Record Collection N° 127: Popincourt “A Deep Sense Of Happiness” (Milano Records, 2020)

Put the needle on the record: Popincourt „A Deep Sense Of Happiness“

What a marvelous second album by maybe the most British of all French pop and rock musicians. It’s a magnificent piece of art.

It’s not easy to follow a fantastic debut album like A New Dimension To Modern Love with a worthy second album, that’s as good as the first one. Olivier Popincourt, the French singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass, organ, piano, percussion) has mastered that task with his brilliant new record A Deep Sense Of Happiness.

Popincourt has worked four years on the album. He was backed by some super fine musicians and singers. Olivier Bostvironnois (grand piano), Fred Jimenez (bass), Hervè Bouétard (drums, percussion), Sèbastian Souchois (soprano saxophone), Quentin Ghomari (trumpet), the wonderful French Boutik vocalist Gabriela Giacoman (lead vocals and lyrics for While The Ship Sinks In and backing vocals elsewhere), two other feminine backing vocalists) and a formidable string quartet. The splendid horns and strings arrangements stem from Souchois, recording director was Bostvironnois. The fine graphic cover design comes from Serge Hoffmann (singer, songwriter, guitarist in French Boutik). The complete record is worth the long wait, cause it’s a magnificent piece of art.

Even though Popincourt over the years has amplified his musical palette with more tone colours and styles, the music on A Deep Sense Of Happiness sails in similar waters as his debut. From the British guitar beat and the Californian Sunshine Pop of the 1960s and 1970s to the British punk and new wave of the 1970s to the British indie pop of the 1980s, to Soul and Jazz anyway. You could name Popincourt’s influences and inspirations from A to Z, but what would that bring? After all is said and done and the last song has faded, it’s clear that A Deep Sense Of Happiness is 100% Popincourt, no other artist makes music just like this. 

Mood wise Popincourt’s second album is a bit different from his romantic, love drunk debut. Whether autobiographical or written for a narrator, there are many songs here dealing with good-byes and new beginnings, thoughts of being young and getting older. They are not always full of hope, some are painfully soul-searching or even discuss the bad shape of the world. Maybe that’s owed to broken love affairs or the mean virus that has a stranglehold over the world. Who knows? But eventually positive, hopeful, uplifting feelings prevail.

Whether it’s songs, melodies, music, or arrangements – Popincourt doesn’t run a junk supermarket but a small and noble delicatessen shop. On the shelfs of A Deep Sense Of Happiness stand twelve formidable songs, maximum enjoyment guaranteed.

Thanks, Olivier for your dedication!

Side A of the 180g vinyl LP, which sits in a magnificent fold-out cover, opens with The Grass Of Winter Morning, a cautious guitar beat that pursues the nature images of Popincourt’s sublime 2019 EP 4 Colours 4 Seasons. Never Give All Your Heart, that seems to be a kind of warning to not fall in love too deeply, is an enchanting chamber music ballad with a baroque string quartet and a dazzling saxophone solo. Always Back (Like The Morning Dew) is a rousing guitar beat with beautiful sunshine pop harmonies and a soulful 60s organ. The emotive The Last Beams Of A Setting Sun sounds only for a few seconds like Lou Reed‘s Perfect Day, then a touching ballad evolves, sophisticatedly arranged and telling a short story about lovers that grow older and lose on the way their love, just like in the German Erich Kästner’s wonderful poem Sachliche Romanze. The title track has a fiercer beat and great jingling-jangling guitars in his veins and is maybe on the trail of a new love or a new start in life. My Whole World Is Falling Down explains itself in the title, but with its ringing guitars and nice sunshine pop harmonies doesn’t sound depressed at all.

Side B of A Deep Sense Of Happiness begins with one of the most beautiful songs of the album: the splendid melancholic ballad Where The Wind Never Blew which bewitches you with its touching sentiment and its sophisticated jazzy brass arrangement and Olivier Popincourt’s delicate Blue Note jazz guitar. French Boutik singer Gabriela Giacoman, charming as ever, takes over the vocals in the fierce 60s guitar beat groover While The Ship Sinks, she has also written its angry lyrics that bemoan the kaput condition of the modern world: „Let the last survivor turn out the lights“. But the wonderful guitar pop of Truly Yours lightens up the dark clouds, even though with a nostalgic glance to the past, upon which the following enchanting Spreading Golden Dust literally sprinkles gold powder. The charming ballad Once Upon A Time, a breath-taking beauty, is drifting once more between retrospect and re-orientation, but Popincourt’s melancholy melody and his delicate French accent are irresistible. The same goes for the conciliatory final song This Must Be Heaven, which is refined with soaring strings, a classical grand piano and Popincourt’s exquisite guitar solo with a touch of Pink Floyd.

I do not know if Joe Jackson, Paul Weller, Brian Wilson,or Burt Bacharach do know the music of Popincourt music, but they would like it.

Popincourt A Deep Sense Of Happiness, Milano Records, 2020

© The Deep Sense Of Happiness Pics shot by Klaus Winninger

Werbung

Record Collection N° 31: Popincourt „A New Dimension to Modern Love” (Jigsaw Records, 2016)

True romance from Paris: Popincourt’s splendid debut album is one of the best albums of the new millennium and one of my most favourite records ever.

