Counter-Currents
  • Archives
  • Authors
  • T&C
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
  • Webzine
  • Books
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Donate
  • Paywall
  • Crypto
  • Mailing List
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
    • Main feed
    • Comments feed
    • Podcast feed

LEVEL2

  • Webzine
  • Books
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Donate
  • Paywall
  • Crypto
  • Mailing List
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
    • Main feed
    • Comments feed
    • Podcast feed
  • Archives
  • Authors
  • T&C
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
Print
October 19, 2018 3 comments

French Synth Pop & an Opportunity in a Musical Project

David Yorkshire

Jean-Benoît Dunckel (left) & Nicolas Godin of Air.

1,359 words

Having driven the length and breadth of Western Europe and in parts of the East, one thing has struck me on the long hours on the road: French radio is probably the worst in Europe. Most of it consists of bourgeois chatter, like their television. French radio also has a commitment to “French” songs, largely meaning songs in the French language and generally meaning rap music, which is not French at all. This has been going on for quite some time; during the 1980s there seemed to be a transition from the indigenous French tradition of the chanson, a modernized form of lyric-driven song that traced its roots as far back as the ancient troubadours of the Middle Ages and sung by the likes of Jaques Brel, Édith Piaf, Dalida, Léo Ferré, and Charles Aznavour, who died on Monday; a transition to Black American influenced rap and hip-hop that gained in ascendancy just as the non-white population began to explode in mainland France. Zouk also rose at the time, coming as it did from the French Antilles and was organic to that section of the population, but synth pop, which emerged during the 1970s, was completely overlooked.

France is a difficult proposition. As a country, it is a political rather than a natural construct, an amalgam of many peoples who are meant to subscribe to a single post-1789 ideology. In the east there are Germans, the south-east Italians, the south-west Basques and Catalans, the west Britons and Danes, the north Flemish. This is before we start with Outre-mer. One has to realize that Outre-mer is not made up of colonial entities, but departments of France. This means that the Negroid and Mulatto populations of Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique, and Réunion are just as French and perceived as such as the white Europeans on the mainland. Then there are the Arab French from North Africa, because again, Algeria for example was not considered a colony, but a part of France in all legal and political matters. Many Arab Algerians fought for France in the War of Independence and moved to mainland France after the war, because they held French values, and Arabs who had fought for France were in any case tortured to death by the victors. That is the theory. In practice, each group looks after its own ethnic interests – with the exception, of course, of the white Europeans who created France both pre- and post-1789. Back to our subject, and one can see why a form of music that was white European might have been disprivileged.

It is of course speculation to an extent, but it cannot be denied that non-white ethnic groups have all had their radio stations that cater for their musical tastes, whereas whites have not, unless one counts the classical stations Radio Classique, Accent 4, and Musique. NRJ, Mouv’, Skyrock, Black Box, Urban Hit, and Ado FM (renamed Swigg this year) are dedicated to rap, hip-hop, R&B, and black electronic dance music; Radio France Maghreb and Orient cater for Arab tastes; Latina caters for Latin American and creole music. Mainstream stations also tend towards contemporary non-white music in the way that BBC Radio 1 (and increasingly Radio 2) has done. Acts like IAM and MC Solaar have had number 1 hits and pushed black power messages by using the Sklavenmoral of affecting humility and claiming to be downtrodden and oppressed by the colonial whites of the past while simultaneously self-aggrandizing on racial lines. They were also aided and abetted during the 1980s and early ’90s by Jewish culture minister Jack Lang, who publicly declared that he hated classical music and loved hip-hop and rap.

French white electronica probably owes its limited success to Jean-Michel Jarre, who was fortunate in that he was born into music aristocracy, his father being the composer and conductor Maurice Jarre, and was educated in part by Jeannine Rueff and the electronic and digital music wizard Pierre Schaeffer of the Conservatoire de Paris, which opened doors for him from the beginning. He also has the right politics, meaning the globalist Left politics. It has to be said, though, that his fame was also due to his not inconsiderable talents, and after early, modest successes, the albums Oxygène (1976) and Équinoxe (1978) were groundbreaking in the genre, putting him at the forefront of the European pioneers, along with the likes of Brian Eno, Conny Plank, and Kraftwerk. To a lesser extent, there was also Alain Goraguer, who turned to electronica for the soundtrack to the prize-winning animated science-fiction film La Planète sauvage of 1973. Yet France ignored all those who followed in their wake. The list of names marks their anonymity: Philippe Guerre, Dominique Guiot, Patrick Vian, Teddy Lasry, and Jean-Pierre Decerf and the bands Ose and TGV, are just some of the names you have never heard of. Whereas Britain had the likes of Brian Eno and Germany had the likes of Conny Plank to mentor and promote emerging talent, the French had no outlet, and by the early to mid-1980s, barring Jarre, French electronica was no more.

