with a healthy dose of 1920s decadent Kurt Weill nostalgia. It should be perfect for us. Tickets are cheaper if you buy them in advance from www.wegottickets.com/event/9456 and you'll be guaranteed to get in!
Two days later we're off to Norwich where we're playing Club Hungry Audio at The Alibi. It's a cosy night of good music run by the lovely people at Hungry Audio Records - check them out on www.hungryaudio.co.uk
02 March 2006
It was great to see so many people at O'Reilly's a couple of weeks ago - it was a fantastic night! If you missed it, come down to The Pleasure Unit Bar on March 23rd. It's a nice little place on Bethnal Green Rd, just a short walk from Bethnal Green tube. It's £5 to get in and we're on at 10pm so all you late-workers will still make it!
02 February 2006
Friday Feb 17th is the night to be Upstairs at O’Reilly’s, 289-291 Kentish Town Rd, London – that’s when we’ll be playing together with the fantastic Royal Treatment Plant on a night featuring hiphop poets, great DJs and even better bands! We’re working on some new songs and should have one or two ready for you by then. See you there!
10 January 2006
Our first gig of the year will be @ Spitz on January 16th. We're headlining and we will be on stage around 22.00. We are also playing the following Monday, January 23rd. This time it's @ 93FeetEast in Brick Lane. We're opening this night and will be on stage around 8.30. Both gigs are free entry and you'll find more info at www.spitz.co.uk and www.93feeteast.co.uk.
Also a very big thank you to everyone who has been voting for us on www.pulserated.com. We're number 3 in their charts this week with Fooling Around! :-)
And check out the many nice words they wrote about us on www.manchestermusic.co.uk where our little pop-experiments made it to demo of the week. Here's a little taster:
"Possibly the product of years spent studying the world's entire musical output Cartridge produce bizarre masterful music that positively defies categorisation.... Boldly different and cogent, Cartridge prove that originality doesn't have to come at the expense of a tune. Genius." (DH - manchestermusic.co.uk)
December 05/January 06
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Welcome to the new Cartridge website – hope you like it! This is where you’ll find out a little bit about us and what we’re up to. A big thank you to The Lunatic Lemontree in Glasgow who’ve put it all together.
We had a few fun gigs in October/November and are itching to get back out there. Dave’s in Gambia working with some fantastic percussionists, but the rest of us have been busy writing new songs, working on the artwork for the record and booking more gigs. There’s a few dates lined up in London as well as elsewhere in England and we’ll put them up here as soon as they get confirmed. Keep warm – it’s cold out there!
THE REVIEWS:
Artrocker Magazine
Jan/Feb 2010
By Mark Wall
Pan-European duo French For Cartridge return with a double aside that finds both Catherine Kontz and Henry Vaxby taking the lead on a side each. The songs are so different they could be a split-single between two separate bands. ‘Oooh’ is a frosty little waltz sprinkled with sugar sweet vocals, while flipside ‘Picture Negative’ is a vulnerable alt-country ode led by a defiant Vaxby, whose heartfelt and downbeat delivery serves to melt the frosty landscapes of the former song.
****
The Wire
December 2009 issue
Byron Coley
London art pop duo with a sound that's somewhere between Japanese twinkle-core and David Vorhaus on one side, and is wedged between The Left Banke and music for Disney films on the flip. Pretty damn progressive! In an arch sort of way.
www.artrocker.com
September 2009
by Stephen McLeod
French For Cartridge’s recently released double A-side 7"/download EP with Oooh! and Picture Negative is a bizarre mix of piano, dreamy guitar twiddlings and almost sounds like Mary Poppins on an acid trip.
‘Oooh!’ starts off with an almost cringe-worthy dark ‘Oooh!’ none the less, which seems a bit forced, but quickly makes up for it with its jaunty carnival like bounce. I feel like I’m always comparing bands with female vocalists to Deerhoof, but it’s not a bad thing, and in this case is definitely true - on this track at least.
