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LETSLIVAPPY!
(WHILE WE AWAIT OUR DEATH)
the lucidly hoptimistic
fanzine
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march 28th 2004
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version française
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presents...
LETSLIVAPPY! (WHILE WE AWAIT OUR DEATH)
THE LUCIDLY HOPTIMISTIC FANZINE
-- THE GIANT SAND DOCUMENTARY "DRUNKEN
BEES" IS REISSUED ON DVD !
"DRUNKEN BEES", the Giant
Sand docuemntary made by Marianne Dissard in 1995 has just been reissued
on DVD. This gives us the opportunity
to remind you that, since 1998, you can find
on this site an interview of Marianne Dissard about the film (in French),
and the full transcript of the dialogues (in French and in English).
-- LES ROBOTS-MUSIC : THEY PLAY KRAFTWERK
HITS !
The story of the Robots-Music,
a French band from the 1960's-1970's, saved from oblivion by Kraftwerk.
A Vivonzeureux! Records release which will make history !
-- "RAFFARIN IS NOT DEAD", BUT TA GUEULE RECORDS
BURIES THE FRENCH PRIME MINISTER
Our friend Le Vieux Thorax releases "Raffarin
is not dead", the first compilation on his tiny ultra-independent label,
with a lot of artists friends who only had one instruction : use a sample of the
voice of Jean-Pierre Raffarin...
-- GIANT SAND IN PARIS IN FEBRUARY, AND
AGAIN IN FRANCE IN JUNE !
Vivonzeureux! couldn't make it to the Giant Sand concert in Paris on February
19th, but we are happy to present you with a photo
coverage by Cathimini from that night. It is the best possible way for us
to announce the forthcoming Giant Sand concerts in France in June 2005 as part
of their European tour.
-- PASCAL COMELADE : POST-FLOOD STREOPHONIC
DISCOGRAPHY
To follow suit after the detailed discography published by Pascal
Comelade himself in 1999 in his "Ecrits monophoniques submergés",
we've put online a tentative concise discography
of his 21st century releases, which mostly aims to be a help for the fan lost
in his plethorical and cosmopolitan production...
-- PATRIK FITZGERALD : ALL THE YEARS OF
TRYING
Patrik Fitzgerald is not omitted from
punk and new wave anthologies, but that's not enough to represent properly the
career of an artist who released many records from 1977 to 1986 and beyond.
Two CD compilations exist, but there was none covering the whole of his output,
up to and including his latest album, "Room service". This is a gap we are now
trying to bridge with this latest addition to our virtual catalogue, "All
the years of trying".
-- ON A TOUS DES DEFAUTS
Far from any best-of compilation or all those end-of-month, end-of-year or end-of-the-decade
selections, "On a tous des défauts"
gives the opportunity to Vivonzeureux! to dwell on the records that have accompanied
us recently and have provided us with a great quantity of joy and musical pleasures,
from CocoRosie to Laura Veirs, including the Sorry But Home Recording artists
and Junkie Brewster. And it gives you an easy access to a tonic concentration
of lucidly hoptimistic musical productions.
-- VIVONZEUREUX! BACK ON LA RADIO PRIMITIVE
!
It's quite a few years since Vivonzeureux! deserted its birthplace, La
Radio Primitive in Reims, France. But we're now back on the air with "Si
vous passez par là", a weekly 3 minute chronicle from somewhere
else in the world, broadcast thrice a week on 92.4 FM.
-- TU M'AS TROMPETTE MON AMOUR : THE VIDEO
What best to go with a discographical love story than a video made with record
covers ? That's what Pol Dodu gives you now with "Save
the last trumpet for me", to complement his photo-novella available elsewhere
on this site...
-- "SOMEONE STOLE MY WHEELS" : THE
VINTAGE VIDEO BY JC BROUCHARD & BIFF, BANG, POW !
Thanks to new technical equipment, Vivonzeureux! Records is now able to supply
you with a free download of the French produced video for «Someone
stole my wheels», the single by J.C.
Brouchard with Biff, Bang, Pow ! released by Creation Records in the UK in
1986...
-- TU M'AS TROMPETTE MON AMOUR : A DISCOGRAPHICAL
LOVE STORY
Try to imagine a photo-novella, the pictures of which would consist in covers
of records by the famous french trumpet player Georges Jouvin, and with texts
mostly made up of titles of songs the man with the golden trumpet has recorded...
