Mon Dieu! The big news story in France today is the revelation of President Sarkozy's new partner - model/singer Carla Bruni. The pair were officially photographed together during an official visit to Disneyland Paris. Bruni happens to bear a strong resemblance to Sarkozy's ex-wife Cecilia, who divorced him shortly after he was elected President.

Apart from the showbiz gossip aspect, the story is causing strong reactions here because it means that Bruni has, de facto, associated herself with the ruling right-wing conservative class. Sarko is either loved or loathed in France - and artists who come out in favour of him tend to be pitching to the white moneyed classes.

There are two types of Sarko-fans among France's showbiz community. On the one hand, you have long-time stars like Johnny Hallyday whose demographic is the traditional middle-aged provincial Frenchperson. On the other there's the new breed of superstar DJs like Martin Solveig and David Guetta, both of whom played fundraising shows for Sarkozy's UMP party during his presidential campaign. Low-taxation policies attract the Parisian bling-bling, nouveau-riche lifestyle that Guetta embodies.

Unlike in today's apathetic Ireland, France's young people tend to be openly political, and an artist's political views have serious repercussions for his/her sales. A rapper who supports Sarko (as some old-school has-beens like Doc Gyneco have done) instantly blows his street-cred. Bruni, whose two albums of poetic acoustic ballads would have appealed to the left-leaning bobo (bourgeois bohemian) Paris liberal, may just have scuttled her audience. But then again, if she marries the President of France she's hardly going to need to make another album.

As for your blogger, definitely not enamoured with Sarko, he just has to grit his teeth and stand by the favourable review he gave to Bruni's first album, 'Quelqu'un M'a Dit', back in 2004. Here's the title track, which is impossible to listen to now without the mental picture of her whispering it in the ear of her little Sarko:

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Journalist and blogger Adam Maguire has kicked off a campaign to get Tom Waits classic "Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis" to the top of the Irish charts this Christmas. Quite right too.

For a purchase of the song to count for the chart you need to buy it by this coming Thursday (Dec 20) from any of the outlets listed below (all of which are used by IRMA when they compile the charts each week). I've culled these links from the Official Blog Adam has set up for this initiative, I've just split out which services work with what type of platform.

Indulge me a moment as I have a moan. It pains me greatly to see there are no DRM-free (Digital Rights Management) downloads that are recognised by IRMA when they compile their weekly charts. But that I am sure is a temporary state of affairs. By next Christmas I suspect things will have changed on that front as the music industry progresses, as it has begun to do, towards the realisation that using DRM to restrict what music consumers can do with a purchased download is a mug's game.

iPhones & iPods:

• Apple iTunes* - 99c, works on any iPod or iPhone (please note the link will launch iTunes)

Windows PCs only:

• Eircom Music Club - €1.20, works on any 'Plays for Sure' device / €1.40, works on mobile phone.
• Sony Connect* - €1.29, works on any Sony device (please note the link only works in Internet Explorer and you will need to install the SonicStage application to download song).
• EasyMusic - €1.35, works on any 'Plays for Sure' device (please note you may have to change your location to Ireland before purchasing as the site's default is for the UK).
• Wippit - €1.39, works on any 'Plays for Sure' device (please note you may have to change your location to Ireland before purchasing as the site's default is for the UK).

Get downloading! And once you've done that you can check out the Facebook page for getting Tom Waits to number 1 in Ireland this Christmas.

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Back in 2003 I stumbled across an internet-based radio station called Accuradio. As can often be the case with internet radio 'stations', to call it radio was a bit of a stretch - there were no DJs and with a click of your mouse you could move onto the next track they had lined up. Anyways, back then over a period of about a week I tuned in regularly to their American indie channel and discovered a whole bunch of acts that up to then I had been oblivious too such as The Shins, Modest Mouse, Blonde Redhead, Death Cab for Cutie, Built to Spill and Daniel Johnston. One other act that caught my ear that week on Accuradio was Japancakes.

Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Japancakes - on paper - sound like they’d be your worst sonic nightmare: at their outset they were performing full 45 minute gigs using only a D chord. As you do, like. Once they got over such flights of pretence they settled into a country laced, post-rock, instrumental ambient groove and between 1999 and 2004 released 5 albums. Central to their sound was their use of cello and pedal steel guitar. Once you’d heard them once you’d recognise their stuff a mile off. Not for everyone but I immediately fell for their charms.

Over the years I managed to get all their albums but there was always precious little up to date info about them to be found on the interweb. Certainly they had no website or MySpace page that I could find. I just assumed they had split up and the only electronic trail they left behind was a few reviews on the likes of Pitchfork, the (very occasional) album that would crop up for sale on eBay. The last thing I expected was a brand new album from them.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to me earlier this week when I heard that Japancakes were still in existence and they had released, back in October, not one but two albums. But the real jaw dropper was to read that one of these albums was a complete cover, from head to glorious toe, of what CLUAS readers voted to be the second greatest Irish album of all time: My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’. We're talking a cover of the entire album. I was floored (and also gutted at my latent inability to keep up with the cool'n'happening, it taking two whole months for it to appear on my radar?)  I quickly made up for lost time and, like a good disciple, within 10 minutes of the news getting to me I was listening to the tracks on their MySpace page and had duly ordered the CD.

As their take on Loveless has yet to arrive in the post I’ve so far been exposed only to a handful of tracks from it that are knocking around the internet. It was never going to eclipse the original but, rest assured, this record is no gimmick, certainly not a case of The-Mike-Flowers-Pops-Orchestra-does-MBV. It's an intriguing, painstakingly arranged record with moments of occasional brilliance. Faithful to the original it also manages to tease new sides out of Kevin Shields' labour of love. One of the most interesting things was to see how well Japancakes version of 'Loomer' (check it out on the Japancakes MySpace page) would fit alongside Kevin Shields' tracks on the Lost in Translation soundtrack.

If you're holding your breath waiting for the recently reunited MBV to announce a few Irish dates in 2008 you could do worse than kill a bit of time checking out a few tracks from this record. You will either love it or loathe it. And my bet is on the former.

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Key Notes is a wee bit delicate after its Christmas party last night but still dragged itself (literally!) to the nearest PC to bring you the third instalment of the 'critically aclaimed' Key Note Speaker.  Ruairi Ferrie (multi instrumentalist and vocals) of Dark Room Notes has taken time out of a busy schedule that includes recording for the new series of Other Voices to become this week's speaker. 

Favourite Songs from the Past Year
Roscoe - Midlake
Atlas  - Battles
Phantom Limb - The Shins
Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake
Let The Freak Come Out At Night - Spilly Walker
Beautiful Burnout -  Underworld

Favourite Song Ever
Cars and Girls - Prefab Sprout

Favourite Dark Room Notes Song
Let's Light Fires

Favourite New Band/Artist
Bat for Lashes

Favourite Band/Artist Ever
Talking Heads

Favourite Gig This Year
!!! at Electric Picnic

Favourite Gig Ever
Predictably - Arcade Fire at Electric Picnic 2005

Favourite Dark Room Notes Gig Ever
Month of Sundays in Nimmos in Galway in November

Favourite Venue
Glenstal Abbey

Favourite Piece of Musical Equipment
88mm plectrum

Download or CD/Cassette/Record
Bring back cassettes, and the mixtape

Favourite TV Show at the Moment
The Mighty Boosh

Best Movie Ever Seen
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads/Jonathan Demme

Greatest Book Ever Read
The Moor's Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie

Most Listened to Radio Show
Small Hours - Donal Dineen

What’s in Store for Dark Room Notes Next
We've a big Christmas gig in Whelan's on Dec 21st.  After a small Christmas break we'll launch straight into recording our debut album.

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Christmas, a time for religious celebration, gluttonous overeating and overdrinking, frenzied spending, domestic rows. And, best of all, best-of lists. Remember to vote in the CLUAS polls for Best Album (domestic league) and Best Album (Champions League).