‘Picture Negative’ is probably my preferred one out of the two tracks, but only just. Henri’s vocals lightly introducing the sounds to our ears, and then when the main melody kicks in, we have a definite resemblance to the Magic Numbers - if they were a bit more obscure and less smiley. (Who said anything about crash diets?!)
This band are fair-ground, and probably what Alice would have as a soundtrack if she fell down the rabbit hole in 2009, and was confronted with scary bobbing sunflowers.
Check out the band’s Myspace here - and order the EP there. Tell them to hurry up and release a second album whilst you’re there. I want more.
Russell’s Reviews
07 January 2010
Take some modern interpretive dance music, waltz time signatures, Bjork, Willy Wonka and Japanese culture and you’re some way to describing Oooh! To be honest, even then you’re not close, it’s weird and wonderful and unlike anything else I’ve heard for ages. For that alone it should be applauded, but its rather lovely too remarkably. Picture Negative is therefore surprising in its normality, Henry not matching Catherine’s vocals of the previous track. He’s good though, a mellow croon to go with the sparkling Clearlake style tune. It’s well crafted pop, with a little odd quirk, from this European duo.
www.shout4music.com
05 January 2010
By Matt Montagano
Weird does not even cover this one. Described by some as ‘Geisha rock’, this abstract number by French For Cartridge really does make you stop and listen, even if you do have a bemused expression plastered all over your Chevy Chase whilst doing so. ‘Oooh!’ is totally stop-start, jumping from a kind of Russian sounding ballad to a suspense filled ‘chorus’ – if you can call it that. It also has an unusual time signature – where there are 3 beats instead of 4 to every bar throughout this short song. Despite being out there with the fairies, this song is charming, suspense-ridden and mystifying, and it’s this strange appeal that has got me sticking it on repeat (even if it is just a vain attempt to get my head around it). In a nutshell, French for Cartridge have a weird name and suitably weird songs. But it is all strangely compelling and I’m totally drawn in by it. Very nice indeed.
www.loudhorizon.com
December 2009
By Colin Jackson
Dramatic and chilling in equal measure, this double-A-side release from the London based European band FRENCH FOR CARTRIDGE (Catherine is originally from Luxembourg and Henri from Scandanavia) is a welcome diversion from the more conformist trend-following recordings. You'd be hard pushed to try and pigeonhole these two tracks, especially the opener, 'Oooh!'
The rather sinister-sounding simple piano run that greets the listener, and is repeated at various other points is in stark contrast to Catherine's soft, dreamy vocals but combined with the Henri's distant backing the overall effect is nonetheless one of distinct eeriness. The lyrics of "Pink, yellow, red and green" however are not particularly frightening it has to be said, so I'm really not so sure what's going on here. But it sure is inventive and different and for that we should all be very grateful.
Second track 'Picture Negative' has Henri taking the vocal lead. The song lacks the immediate impact of its predecessor but still exhibits a certain charm - especially when the chorus with Catherine's backing vocals give the song a bit more depth. Again though, this is a very original sounding track and the chorus has a lovely languid feel with a nice memorable hook. (There is even a short burst of stylophone that precedes some nice little mid-song effects and for that FRENCH FOR CARTRIDGE deserve extra credit!)
(8/10)
Bent Magazine
December 2009
Editor’s Choice *****
French For Cartridge are a mish-mash band of geniuses with perplexing arrangements and a shimmering art-pop aesthetic. This double A-side release offers two experimental, slightly indulgent but cheerfully glorious songs. ‘Oooh!’ is perhaps more abstract, whilst ‘Picture Negative’ relishes in the aural wonder of words and sounds. These won’t be dancefloor classics, but restaurant muzak fame awaits.
Music-News.com
14 December 2009
Jordan White
The European duo formerly known as simply 'Cartridge’ are back with a new name and a double A side.
Track 1, 'Oooh!’ is, quite frankly, void of any conventional musical framework. Deliciously weird and haunting yet fairytale like (bonus points for adding the word 'marshmallow’ in to the equation!), this is what you would get if you ate cheese before bed, had a random dream, and tried to portray that dream through the medium of song. Whether or not experimental boundary pushing is your cup of tea, this is one for your catalogue.
