We live in the age when you can find videos of even the most obscure bands on Youtube or any number of other video hosting services. The catch is that most of them are low quality and you do have to know what you’re looking for. If you’re interested in French obscure music you’re in luck. Recently Delphine Sanchez of Darklight released Under Ground DVD, a collection of French underground music concert footage and interviews. The whole thing is in French including the subtitles and interviews but this video is an especially cool find for those outside. It’s not always easy to discover French underground music, which is a shame because France consistently produces brilliant bands and musicians. Even if you know many French bands odds are you have never seen most of them. For example I saw Frustration and Norma Loy at Drop Dead the past few years (both in this collection)but I have been dying to see Von Magnet, Gaë Bolg or Jad Wio in concert.

The UnderGround menu divides twenty-one bands into five categories:
Les Rockers ( Rockers) : Jad Wio , Jacquy Bitch , Wallenberg and Frustration
Les Elfes (Elves) Onel’k, Gaë Bolg, Breath of Life, Stathis and Hide and Seek
Les Bioniques (Bbionics) Blue Cat, Dolls of Pain, Suiside Commando, Jabbertwock, Violet Stigmata and Ex-Tenssion
Les Hargneux (Aggressive): Tamtrum, Dexy Corp and Collapse
Les Electrons Libres ( Free Electrons): La Federation, Von Magnet, Die Puppe and Norma Loy

In addition to concert footage the following interviews are included: Tamtrum, Norma Loy, Frustration, Von Magnet, Jad Wio, Jabberwock, Jacquy Bitch, Wallenberg, Violent Stigmata

Being of a more art music bent my favorite categories were rockers, elves and free electrons that covered quirky, dark, experimental, cold wave, deathrock, art rock and world influenced music. Aggressive and bionics feature EBM and hard rock bands which I will skip next time. Particular standouts were Jad Wio with three very different videos, the quirky and dark Gaë Bolg , flamenco-influenced Von Magnet, world music La Federation , Edith Piaf influenced Onel’k of course Frustration and Norma Loy were as expected top notch performances.

Some noted absences were Clair Obscure, Charles De Goal, Joy Disaster but really you cant cover every one in one video and their is always the next one (we can hope).

Jad Wio: Performance DVD UNDERGROUND

All in all the video quality of this DVD is very good, with some editing making me dizzy and some confusing audience shots of yawning and leaving the room, and just plain semi empty rooms in few cases. This is probably me being use to the American somewhat fictitious way of making every show looking full and only shots of incredibly enthused fans. It was amusing to see all my French friends in various audience shots. Although I have to wonder about proliferation of almost identical bold men, not only in bands but also in the audience, is that part of some kind of conspiracy?

You most definitely do need this DVD and you can buy it from Darklight, now what are you waiting for?

As promised we are beginning to preview some of the material from the upcoming Drop Dead Magazine Issue 5. Bellow is part of the interview with excellent The Legendary Pink Dots. To get more photos and the complete interview please refer to the Issue 5 out soon.

The Legendary Pink Dots

Interview by Atrocious Lyre
Photography by Bill Ellison

Drop Dead Magazine - You’ve just released your twenty fist album, Plutonium Blonde. What struck me about it was that since you seem to be a poetic band it’s interesting that the in-sleeve doesn’t have all of the songs listed nor are the lyrics of all the songs printed. Is there a mysterious reason for that?
Edward - I would have personally quite liked to have all the lyrics there. The label didn’t have the kind of budget to make the booklet we would liked to have seen. That happens quite often. I just chose the most significant lyrics. I’m a bit sad that Torchsong wasn’t there, but that’s sometimes how it goes really.

Drop Dead Magazine - Does everyone in the band live in Amsterdam or The Netherlands?
Phil - We all live in The Netherlands. Actually it’s around a town called Nijmegen that most people live, and Edward lives further south in Holland.

Drop Dead Magazine - Do you have a Pink Dots studio that you all share?
Phil - We have multiple studios. We all have a studio in our own houses, and we put our works together in a variety of those studios. Recording comes from working in a combination of them.

