Selection of comics, bios, essays, good books… Let’s get to the music!

We’ve been waiting for this one for a while. To tell the truth, because the unbelievable Love without meaning that the two conspirators were committed to Robert Johnson. The erudition of screenwriter Jean-Michel Dupont and the always stylish brushwork of Mezzo, here comes Kiss The Sky the 1st volume (out of two) of a comic strip dedicated to Jimi Hendrix. Don’t expect to read what you already know about the mythical guitarist, the two authors are not the type to open doors, but rather to rummage through the attic and bring out old secrets.

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Colette Magnythe little communist songs of Yann did it

In 2018, we celebrated the anniversary of his death with a wonderful series of reissues of his now almost impossible-to-find albums. Colette Magny was an extraordinary personality of French music in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Passionate activist, avant-garde musician, feminist singer, this “big mouth” was banned from the airwaves. Moved from record companies and sang at the top of his lungs on the pickets of different and different strikes. This great little comic book by Yann Madé should teach you a little more about this great woman who has always stayed outside the clutches of (show) business.

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Some (very good) Books

Journey to the Land of Blues of J. Demetre and Marcel Chauvard

In a time before the internet, the only way to learn a little more about the blues from every angle was to go in the area of ​​the locationamong the emblematic cities where this music mutated with the advent of electricity and the recording industry.

At the end of 1959, this is what two French journalists (Jacques Demêtre and Marcel Chauvard) did when they traveled to New York, Chicago and Detroit to document music that was unknown to the general public in Europe and remained community-based. . The main characters of these 200 pages will be known around the world for decades to come. A big blues influence on Anglo-Saxon rock (and by extension made around the world), you really should get this wonderful book that tells the story of the supporting pictures, the incredible Voyage Au Pays Du Blues par deux petits Frenchy white people driven only by lust at a time when racism was established. A true pioneer in documentary work, we read the pages on the intimacy of musicians (JB Lenoir, John Lee Hooker, Champion Jack Dupree, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, BB King, Elmore James….). In this America that is still far from the peak of the civil rights movement, two conspirators from the old continent are at the heart of… history.

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FELA, Afrobeat Rebellion (together)

On the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to him in Paris (Philarmonie de Paris), look for this wonderful catalog / beautiful book around the inventor of Afrobeat.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938-1997) was from Nigeria and was more than a musician. A political dissident, denouncing the violence of neocolonialism and authoritarian regimes, his music, which still influences a large part of contemporary African production, is a weapon. Lots of pictures, texts and authors, essays, testimonials and a complete discography, this is the total Fela! All that’s left is for you to (re)dive into the fifty or so albums that black president bequeathed to us.

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Etienne Daho, A Secret Book

40 years after his 1st album, here is the pope of French pop opening his personal archives. A Secret Book is a wonderful collection of pictures, texts, notes, scribbles, manuscripts, confidences of the person concerned who stayed too long in his drawers (secrets?). Another way to approach the rich career of Etienne Daho, a special character in the French musical landscape who, ever since he started in Elli Medeiros’s band, Jacno and Co (Stinky Toys, Mathematiques Modernes), knows how to combine the artistic demand and popular success. As with music, nothing is incongruous.

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Hellfest, the Bible through P.Lageat, V.Girth, B.Brelet

15 years of existence for one of the most popular festivals in Europe and attendance figures to make the “syndicate of united programmers” not yet exist (but should, when we see the inconsistency of some posters of summer).

The long, wide and cross story of an adventure that was not won in the beginning and where there were not many people don’t bet.(the world of the music industry I mean). Therefore, this beautiful shot is worth a nice big cobblestone as “heavy” as a Metallica chorus. Besides, in the country of the antichrist riff, we don’t call it cobblestone, but rather “a bible” … Metalheads are always good comedians.

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And Rock Legends

Elvis by Bertrand Dicale

Given the avalanche of writings on Elvis Presley over the decades, how would Elvis be told otherwiseborder of his life, his “work”, his escapades, his peaks and other downfalls.

Bertrand Dicale offers in this beautiful book illustrated by Mezzo (him again), a new angle. It is by combining a strategy and sociological and historical perspective that the author tries to answer the Elvis enigma. Endemic racism from the south, Hollywood economy, medical cynicism, religion… Another way to see and always learn a little more about this world icon of rock’n’roll, but also about This is crazy America as the subtitle mentioned.

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Surrender by BONO

If today there is an innumerable number of publications around the famous Irish group U2, singer Bono’s intimate words are rarer, except of course for the emblematic songs of the Dublin quartet which has now become a global phenomenon. Surrender this is the story of Bono by Bono. With this Irish-specific humor and an open-hearted writing about his commitment, his struggles, his doubts and other challenges he had to overcome, immerse yourself inhe incredible journey of a little man from north-Dublin who has since become a world rock icon.

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In the Studio with Bashung by Christophe Conte

It’s been ten years since Alain Bashung left us, 4 decades of brilliant hits that put him in orbit (Gaby Oh Gaby on the album Roulette Russe) and it seems that many people in the French landscape will not forget it. Rappers were moved by his poetic flow to the obvious heirs of a little more rock that, without shouting loud and clear, raised the initial mood of Mr. Bashung (Bertrand Belin, Raphael, Nicolas Michaux…), this daring rock pen and sexy at the same time. In the studio with Bashung is the work of journalist Christophe Conte who has followed his entire career. Another way to approach the complex and famous work of a French rock hero is in the text.

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