A decade later, from nowhere, the band Air appeared. Having had no real French electronic tradition to follow, they created a French interpretation of British and German electronic music by fusing their synth-based and experimental artistic influences like Brian Eno, David Bowie, Joy Division, Cluster, and Kraftwerk with French inspirations Maurice Ravel and Michel Legrand. The result is European electronica with a distinct French flavor. Unsurprisingly, French radio ignored it until the band became successful in the UK, forcing it onto the French airwaves. Air’s debut EP after being signed by British record label Virgin, Premiers Symptômes, charted at number 12 in the UK and failed to chart in their native country, but their first full album, Moon Safari, became such a smash in the UK that it could not be ignored elsewhere and went on to go gold in France, but double platinum in the UK. While they did not have the same level of success in the 2000s as in the late 1990s, neither were they a flash in the pan, and have released several decent to good albums since.

Air has sometimes been labelled as part of the French House musical genre, which is rather a tenuous label in their case. Certainly, French House was very popular over a decade from the late ’90s, with bands like The Superman Lovers, Stardust, Cassius, Justice, and Daft Punk finding fame on both sides of the Channel Tunnel and usually writing lyrics in English. Perhaps one reason the genre was allowed to flourish in France was the racial as well as musical crossover, in that the electronica was blended with house, disco, and funk. Daft Punk have really moved ever further towards electronic funk and disco in the last few years and are becoming ever more commercial. Equally, there is nothing that could be called quintessentially French about their music and, while it is above the average level of pop, it is equally as rootless.

What is interesting now is that pure European electronica has moved back towards the pre-house early 1980s for inspiration, resulting in the retrofuturist synthwave and its harder-edged (both politically and musically) Alt Right offshoot fashwave, led by artists like Xurious and Behemoth. Yet in these subgenres, one can hear a relationship to the French synth music outlined above, even though I doubt the composers of this contemporary music have heard of their predecessors. This is what we mean by a racial consciousness in relation to aesthetics.

And now onto the most important part of this article: my partner in thoughtcrime, Neil Westwood, has begun a music project to which I have contributed a few lyrics. As the piece above shows, the tone is generally more ambient than that of fashwave and the lyrics are more thought-provoking and non-political. It goes without saying, though, that both music and lyrics are inherently Eurocentric. We do, however, need a singer, as neither Neil nor I are gifted in that department, so please contact us in the comments section or by e-mail to submissions (at) counter-currents.com  if you are willing and able to join this unique cultural project. Infamy awaits!

This article originally appeared at the Mjolnir Magazine Website. Be sure to check out Mjolnir‘s YouTube channel, Mjolnir at the Movies, which features film commentary from a Right-wing pagan perspective.

Related

  • 20 Years of Radiohead’s Kid A

  • Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft’s Alles ist gut

  • Washed Out’s Life of Leisure

  • Bright Eyes’ Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was

  • Venetian Snares’ Rossz Csillag Alatt Született

  • Taylor Swift’s Folklore

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 282
    More Culture-Jamming with Morgoth

  • The Birds
    Or: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Coronavirus (But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock & Heidegger), Part One

Tags

David Yorkshireelectronic musicimplicitly white musicMjolnir Magazine

Previous

« What is the Alternative Right? Part 2

Next

The Postville Pogrom – that Nobody Admits was a Pogrom »

3 comments

  1. Max West says:
    October 19, 2018 at 8:59 am

    Every time I hear Air’s “La Femme D’Argent”, I am instantly transported to a better place.

  2. bertbert says:
    October 19, 2018 at 6:53 pm

    Justice were always way past implicit.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gaspard_Aug%C3%A9_and_Xavier_de_Rosnay_(Justice).jpg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWaWsgBbFsA

  3. Gnome Chompsky says:
    October 21, 2018 at 7:49 am

    David,

    Thank you for the post, I would like to hear some, both the French and nat. ones that I had not heard of before.

    As for J.M. Jarre, the works you cite are hardly synth-pop, but more in the vein of prog-rock figures doing synth-only work at times, like Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, and some of Wakeman’s solo work.

