Monday! This week there will be only another post, on Wednesday and after that there won’t be any other updates on the blog until the next Wednesday. I’m heading for a few days to Dublin, to escape Thanksgiving, so that should be pretty good. It’s been a while since I had some time off. But as usual I leave you a bunch of music for you to enjoy!

Sobs: this great Singapore band I had recommended in the past recorded a live session for something called JUICE. The result is on Youtube, there is a lovely video of them performing their song “Girl” which I think everyone should check out! I believe they will be touring soon Japan alongside the super For Tracy Hyde.

Sexores: not sure who these Ecuadorians are. They hail from Quito and they credit themselves as numbers, not names. They do make some great dreamy songs though. Kind of synth-gaze if that’s a term that exists? I don’t know. But surely this is good stuff. Their record “East/West” is available as a limited 12″ in their Bandcamp.

My Raining Stars: “Manhattan” is the latest song by the brilliant French band that is fronted by Thierry Haliniak. This time around the sound of the jangly outfit sounds a bit more early 90s I think. I hope to see a new album by him in the future, especially as I missed his first one many years ago.

Golden Teardrops: two new songs by Ryan and Lei Marquez, our friends from Richmond, California! Or maybe not that new, but they are Bandcamp new. “Since You Came Along (Single version)” is of course the single version of the original that appeared on their album “Promises & Smiles” while “Boy, am I Worth the Trouble?” was recorded back in 2010. Nevertheless these are two lovely tracks!

Herlights: this Russian band have continued posting good songs on Bandcamp since the last time I featured them many months ago. I think I had just discovered them through their song “SHE”, now there are three more, “WET”, “Lost in the Autumn” and their latest “Fairy Tale”.  And I’m happy to revisit their page. These songs are great!

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There are no release dates for any of Les Fleurs releases on Discogs. That complicates things for my investigation. For my research. Listed are a 7″ single and two tapes. I wonder if that was all this French band released.

The 7″ came out on a label called Z & Zoé Records that was based in Auch. Auch is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. It is kind of near to Toulouse, an area that in the 90s had a good bunch of indiepop bands. Also just saw the photo of the Auch cathedral and looks amazing. I would love to visit one day. Anyways. They label was founded by Laurent Wencewiez and later joined him in the adventure Michel Lorteau. The label is still alive and I suppose the most known bands in their roster would be Marie Antoinette and Fandor. I do need to explore their releases.

Their 7″ was called “Trop Tôt Pour Aller Dormir” and had the catalog number ZAZ03. This makes me believe that the record was released sometime between 1995 and 1997, as that’s where it would fit in between the 2nd and 4th release on the catalogue. It would also make sense, the 90s was a good time for indiepop in France.

The 7″ had 5 songs. Two on the A side: “Elle N’Aime Pas Les Garçons” and “Monsieur Paul”. The B side had three: “Camille Préfère Attendre”, “Pilule” and “La Fête Est Finie”. Happily there are credits and we get to know the people that played in the record.

Nicolas Falez – vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano and programming (he also wrote the songs)
Sébastien Drique – guitar and backing vocals (he also took the photography for the sleeve)
Rudy Audant – bass, tambourine, shaker, backing vocals
Sonia Bricout – backing vocals

The two tapes that are listed might be demos. The first one is called “Vingt et Un Tours du Soleil” that included 6 tracks: “Les Pommiers en Fleurs”, “Alice et Moi”, “Les Choses Que L’On Souhaite, “Vu d’ici”, “Pilule” and “Je Suis Venue te Dire que Je M’en Vais”.

I really like the artwork of this tape, with its cut and paste feel, the colorful flowers and the textures. It looks like something I would have done when young at university. Really cool. And that same style is repeated on the other tape listed, the one called “Chanson(s) Pour Hier Soir)”.