Track 2, 'Picture Negative’, is a funky acoustic number with some chilled out vocals from frontman Henri Vaxby. It still retains a certain quirkiness but you could stick this on at a party without getting the reaction 'WTF?!’
4/5
The devil has the best tuna-blog
21st November 2009
Une Cartouche is.....
London's genre defying, style blending, art-pop geniuses (or should that be genii?) Cartridge changed their name to the very similar if slightly longer French For Cartridge. While they've been busy changing their name they've thankfully not tinkered around with their incomparable sound.
If you check your dictionary (do people still have dictionaries in these days of the internet and smart phones??) for the definition of unique you'll find a picture of French For Cartridge. If you don't then you need a new dictionary.
The duo's new single 'Oooh!' has more originality than a Salvidor Dali retrospective, a Terry Gilliam box set and a Yoko Ono happening. If you don't check it out today your ears will never forgive you!
French for Cartridge herald the changing of the avant-garde.
A Tuna A Day-blog
23rd November 2009
Today's TunA is a weird and wonderful piece of discordant art-pop/jazz that could easily have fallen from the pen of Bjork, Regina Spektor or Mariah Carey (probably not the last one).
French for Cartridge are a London-based duo and this track is part of a double-A side release (we'll have the other one in the next week or so) which is out Dec 14.
Pure Groove on Oooh!/Picture Negative
December 2009
Odd isn't the word! Geisha rock? A record that doesn't stay in the same place for longer than two seconds, Oooh! is a quirky bugger but B-side Picture Negative is a little more easy to get your head round - it's a real belter - a low slung ballad that's getting regular Pure Groove plays. Both tracks are great and they have found a big fan in Rob Da Bank.
Manchester Music
05 October 2009
By Parker Knoll
An odd style from London’s French For Cartridge, where (on this song) the girl vocals float carefree over bells, piano and merry go round soundtracks, where even a bout of reggae guitar is plumbed in. Odd but infectious.
MMM1/2
The Sunday Experience-blog
27 November 2009
French for Cartridge ‘oooh’ (dinner with daisy). Many many years ago huddled up to a rickety transistor the strange sounds of ‘birthday’ by the Sugarcubes crackled and cooed from out of the ether courtesy of the nightly grooved play list of the late John Peel. It was strange and curious mixing eeriness with enchantment. A few years earlier their had been the quite unmistakably kooky sounds of the Frank Chickens aired by the same much missed platter player. While in recent times the crooked charms of Serafina Steer have on more than one occasion tweaked our radar and sent our senses into pathways veering towards deranged befuddlement. And your point being - you might reasonably ask. Well its simply like this dear hearts - from the moment that ’oooh’ the debut release from French for Cartridge rears into view on to the turntable and out of the speakers an almost instant recall is upon me wherein I’m transported and reliving the same first encounters as way laid me the moment I initially heard the aforementioned trio of cuts. Of course ’oooh’ isn’t really their debut release - well okay arguably it is - a tweaking of the line up and a slight name change later - they were originally known as Cartridge - an ensemble who I deeply suspect may well have featured in these pages at some point or other. Featuring ex members of Luxembourg and Scandinavia (was that the same Luxembourg who spawned the post fall out careers of Melting Ice Caps and Jonny Cola and the A Grades I hear you cry). Anyway enough of that ’oooh’ is delicious, daft and just a tad dippy, crooked time signatures, impromptu melodic meanders delightfully possessed of an abstractly drawn childlike naivety that comes across at any given point both fried and bonkers not to mention ghostly, dreamy, surreal and alarmingly cute - kind of gathering of Brecht and Weill types scoring some tripped out musical odyssey out of the crooked recesses of Lear’s kaleidoscopically creative mind. flip the disc for the autumnal inflections of ’picture negative’ found here offering a wholly differing and delicious kettle of fish, quietly unassuming there’s a gracefully slender majesty at work here that warrants the blossoming of a strangely fuzzy glow upon the listener, a mid west cosiness scratched by a delicately hushed soft psyche top coat much recalling ‘white room’ era Archer Prewitt albeit as though tenderly harnessed by a super chilled ‘durable dream’ era Moviola - class in our books I think you’ll find. Single of the missive.
www.roomthirteen.com
21 December 2009
By Sarah Rayner
Bizarre. Just. Bizarre.