    There was a good Commodore 64 game, Suicide Express (double view, control the train switching tracks on half, control the train firing missiles at attackers in the other), the soundtrack was Oxygene, licensed from JMJ, I know that he did not do the programming, but may have programmed the notes and timing into whatever system the developers were using. I suspect it would not be difficult to find a good example of it, and recommended.

    With the SID chip, it does become synth-pop.

    For me, J.M.Jarre’s startling work of synth-pop was Zoolook, or Zoolookology, things he was doing on that did not re-appear for some years, and then in unfortunate places (e.g. in Neneh Cherry’s early solo work, notably Buffalo Stance).

    As for French synth-pop in general, there was always Telex, yes I know and knew that they are Francophone Belgians, but most assumed they were French at the time. They were big in France, too.

    Final one that you may not have heard of, Metal Urbain, electro-punk, not synth-pop, but also way ahead of their time. French ethnicity and French citizens, so actually French.

    The only comparison I could make is to early Chrome, but without the latter’s psychedelic touches (not that I do not love Chrome!), and much more pace.

    I would try out for vocals, but too geographically distant, probably a little older than you would want, and if, as seems the case, the music is more synth-prog than synth-pop, voice is unsuitable. You need somebody with serious voice training and a very wide range.

    Wishing you well in your musical adventure, and hope that you will take the time to check a few of the points for ref. that I was posting above.

Comments are closed.

If you have Paywall access,
simply login first to see your comment auto-approved.

Note on comments privacy & moderation

Your email is never published nor shared.

Comments are moderated. If you don't see your comment, please be patient. If approved, it will appear here soon. Do not post your comment a second time.

Recent posts
  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 337
    Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Fróði Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

  • Peak Redpill

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    7

  • Darwin & Conflict

    Morris van de Camp

    2

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 336
    Interview with Jared Taylor

    Counter-Currents Radio

    9

  • The Worst Week Yet:
    April 11-17, 2021

    Jim Goad

    15

  • The Searchers

    Trevor Lynch

    19

  • Fundraiser Update, this Weekend’s Livestreams, & A New Way to Support Counter-Currents

    Greg Johnson

    3

  • Two Nationalisms

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    44

  • A Robertson Roundup: 
    Remembering Wilmot Robertson
    (April 16, 1915 – July 8, 2005)

    Margot Metroland

    15

  • Remembering Dominique Venner
    (April 16, 1935 – May 21, 2013)

    Greg Johnson

    11

  • I’m Not a Racist, But. . .

    Jim Goad

    44

  • The Father

    Steven Clark

    5

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 335
    Dark Enlightenment

    Counter-Currents Radio

    11

  • Are We Ready For “White Boy Summer”?

    Robert Hampton

    33

  • Can the Libertarian Party Become a Popular Vanguard?

    Beau Albrecht

    17

  • Every Phoenix Needs Its Ashes

    Mark Gullick

    24

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 334
    Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Fróði Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

    2

  • If I Were Black, I’d Vote Democrat

    Spencer J. Quinn

    14

  • The Silence of the Scam:
    The Killing of Dr. Lesslie

    Stephen Paul Foster

    6

  • Proud of Being Guilty:
    Fighting the Stigma of Lawfare in Sweden & Winning

    HMF Medaljen

    6

  • The Halifax Grooming Gang Survivor

    Morris van de Camp

    22

  • Get on the Right Side of the Paywall

    Greg Johnson

    12

  • The Worst Week Yet:
    April 4-10, 2021

    Jim Goad

    13

  • Forthcoming from Counter-Currents:
    Jonathan Bowden’s Reactionary Modernism

    Jonathan Bowden

  • Remembering Prince Philip

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    16

  • Remembering Jonathan Bowden
    (April 12, 1962–March 29, 2012)

    Greg Johnson

    7

  • Today’s Livestream:
    Ask Counter-Currents with Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Frodi Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

  • Paywall Launch, Monday, April 12th

    Greg Johnson

    10

  • Galaxy Quest:
    From Cargo Cult to Cosplay

    James J. O'Meara

    13

  • Biden to Whites: Drop Dead!