Popincourt’s magnificent album debut A New Dimension to Modern Love has been released in June 2016, but I noticed the record only after some months. You can blame it on a Facebook compliment by Brent Cash, who is a great songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer in his own right and gave the world three fantastic albums so far: How Will I Know If I’m Awake (2008), How Strange It Seems (2011) and The New High (2017).

Brent Cash advised all to listen to the new project of his Parisian friend Olivier Popincourt. This guy from Paris, so Brent, channels the blue eyed soul of Paul Weller’s The Style Council; the jazzy, funky electric piano and Hammond organ of old Blue Note records; the Motown soul of Marvin Gaye and his magnificent duet partner Tammi Terrell. After some cursory listening I quickly replied to Brent: „Like what I hear. Olivier’s songs are so beautiful!”

At first, I had to content myself with a quite good sounding MP3 album, I bought in a music download shop. The vinyl LP – only 300 have been printed – was only available in the online shop of Popincourt’s American indie label Jigsaw Records in Seattle, post & package absurdly expensive. But after my first enthusiastic review of A New Dimension to Modern Love in my blog I got in touch with Olivier Popincourt personally and could buy it directly from the artist himself. He sent me from Paris a nice package: With his debut LP – at a very generous prize and embellished with a personal dedication on the back cover. And also, a great, signed 10-inch-vinyl-EP, released in 2014: Four songs, amongst them the outstanding track Is This Real? which already heralded the wonderful pop miracle, that became reality with A New Dimension to Modern Love.

Popincourt, named maybe after the 11th Parisian arrondissement, is the music project of the French singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Olivier Popincourt, who lives in Paris. A man with a declared British taste in pop music, who is active for quite some years now and well connected (with various projects) in the Parisian neo-beat- and neo-mod-soul-jazz-pop-scene. For the time being he also plays Hammond organ for French Boutik – a hot & hip, powerful mod-pop-combo from Paris – on their fantastic 2016 debut album Front Pop and often also live on stage.

The marvelous French Boutik singer Gabriela Giacoman returns the compliment and joins Popincourt on A New Dimension to Modern Love. Recording the album, Olivier also was seconded by some other great musicians: Hervé Bouétard, the drummer of the French music wizard and neo-chanson-singer Bertrand Burgalat; Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star, R.E.M.) on bass; and soundtrack-composer Sébastien Souchois, who arranged all the exquisite jazzy brass sections throughout the songs and also served as producer in the recording studio.

The recipe for Popincourt’s amazing music and wonderful songs on A New Dimension to Modern Love follows a healthy diet. The already named ingredients – The Style Council’s French inspired 1983 cult LP Café Bleu, the sound of Marvin Gaye’s classic Motown soul and the iconic jazz of Blue Note Records – are complemented with some Small Faces; a dose of Paul Weller’s first fab combo The Jam; some Elvis Costello; some Joe Jackson; and maybe a bit of 1970s Californian sunshine pop. On top of all comes some super fine 1980s British indie-pop in the vein of Aztec Camera or Prefab Sprout. It seems, that Olivier Popincourt inherited in his musical DNA the melodies and vocal phrasing of Roddy Frame and Paddy McAloon – so he can’t do no other than croon his songs like them. Olivier does a heck of a job, and he delivers all his lyrics – written and sung in English – with a light, charming French accent. It’s simply irresistible.

So, what about Popincourt’s delicate songs? What he sings are odes of love. Love is all around wherever you look. One song is more beautiful and enchanting than the other. They sparkle with delicious, soulful melodies and have beautiful titles like The First Flower of Spring, Want You To Be A Souvenir, The Risk of Losing You or The Things That Last. The album title says it all. Send in the clichés: Paris, city of love. Sidewalk cafés. Cappuccinos. Smokey Bars and jazz clubs. Existentialism. Black turtlenecks. Trench coats. French kissing. We’ll always have Paris. All you need is love. There you go.

Finally, let me say that I haven’t heard for many years a more beautiful and more soothing album than A New Dimension to Modern Love, and one that enriches my life’s quality so much. The record hasn’t lost any of its magical appeal since I listened for the first time to the wonderful songs mentioned above and others like We Will Be Friends, Off Track or The Reason Why. If paradise is half as nice as A New Dimension to Modern Love, you can count me in.

Popincourt, A New Dimension to Modern Love, Jigsaw Records, 2016

Record Collection N° 16: French Boutik „Front Pop” (Detour Records/CopaseDisques, 2016)

On their rousing debut album French Boutik go for sharp guitar riffs, crispy drums, a funky bass, a soulful organ, catchy melodies and captivating vocal harmonies. You gotta say yes to their French beat from Paris.

Good pop music from France? That’s impossible, you think. Well, there you go. Think of Air, Bertrand Burgalat, Daft Punk or Phoenix. And even better, listen to Front Pop, the superb album debut from the Parisian mod soul power pop combo French Boutik. Fantastic pop music from France is a mission possible. Maybe the heavy weight of the traditional classic French chanson dominated popular French music too long. Perhaps it wasn’t an ideal matrix for exciting new pop music from Paris or elsewhere in the land of Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Deneuve, cool jazz, existential philosophy and picturesque cafes.