Well, «Tu m’as trompette mon amour» is
not exactly that, but it is something approaching, a bit like a discographical
love story !
-- DOWNLOAD LE SARKOZY DU DISQUE
The new single by our friend Le
Vieux Thorax stars two record company moguls devising about the evils of music
downloads and references former French Home Secretary Nicolas Sarkozy. The Robin
Hood of samples took this as an opportuny to showcase his looping wit on his new
single "Le Sarkozy du disque", available as a free and legal download
on his own website.
Download
"Le Sarkozy du disque" and pass it on to your friends !
-- LES PETITS SABLES PAY HOMAGE TO GIANT SAND
Some Giant Sand fans have amused themselves recording covers of their favourite
band. Because of a series of mishaps, the French version of "Nowhere"
by Les Petits Sablés is not featured on the first distributed copies of
the "Fan-dango" album. Vivonzeureux! Records is happy to correct this
mistake by allowing you to freely download
"Nulle part".
-- BIFF, BANG, POW ! THROWS ITS WATERBOMB !
The Rev-Ola label has just launched a series of compilations dedicated to artists
from the late Creation Records. Of particular interest to us is the Biff,
Bang, Pow ! album, "Waterbomb".
-- I BELIEVE IN ROCK'N'ROLL : A CREATION 20TH
ANNIVERSARY COMPILATION
Creation Records is no more, but the music released by the label is still with
us. Our compilation, "I believe
in rock'n'roll", célebrates the best of the production of the
label run by Alan McGee and his friends.
-- RELEASE OF A MARK BEER RETROSPECTIVE
One single on Rough Trade Records and an unheard album in 1981, and Mark Beer
disappeared... Until Vivonzeureux! Records decided to collect all his recordings
on "Recollections", a rétrospective.
-- DISCOVERY OF A LEWIS FUREY "NUGGET"
Sometimes, life can give you
the impression you live it like you're in a fairytale...
Read elsewhere Lewis
Furey's own comments about each of the songs from his classic first album
-- LEWIS FUREY, THE IDOL OF
A YOUTH
Before Jonathan Richman, Elvis Costello, Devo, the Television Personalities, Giant
Sand and others regularly featured in Letslivappy!, Lewis
Furey was the first artist I followed
very very closely...
-- L'ANGE AU SOUPIR
VIVONZEUREUX! PUBLISHES THE FIRST ELECTRO-SERIALIZED NOVEL
STARRING THE CITY OF REIMS
Starting from April 6th 2003, Vivonzeureux! goes into
publishing with the release (in French) of Pol Dodu's «L’Ange
au soupir», in the form of an electronic serialized pseudo-noir
novella.
- Following the publication of a vitriolic article
about Reims in a parisian newspaper, a young journalist is sent there to try
and redress the situation by writing a more favourable piece. Very soon, he'll
find that Reims, the true hero of this tale, is not as quiet a city as people
say…
«L’Ange au soupir»
was first published in the form of 15 emails sent every other day from april
6th 2003. It is now available as a free download
on our site.
-- SURPRISE PARTIE HOPTIMISTE
A few years after "Excusez-moi, je me suis occupé
un peu de tout", Vivonzeureux! is happy to present you with our second compilation,
"Surprise partie hoptimiste".
But the times they are a-changing. This time, our compilation is completely free
and available in the form of downloadable MP3 files.
-- VIVONZEUREUX! RADIO IS BORN !
We had been toying with the idea for a long time, but now it's
done.
After starting out as a radio show (on a local radio in Reims, from 1989 to 1998),
and involving into a fanzine and then a webzine, Vivonzeureux!
is now a radio as well, on the internet, available from this address : www.live365.com/stations/300170.
-- DOGBOWL BARKS IN FRENCH LIKE A MAD DOG !
Dogbowl on stage in Brussels, singing his
greatest hits in French... ?!?That's no joke
!
-- WHEN JAMAICA INVITES ITSELF DEEP IN THE
HEART OF FRANCE....
You often dream of finding dead rare records sold for nothing in a jumble sale.
But it never happens. Or hardly ever..
-- VIVONZEUREUX! LAUNCHES ITS (VIRTUAL) LABEL
With Vivonzeureux! Records, we are proud to have
launched the first truly virtual recod label !
Here, you'll find nothing for sale, nothing to buy, nothing to listen to. No product,
no media. Letslivappy! offers you dream music, and it's better than thin air !