Drop Dead Magazine - It sounds like you’ve reached a sweet spot with your music. Does that resonate with you?
Phil - Well, there is a great cohesion between the members at the moment. Edward and I have been at the top of our song writing skills at the moment. Work has been great. Everyone’s input has been excellent in this record.
Drop Dead Magazine - Does Raymond record The Dots as well as do the mixing and live sound, or is he doing the post production and the sound exclusively?
Phil - Obviously he’s our live engineer, he’s the recording engineer at times and most of the post production and mixing.
Edward - Together…
Phil - Together with actually Edward and I mainly.

Drop Dead Magazine - How did the two of you first meet?
Edward - It was actually a ways back in the end of the seventies. Through a mutual friend of ours, Tony Stringer. I was going to college with him and we shared very similar tastes in music. In particular Van der Graaf Generator. Phil was his friend and he introduced the two of us together. There was this passion basically for the same music really. Sort of like pulled us together, and you know, were the foundations of a friendship which you see endures right through all of these years.
Phil - I used to drive over to his house once in awhile. We’d both play our new records and new music we’d found to each other. Edward’s mother would make us endless cups of tea. We were very young then but it started a passion in music that has lasted all our lives really till now yeah.

Drop Dead Magazine - Is My First Zonee about a cell phone?
Edward - Yep.
Drop Dead Magazine - Have you ever gotten scabby hands from cell phone use?
Edward- I watch which cell phones I touch.

Drop Dead Magazine - Most keyboard bands are anti guitar and LPD seems to be anti drums on the whole.
Edward - That’s not true. You know I think drums can add a really great side to music. I’m not anti any instrument actually. I think all sounds are equal. It’s just the band that we are, and we chose the line up that really works for us. But it certainly doesn’t exclude drums. I mean for a long time we worked with Ryan who is a really fine drummer, and we miss him without a doubt. But you know when he wanted to go his own way…you could replace a drummer but you could not replace Ryan and that’s why we decided on the course after he left that we have done. But we can’t be anti drums. If you’re interested in music you shouldn’t be anti bagpipes, you shouldn’t be anti guitar or anything.
Phil - Drums are rhythm and it’s always in our music. Sometimes from computerized drums, hand drums or naturally in the music rather than from any specific drum sound. But it’s all rhythm and it’s always in music.

Drop Dead Magazine - Do you have an agreement as to the percentage each musician contributes creatively?

LPD Photo by Tom Surber

For the answer and a lot more  please check out Drop Dead Magazine Issue 5 coming in Spring 2009

MP3: Torchsong

Overwhelmingly reader mail demands to know the release date of the next print issue of the Drop Dead Magazine. Well cats and dolls what have we possibly been so busy with as to wait for such a long time between publications?  Well there was the Drop Dead and Mutant Transmissions Festivals, myriad of shows and DJ gigs, we put the Drop Dead Music blog online with print magazine archives, our label Mutant Transmissions released 2 CDs with more to come and Dan started another music blog Better than Sex. Well all that well and good you will say but what about the Drop Dead Magazine, I want to know about all the cool new music and events and have new posters for my walls, and actually hold the thing in my hands, being a tactile fiend that I am .You, my dear reader are absolutely correct and we have been sufficiently shamed by you. We are happy to report that issue 5 is on its way and will be out before end of spring. We have so many new bands to tell you about! We also have a few excellent interviews with veteran bands and we will start to preview some of the content here beginning with Legendary Pink Dots interview coming up later today. Don’t worry we wont give it all away, new issue will be overflowing with new interviews, previously unpublished eye candy, and enough excitement to kick start a fresh obsession with music. We love you dear reader and we have never left, now go set up a show, learn how to dj, make a mixed cd and share it with your friends or just go to an awesome show. Don’ forget to e-mail us and comet on this blog once in a while, it will be too depressing not to hear from you. Now go! Life awaits!