'Oooh' launches full tilt into looming instrumentation straight from the climax of a silent movie with "oooh!" vocals and bullet drums. Then without a breath the track flips to quirky gypsy girl vocals and a vivacious rhythm which reminds me of all the bizarre fun of Gogol Bordello. Majestic waves of voice and glittering cymbal follow, then the sound of a colourful fairground roundabout with civilised waltzing piano. And back to the start again…'Oooh!' takes four or five totally dissimilar sounds tossed together in a bewilderingly fragmented mix. It's creative, quirky and enthralling, but at two minutes it’s too short, and just as you’re starting to enjoy one sound it changes far too soon.
'Picture Negative' is a little more conventional with male vocals floating on a film of curious, off kilter guitar and droplets of piano, which soon layer onto female vocals and piano chords to add richness to the oddly apathetic sound. But this is not an ordinary pop song; an odd hum pervades the second verse, whirring through the already puzzling soundscape, and computerised piano drops an almost random series of notes into a couple of bars.
French for Cartridge make puzzling art-pop. It took me a few listens to make any sense of them, mostly because they seem to throw all the paints at the canvas at once. Their distinct, disquieting, fantastical fairytale creativity would be that much more enjoyable if they stuck to a couple of ideas per track, so the listener can really soak up the bizarre and whimsical world they create.
Manchester Music
07 December 2009
By Emily Slowlie
London’s unusual French For Cartridge continue to mix up their genres as effectively as the Dulux Colours machine on the B&Q paint counter. There are many combination of shades and textures, but mostly they keep their tunes on the side of forcefully mellow. “Oooh!” is more of a merry-go-round with the vocals of Catherine Kontz dancing with the gently stuttering guitars. The song crescendos like a brass band, refusing to crumble into a rock opus, instead remaining tantalisingly restrained. Henri Vaxby provides the main voice to “Picture Negative” a solid ballad of ebbing, leftfield, accessible acoustica.
MMM1/2
Organ Radio Show/Resonance FM
6 September 2009
Cartridge seem to have evolved, they’re now called French For Cartridge, they’re still as different as ever, still as unique, still as good. This is from their new double a-sided seven inch, cane out in July, only just landed here this week, hence the overdue late late late better late than never first play.
www.subba-cultcha.com
October 2009
Oddly dramatic mix of Baroque pop and reggae shuffle, the eccentricities of Regina Spektor fed through whatever Anthea & Tina were smoking? The smart use of repetition recalls The Fiery Furnaces, Otherworldly doesn’t begin to describe it...
Unsigned-magazine - August 2006:
Cartridge could well have found what many bands claim to have found but have not: a sound that cannot be pigeonholed. Girly vocals like the pixie-esque Joanna Newsom mould against scratchy, throaty male vocals and crazy piano work, with colourful guitars. There is so much to offer. For many it could be too much to chew, but your ears will thank you if you persist. Genius minds are at work here. 10/10
Spill Issue 25 - July 2006:
Although Cartridge's CD cover shows a pill missing from a drug packet, think dark trips rather than something to take off that nasty summer cold. Once the pan-European four-piece have your speakers under the influence, sounds swell and morph from the paranoid ivory pounding of Dresden Dolls, via the hushed insanity of Bjork, through to swirling Santana-esque psychedelia. Occasionally frustratingly frantic, 'Cases' still produces some real highs (especially the fuzzy 'Boxing Stravinsky'), albeit ones which shouldn't be enjoyed whilst operating machinery.
www.progressiveears.com JUNE 2006:
All bands sound like other bands. It's a simple truth of music. Even bands who claim not to sound like anyone else are usually telling fibs, trying to sound cool, oblivious and isolated from influences and zeitgeist, but really they're just as guilty, if not more so than bands that freely admit their influences or wear them on their sleeves. I often find the 'arch-coolness' of bands who claim not to listen to other people's music frankly nauseating, largely because I don't believe them and partly because I think they're just saying it for the sake of their image rather than them genuinely believing in the principle. I reckon they go home at the end of the day and listen to Duran Duran records like the rest of us.