STOP ME
(NOT) IF I RAMBLE ON AGAIN !
The purpose in this new section is to
tell you about some songs which, for one reason or another, are difficult to get
hold of these days. To make the point clearer, a 30 second extract of each song
will be supplied nearly each time.
ISSUE 6 OF LETSLIVAPPY!/VIVONZEUREUX!
IS OUT !
Yes, the 6th paper issue of Vivonzeureux! is now available. But, contrary
to this website, the fanzine is only in French !
If you can read French, write to us
to know how to obtain a copy. Otherwise, seeing as the features were all previously
published here, most of them with a pidgin english translation, it might just
be easier for you to click to read the pieces on Lewis
Furey, M. Ward, Kevin
Ayers, Howe Gelb, Grandaddy,
Dogbowl and our listings Friends
rock'n'roll et l'hoptiliste.
You can click here to
read the front page column (only available in french...).
MESSAGE FROM POL DODU TO LIONEL JOSPIN
Latest news!
Click here to read the message
that Pol Dodu has sent to Lionel Jospin, French Prime Minister, on january
12th 2002.
LETSLIVAPPY!'S SOUVENIR PHOTOS
While rummaging through my papers, I chanced upon
some photographs taken by me, or by J.C. Brouchard, over the last twenty years.
Here they are, in no particular order, with or without a commentary...
KEVIN AYERS, LET THE GOOD TIME HAVE YOU
Up until recently, it would have been nigh on
impossible for me to quote just one good album released in 72 among those I
really love. And then I dioscovered "Whatevershebringswesing"
by Kevin Ayers...
2001 : A MUSICAL HOWEDYSSEY !
Six albums, countless concerts : 12
months of the musical life of Howe Gelb
and Giant Sand are
reviewed...
SAY NO TO YOUTH RULE !
"Say no to youth rule !", this is maybe, but probably not,
what Reg Cooper thinks. He is
a Nottingham pensioner, registered blind, who, at 72, has just released his
first country-tinged album.
ENTERTAINMENT, MY PAL, THAT'S SERIOUS BUSINESS
!
"Entertainment, my pal, that's serious business !", that's under
the sign of this utterance attributed to French über-star Johnny Hallyday
(in 1981, light-hearted times when the French government comprised a secretary
of state for free time...), that will be placed the two nigts of deejaying proposed by Le Vieux
Thorax and his friends, myself included, in Paris and Reims on may 31 and june
9th.
2001, THE YEAR LE VIEUX THORAX BROKE ?
In 2000, his first CD single, "Seulement blessé",
has been hailed by everyone. At the start of this year, as he releases his first
album, which compiles the best songs of his five cassettes, one can hope that
2001 will be the year of Le Vieux Thorax !
THE ARCHANGEL'S VISITS
Since his album "Duet for guitars #2"
reached us last summer, Matt Ward has hardly left
the spotlight in Europe...
MAYBE GRANDADDY SHOULD FORGET HOW TO PLAY BEFORE GOING
ON TOUR ?
J'aime beaucoup Grandaddy, mais ils me
déçoivent beaucoup sur scène...
S.O.S. A MORT !
RADIO PRIMITIVE,
the rock radio from Reims, France, which first welcomed Letslivappy!/Vivonzeureux!
under its original guise as a radio show, is in great difficulty. To survive,
the radio has just launched a
voluntary membership campaign. To know more about it and help save the
birthplace of optimistic hip-pop, please visit the Radio
Primitive website.
IT COSTS NOTHING TO ASK...
After a first tour last Spring, Calexico, Giant Sand and Howe Gelb
come back to Europe this autumn, including a Giant Sand concert in Reims
on October 20th and one on October 23rd in Nantes, sharing the bill with
Jonathan Richman. OK, I know I shouldn't' ask for too much, but it costs nothing to ask for a dream programme for
these Howe Gelb, Joey Burns and John Convertino concerts...
MATT WARD BRINGS GOOD NEWS
Sponsored by Howe Gelb, having worked with Jason Lytle, there
was little chance for Matt Ward to deceive
us with "Duet for guitars #2",
his first solo album. Well, he's picked up the challenge, with a great record,
quiet and fragile !
WITH
MOUTARDE AND DUMEZ, THE MAYONNAISE GELS !
