Inside the Pale by Martin M.

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Them Foreigners
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‘Allo ‘allo. Its been a while since my last column, but I spent a considerable amount of the time in between reflecting on a comment that was posted. It seems that I neglected to mention the work of Villagers in my last piece – an omission that seems to have been consistently highlighted by the near-constant media focus surrounding their album release this month. In particular, this was capped by Conor O’Brien’s performance on Later… With Jools Holland (linked below, in case you missed it):

“Becoming A Jackal” has certainly received plenty of airtime on national radio too, and at the very least, it seems set to become ingrained on the collective musical memory of the nation in the same manner as Whipping Boy’s “We Don’t Need Nobody Else”, or The Cranberries “Ode To My Family” – songs not necessarily loved by everybody, but appreciated as being quality songs, and written by Irish people. With this in mind, we’ll sail them off to the wider world with a box of Lyons Tea and a pat on the back, hopeful that they’ll make the mark they deserve. Unless they have a bit too much success, in which case we’ll begrudge them of it, and shout at them when they start shopping in Brown Thomas.

It is no secret that the majority of popular music is imported from the US and the UK. In many respects, we do quite well to manage the level of musical export that we currently enjoy. And in Jedward, we’ve managed to push something truly despicable onto the British – a fitting revenge for those 800 years of occupation, I’m sure you’ll agree. Anyhow, even in alternative musical circles, we probably benefit from being an English-speaking country, having a healthy reserve of the Irish charm, and the existence of a large diaspora of people desperate to cling to some third-generation tint of Irishness, therefore demanding that they support the cause of our travelling musicians.

Other countries, even in Europe, don’t seem to have had the same success (although let’s be honest – the Swedes probably speak better English than we do, and are better-looking too). When talking to some of the people that immigrate to this country, whether to study or to live, I’m always keen to find out if there’s a big alternative scene in their country. Perhaps there’s some foreign-language music out there that’s absolutely brilliant, and yet I’ve never heard of it? I’m sure we’ve all listened to a bit of Rammstein, but is that really the best Europe has to offer?

Er, mostly, that is the case. If the music was really that good, it would probably find its way to your ears one way or another. Jools Holland delves into the odd foreign language act himself, but mostly that seems to involve African people doing jazz. Do other countries really want to do rock, or even indie-rock?

The answer is yes. A bit, anyway.

With this in mind, I decided to pimp 3 foreign artists that have made a bit of an impression on me. With luck, you’ll add in some suggestions of your own in the comments, and we’ll all discover something new.

1. dEUS

Straight out of Belgium, dEUS struggled into the mainstream with “In A Bar, Under The Sea”, which bubbled under for quite a bit before the moderately successful “The Ideal Crash”. Constantly changing line-up and direction, they never really seemed to settle on a consistent sound. Nonetheless, “Instant Street” is certainly a classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyA01nH72NI

2. Noir Desir

Bordeaux’s Noir Desir were probably the most popular native French band of their generation. They released a string of albums that attained commercial success, and singer Bertrand Cantat was much-praised for his inspiring vocals (those in his native French, at least). However, in 2003, Cantat was involved in a hotel room argument with his Lithuanian girlfriend which subsequently led to her death. He was acquitted on the charge of murder, but convicted of manslaughter, and has since spent time in prison in both Lithuania and France. As you can imagine, this has curbed the activity of the band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty0gH7wPQuA

3. Customs

Shockingly, Customs make the second Belgian band in our list of three. Does Belgium really produce that kind of quality music? Well, let the band speak for themselves. They’ve only been going for a very short space of time, but already have the kind of professional look that sets them apart from their contemporaries. They have yet to play outside of Belgium and The Netherlands, but their album is set for release in Austria and Germany later this year, and it can only be a matter of time before they get radio airplay in the UK & Ireland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GMemET8vr4

I’m looking forward to seeing your own suggestions in the comments, and your embarrassing Rock the Planet photos on Facebook. We all know they’re out there.

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martinm