POPINCOURT

After 25 years of existence, THE LAST TIME, a Power Pop group from the island of Yeu, France, has finally recorded 4 compositions at the legendary Blackbox studio.

Here is what Jean-William Thoury (lyricist notably for Bijou, Marie-France and Daniel Sani, sound producer, journalist and rock’n’roll critic) thinks of it:

“”An arpeggio, a voice in the third, a roll on the toms between the different parts of the song and, abracadabra, the magic happens, you just have to know it and, above all, love it… The Last Time have always loved it. Verse, chorus, bridge, solo, nothing is missing from their songs which have the elegance of never reaching the fateful three-minute mark. Everything here breathes grace and sincerity. With a shared passion for so-called pop music in the Small Faces or Jam meaning of the term, The Last Time is also one of the best songs of the Rolling Stones golden age period (1965). It also evokes a certain awareness, that of time passing. “Let’s be brilliant before it’s too late” is what Olivier Popincourt (vocals, guitar), Olivier Cha (guitar), Pierre Borny (bass) and Daniel Le Bris (drums), who have been playing together for 25 years, seem to have said to each other. But this is the first recording!”

Musicians:

• Olivier Popincourt: voice & guitar
• Olivier Cha: guitar
• Pierre Borny: bass
• Daniel Le Bris: drums 

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Peter Deimel at Studio Black Box, France

Design: Serge Hoffman – Photos: Anne Marzeliere

Label: Truly Yours Records

Influences: Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Undertones, Joe Jackson, The Kinks, The Who…

Four psych pop and mod-adjacent artists, bandmates and Gare du Nord associates take on four Pretty Things songs in this EP tribute. Prolific producer and multi instrumentalist Andy Lewis does ‘Walking Down The Street’ from the 1967 Electric Banana sessions, Parisian popmeister Popincourt takes on ‘You Don’t Believe Me’ from the Pretties’ 1965 album ‘Get The Picture’, there’s Papernut Cambridge braving the stop start strangeness of the 1967 single ‘Defecting Grey’ while Canterbury’s continental pop correspondent Robert Rotifer pays a visit to ‘House of Ten’ from their 1967 chamber pop LP ‘Emotions’. The 10″ vinyl EP comes with a postcard insert including full credits and recording details.

Buy here: Gare du Nord Bandcamp

Buy here: Bandcamp Double Françoise

As moving as a Real Madrid rematch in the Champion’s League!

I’d be remiss if I went too far with the football metaphor, but that was my immediate feeling when, with my headphones on and walking past the Cité de la Musique, so dear to my heart, I listened to Tes Samedis (Your Saturdays) for the first time.

It was a chilly early morning. A shy sun was trying as best it could to make a little space for itself among the clouds, and it was certainly no coincidence that it suddenly began to flood the street when the first notes of this marvellous song, available here in two versions, rang out.

Whether it’s about the sky or the things of the heart, most great pop songs are often about the weather – and Tes Samedis is no exception. 

The amazing Mauléon based duo Double Françoise, an alliance – it’s fitting to write it – of Maxence Jutel – musician, arranger and producer of the first rank – and his wife Elisabeth – a delicate émule of Françoise Hardy and Astrud Gilberto – combines his talent here with that of the eminent Popincourt – the perfectly

legitimate son of Paul Weller and Joe Jackson and responsible for a trio of high-flying albums in which nostalgia for what was and what will never be again always vies with the desire to fight back.

A marriage made in heaven, to put it simply – and it doesn’t matter that there are three of them.

Elastic bass and electric double bass conjure up an enchantment of Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Philicorda to support the perfect backing vocals and graceful, deliciously mischievous vocals evoking sweet memories of a rainy – but clearly exhilarating – Parisian Saturday.

It’s quite simple: the perfect pop song, if it exists at all, probably sounds like Tes Samedis.

To think that this exquisite song, which was ultimately left out of the programme for Popincourt’s enchanting third album, We Were Bound To Meet, was so close – cries of horror in the audience – to never seeing the light of day!

With beautiful artwork illuminated by delicate autumnal hues, this is a superlative record that speaks to the heart, the soul and even the legs.

Luminous, heady and romantic – everything pop music should always be – this record will undoubtedly help to shape a more beautiful world in which – rather than just being a sweet secret exchanged between insiders – it will certainly become, from Paris to Rio de Janeiro and from Greenland to Brisbane, an instant classic and número uno in your hearts – When Saturday Comes!

Mathieu David Blackbird, Paris – Mai 2024

(Persona)

“I received a copy of Olivier Popincourt ‘s album yesterday. We Were Bound To Meet is yet another sublime album that has been beautifully crafted. I have appreciated Olivier’ s work for quite some time, and I have had the pleasure of meeting him, and seeing him perform more than once. His lyricism, and understanding of how to write beautiful music, makes him for me one of those unsung heroes who really deserves higher acclaim. This is his third solo album, and is an uplifting, and bright at times album. It sounds both hopeful and optimistic – which of course is refreshing at a time when many things in life have been considerably darker, and melancholic. As usual Olivier features support and vocal help from Gabriela Giacoman from French Boutik, as well as a number of talented musicians adding beautiful string accompaniment. Susanne Shields provides lead vocals on The Road To Recovery, along with some lovely flute playing, I would like to hear more of her work, and will investigate further. Shields has a beautiful clear singing voice, and Olivier’s own lower tone with his backing vocals add a lovely texture making it on first listen to this vinyl record really stand out. That does not mean to say the rest of the album isn’t on point. For me there isn’t a duff track on the album. I highly recommend it. The album was released back in September, so I am a little late to the game, but still have to say I am thrilled to have this erstwhile record as part of my record collection now.”

Jason Disley is a poet and writer heavily influenced by the Beat Generation writers of the late 50s and early 60s; an influence he wears proudly on his immaculately tailored sleeve.

Following the release of his last album “A Deep Sense Of Happiness” and in collaboration with Susanne Shields and Olivier Bostvironnois, Popincourt offers a revisited version of Shipbuilding, a standard that was notably recorded by Robert Wyatt and Elvis Costello. This song is part of an English compilation put together by The Specialized Project in support of charitable organizations like The Teenage Cancer Trust.

Ronnie Bird cover recorded @ Metropolis Studios in London with Les Hommes Responsables (2005) :

Olivier Popincourt: Guitars & Vocals

Phil King (JAMC, Felt, Lush, Servants,…): Bass

Andrew Nix (Semion,…): Keys

Huw Jennings (Twister, The Legendary Too Drunk,…): Drums

Video by Daniel Carlson (Video Director for Elvis Costello and Meshell Ndegeocello)

Popincourt – Introducing “a deep sense of happiness” – Live @ Studio Cargo

4 songs from the new album “a deep sense of happiness” featuring Gabriela Giacoman & Susanne Shields