Birdy Nam Nam Live
Release Date: 11th June 2007Label: Uncivilized World
‘Appealing mini-soundtracks to imagined movies’ 4/5 The Independent On Sunday
‘A series of astounding soundscapes. Makes for the strongest argument for decks as a bona fide musical instrument we’ve ever heard’ 4/5 DJ Mag
‘Imaginative, entertaining and above all, highly listenable sonic vignettes’ Knowledge Mag
On June 11th 2007, Uncivilized World introduce to Britain the unique French turntablist collective ‘Birdy Nam Nam’ with ‘Live’, an intriguing and original approach to the concept of record player as musical instrument.
With a rapturously received live performance CD and DVD featuring fascinating ‘so that’s how they do it’ up-close footage and a making of documentary, the package is both sonically raucous and of unique musical interest.
Birdy Nam Nam are essentially a ‘turntable band’, with the four key members, DJ Pone, DJ Need, Little Mike and Crazy B each manning a turntable, appearing in line onstage like a Kraftwerk for the b boy generation. Their sound incorporates elements of early electro, jazz, Numan-esque synth noir, hip hop, Gallic flavours, and whatever else they scratch into the mix.
Imagine, if you will, a cross between DJ Shadow, Fingathing, Andrea Parker, Depth Charge and Q Bert, using just turntables and a few bleepy-squelchy boxes, arranged and mixed like a band to create a full range of instruments from sampled sounds cut to vinyl. At points in the performance, the DJs’ sound slides up next to a full band, adding a jazzy, funky air to BNN’s way-out sounds. The band however, really come into their own when it is literally the four manning turntables.
On the CD, proceedings kick off with the moody atmospherics, acid squelch and big beats of ‘Stephane’ and the detuned riffs of ‘Ready For War, Ready For Whut’, with its Numan-Kraftwerk-hoover bassline trinity. ‘Poppy’ builds up from a dense, Portishead–esque stoned lollop into a full on drum and bass meltdown over the space of six minutes. Keeping the pace up with ‘Violins’, their crowd working skills are flexed as they speed things up, ‘Alphabet Aerobics’-style, to a bass-heavy, dark breakbeat with guitars giving off espionage vibes. On 'Abbesses' they conjure up a nostalgic and distinctly Gallic sounding accordion-laced funk, giving way to the organ and double bass jaunty jazz of ‘Kind Of Laid Back’. In ‘Thunder Lighting Or Rain’, the band explore kitsch movie-style psychedelic rock, complete with vocoder before the album ends with the self explanatory ‘Jam Session’, the four turntablists winging it along with the band, throwing the scratch DJs rulebook of hours of preparation in the bin.
Birdy Nam Nam are known to their ‘meres’ as Thomas Parent (DJ Pone), Denis Lebouvier (DJ Need) Nicolas Vadon (Crazy B) Michael Dalmoro (Lil Mike). Their name is taken from a line in the 1968 Peter Sellers film ‘The Party’, directed by Blake Edwards. Birdy Nam Nam were born out of the massive ‘Scratch Action Hiro’ collective and have won several prizes individually and together, including the DMC Technics World Team Championships in 2002, the same year they left the competition circuit. Their eponymous debut album was released in October 2005 to critical acclaim in their native France, whilst their dynamic, energetic live shows won over crowds everywhere from Japan, America Turkey, Russia and Morocco,
The live show captured here happened at La Cigale, Paris over June 27th and 28th 2006, and was produced by François Bergeron (Manu Chao). With a dimly lit, smoky atmosphere and a packed, captive audience the gig has a definite ‘wish you were there’ vibe. With real personality, the rhythm and overall sound has a loose, slightly disjointed nature which gives them a unique sound and shuffle that, for those of you into such things, could coin a new genre – ideas on a postcard please.
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Article by: Aaron Newton