This second tape includes 8 songs, 7 originals and one cover version, John Barry’s “The Persuaders”. The tracklist was as follows: “Wonderbra”, “Le Tour des Mondanités”, “Le Père Lachaise:, “Le Jardin”, “Es-tu une guêpe ou une abeille?”, “Elle & Lui (discotrash)”, “Chanson pour hier soir” and “The Persuaders”.

It is hard for me to read the credits on the tape, from a low quality scan on Discogs. I do notice that there are other band members listed. An Alex and a Laurent I can read. But I can’t figure out their last names.

The band appeared on many compilations during their lifetime. There are 9 listed on Discogs. On the compilation tape “After Nine” that was released in 1994 by Pâte A Modeler (PAM 002), the band contributed “Le Tour Des Mondanités” and “3 Minutes De Parfaite Stupidité”.  I have to say I am very curious about all of these tapes, labels, and bands, that are part of the compilation cassette scene from the 90s in France. Would love to have access to them someway.

Another 1994 tape the band had presence in was “Quatre-quarts” that was put together by Le Taotu Colérique (C94). Three songs by Les Fleurs were included “Carol a New York”, “Trois Minutes de Parfaite Stupidité” and “Je Te Trouve un Peu Trop Sérieuse”.

In 1996 the band would appear on a CD compilation called “Cat’alogue 96” that was released by Presto! (CAT 96) on CD. The band just contributed one song for this album, “Wonderbra”. The year after, 1997, the band contributes “Le Skaï Des Trains Corails” and “Chanson Pour Hier Soir” to the “L’Océane” CD compilation that was released by Pop Earth (PE 002). Both of these compilations are filled with bands I don’t know much about!

In 2000, a year were CDs were reigning supreme, the band appears on a tape comp called “Eden Love” that was released by A Secret Song. Two songs by the band are included “Wonderbra” and “Elle & Lui”.

Those are all the compilations that we can pinpoint a year of release. But there are four more. On the “Plouf” compilation (which I believe has been mentioned on the blog before) that was released by Les Tartines, the band contributes the song “Les Pommiers en Fleurs”. Then on the always interesting Shiny Sunset label from Italy (who I tried to interview with no luck) they had the song “Vu D’ici” on the “A Glittering Christmas” tape comp.

Their song “Les Pommiers en Fleurs” also appear on the “Sassy” tape which doesn’t seems not to have a label but did come with a fanzine. This tape included many great bands from the period like Girl of the World, Silly Pillows or Vicarage Garden among others.

Lastly. on the Pâte A Modeler tape compilation “Tango” the band included two songs “Le Père Lachaise” and “La Fête Est Finie”.

I look for what other bands the members of Les Fleurs might have been in. So, Sonia Bricout had been in a band called Superflu and Ghost Rhythms. Sébastien Drique had also been in Superflu as well as Nicolas Falez. It does look like Superflu was a much bigger band, releasing three albums and a handful of singles between the late nineties and 2007.

I find a PDF with the biography of Superflu. Here there’s a mention of Les Fleurs, telling how they first started. It seems that it all starts in the summer of 1993 when Nicolas was recording songs on his own. Then in 1994 he meets Sonia and Sébastien while attending Journalism School in the city of Lille. Okay great, we have a place they were from! It seems that Gauthier Montury joins the band in 1995 but after that half of them move to Paris, and that’s when they change their name to Superflu.

I keep digging and I find that Nicolas is now in a band called Fontaine Wallace.

It seems there is quite a bit of information about Superflu, with several articles in the famous Les Inrockuptibles. But about Les Fleurs, really nothing. I found a bunch of songs on Youtube though and that was fantastic. Check out “Alice et Moi” or the song I’m sharing here on the blog and you’ll understand my excitement. Who doesn’t love a good song with boy/girl vocals, right?

So I wonder, my French friends, my friends from Lille, if you remember them? I’ve tried many times to do interviews and learn more about French bands on the blog, but only a few have gotten back to me. Would be great to learn more about Les Fleurs and also about that healthy 90s scene that existed in taht country!

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Listen
Les Fleurs – Elle N’Aime Pas Les Garçons