We just learned that Cécile Aubry, writer of the children’s book and cult French television series Belle et Sébastien, from which the Scottish group took their name, has died aged 81 on 19 July 2010, from lung cancer in Dourdan (Essonne), France.

Prior to writing the book and television series, Aubry was an actress who starred in the 1950 classic The Black Rose alongside Orson Wells and 1951’s Bluebeard with Hans Albers. She was widely recognized as immediate predecessor of Brigitte Bardot as the French cinema’s sex kitten actress.

Here’s a clip of the TV show Belle et Sébastien

Cécile Aubry – total babe – RIP

Last night, whilst performing onstage at the 9:30 club in Washington DC, Deadmau5 (Canadian electro-house producer Joel Thomas Zimmerman) collapsed, suffering exhaustion and vomiting. Medics at the venue took him directly to hospital where he is now under supervision. Under strict advice of the doctors, he has cancell the next 9 shows of his Summer tour schedule to allow for his recovery.

Here’s the music video for Ghosts n Stuff

We found this clip – (circa 1977 ? – anyone know more exact date?) from French TV of a highly entertaining interview with Iggy Pop

thanks to Hamish Kilgour’s (The Clean) Facebook post, actually.

An Iggy Pop biopic – putatively titled The Passenger – documenting Iggy’s early Stooges career was to be directed by Nick Gomez, with Elijah Wood playing Iggy, appears to have been shelved. One report quotes Iggy as saying “The script ain’t chopped liver… It was a work of art. But subjectively, I don’t want to be involved in any way. A producer and the writer sent me a very decent letter, and asked me to write back if I didn’t want them to do it… I don’t feel negative about it at all.”

While another quotes him as saying, late last year, when asked if the biopic was to go ahead:

“I don’t think so. I reacted bad. It opens with my mother and father worrying about me. My father was alive at the time and it felt like an intrusion. They can wait for me to be dead. Fuck you, I won’t do your biopic promo.”

Auckland four piece The Nevernudes have reported that they completed recorded the tracks for their debut album yesterday – apart from the vocals and overdubs. They expect that the album’ll be out in a couple of months time.

In the meantime check out their BandCamp Page

This week’s War on News

Mothers of Darkness remain one of Cheese on Toast’s favorite Auckland bands – and they recently released a new song for free downlaod from their BandCamp Page (where you can also download their bNet Top Ten hit Flamingos).

My Presence is Fading is a biting slice of pysch-surf-post-punk. While their previous hit Flamingos was an instrumental – Andrew Halford’s vocals on My Presence Is Fading are vitriol, edging on contempt – to the point of excitement. It’s hard to decypher what’s pissed him off so much, but the disdain is infectious – download and chuck this on your ipod or similar device – whenever someone / thing’s really fucking you off push play and let it all out! Therapy Mothers of Darkness style!

In other news : Mothers of Darkness are playing this Wednesday (4 Aug) at Teenage Kicks with Glass Owls and The Psychs – at Cassette Nine, for free. It’s probably going to be quite mutha-fuckin-mental, actually.

XL Recordings have got a great reputation – so when I heard that this Uk ex gun-crime prisoner had been signed, I was excited that it may well be the advent of a new coming of age for British hip hop. But in reality and sadly, I have to report that it’s a collection of poorly rapped dull rhymes that sound like a 12 year kid is telling you what it’s like to be a gangster. Kicking off the record with a pretty comical (unintentionally) Intro which recounts the story so far – rapped like he’s on ketamine. “The radio wasn’t playin’ me / And when it was / The big man upstairs said I want it stopped” (Maybe it wasn’t some sort of conspiracy to censor Giggs – but more like it just isn’t that good?) / “My video was on the box / We came on MTV late but wasn’t on a lot / Now why is that” (Again, it’s probably not a conspiracy) / “Then I started doin’ shows / I thought they wouldn’t like Giggs / I didn’t want to go / I thought they would only know one song / But they knew every single track, I was on a roll (great story, there).
I’d say that this guy was pedestrian in his delivery, but that seems disrespectful to people who can walk. – review by Andrew Tidball, courtesy of the Eavesdrop Listening Party

If your favourite thing about Stars is their polished melancholic stadium-pop side, then get ready for your new favourite Stars record. They’re bigger, tighter, and more sad-face than ever. If any kind of tangible connection to the humans in a band is your thing, you might be a little disappointed – for a band whose lyrical content is so ‘motional, it kinda doesn’t feel like it means that much. Despite the fact that all the members of the group are some-time Broken Social Scenesters, The Five Ghosts comes off more like the polished Death Cab For Cutie path to sadness than anything truly haunting.