"Le meilleur de moi",
a comic book adapted from the fanzine "Plus jamais malade en auto",
a musical manifesto by the A.P.C. label
and great songs released by furniture remover Johnny
Dowd ! There's no telling, life can be fine !
GOOD FEELINGS ARE BACK !
Three years after their last record release, one thought The Feelings were dead and buried : they
actually are, unfortunately. But fans of slightly deranged music are given
a treat : an unreleased album has
just been released !
PLUS JAMAIS MALADE EN AUTO
Issue n° 6 of the fanzine Plus
jamais malade en auto has just been published. As usual, it's a treat!
JOEY BURNS, JOHN CONVERTINO AND HOWE GELB
EMBARK ON A EUROPEAN TOUR
To celebrate the release of the new Giant Sand album ("Chore
of enchantment") and the third Calexico album ("The hot rail"),
Giant Sand (Howe Gelb, Joey Burns, John Convertino), Calexico
(Joey Burns, John Convertino) and Howe Gelb will trek across Europe from
the end of april to mid-july.
To help you sort out the dates and prepare your travels to the gigs, Letslivappy!
has taken the pain to compile the combined list
of all the dates (over 50!) with an easy-to-understand colour guide
!
THE DODGE
VEG-O-MATIC AND THE SOLEX MOULINEX
Florence Dolisi, a Jonathan Richman fan, has started an inquest about
the Dodge veg-o-matic myth.
At her request, Vivonzeureux! has studied the question and has been able
to prove the existence of the Dodge veg-o-matic!
CALEXISAND'S FEELINGS
Three years after their last record release, one thought The Feelings were dead and buried : they
actually are, unfortunately. But fans of slightly deranged music are given
a treat : an unreleased album should
be released within a few weeks, and an unreleased song is already available
for download !
As for Giant Sand and Calexico
fans, they are not too badly treated, with the official release within a
few months of new albums by both bands. In between, you can go
looking for a good quantity of previously unreleased Calexico tracks,
including a full live album !
THE GIST OF THE MISTAKES
A recent album,"36 erreurs" (36 mistakes) by Etienne
Charry that is 100% optimistic hip-pop, and the rerelease of a new wave
classic, "Embrace the herd" by The
Gist, which could have been error free...
BON SUICIDE, MESSIEURS
Issue n° 5 of the fanzine "Bon appétit,
messieurs" is just out. It is entirely dedicated to the band Suicide.
As the fanzine is in French, I didn't bother translating the piece of news...
This fanzine gave me the idea to update the old feature about the new wave classics : I have added some colour and many
links to band sites. It being an old feature, it's also in French, but as
it is mostly a list of records, it should still be understandable !
EXCUSE-ME, I TOOK CARE OF JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING
Issue n°5 of the printed edition of Vivonzeureux! (en attendant
la mort...) is now available! And moreover, it comes for the first time
with a 9 track compilation CD, which is pure optimistic hip-pop of course.Click here to know all the details.
FAMILY FODDER
Family Fodder was one of the rare new wave bands not to have benefitted
from a CD rerelease of their records, originally out at the end of the 70's
and in the early 80's. Good news : a far-out US micro-label, Dark Beloved
Cloud, has taken up the challenge and released a CD, "Savoir faire
: the best of Family Fodder" It gives
us the opportunity to recall in detail the story of this badly underestimated
band.
GIANT SAND'S CHORE
OF ENCHANTMENT
Some news concerning Giant Sand, and their "Chore
of enchantment" album, as well as a brief account of Howe Gelb and
Calexico's respective european tours last Spring.
JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE BAND OF BLACKY RANCHETTE
?
Sadly, it's only a daydream, but here's the story of the
tribute album to Rainer that Jonathan Richman and The Band of Blacky Ranchette
might have recorded together.
GRANDADDY
It's not really new, but it's just out. It's not properly their second album.
It's mid-price but it's not cheap. Its "The
broken down comforter collection".
HIP-POP ALERT ?
Is optimistic hip-pop spreading all over the world ?. Very probably
not. At least that's what the latest internet
statistics show.
BRODé
TANGO
"Learn to mistrust all this overanalysis, I'm not so sure that you
are a friend", that's what sings Dorian Feller, the mastermind hiding
behind the Brodé Tango moniker. But
yet I picked up the challenge...