But in the 1960s in the undertow of The Beatles, France and the French definitely learned to swing and dance in a thrilling modern way. The yeh-yeh-wave with the wonderful, divine French beat girl Françoise Hardy or Jacques Dutronc, her later husband and father of her son, lighted French pop music. The same goes for the extraordinary artist Serge Gainsbourg, who with a little help from sexy singers like Brigitte Bardot or Jane Birkin made super fantastic pop music. Which brings us back to French Boutik again. This fab band consists of the cool Zelda Aquil, drums, backing vocals; the charming Gabriela Giacoman, vocals, backing vocals, percussion; the nonchalant Serge Hoffman, guitar, vocals; and last but not least the thoughtful Jean-Marc Joannès, bass. The main songwriter is Hoffman, usually in co-production with Aquil or Giacoman.

I discovered French Boutik by chance, taking a detour through Popincourt’s brilliant debut album A New Dimension to Modern Love. The wonderful French Boutik singer Gabriela Giacoman sings there so enchantingly. On the other hand Popincourt mastermind Olivier Popincourt plays Hammond organ on Front Pop, returning the compliment. Having released already three EPs French Boutik turned to beautiful Hamburg, German seaport of Beatles fame. After writing new songs in Paris French Boutik recorded there Front Pop in the small but really cool Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Studios.

Other than Popincourt, French Boutik sing their songs mostly in French. But both acts gain more appreciation and a bigger audience in the United Kingdom as well as in continental Europe. Their pro-European open-mindedness and simpatico internationality are practically the musical antithesis to rightwing anti-Europe-baiting, Brexit and Trumpdom. The situation is kind of similar to the 1980s and the tough years when the UK’s Prime Minister was the  Iron Lady Margret Thatcher. Then Paul Weller’s great second band The Style Council sought to overcome the grey dreariness of the era with their optimistic soul jazz pop, commuting between London, Paris, Rome and Detroit.

Likewise, French Boutik who are like Paul Weller convinced Mods do sound on Front Pop irresistibly fresh, uplifting and overwhelmingly charming. They adjust their new French beat more to electrifying power pop and the passionate guitar frenzy of The Jam, Weller’s first fab band. But they pay homage to the beat, soul and mod feeling of the swinging sixties as well as to the spirit of the punk and new wave of the 1970s and early 1980s.

So, they reinterpret Françoise Hardy’s delightful sixties hit Je Ne Suis La Pour Personne convincingly groovy. But at the same time they have splendid self-penned songs like Impitoyable, Le Mac, Sur Mon Ecranor, Le Casse or Costard Italien – all of them sung in French. Like Hitch A Ride and The Rent, which are sung in in English, they all have alert lyrics about political and social themes or more romantic or just everyday life topics.

French Boutik go for sharp guitar riffs, crispy drums, a melodic, funky bass, a soulful organ, catchy melodies and the captivating vocal harmonies of Gabriela Giacoman and Zelda Aquil. Theirs is the new, charismatic new French pop, the new French beat from Paris. You gotta say yes to their front pop.

The vinyl LP edition of French Boutik not only allures with its cool cover, it has also on offer a stylishly designed inner sleeve with all the song lyrics printed, a double sided poster with some other fine band pics and a MP3 download code inside. Merci beaucoup, French Boutik.

French Boutik Front Pop, Detour Records/CopaseDisques, 2016

Record Collection N° 149: Popincourt “4 Colours 4 Seasons” (Oya Records, 2019)

If you’ll see Popincourt’s EP 4 Colours 4 Seasons in the stacks of a record store you definitely would be attracted by it’s beautiful cover. But the music is no less beautiful and you’ll hear a sublime four hits wonder.

I don’t know if Popincourt’s brilliant EP 4 Colours 4 Seasons was inspired by Eric Rohmer’s Tales About The Four Seasons films or Antonio Vivaldi’s classical music opus Four Seasons. But what I do know is that Popincourt’s 4 Seasons are quite different than his wonderful debut album A New Dimension To Modern Love, but at the same time this record is a 100 percent Popincourt original.

After the debut album followed singles like The Brilliant Missing Link or a tribute to The Jam, one of Popincourt’s favourite bands, that I never got hold of. Olivier Popincourt who covered The Jam’s Tonight At Noon shared the single with the Parisian Mod band French Boutik, who sang their cover version of The Jam’s The Place I Love in French.

Then Popincourt, who also played sometimes keyboards for French Boutik, was back doing his own stuff on this great four track EP, which was my favourite EP of 2019. Its beautiful artwork was designed by Serge Hoffman of French Boutik fame. The record features Popincourt (vocals, guitars, Philicorda & Vox Continental organ, melodica), Susanne Shields on backing vocals & flute and Olivier Bostvironnois (beats, synths & glockenspiel), who created the electronic arrangements. So, it’s no wonder that these four delicate ballads are more electronically driven than Popincourt’s previous ventures, but they also flow along warm-hearted and elegantly.

Each of the ballads stands for a season and is associated with the seasonal colour and seasonal feelings. Blue is for winter, green for spring, red for summer and orange for fall. Each one is as beautiful and touching as the other. My favourite is the chilly Blue Winter where Popincourt sings his intriguing harmonies over tender acoustic guitar chords and clattering beats. And Red Summer, a delightful duet with Susanne Shields, that makes you feel the days of summer. But the two others really don’t fall behind. 4 Colours 4 Seasons is a sublime four hits wonder.