What's more, like in 2005 and 2006, your Paris correspondent will propose the Best French Music of the year: our regular readers may like to browse through our archives and let us know what should be in our final ten, which we'll post in the last week of the year.

A late charge for BFM-of-07 comes from Cocoon (left), a boy-girl duo whose charming acoustic pop has clearly been profoundly influenced by that of Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens and especially Elliott Smith.

And if that wasn't recommendation enough, they've only gone and called their debut album 'All My Friends Died In A Plane Crash' and released it on Sober & Gentle Records. This we must listen to!

And oh! it's acoustic pop to make you swoon. Pick of the bunch is a song called 'On My Way' - a melodic, lovelorn, happy-go-lucky ballad that's been touched by the spirit of 'XO'-era Elliott Smith. In other words, wonderful stuff.

The Cocoon pair - Marc Daumail and Morgane Imbeaud - are currently touring around France and Belgium and plan to spend April recording in Nashville. No news of any Irish dates or release yet, but with such excellent English-language songs it's surely just a matter of time.

Check out those charming tunes on Cocoon's MySpace page. Here's the video for 'On My Way' - as if the song wasn't adorable enough, the video features a cartoon panda:

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Interpol (live in The RDS, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: There are certain ingredients that, when combined in appropriate quantities, make the gig going experience more enjoyable. Personally, I find the best gigs combine a good helping of cold beer, a sprinkling of atmosphere and a bucketful of songs, all mixed together in a decent venue. It's a pity then that Interpol only got two of the four right tonight, and they weren't even serving the beer.

The Cluas Verdict? 3 out of 10

Full Review:
For weeks there has been a little voice inside my head telling me not to go to Interpol tonight. As is often the recommended course of action, I ignored it. I also ignored the fact that the gig was taking place in the RDS a venue that, despite attending more gigs than my otologist would deem safe, I had yet to attend. You see, the Royal Dublin Society and I have history.

 Those of you who’ve left school or college recently will be more than familiar with the RDS as the designated venue for a succession of dull employment and further education seminars. I used to hate these days with a passion matched only by my love of Athletic Bilbao and music.  However, it appeared that I was destined to be dragged along by one Career Guidance Councillor after another. ‘What would you like to do after college?’ they’d ask. No matter my reply, from ‘I’d like to herd lama’s in the Peru’ to ‘I want to spend my working day writing for CLUAS', said Councillor would say ‘Oh, great, well there’s the perfect seminar on in the RDS this weekend, I’ll bring you.’

 And that’s what the RDS is; a seminar venue. It has all the charm of a mugger and all the subtIety of Las Vegas.  It’s not appropriate as a music venue and it’s not an appropriate setting for seeing your favourite band. Up until tonight that’s exactly what Interpol were, but after a lack lustre performance I’m no longer sure. The songs were tight and the sound was excellent, but if I wanted to hear Interpol play the songs exactly as I'd heard them on my MP3 on the way in, I’d have stayed on the bus.

 A set that started so promisingly with Pioneer to The Falls and Obstacle 1 just failed to ignite. Anytime momentum built, such as when crowd favourites Evil and The Heinrich Maneuver were played back to back, Paul Banks and Co. would conspire to pull back and play a slower track. It was almost as if they were afraid of bringing the roof down, as Kings of Leon managed earlier this week.  Banks looked as if he'd been dragged along to one of the aforementioned seminars and seemed more intent on racing through the set-list – 15 songs in one hour – than building up a rapport with the audience. Cool, disinterested stares are all well and good for the front of Rolling Stone, but when hundreds of punters have paid close to €50 to see you the least they can expect back is an acknowledgement of their presence.

Despite all of this, the performance of each individual song cannot be faulted; Slow Hands and No I in Threesome being particular highlights. But, as those of you who attend more than one gig a year know, it takes more than just good songs to make a good gig. Great gigs, the ones that leave you grinning like an idiot when you think about them weeks, months, even years later, leave you covered in sweat, down on your knees and begging for more.  Tonight, Interpol showed up and delivered a performance that was as forgettable as that other thing, you know the one, with the hair, no?

