Glastonbury 2016 - The Ones To Watch - T-16 Days: Christine and The Queens

Heloise Letissier is something of a superstar in her native France, where the original version of her album 'Chaleur Humaine' has spent nearly two years in the charts and she plays to packed out audiences in massive venues. And since the revamped version came out this year, with some English lyrics and new songs added, the rest of the world is also taking her to their hearts, as you can see from this brilliant performance of 'Tilted' at Coachella a couple of months ago.

Her cool electronics and Gallic chic blend perfectly together, and she manages to combine some fascination and thought provoking lyrics with some proper full-on pop melodies.



It's a tricky thing to have an intelligent message to get across while at the same time wanting people to dance and have fun but it's something she pulls of with aplomb. And if you want just one example of how effortlessly cool she is take a listen to 'Paradis Perdus' below, in which she takes a 1973 track by French singer Christophe, splices it with 'Heartless' by Kanye West' and makes a track that sounds totally her own.


Tough calls will have to be made as she's on the Other Stage on Friday while Skepta is on The Pyramid, but I think mon coeur est avec la femme Francaise.

Remix of the Day: 'Teach Me (Château Marmont Remix)' by Joey Bada$$ feat. Kiesza

Fresh from France and fly as fuck, this sultry, sexy remix slows down the beat but turns up the heat. The dancefloor filler becomes a bedroom thriller as they change the mood and make 'dancing' a euphemism for a much more intimate behaviour. If you play this out in a club its hard to believe that people won't actually be having full on sex by the end of it, It's hot and horny as hell. Even better, you can download this slice of sexiness for free if you follow the link below.

Remix of the Day: 'The Way To The Forest (Ibibio Sound Machine Remix)' by Francois & The Atlas Mountains

Two acts with some of the longest band names around combine to create a fantastic voyage through French Africa. The Marvellous Ibibio Sound Machine take the understated African rhythms of the original and hype them up to 10, in the process creating one of the most summery and upbeat tracks you'll have heard all year.

Remix of the Day: 'Chloroform (Gopher & Devin Remix)' by Phoenix

The perfect way to get your daily fix of French 'je ne sais quoi', especially if you also have a penchant for robots (and who doesn't?). No need to get your Euros out either as this is a free download - it makes the perfect amuse bouche for their album 'Bankrupt'

New mixtape: DJ Cull presents Trans-Europe Express

If you were listening to Barricade Radio last night you would've heard this played out. Cloud and Owl asked me to do a one hour guest mix for their Insurgent Souls radio show, and this is what I came up with.

I'd heard a couple of tunes recently where the rhythm reminded me of the movement of a train, so I came up with the idea of a themed mix for a train ride round Europe. There's 11 tracks, from 9 different countries, that take you on a journey through cities and countryside. The full tracklist is below, together with the places that the tracks represent. To listen to the mix just click on the picture above, or for a cheeky free download right click and 'save as'.

1. East India Youth - Hinterland; London, England
2. René Roussel - Caramel (Plancher de L'Usine Remix by DJ Cull); Paris, France
3. Seams - Rilo; Berlin, Germany
4. Soulwax - Another Excuse (DFA Remix); Ghent, Belgium
5. Clapan - The Back of Silence; Krasnodar, Russia
6. Kraftwerk - Metropolis; Düsseldorf, Germany
7. Trentemøller - Deceive (feat. Sune Rose Wagner); Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Vår - Boy; Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Gidge - For Seoul (Applescal Remix); Umea, Sweden
10. Sau Poler - Rutes; Barcelona, Spain
11. Koreless - Never; Glasgow, Scotland

Remix of the Day: 'SOS In Bel Air (Jackson and His Computer Band Remix)' by Phoenix

This is one of those remixes where I've never heard the original, and I'm not sure if I'll ever need to, given that this is just under 10 minutes of near perfection. Great beats, fantastic synths, airy vocals, tinkly pianos, squelchy bass notes - it's got all of this and more.



I'm not sure which bits Messieurs Phoenix are responsibly for, and which bits belong to Jackson and his technological band, but the combination is fantastic. It reminds me a bit of the Time & Space Dubs of Jagwar Ma's album last year (if you haven't got them you must track them down) and makes me long for a whole album of Phoenix remixes.

Single of the Month: January - 'A Selfish Man / Tsunami Blues ('Cause of Me) by Francis Lung

In a new series of blog posts, designed to bring back the halcyon days of record releases, each month I'll be selecting a single worthy of honouring with the 'Single of the Month' award. The rules for consideration as pretty simple - it has to have been released during the month, and there has to have been a physical release; 7", 12", cassette, it doesn't matter which, but you have to be able to hold it in your hands.

January's award goes to the début single by Francis Lung (ex of Wu Lyf) for the stunning beautiful pair of tracks contained within this old-fashioned slice of black plastic. Released on the French label Atelier Ciseaux and carefully packaged and posted from Paris, this is the sort of quality, mature songwriting that you might be forgiven for thinking had all but evaporated from today's music industry. 'A Selfish Man' clearly tells the tale of the Wu Lyf break-up over a fairly upbeat backing and some precisely picked guitars, while 'Tsunami Blues' is a mournful, acoustic number with some fantastically subtle slide guitar. Lyrically this one ponders whether one man could be the cause of some destruction and chaos - another allegorical reference to the end of the band perhaps?

Bonus points are awarded for the fact that the single came with an inserted lyric sheet, not to mention the hand cut heart of thanks (see photo below).

You can listen to both sides of the single below. To order it from Atelier Ciseaux click here - but be quick as there aren't many left!

New music: 'Caramel (Plancher de L'Usine Remix by DJ Cull)' by René Roussel

The original of this track is on a brilliant album called 'Cosmic Machine that I bought last year at the Independent Label Market (see report here for details). This is one of my favourites on the record, but ever since I heard it I wanted to beef up a but and take out some of the cheesier keyboards. Here's the result, I hope you like it.

Track / Download of the Day: Darkside live in Paris

Recorded live on Halloween 2013, this is nearly an hour of Darkside that really shows off the best parts of their recent album 'Psychic'. Demonstrating how their music evolves when they play it live, it's the perfect way to sample their sound, especially as you can grab the whole thing for free. Check it out below.

New music: 'The Summer Ghosts of Radio Deux' by David Holmes

Compiled by the legendary producer, DJ and soundtrack compiler, this mixtape is apparently inspired by an underground pirate radio show that he heard from Paris in 1972. It's clearly been a labour of love for him, so give it an hour of your time and sink into its luxuriousness. It's an audio feature film for widescreen imaginations.

You can download it for free too, it would make an excellent companion to a cross-country journey.