Popincourt 4 Colours 4 Seasons, Oya Records, 2019

© 4 Colours Pics shot by Klaus Winninger

The Style Council: á Paris

Notes for a reprise: The Style Council. What I thought would be a special single TSC-day is a TSC-Week by now. I’ve been listening also to some Beach Boys, from Pet Sounds to Sunflower, some Paul Weller, On Sunset, Fat Pop, and lots of Olivier Popincourt, complete works up to now.

The Style Council. á Paris. August 1983. Long Hot Summer (Extended Version). This is the one that started it all for me, my life-long solid bond with The Style Council. The debut single Speak Like A Child I missed somehow, the groovy Money-Go-Round twelve inch I bought subito afterwards, the rousing single A Solid Bond In Your Heart too.

Record Collection N° 127: Popincourt „A Deep Sense Of Happiness” (Milano Records, 2020) [Österreichisches Deutsch]

Am Plattenspieler: „A Deep Sense Of Happiness“

Was für ein wundervolles neues Album vom britischsten aller Pop-Franzosen, ein großartiges, prächtiges Kunstwerk.

Es ist nicht leicht, auf ein fantastisches Debütalbum wie A New Dimension To Modern Love von 2016 eine würdige, gleichwertige zweite Platte folgen zu lassen. Olivier Popincourt, französischer Sänger, Songschreiber, Multiinstrumentalist (Gitarre, Orgel, Perkussion) hat diese Herausforderung mit dem wunderherrlichen A Deep Sense Of Happiness gemeistert, und wie. Vier Jahre hat Popincourt im Studio daran gearbeitet. Unterstützt von Olivier Bostvironnois (Konzertflügel), Fred Jimenez (Bass), Hervè Bouétard (Schlagzeug, Perkussion), Sèbastian Souchois (Sopransaxophon), Quentin Ghomari (Trompete), French-Boutik-Sängerin Gabriela Giacoman (Lead Vocals und Lyrics für While The Ship Sinks In und Backing Vocals), zwei weiteren Background-Sängerinnen und einem Streichquartett. Die prächtigen Bläser- und Streicher-Arrangements stammen von Souchois, Aufnahmeleiter war Bostvironnois. Das feine Cover Design kommt wieder von Serge Hoffman (Sänger, Songschreiber, Gitarrist bei French Boutik). Die fertige Platte ist das lange Warten wert, weil ein großartiges Bravourstück, richtig tolle Kunst.

Auch wenn sich Popincourts musikalische Palette über die Zeit um einige Klangfarben und stilistisch erweitert hat, bewegt sich seine Musik auf A Deep Sense Of Happiness im selben Fahrwasser wie sein Debüt. Vom britischen Gitarrenbeat und kalifornischen Sonnenschein-Pop der 1960er und 1970er Jahre zum britischen Punk und New Wave der 1970er und zum britischen Indie-Pop der 1980er, zum Soul und Jazz sowieso. Man könnte Popincourts Einflüsse natürlich auch namentlich von A bis Z aufzählen, aber was sollte das noch bringen? Nachdem alles gesagt und getan ist, und der letzte Song verklungen, ist klar, dass A Deep Sense Of Happiness zu hundert Prozent Popincourt ist, kein anderer macht Musik wie diese.

Thematisch ist Popincourts Zweite leicht anders gelagert als das romantische, liebestrunkene Debüt. Ob nun autobiografisch oder einem Erzähler in den Mund gelegt, geht es in vielen Songs um Abschiede und Neuanfänge, Jugenderinnerungen, Älterwerden. Nicht immer hoffnungsfroh, mehr schmerzlich seelenschürfend und vielleicht zerbrochenen Beziehungen oder dem fiesen Virus geschuldet, das die Welt im Griff hat. Wer weiß? Letzten Endes überwiegen auf der Platte aber hoffnungsvolle, aufbauende Gefühle.

Ob Songs, Melodien, Musik oder Arrangements, Popincourt führt keinen Ramschsupermarkt, sondern einen edlen Feinkostladen. Im Regal stehen auf A Deep Sense Of Happiness zwölf formidable Songs, höchster Genuss ist garantiert. Die A-Seite der 180g Vinyl-LP im prächtigen Klappcover wird von The Grass Of Winter Morning eröffnet, einem schaumgebremsten Gitarrenbeat, der die Naturbilder von Popincourts piekfeiner 2019er EP 4 Colours 4 Seasons fortführt. Never Give All Your Heart, eine Art Liebeswarnung, ist eine bezaubernde kammermusikalische Ballade mit barockem Streichquartett und blendendem Sopransaxophonsolo. Always Back (Like The Morning Dew) ist ein rauschender Gitarrenbeat mit schönen Sunshine-Pop-Harmonien und Sixties-Orgel. Das gefühlsbetonte The Last Beams Of A Setting Sun klingt nur die ersten paar Sekunden wie Lou Reeds Perfect Day, dann entwickelt sich eine ausgeklügelt arrangierte Ballade über älterwerdende Liebende, denen ihre Liebe abhandengekommen scheint, wie in Erich Kästners Gedicht Sachliche Romanze. Der Titelsong hat wieder mehr Beat und Jingle-Jangle-Gitarren, und ist vielleicht einer neuen Liebe, einem Neustart im Leben auf der Spur. My Whole World Is Falling Down erklärt sich im Titel selbst, tönt mit seinen klingelnden Jingle-Jangle-Gitarren und Sunshine-Pop-Harmonien aber gar nicht deprimiert.