    Spencer J. Quinn

    22

  • Politicians Didn’t Invent Racial Divisions

    Robert Hampton

    7

  • London: No City for White Men

    Jim Goad

    51

  • Republicans Should Stop Pandering to Blacks

    Lipton Matthews

    18

  • Quotations From Chairman Rabble
    Kenneth Roberts: A Patriotic Curmudgeon

    Steven Clark

    6

  • Remembering Emil Cioran
    (April 8, 1911–June 20, 1995)

    Guillaume Durocher

    5

  • An Interview with Béla Incze:
    The Man Who Destroyed a BLM Statue

    Béla Incze

    15

  • Heidegger’s History of Metaphysics, Part Six:
    G. W. Leibniz’s Will-to-Power

    Collin Cleary

    12

  • The Importance of Survival Skills

    Marcus Devonshire

    22

  • The Oslo Incident

    Greg Johnson

    2

  • Mihai Eminescu:
    Romania’s Morning Star

    Amory Stern

    1

  • Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World & Me

    Beau Albrecht

    21

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 333
    Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Fróði Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

    5

  • The Worst Week Yet:
    March 28-April 3, 2021

    Jim Goad

    18

  • Murder Maps:
    Agatha Christie’s Insular Imperialism

    Kathryn S.

    29

  • A Clockwork Orange

    Trevor Lynch

    21

  • Easter Livestream:
    Ask Counter-Currents with Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Frodi Midjord

    Greg Johnson

    1

  • Our Big, Beautiful Wall

    Greg Johnson

    4

  • Agrarian Populism & Cargo Cult Fascism

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    9

  • One Carjacking Embodies the New America

    Robert Hampton

    38

  • The de la Poer Madness:
    Before and After Lovecraft’s “Rats in the Walls”

    James J. O'Meara

    9

Recent comments
  • We are putting five items a week behind the paywall. Counter-Currents isn't for everyone, and I am...
  • Today I was talking to a plumber, an ex-Marine who lives right around the corner, whom I've hired to...
  • Damn right Peter! (But I do think Mr. Goad was joking some bitter sarcasm there).
  • Your content cannot justify a $10 a month paywall, not in my mind anyway. TRS is pushing it st $10 a...
  • I semi-agree about Tucker Carlson but strongly disagree about Sailer. He, more than any single...
Editor-in-Chief
Greg Johnson
Our titles
  • White Identity Politics
  • Here’s the Thing
  • Trevor Lynch: Part Four of the Trilogy
  • Graduate School with Heidegger
  • It’s Okay to Be White
  • Imperium
  • The Enemy of Europe
  • The World in Flames
  • The White Nationalist Manifesto
  • From Plato to Postmodernism
  • The Gizmo
  • Return of the Son of Trevor Lynch’s CENSORED Guide to the Movies
  • Toward a New Nationalism
  • The Smut Book
  • The Alternative Right
  • My Nationalist Pony
  • Dark Right: Batman Viewed From the Right
  • The Philatelist
  • Novel Folklore
  • Confessions of an Anti-Feminist
  • East and West
  • Though We Be Dead, Yet Our Day Will Come
  • White Like You
  • The Homo and the Negro, Second Edition
  • Numinous Machines
  • Venus and Her Thugs
  • Cynosura
  • North American New Right, vol. 2
  • You Asked For It
  • More Artists of the Right
  • Extremists: Studies in Metapolitics
  • Rising
  • The Importance of James Bond
  • In Defense of Prejudice
  • Confessions of a Reluctant Hater (2nd ed.)
  • The Hypocrisies of Heaven
  • Waking Up from the American Dream
  • Green Nazis in Space!
  • Truth, Justice, and a Nice White Country
  • Heidegger in Chicago
  • The End of an Era
  • Sexual Utopia in Power
  • What is a Rune? & Other Essays
  • Son of Trevor Lynch’s White Nationalist Guide to the Movies
  • The Lightning & the Sun
  • The Eldritch Evola
  • Western Civilization Bites Back
  • New Right vs. Old Right
  • Lost Violent Souls
  • Journey Late at Night: Poems and Translations
  • The Non-Hindu Indians & Indian Unity
  • Baader Meinhof ceramic pistol, Charles Kraaft 2013
  • Pulp Fascism
  • The Lost Philosopher, Second Expanded Edition
  • Trevor Lynch’s A White Nationalist Guide to the Movies
  • And Time Rolls On
  • The Homo & the Negro
  • Artists of the Right
  • North American New Right, Vol. 1
  • Some Thoughts on Hitler
  • Tikkun Olam and Other Poems
  • Under the Nihil
  • Summoning the Gods
  • Hold Back This Day
  • The Columbine Pilgrim
  • Taking Our Own Side
  • Toward the White Republic
  • Reuben
  • The Node
  • The New Austerities
  • Morning Crafts
  • The Passing of a Profit & Other Forgotten Stories
  • Gold in the Furnace
  • Defiance
Distributed Titles
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
Copyright © 2021 Counter-Currents Publishing, Ltd. French Synth Pop & an Opportunity in a Musical Project

Paywall Access





Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.