- review by Matthew Crawley, courtesy of the Eavesdrop Listening Party

I really quite enjoyed The Drums’ debut self titled album – in particular the singles Let’s Go Surfing and Forever And Ever Amen. But watching the scenester over-accentuated performance of lead singer Jonathan Pierce soured things me a little; perhaps that says a bit more about my cynical frame of mind than it does about the New York band, touring with Florence & the Machine. So I am sorry to say that I was somewhat relieved by Pierce’s promise of “Florence is up next”.

And it took less time for the promise to come true than it took my companion to return to our spot with two beers in plastic cups; the Drumming Song setting the tone. It’s a double edged sword – when a performer such as Florence Welch’s songs are so infectious that the crowd knows every single word (or more to the point, they think they do) to their favorite songs. On one hand, that can lead to some pretty magical moments of community among an audience, but, I am saddened to say that, for the most part, last night, for us, at least – it led to young women who clearly enjoyed Sex in the City 2 drunkenly(?) belting out mis-understood lyrics out of tune and a large man waving his hands in the air and bumping into us. A lot.

But, luckily Florence was larger than life enough to hold our focus and distract us from the quasi-BBQ crowd we found ourselves amongst. And, that said it was difficult to not get caught up in the euphoria around the hits You Got The Love, Kiss With a FIst and closing song Dog Days Are Over.

Review by Andrew Tidball

Full photoset of Florence & the Machine by Amanda Cheng – click here

Patrick Chukwuem Okogwu Jr. is better known, probably, as Tinie Tempah – the UK MC behind the hit “Pass Out” – we spoke to him on telephone the other week – about his sudden success with that number one single, what inspired him to start MCing and about his forthcoming debut album.

He seems a very nice chap.

Listen here:

Maybe you missed it, or maybe, like me, you developed a ‘voice-crush’ on Florence and wanna listen again, while getting ready to go to the show tonight? Or maybe, you’re at home crying into your hot chocolate ‘cos you aren’t going.

Set times tonight are The Naked and Famous 7.15pm / The Drums 8pm / Florence & The Machien 9pm

Here’s the link to the Morning Glory Show. Swoon.

As if 15 nationwide shows were not enough, Die! Die! Die! have decided to add more dates to the FORM album release tour. Straight off the ferry from their Southern sojourn they will play an all ages show in Wellington on August 4 at Zeal , followed by dates in Ohakune’s Projection Room (August 5), Hamilton’s Void (August 6) and The Warehouse (115 Cook Street, Auckland) on August 7. Then to wrap it all up another all ages show in West Auckland’s Zeal on August 21.

Returning after their first visit in 2006, Xiu Xiu is centered around the dark and somewhat tortured figure of singer songwriter Jamie Stewart and a rotating cast of collaborators since 2002. Joining him will be Angela Seo who replaced Caralee McElroy on the latest Xiu Xiu album Dear God, I Hate Myself released this year – Ches Smith unfortunately will not be touring with them.

Friday 10th Sept – Whammy with support from James Duncan / $30 / R18 / 9pm
Saturday 11th Sept – SFBH with support from Siamese (Grayson Gilmour) and Glass Vaults / $25 / R18/ 9pm

Mike Hall, Mike Franklin-Browne and Matthias Jordan form the core of Auckland band, Nightchoir. As the rhythm section for Pluto, these guys have found a new musical voice under the guise of Nightchoir; the touring band also includes the talents of Jol Mulholland (The Mots) and Nick Buckton (Sidekicknick, Voom).

Their debut album received high praise and accolade earlier this year – we (Cheese on Toast) said “Nightchoir come ready-made as a band with strengths galore”; NZ Herald- gave the album review 4/5 stars “Nightchoir create music at its understated yet riveting best”; Dominion Post also gave its a 4/5 star review “ fans of Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky will enjoy the way the Nightchoir songs are built”.

Playing Wed 1st Sept – Wellington’s Mighty Mighty / Thurs 2 Sept – Auckland’s Wine Cellar / Friday 3 Sept Dunedin’s Chicks Hotel / Saturday 4 Sept Christchurch’s Goodbye Blue Monday (free show)

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