Die B-Seite von A Deep Sense Of Happiness eröffnet mit einem der schönsten Songs des Albums: Die herrlich melancholische Ballade Where The Wind Never Blew, die mit ihrem berührenden Sentiment und einem ausgefeilten Arrangement von jazzigen Blasinstrumenten und einer delikaten Blue-Note-Jazz-Gitarre betört. Die wie immer bezaubernde French-Boutik-Sängerin Gabriela Giacoman übernimmt im kämpferischen Sixties-Gitarren-Beat-Groover While The Ship Sinks die Lyrics und den Gesang und diund die über den Zustand der modernen Welt besorgten Lyrics: „Let the last survivor turn out the lights“. Mit dem prächtigen Gitarren-Pop von Truly Yours lichten sich die dunklen Wolken, wenn auch mit einem nostalgischen Blick zurück in die Vergangenheit, auf die das folgende bezaubernde Spreading Golden Dust Goldstaub streut. Zwischen Rückschau und Neuorientierung  driftet auch die anmutige Ballade Once Upon A Time, die von atemberaubender Schönheit ist. Popincourts melancholische Melodie und sein delikater französischer Akzent sind unwiderstehlich. Das gilt auch für den versöhnlichen Schlusssong This Must Be Heaven, der von schwelgenden Streichern, klassischen Klaviertupfern und Popincourts exquisitem Gitarrensolo (Pink Floyd irgendwo?) veredelt wird.

Ich weiß nicht, ob Joe Jackson, Paul Weller, Brian Wilson oder Burt Bacharach die Musik von Popincourt kennen, aber sie würden mögen.

Popincourt A Deep Sense Of Happiness, Milano Records, 2020

© The Deep Sense Of Happiness Pics shot by Klaus Winninger

2020 – Mein Rückblick/ My Review (Austrian German and Englisch)

Meine liebsten Alben, Compilations und  Reissues, Songs, EPs, Serien, Filme und Bücher des Jahres. Und zwei Konzerte, die ich glücklicherweise sehen konnte in 2020.

My Favourite Albums, Compilations and Reissues, Songs, EPs, Series, Movies and Books Of The Year. And two Concerts I got lucky to be there in 2020.

Wie immer ist alles radikal subjektiv gereiht, ohne Kompromisse und Gefälligkeiten oder Gefühle von Schuld (was vielleicht mangelnde Hipness, guten oder schlechten Geschmack betrifft), nur Freude, Vergnügen und Glücksgefühle. Ich will hier nicht viele Worte über die Pandemie verlieren und welch grausliches Jahr 2020 war. Man kennt das. Aber Musik zu hören, auf Platten (LPs und CDs, alles Neuzugänge in meiner Plattensammlung), und via Musik-Streaming, war 2020 weitaus mehr relevant, viel mehr lebensnotwendig als zu irgendeinem anderen Zeitpunkt in diesem Millennium. Dasselbe gilt für Serien und Filme auf Netflix und anderswo – und das Lesen von Büchern. Und die beiden Konzerte, für die ich Eintrittskarten erwischte, kurz vor und in einer kurzen Pause der Pandemie. Wenn es sich um Pop-Kultur und Kultur allgemein dreht, war 2020 ein sehr gutes Jahr. Persönlich auch. Und ich habe 2020 gleich zwei Lieblingsalben auf Platz 1. Los geht’s!

As always everything is ranked radically subjective, without any compromise or a sense of guilt (concerning hipness or good or bad taste), just a sense of enjoyment and delight. Don’t wanna talk here about the pandemic and what a horrible year 2020 was. You know that. But listening to music, on records (LPs and CDs, all new entries in my record collection), and via music streaming,  was in 2020 more relevant, more vital than ever at any other point in the new millennium. The same goes for watching series and movies on Netflix or elsewhere – and reading books. And catching tickets for two concerts, that happened shortly before and a in short break of the pandemic. Speaking about pop culture and culture in general 2020 was a very good year. Personally too. And I’ve two No. 1 albums in 2020. There You go!

 

ALBUMS

1 PAUL WELLER On Sunset (Polydor Records)

1 POPINCOURT A Deep Sense Of Happiness (Milano Records)

3 PAUL MCCARTNEY McCartney III (Capitol Records)

4 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Letter To You (Columbia Records)

5 MELODY GARDOT Sunset In The Blue (Decca Records)

6 TAYLOR SWIFT Folklore/ Evermore (Republic Records)

7 HARRY STYLES Fine Line (Columbia Records, 2019)

8 KHRUANGBIN Mordechai (Dead Oceans Inc.)

9 HAIM Women In Music Pt. III (Polydor Records)

10 ELVIS COSTELLO Hey Clockface (Concord Records)

11 FAMILIE LÄSSIG Im Herzen des Kommerz (Asinella Records, 2018)

12 LOUIS PHILIPPE & THE NIGHT MAIL Thunderclouds (Tapete Records)

13 THEES UHLMANN Junkies und Scientologen (Grand Hotel Van Cleef, 2019)

14 BEN WATT Storm Damage (Caroline Records)

15 LE SUPERHOMARD Meadow Lane Park (Elefant Records, 2019)

16 LEONARD COHEN Thanks For the Dance (Columbia Records, 2019)

17 STOOTSIE Riverside Tales (Free Fall Records, 2019)

18 LIZZO Cuz I Love U (Atlantic Records, 2019)

19 MICHAEL KIWANUKA Kiwanuka (Polydor Records, 2019)

20 5/8ERL IN EHR’N Yeah Yeah Yeah (Viennese Soulfood Records)

