Orange Blossom

Orange Blossom is a French band that plays a mix of electronic and world music.

The band was formed in Nantes in 1993 with Pierre-Jean Chabot (known as PJ Chabot) on violin and Jean-Christophe Waechter (known as Jay C.) on percussions and vocals. In 1994, Éric Chauvière (organ) joined the band and a first audio tape was recorded in september. In 1995 the band stabilized with the arrival ofCarlos Robles Arenas on drums, djembé, and sampler, and the departure of Éric Chauvière. Their first disc, Orange Blossom, came out in 1997 on the Prikosnovénie label, selling 15,000 copies.

Before their second album came out, the group was influenced by ethnic and traditional music. They met and collaborated with several non-French artists, like Ivorian percussion group Yelemba d’Abidjan and Egyptian group Ganoub. They toured in Egypt, France, and Belgium. Vocalist Jay C. left the band in 2000 and created prajña. In 2002, percussionist Mathias Vaguenez and vocalist Leïla Bounous joined the group. The album Everything Must Change came out in 2005 on the Bonsaï Music label.

Carlos Robles Arenas is Mexican. Leïla Bounous is part Algerian, part Breton.

Source: lastfm

Song: Denya

Album: Everything Must Change

Mensch

Mensch a brand new band, formed in early 2010, is a duo composed of Vale Poher and Carine Di Vita.

With her 2005 solo project under her belt, Vale Poher produced two albums (Mute 2005 & Tauten 2008) and two EPs (Blue Time vs Suspense & 3×2) both of which met with critical acclaim.
Alongside this, she collaborated on a vast array of projects in a number of artistic fields: from theatrical productions with Vincent Roumagnac, to Fine Arts with Saâdane Afif (winner of the Marcel Duchamp Award in 2009) and a stint in the film industry with Vergine Keaton (award for best music at the Clermont Ferrand Festival for The Short Film in 2010). Vale Poher has also featured in the works of other musicians : Mansfield.Tya, Flore, Doctor Flake…
In 2008, she created the Vale Poher Group, through which she met the bassplayer Carine Di Vita, aka Marilou. As for Marilou (vocal/bass or guitar), she has worked with many bands : Spade & Archer,
Le Peuple de l’Herbe, Groom, and more recently, Rzatz.
After 2 years of collaboration, the lady musicians then decided to embark on a new rock project : the result was MENSCH.
Bass / Guitar / Keyboards and Beatboxes, aerial vocals and catchy tunes. The duo combines rock, kraut, pop, afrobeat & new wave, all of which make up the Mensch sound… somewhere between LCD Soundsystem and Blondie… let’s dance and die !

Source: Mensch

Song: Mystery Train (of Life)

Album: Dance and Die

EZ3kiel

Tours, France

Founded in 1994, EZ3kiel is a magnet-Dub band originating from Tours, France. In the beginning they had a singer, however there is no recorded material from that period.

Since 1999 they have worked as a trio:

Yann Nguema (bass guitar, visuals)
Joan Guillon (samples, effects, keyboard)
Matthieu Fays (percussion)

They released in 1999 the mini album ‘Equalize-it’. In 2000 they released the album ‘Handle with care’ (Jarring Effects/Pias), which featured many collaborations with big names of the French independent music scene (such as Yann Tiersen, Sylvestre from Dit Terzi and Sir Jean from Meï Teï Sho). That album intrigued the audience and confirmed the band’s eclectic style. During their live performances, they are known for creating a poetic universe with beautiful visuals and graphics, which are made by bass guitarist Yann N’Guema. He uses samples of various photographs, which in combination with the music creates a special audio-visual experience. Other French electro bands use visuals on their live performance, but EZ3kiel are really something special compared to them, their visuals are synchronized with the sound. In 2003 they released another album ‘Barb4Ry’ (Jarring Effects/Pias) which showed that the band’s mature period came.

Source: lastfm


Song: Obssd
Album: Barb4ry

Tire le Coyote

Tire le coyote, c’est le projet solo du chanteur Benoit Pinette. Résolument folk et ancrée dans une démarche artistique personnelle, cette initiative s’inscrit en droite ligne avec les influences de l’auteur. Un projet d’écriture raffiné qui a pris le temps de mûrir et de s’exprimer dans un cadre musical intimiste et dépouillé. 

Le chanteur et membre fondateur de Fonojône s’est plongé dans un environnement différent pour mettre de l’avant une poésie nostalgique et franche qui nous met en face d’une palette d’émotions teintées de tristesse, d’amour, d’idéalisme et de paysages évocateurs. S’exprimant sans ambages, le caractère rustique de la musique accompagne ces textes contemplateurs avec finesse. Une synergie qui témoigne du caractère singulier de ces chansons qui se sont construites d’un même souffle.

Source: lastfm

Song: Chainsaw

Album: Mitan