Faded

I've been enjoying the new album by The Liminanas, the French husband/ wife duo who've released umpteen album since 2010, an exhilarating fusion of French ye ye, psyche and garage rock. On Faded they've brought in a whole raft of guest vocalists- Bertrand Belin, Bobby Gillespie, Jon Spencer, Pascal Comelade, Penny, Rover and Anna- Jean. The songs sound like a French Velvet Underground, the Mo Tucker backbeat and rattly guitars the bedrock for the vocalists to sing above. It's really good fun and shoots by in a whirl, an album that creates its own universe. Back in autumn last year J'Adore Le Monde lit up a grim November, singer Bertrand Belin reminding us of what's worth holding onto. 

This one, Degenerate Star, has Blues Exploder Jon Spencer and Pascal Comelade giving twin vocal over the thumping drums and wheezy organ. 

And on Ou Va La Chance, Lionel and Marie paid tribute to the late Francoise Hardy with a cover that closed Faded in gloriously romantic style...

J'Adore Le Monde

My favourite French rock 'n' roll beat group The Liminanas have returned to the fray with Bertrand Belin on vocals and an achingly beautiful song called J'Adore Le Monde. Proclaiming love for the world isn't always easy- turn on the TV and sometimes the only natural response is turn the thing off again- but Bertrand, Lionel and Marie are very persuasive. The bass throbs, the Velvets style drumming thuds away, and Bertrand sounds like the singer in the hippest supper club down some side street in Paris you stumbled into one evening and then could never find again. An album, Faded, follows in February. 

Half An Hour Of The Limiñanas

The Limiñanas are Lionel and Marie Limiñana, a duo from Cabestany in the south of France, who play psyche/ garage/ pop dressed in black jeans and boots, with fuzz guitar, Mo Tucker style drums and tambourine and slightly stoned, Gauloise vocals. Over the course of nine albums and umpteen singles/ EPs they've steered their own course pulling in like minded souls along the way. Their music always feels like summer to me, the hot and sticky days of July and August, the air smelling of beer and cigarette smoke, sunglasses, tinny car stereos and the clink of beer bottles- so there's no better time to listen to thirty minutes of their music than in mid- January. C'est la vie. 

Half An Hour Of The Limiñanas 

• Garden Of Love
• The Gift (Anton Mix)
• The Ballad Of Linda L.
• Variation Sur 3 Bancs
• Devils Angels (Limiñanas Remix)
• Dimanche (Laurent Garnier Remix)
• Garden Of Love (Lundi Mouillé Mix)
• Liverpool (album version)

Garden Of Love was a 2016 single, a lovely piece of 21st century garage pop, Marie's vocal to the fore along with Peter Hook's mournful, elegiac bass playing that makes me feel weirdly homesick, even when I'm at home. Garden Of Love was remixed by Andrew Weatherall twice and released on clear 12" vinyl. Both mixes are great, the one here, Lundi Mouille (Wet Monday) is the slower, more downtempo one.  

Hooky turned up on The Gift in 2018 too, a single and song from their 2018 album Shadow People, their fifth album, ten songs where they really hit their stride and refined their sound. Anton Newcombe was on hand for a lot of the album and provided the mix for this version of The Gift. They formed a  one- off group with Anton and actress/ singer Emmanuelle Seigner and released an excellent album in 2019 that I've remembered about while typing this. I should have included one of their songs on this but it's too late now. 

The Ballad Of Linda L. is from a soundtrack to a documentary from last year about the life of Linda Lovelace, written and recorded with David Menke.

Variation Sur 3 Bancs was a collaboration with Golden Bug. A vinyl/ digital EP came out in 2021 with remixes by Pilooski, Superpitcher and Destino, French electronic/ Balearic catnip. 

Devils Angels is by Unloved, from their second album Heartbreak (2019) There was a remix EP with remixes by various folk including Weatherall, Jane Weaver and here, obvs, The Limiñanas.

Dimanche is also from Shadow People with singer, songwriter and author Bertrand Belin on vocals. It was remixed by French DJ and Hacienda veteran Laurent Garnier. The Limiñanas and Laurent released an album together in 2021, De Pelicula, a psyche French road trip/ noir which is highly recommended (even though I neglected to put anything from it on this mix).

Liverpool is from the band's 2013 album Costa Blanca with vocals from Mu (Muriel Margail)

Dimanche

Yes, I know, wrong day. Today is Lundi.

Dimanche is on this year's Shadow People album by French duo The Liminanas. It's well worth getting hold of if you haven't already- ten tracks recorded at Anton Newcombe's studio, taking in Velvet's fuzz and rhythms, thumping drums, sunglasses and black leather and a guest spot for Peter Hook's bass. Dimanche, with guest vocals from Bertrand Belin, has been remixed by fellow Frenchman Laurent Garnier and it is very good indeed, Garnier adding some clubby dynamics, looping some parts, drawing out the ringing feedback and a sticking a massive kick drum and snare underneath. I think this came out on 12" for Record Store Day.