21 JUNGLE For Ever (XL Recordings, 2018)

 

COMPILATIONS & REISSUES

1 THE STYLE COUNCIL Long Hot Summers / The Story Of The Style Council (Polydor Records)

2 KEVIN ROWLAND My Beauty (Cherry Red Records)

3 VARIOUS ARTISTS Martin Freeman and Eddie Piller Present Jazz On The Corner Two (Acid Jazz Records)

4 JOHN LENNON Gimme Some Truth. (Universal Records)

5 JOHN COLTRANE Blue World (Impulse Records, 2019)

6 THE BEATLES Live At The Hollywood Bowl (Apple Records, 2016)

7 THE ROLLING STONES Goats Head Soup – Deluxe Edition (Polydor Records)

 

SINGLES & EPS

1 THE ROLLING STONES Living In A Ghost Town (Promotone)

2 KHRUANGBIN & LEON BRIDGES Texas Sun (Dead Oceans Inc.)

3 PAUL WELLER On Sunset (Remixes) (Polydor Records)

 

KONZERTE/ CONCERTS

1 FAMILIE LÄSSIG – 28. Februar 2020, ARGE Kultur Salzburg

2 5/8ERL IN EHR’N – 30. September 2020, ARGE Kultur Salzburg

 

FILME/ MOVIES

1 BLINDED BY THE LIGHT (Sky)

2 LITTLE WOMEN (Sky)

3 ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (Sky)

4 MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN (Sky)

5 ROCKETMAN (Amazon Prime)

6 LEBERKÄSJUNKIE (EuroVideo Medien, DVD)

7 DER JUNGE MUSS AN DIE FRISCHE LUFT (Netflix)

8 DAS PERFEKTE GEHEIMNIS (Netflix)

9 DER FALL COLLINI (Sky)

10 MARRIAGE STORY (Netflix)

11 GUT GEGEN NORDWIND (Sky)

 

SERIEN/ SERIES

1 THE CROWN (Netflix)

2 THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (Amazon Prime)

3 CALL MY AGENT! (Amazon Prime)

4 EMILY IN PARIS (Netflix)

5 BIG LITTLE LIES (Sky)

6 HIGH FIDELITY (Starzplay)

7 VIRGIN RIVER (Netflix)

8 LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE (Sky)

9 THE UNDOING (Sky)

10 WEIHNACHTE ZU HAUSE (Netflix)

11 ÜBERWEIHNACHTEN (Netflix)

 

BÜCHER / BOOKS

1 SYLVIE SIMMONS I’m Your Man. Das Leben des Leonard Cohen (btb Verlag, 2012)

2 TOM BARBASH Mein Vater, John Lennon und das beste Jahr unseres Lebens (Kiepenheuer & Witsch)

3 NICK HORNBY Keiner hat gesagt, dass du ausziehen sollst / Just Like You (beide Kiepenheuer & Witsch)

4 SALLY ROONEY Gespräche mit Freunden (btb Taschenbuch) / Normale Leute (Luchterhand Literaturverlag)

5 DAVID NICHOLLS Sweet Sorrow (Ullstein Verlag)

6 FERDINAND VON SCHIRACH Kaffee und Zigaretten (btb Taschenbuch)

7 JOACHIM MEYERHOFF Hamster im hinteren Stromgebiet (Kiepenheuer & Witsch)

8 KLAUS MODICK Über Leonard Cohen (KiWi Musikbibliothek)

9 FRANK GOOSEN Über The Beatles (KiWi Musikbibliothek)

10 DONNA LEON Geheime Quellen (Diogenes Verlag)

11 JOHN O’CONNEL Bowies Bücher(KiWi Taschenbuch)

Record Collection N° 127: Popincourt “A Deep Sense Of Happiness” (Milano Records, 2020) [English Version]

It’s quite difficult to follow a super fantastic debut album like A New Dimension To Modern Love with a worthy, equivalent second album. Olivier Popincourt, the French singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (guitar, organ, percussion) has mastered that task with his brilliant new record A Deep Sense Of Happiness.

Popincourt has worked for four years on the album. He was backed by some fine musicians and singers. Olivier Bostvironnois (grand piano), Fred Jimenez (bass), Hervè Bouétard (drums, percussion), Sèbastian Souchois (soprano saxophone), Quentin Ghomari (trumpet), the wonderful French Boutik vocalist Gabriela Giacoman (lead vocals for While The Ship Sinks In and backing vocals elsewhere), two other feminine backing vocalists) and a formidable string quartet. The grand horns and strings arrangements stem from Souchois, recording director was Bostvironnois. The fine graphic cover design comes from Serge Hoffmann (singer, songwriter, guitarist in French Boutik). The completed recordis worth the long wait, cause it’s a magnificent piece of art.