Now I'm not going to try and tell you that London-based four piece Cartridge are an exception to this rule because they're not. Admittedly their myspace homepage doesn't list any musical influences as such, but I don't think this has been done out of an attempt to be cool. And I am intrigued by the bit of blurb that came with the CD (also on their myspace page), describing them as having honed their Beach Boys-gone-wrong-meets-Mars Volta sonic explorations. But Cartridge don't really sound like the Beach Boys meets the Mars Volta any more than they sound like Norman Wisdom meets Napalm Death (though that I would pay good money to see), it's just a swish turn of phrase that helps give some impression as to just how original, quirky and out there Cartridge sound.
But that's not to say that Cartridge don't have an ear for a good tune because they do. In fact Cases is full of melodies, harmonies and hummable tunes, which you might think would undermine the fact that Cartridge are a kind of experimental avant-rock band, but it doesn't. You see Cartridge are a genuine musical contradiction – a lush pop outfit dancing with arty, jerky left-field rock experimentation, with the end result being a little bit of both, but somehow not quite either.
The mixture of quite noisy rock drums, bass and guitar with frequent wild and inventive use of piano, eccentric but nearly always melodious songwriting, a male vocalist who sounds a little like Badly Drawn Boy, a female vocalist who sounds ever so slightly like Bjork (but not really), all of which is mixed up and thrown liberally around the album, creates a sound that is uniquely Cartridge.
Yes, I can hear the Beach Boys but only in a very loose and rather freaky sense because of the vocal harmonies and because some of the tracks have a bit of surf rock guitar on them (particularly track four, the rather marvelous "Soon").
I can also hear what sounds to me like a pronky Cardiacs/Sleepy People style influence. As I said before, I have no idea about Cartridge's influences, and in a sense they really don't matter, but if you like a bit of pronk rock then you'll surely find a lot to like on Cases.
I'm also occasionally thinking that Cartridge sound a bit like a more stripped down Pure Reason Revolution (maybe it's the Beach Boys link) or Bubblemath (I think it's the jazzy sounds, particularly the piano). Again, I'm not citing these as the band's influences but as my own auditory reference points, but as they're constantly shifting and changing throughout the album it becomes increasingly difficult to pigeonhole Cartridge with every track.
And surely this is the way it should be, particularly on a band's debut: dramatic, original, eclectic, always shifting, and constantly surprising.
The press release calls Cases a collection of hummable, albeit twisted tunes, and it is that but with more besides. A wonderful debut from a band who clearly have tons of talent and a whole lot of potential.
Best tracks: "Fooling Around", "Simple", "Soon", "Laundry Lullaby", "Mesmerized".
www.bubblejam.net/ears/new_releases/rock_and_indie/ JUNE 2006:
Artrock is a term that can be lazily misapplied. But for Cartridge -- a band that came together at an art college and are named after a John Cage composition -- the term is appropriate.
Opening track Fooling Around switches tempo and style with effortless ease -- not unlike the Cardiacs. It's a collage of piano stabs, guitars that alternate between grunge and jazz, male vocals that go from rasped to harmonic and a female vocal filtered through pools of shimmering reverb.
While it may be surreal sounding on the surface, but vocals like "When we set out to make a movie about the guy next door / We didn't know that he was making a show for us to see" provide a menacing counterpoint.
Simple is anything but. Starting slowly and building to an epic crescendo, it evokes some of the melancholy of Radiohead without the whining of Thom Yorke to spoil proceedings. Truly anthemic.
Sweat is a slowly fizzing firework of a ballad. Jangly guitar and a summery sounding female vocal segue into a swell of harmonies and it ends up exploding with a bang.
Mesmerized starts off sounding like a performance from the North Sea Jazz Festival, with smooth-sounding piano and guitars topped with a laconic male vocal. Just as you're getting comfortable, the tempo gets ratcheted up before breaking down to jazz-rock.