Overall, as my Guidance Councillor said far too often, ‘Must try harder.’

There are certain ingredients that, when combined in appropriate quantities, make the gig going experience more enjoyable. Personally, I find the best gigs combine a good helping of cold beer, a sprinkling of atmosphere and a bucketful of songs, all mixed together in a decent venue. It’s a pity then that Interpol only got two of the four right tonight, and they weren’t even serving the beer.

Steven O'Rourke

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 Music fans from the pre-Britpop/grunge days (late '80s to early '90s) may remember 'Rapido', the quirky and innovative Anglo-French TV show hosted by comedy Frenchman Antoine de Caunes (and scripted by legendary rock journalist Nick Kent, resident in Paris).

Anyway, from the archives of 'Rapido' here's a topical interview with Kevin Shields, now back in the spotlight following the recent announcement of a reformed My Bloody Valentine tour.

The MBV leader is here talking up ‘Loveless’ in 1991 and explaining how it took all of THREE YEARS to make! Little did we suspect that this was Shields at flat-out working pace.

Things to note: (1) Kev’s Dublin accent, thus settling for ever the old MBV-Irish-or-not argument, and (2) his hyperactive mile-a-minute personality, which he clearly brings to MBV productivity.

My Bloody Valentine will play concerts in London, Manchester and Glasgow in June 2008, with reports of a US tour to follow. No Irish date has been announced as yet. Shields has spoken of a new MBV album to be released imminently, but at the time of writing no details have been confirmed.

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This edition features A Lazarus Soul; the Dublin band whose recent single, Day I Disappeared, had those righteous boys and girls in Sinn Fein up in arms (if you'll forgive the pun).  Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars, the bands sophomore album has also been nominated for the CLUAS Album of the Year 2007.  Here, lead singer Brian Brannigan becomes the second Key Note Speaker. 

Favourite Songs from the Past Year
Racing Like a Pro - The National; Pass This On - The Knife; Little King December - Pat Barrett; Lost & Found - Future Kings of Spain

Favourite Song Ever
I could never pick just one out but Horseleg Swastikas - Silver Jews and Sunday Morning - The Velvets would be both up there

Favourite A Lazarus Soul Song
Trip Switch

Favourite New Band/Artist
The Ruby Tailights.  They released one of the best Irish albums of all time last year, Dressing Up

Favourite Band/Artist Ever
The Smiths or The Fall

Favourite Gig This Year
The National in The Olympia or The Rolling Stones in Slane

Favourite Gig Ever
So many to choose from.  The first time The Flaming Lips played Vicar Street; Julian Cope in Kilmainham Hospital in 1993 and Whipping Boy in the Project Arts Centre many moons ago

Favourite A Lazarus Soul Gig Ever
I prefer playing clubs.  We played Radiator with The Laundry Shop and also Death Via Satellite in Doran's.  Two of my favourites of those that I can recall

Favourite Venue
I think seeing the likes of Smog or Sparklehorse in Whelan's is incredible.  It's such a small venue for such legendary bands.  My favourite venue to play would be Kennedy's on Westland Row or The Hub

Favourite Piece of Musical Equipment
My Yamaha CSX1 Keyboard

Download or CD/Cassette/Record
Vinyl, always vinyl.  I only buy records and then steal MP3 versions for my iPod

Favourite TV Show at the Moment
I'm a big fan of cinema and DVD's over TV but I was a huge fan of The Sopranos.  It feels like a part of me has died now that it's finished

Best Movie Ever Seen
Naked - Mike Leigh; Nil by Mouth; The Last Great Wilderness; Willy Wonka

Greatest Book Ever Read
The Bible

Most Listened to Radio Show
I don't listen to much radio anymore but when I do it's Phantom

What’s in Store for A Lazarus Soul Next
Me & Maradona Dunne will be the final single from Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars and will be released in late January with some gigs to promote it.  We'll start rehearsing new material in the New Year and we'll hopefully try out some new songs at those gigs

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