Even though Popincourt over the years has amplified his palette with more tone colours and musical styles, the music on A Deep Sense Of Happiness sails in similar waters as his debut. From the British guitar beat and the Californian Sunshine Pop of the 1960s to the British punk and new wave of the 1970s to the British indie pop of the 1980s, to Soul and Jazz anyway. You could name Popincourt’s influences and inspirations from A to Z, but what would that bring? After all is said and done and the last song has faded away, it’s clear that A Deep Sense Of Happiness is 100% Popincourt, no other artist makes music just like this.  

Mood wise Popincourt’s second album is a bit different from his romantic, love drunk debut. Whether autobiographical or written for a narrator, there are many songs here dealing with good-byes and new beginnings, thoughts of being young and getting older. They are not always full of hope, some are painfully soul-searching or even discuss the bad shape of the world. Maybe that’s owed to broken love affairs or the mean virus that has a stranglehold over the world. Who knows? But eventually positive, hopeful, uplifting feelings prevail.

Side A of the 180g vinyl LP, which sits in a magnificent fold-out cover, opens with The Grass Of Winter Morning, a cautious guitar beat that pursues the nature images of Popincourt’s sublime 2019 EP 4 Colours 4 Seasons. NeverGive All Your Heart, that seems to be a kind of warning to not fall in love too deeply, is an enchanting chamber music ballad with a baroque string quartet and a dazzling saxophone solo. Always Back (Like The Morning Dew) is a rousing guitar beat with beautiful sunshine pop harmonies and a soulful 60s organ. The emotive The Last Beams Of A Setting Sun sounds only for a few seconds like Lou Reed‘s Perfect Day, then a touching ballad evolves, sophisticatedly arranged and telling a short story about lovers that grow older and lose on the way their love, just like in the German poet Erich Kästner’s wonderful poem Sachliche Romanze. The title track has a fiercer beat and great jingling-jangling guitars in his veins and is maybe on the trail of a new love or a new start in life. My Whole World Is Falling Down explains itself in the title, but with its ringing guitars and nice sunshine pop harmonies doesn’t sound depressed at all.

Side B of A Deep Sense Of Happiness begins with one of the most beautiful songs of the album: the splendid melancholic ballad Where The Wind Never Blew which bewitches you with its touching sentiment and its sophisticated jazzy brass arrangement and Olivier Popincourt’s delicate Blue Note Records jazz guitar. French Boutik singer Gabriela Giacoman, charming as ever, takes over the vocals in the fierce 60s guitar beat groover While The Ship Sinks, she has also written its angry lyrics that bemoan the kaput condition of the modern world: „Let the last survivor turn out the lights“. But the wonderful guitar pop of Truly Yours lightens up the dark clouds, even though with a nostalgic glance to the past, upon which the following enchanting Spreading Golden Dust literally sprinkles gold powder. The charming ballad Once Upon A Time, a breath-taking beauty, is drifting once more between retrospect and re-orientation, but Popincourt’s melancholy melody and his delicate French accent are irresistible. The same goes for the conciliatory final song This Must Be Heaven, which is refined with soaring strings, a classical grand piano and Popincourt’s exquisite guitar solo with a touch of Pink Floyd.

I cannot say if Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Roddy Frame, Paul Weller, or Burt Bacharach do know any of Popincourt’s music, but I guess they would like it.

Popincourt A Deep Sense Of Happiness, Milano Records, 2020

© The Deep Sense Of Happiness Pics shot by Klaus Winninger

 

Record Collection N° 127: Popincourt „A Deep Sense Of Happiness” (Milano Records, 2020)

Ein wundervolles neues Album vom britischsten aller Pop-Franzosen.

Es ist ein schwieriges Unterfangen, auf ein superfantastisches Debütalbum wie A New Dimension To Modern Love von 2016 eine würdige, gleichwertige zweite Platte folgen zu lassen.  Olivier Popincourt, französischer Sänger, Songschreiber, Multiinstrumentalist (Gitarre, Orgel, Perkussion) hat diese Herausforderung mit dem wundervollen A Deep Sense Of Happiness gemeistert, und wie. Vier Jahre hat Popincourt im Studio daran gearbeitet. Unterstützt von Olivier Bostvironnois (Konzertflügel), Fred Jimenez (Bass), Hervè Bouétard (Schlagzeug, Perkussion), Sèbastian Souchois (Sopransaxophon), Quentin Ghomari (Trompete), French-Boutik-Sängerin Gabriela Giacoman (Lead Vocals für While The Ship Sinks In und Backing Vocals), zwei weiteren Background-Sängerinnen und einem Streichquartett. Die prächtigen Bläser- und Streicher-Arrangements stammen von Souchois, Aufnahmeleiter war Bostvironnois. Das feine Cover Design kommt wieder von Serge Hoffmann (Sänger, Songschreiber, Gitarrist bei French Boutik). Die fertige Platteist das lange Warten wert, weil ein großartiges Bravourstück, richtig tolle Kunst.

Auch wenn sich Popincourts musikalische Palette über die Zeit um einige Klangfarben und stilistisch erweitert hat, bewegt sich seine Musik auf A Deep Sense Of Happiness im selben Fahrwasser wie sein Debüt. Vom britischen Gitarrenbeat und kalifornischen Sunshine Pop der 1960er Jahre zum britischen Punk und New Wave der 1970er und zum britischen Indie-Pop der 1980er, zum Soul und Jazz sowieso. Man könnte Popincourts Einflüsse natürlich auch namentlich von A bis Z aufzählen, aber was bringt das noch? Nachdem alles gesagt und getan ist, und der letzte Song verklungen, ist klar, dass A Deep Sense Of Happiness zu hundert Prozent Popincourt ist, kein anderer macht Musik wie diese.