Or should I say artrock? For sheer musicianship, this has to be one of the best debuts I've ever heard.
www.organart.com May 2006:
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
CARTRIDGE – Cases (Cartridge Music) - One of the most intriguingly interesting of new London based bands out there right now (and as we keep on pointing out, we are in a golden age if you're prepared to go mine it for yourself rather than waiting for the establishment media to tell you where it is). A self released debut album and a fine collection of avant-pop treats that don't obviously fit anywhere (good). Easy breezy glowing Pan European jazz pop (with post-rock flavourings) a sound that swings from deliciously flowing, glowing, simple, almost lounge-lizard tinged, clever easy-listening, right over to hard edged new-wave progressive pronk rock. A fine sound that bends like Primus dancing with Bjork and gets all left-field art rock as it drags you in. Oh yes, tango away as you do your laundry lullaby. Sunny day Beach Boys all gone off-hinge... And now the tango has switched to the Charleston. If it is art-rock then it's Art Nouveau (and there aren't many in that swimming pool). There's all these warm, slightly discordant piano bits and Cartridge are just so so unlike anything else and we're squinting like a coward in a line (or a lion) and she sings so well and so does he. They all flow so so well (however musically awkward they're being). Even when Cartridge are getting really hard-boiled and complex they're still so so easy to listen to (and enjoy). Right now (as I write) it's just a delicate voice and a quiet piano that explodes with graceful sea nymph splendour that can't be put in any box. Ah yes, and such fine detail as well, a unique and recommended album. This is why we do this Organ thing.
www.roughtrade.com April 2006:
CASES
This 9 tracker from pan-european group cartridge is great fun. Mixing up a heap of styles (all played with remarkable assurance and chops), there's elements of jerky, spiky u.s. new wave, mars volta's complex chord blasts, bearsuit / melt banana frantic pop, lush harmonies, avant-rock stylings and hummable tunes. Schizophrenic yes, but rewarding, energetic stuff.
Organ Zine Issue 151, April 2006:
3-TRACK DEMO
Meticulously thinking, smiling, constantly blinking. This one jumped right out, an opening song that stopped everything and demanded complete attention. A different band, a band with personality, a band who don't want to sound like a low-rent version of their record collection, different breathing patterns. There's more to unwrap with every play of their relaxed refined easy on the ear clever bouncy bendy sound. Starts off kind of sounding like a scratchy thin (Southpark theme) Primus for artrock fans until it goes in to slightly operatic/classical lush piano bit and the 60's French pop singer sound of the girl and the deeper voiced boy and a whole movie in one short pop song - meticulously thinking, smiling, constantly blinking, It was the first song that instantly grabbed, but now that we've played endlessly for hours we don't know which of the three is best. Oh and on further investigation there's all kinds of icons of elegance to uncover and other projects and I think we'll be hearing more in future Organs..."
www.manchestermusic.co.uk January 2006:
DEMO OF THE WEEK
The name 'Cartridge' may be rather innocuous but this London quartet is anything but. Possibly the product of years spent studying the world's entire musical output Cartridge produce bizarre masterful music that positively defies categorisation.
Often unnerving and perplexing, Cartridge is a seemingly reckless ride that takes equal influence from rock, classical, latin, jazz and various other styles. Opener 'Fooling Around' occasionally sounds like it was written on another planet and crams in more twists than a David Kronenbourg movie.
Of course such a combination of diverse elements would amount to little if fundaments such as tunes and hooks were ignored. Thankfully such rudiments make up the forefront of Cartridge. Melodies bolstered by huge multi-layered harmonies are distinct as is the dextrous and freewheeling manner in which each instrument is employed. There are plenty of smart riffs, complex rhythms and intriguing textures to absorb without the dreaded descent into muso noodling.
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Cartridge however is how firmly focused they remain in light of the deeply ambitious sounds that they create. While it ought to sound like several different songs being playing at once it flows with incredulous ease. It may seem a tad pretentious but maybe that's me nit picking. Boldly different and cogent, Cartridge prove that originality doesn't have to come at the expense of a tune. Genius.