GRANDADDY
Avec encore des mois de retard, je finis l'article sur Grandaddy,
groupe américain qui, en six mois, un album, un mini-album, un 45t
et trois maxis, a gagné sans coup férir sa place au panthéon
de la hip-pop optimiste. Maintenant, puisque j'ai raté leur mini-tournée
française du début 98, il ne me reste plus qu'à attendre
d'avoir la chance de les voir en concert... (ce qui devrait se faire prochainement,
puisque le groupe est en tournée européenne cet automne, avec
notamment un concert à Reims (L'Usine) le vendredi 20 novembre, et
un concert à Paris (La Cigale) le 8 novembre, dans le cadre du festival
des Inrockuptibles,avec Calexico aussi à l'affiche, et une
poignée de groupes a priori moins intéressants.
JONATHAN
CHANTE !
Chacune des éditions papier du fanzine Vivonzeureux! comporte un
article sur Jonathan Richman. C'est une règle qui ne souffre pas
d'exception. Etant donné que le n° 4 du fanzine devrait sortir
plus ou moins prochainement, voici le nouvel article
sur Jonathan Richman,un compte-rendu plus ou moins fictif de la prestation
de Jonathan aux Victoires de la musique en 2003, en français et en
hommage à Charles Trénet!
In every printed issue of the Vivonzeureux! fanzine, there is a piece
about Jonathan Richman. It's just a rule that suffers no exception. As issue
#4 is coming your way, here's the new Jonathan Richman
piece, a (somewhat fictional) piece set at the French national music
awards in 2003, which tells the story of the performance of Jonathan Richman,
in French, in tribute to the 90th birthday of French singer Charles Trénet.
DISCOGRAPHIE ROUGH TRADE
Vivonzeureux! a publié il y a deux ans une discographie
complète du label Rough Trade.
Il en existe désormais sur le web une version beaucoup plus complète
sur le site de Rough Trade music.
UN AN
Ce fanzine a fêté en mai sa première année de publication
sur Internet. Pour célébrer ça, Pol Dodu, ci-devant rédacteur
du fanzine et producteur de l'émission de radio du même nom, a fait
le DJ au Baradaz (79 bd du Général Leclerc à Reims, France)
le jeudi 28 mai à partir de 21 h, dans le cadre des soirées Prim'Team
de La Radio Primitive. La programmation était bien entendu 100% hip-pop
optimiste, et tous ceux qui n'ont pu venir à Reims peuvent essayer d'en
reconstituer plus ou moins l'ambiance à partir de la liste
des titres programmés.
QU'EST-CE QUE LA HIP-POP OPTIMISTE
Cela fait des années que je refusais de le faire, mais j'ai cédé.
Je vous donne enfin une réponse partielle à la question "Qu'est-ce que la hip-pop optimiste ?".
Et pour illuster le propos, vous trouverez pour la toute première
fois un échantillon conséquent de la
discothèque hip-pop optimiste (plus de 1100 disques, en attendant
mieux). Profitez-en!
After years of relenting, I've given in and given a partial answer
to the usual question: "What is optimistic
hip-pop ?". And to top it all, this is accompanied by a partial
listing of the optimistic hip-pop discotheque
(1100 records and going). Enjoy it!
THE FEELINGS
Cela fait presqu'un an et deux albums que j'ai découvert LES FEELINGS. Ils font les beaux soirs de Vivonzeureux!
(l'émission). Tous les amis à qui je les fait écouter
sont séduits, cherchent à remplacer les cassettes que je leur
fait par un beau CD, mais hélas leurs disques ne sont pour l'instant
pas distribués en Europe.
En attendant que cela vienne, découvrez THE
FEELINGS grâce à Vivonzeureux!, allez visiter le site de
leur label, et même achetez leurs disques si vous le voulez.
DRUNKEN BEES
Avec beaucoup de retard (au moins deux mois...) voici enfin
l'interview de Marianne Dissard, qui a réalisé
en 1996 un film documentaire sur GIANT SAND intitulé "Drunken
bees", et comme vous êtes sages, et que vous n'avez peut-être
pas l'occasion de voir ce film, Marianne vous propose l'intégrale
des dialogues de ce film, en version originale anglaise,
ou en français.
Hi, this is the one
and only media dedicated to optimistic hip-pop.
It was originally a radio show broadcast on La Radio
Primitive, a local non-commercial FM radio in Reims, France
(the show stopped broadcasting in july 1998).
Since 1994, it is also an irregularly published fanzine, which has a web
version (the one you're reading)
on line since march 1997.