Thematisch ist Popincourts Zweite leicht anders gelagert als das romantische, liebestrunkene Debüt. Ob nun autobiografisch oder einem Ich-Erzähler in den Mund gelegt, geht es in vielen Songs um Abschiede und Neuanfänge, Jugenderinnerungen, Älterwerden. Nicht immer hoffnungsfroh, mehr schmerzlich seelenschürfend und vielleicht zerbrochenen Beziehungen oder dem fiesen Virus geschuldet, das die Welt im Griff hat. Wer weiß? Letzten Endes überwiegen auf der Platte aber hoffnungsvolle, aufbauende Gefühle.

Ob Songs, Melodien, Musik oder Arrangements, Popincourt führt keinen Ramschsupermarkt, sondern einen edlen Feinkostladen. Im Regal stehen auf A Deep Sense Of Happiness zwölf formidable Songs, höchster Genuss ist garantiert. Die A-Seite der 180g Vinyl-LP im prächtigen Klappcover wird von The Grass Of Winter Morning eröffnet, einem schaumgebremsten Gitarrenbeat, der die Naturbilder von Popincourts piekfeiner 2019er EP 4 Colours 4 Seasons fortführt. Never Give All Your Heart, eine Art Liebeswarnung, ist eine bezaubernde kammermusikalische Ballade mit barockem Streichquartett und blendendem Sopransaxophonsolo. Always Back (Like The Morning Dew) ist ein rauschender Gitarrenbeat mit schönen Sunshine-Pop-Harmonien und Sixties-Orgel. Das gefühlsbetonte The Last Beams Of A Setting Sun klingt nur die ersten paar Sekunden wie Lou Reeds Perfect Day, dann entwickelt sich eine ausgeklügelt arrangierte Ballade über älterwerdende Liebende, denen ihre Liebe abhandengekommen scheint, wie in Erich Kästners Gedicht Sachliche Romanze. Der Titelsong hat wieder mehr Beat und Jingle-Jangle-Gitarren, und ist vielleicht einer neuen Liebe, einem Neustart im Leben auf der Spur. My Whole World Is Falling Down erklärt sich im Titel selbst, tönt mit seinen klingelnden Jingle-Jangle-Gitarren und Sunshine-Pop-Harmonien aber gar nicht deprimiert.

Die B-Seite von A Deep Sense Of Happiness eröffnet mit einem der schönsten Songs des Albums: Die herrlich melancholische Ballade Where The Wind Never Blew, die mit ihrem berührenden Sentiment und einem ausgefeilten Arrangement von jazzigen Blasinstrumenten und einer delikaten Blue-Note-Jazz-Gitarre betört. Die wie immer bezaubernde French-Boutik-Sängerin Gabriela Giacoman übernimmt im kämpferischen Sixties-Gitarren-Beat-Groover While The Ship Sinks den Gesang und die über den Zustand der modernen Welt besorgten Lyrics: „Let the last survivor turn out the lights“. Mit dem herrlichen Gitarren-Pop von Truly Yours lichten sich die dunklen Wolken, wenn auch mit einem nostalgischen Blick zurück in die Vergangenheit, auf die das folgende bezaubernde Spreading Golden Dust Goldstaub streut. Zwischen Rückschau und Neuorientierung  driftet auch die anmutige Ballade Once Upon A Time, die von atemberaubender Schönheit ist. Popincourts melancholische Melodie und sein delikater französischer Akzent sind unwiderstehlich. Das gilt auch für den versöhnlichen Schlusssong This Must Be Heaven, der von schwelgenden Streichern, klassischen Klaviertupfern und Popincourts exquisitem Gitarrensolo (Pink Floyd irgendwo?) veredelt wird.

Ich weiß nicht, ob Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Roddy Frame, Paddy McAloon oder Paul Weller irgendetwas von Popincourts Musik kennen, aber ich glaube, sie könnten sie mögen.

Popincourt A Deep Sense Of Happiness, Milano Records, 2020

© The Deep Sense Of Happiness Pics shot by Klaus Winninger

B-logbook: 09.09.2020: Popincourt’s new album “A Deep Sense Of Happiness” is here

And, what a pleasant surprise, this writer’s name is mentioned in Popincourt’s “Thanks to” list.

Popincourt’s new album A Deep Sense Of Happiness arrived here on what seems to be the last days of summer. It’s the ideal soundtrack for this. Listened to it several times already, it‘s playing for another time, while I‘m typing this, and I‘m sure it‘s absolutely marvelous, I‘m feeling it.

From the beautiful album design and cover artwork, by French Boutik’s Serge Hoffman, to each and every song A Deep Sense Of Happiness is a great piece of art and a worthy successor to Popincourt’s fabulous debut album A New Dimension To Modern Love.

And then, while listening and reading the lyrics, I discovered Olivier Popincourt mentioned my name in his “Thanks to“ list. What a pleasant surprise. This is very special for me. So thanks for that, Olivier. More about A Deep Sense Of Happiness soon.

Popincourt A Deep Sense Of Happiness, Milano Records, 2020