Patrick Watson is back with a new record, approved by Domino Records no less, and will be performing one of only 2 UK shows at the Komedia on the 1st May 2012!

Don’t miss out on one of the world’s most prodigious sing-songwriters…if you already have one Polaris Prize in the bag you can’t be doing too bad, right?

Check out Patrick’s stunning new single, Into Giants, here now!

Tickets flew out last time and we’re expecting the same this time around!

Tickets are available from here now!

And finally today we can announce that Mr Andrew Bird himself will be performing at the majestic Theatre Royal on the 10th June 2012!

We’re anticipating this one to sell out quickly so don’t hang around!

And for those of you who can’t wait, check out Andrew’s sublime recent performance in a boat stranded atop a museum, HERE.

Tickets available from 9am Friday 17th February 2012 from here!

One thing we’re doing is getting incredibly excited to have just booked The National/Beirut/The Walkemen Collaborator and seriously talented, Sharon Van Etten for her debut headline performance at The Komedia on the 21st May 2012.

Check out what all the fuss is about with her mindblowing single, Serpents, here!

Tickets go on sale at 12midday today from here!

The sun has been shining at Melting Vinyl HQ, and we are delighted to announce the return of effortlessly cool lo-fi surf rockers, Best Coast to Brighton at Coalition on the 21st June 2012!

Those lucky enough to get down the front of their packed show last May will know that its easy to get lost in their feel good hits of the summer, and with tickets being snapped up so quickly last time, be sure to get yours when they go on sale next week!

Check out the band’s cover of Blink 182 from last years show, that even made its way onto Pitchfork!

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Monday 13th February 2012 from here!

Stay tuned for a whole host of other announcements in the next week!

We’ve been keeping our ear to the ground and picking some esteemed experts brains, and here’s a list of the French acts that everyone with be talking about in 2013!

Nigel Adams (Full Time Hobby):

Yeti Lane

Team Ghost

Jules Parker (PRS for Music):

We Were Evergreen

Concrete Knives (Although we all know about this one from Vive La France! 2012!)

Beatrice Bloomfield (Coda Music Agency):

Birdy Hunt

Francine Gorman (The Line of Best Fit)

Owlle

Diana Holford (Melting Vinyl):

Sing Sing My Darling

Mesparrow

Check out our partners, The Line of Best Fit’s, Vive La France! 2012 festival diary here!

After a quick sleep, it was up early once more to take in all things French from experts compiled from both the UK and French Music Industry at The Green Door Store.  Informative, insightful and humorous, the assembled cast featuring French Music heavyweights, JD Beauvallet (Les Inrocks), Kieron Tyler (Mojo), and Francine Gorman (The Line of Best Fit) discussed the changing face of French Music in the media from Gainsbourg to Madeon, superbly followed up by practical advice for all those wanting to tour in France from Nigel Adams (Full Time Hobby), Jules Parker (PRS for Music) and Chloe Tolmer (Get Your Acts Together).

After briefly breaking away from the Festival to take in the sonic delights of the legendary Texan post-rockers, Explosions in the Sky, night had fallen and it was time to enter the magical Parisian world inhabited by Nouvelle Vague chanteuse, Melanie Pain.  The atmosphere in the sold out Duke of York’s Picturehouse was electric, as a solitary record player announced the beginning of a truely special evening!

A fitting finale performance was greeted by rapturous applause in between Melanie’s trademark chanson pop hits, setting the tone perfectly for Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s celebrated French cinematic masterpiece, Amelie.

For those not quite ready to wave a found farewell to the Gallic invasion, there was time for one more Afterparty at bar a vin, Plateau, in the company of Brighton’s own resident francophiles, L’amour Electronique, who were certainly not in the mood to have an early night!  Filling the dancefloor with cult French pop classics, artists and audiences alike certainly embraced the cultural entente over this whole weekend!

And with that it was time to get some well earned rest and look forward to doing it all again at Vive La France! 2013!

Don’t forget to check back here tomorrow for 2012′s hot tips from industry insiders for the next big things coming out of France!

Vive La France!

Day 2 started with a bang at The Green Door Store with festival anglo-french favourites, Transformer DJs, spinning French pop gems to get the party started!

Taking to the stage for their debut UK show were Sing Sing My Darling, and everyone who packed in to see them were in for a treat! This frighteningly talented outfit from Toulouse introduced their exciting blend of indie pop and soulful vocals, rounded off with an outing of their infectious single, Disco Love. They really are one of those bands that its impossible not to dance to!

But the night was young and hot footing across to The Hope was the plat du jour, as Brighton francophiles, L’amour Electronique DJs launched Friday’s festivities.

Performing as one of Vive La France! 2012′s French Connections, Brighton’s Halfway proved themselves to be a real force to be reckoned with with a mesmerizing performance.

Nothing wets the appetite for more French talent than a brisk walk back to The Green Door Store, and it was time to check out rising soul-pop starlet Justine Taton who showed the audience why you may become very familiar with her name over the next year!

Luckily wearing footwear made for dancing also aids a quick run back to The Hope, just in time to catch Concrete Knives. Already championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq, unsurprisingly the venue was packed to the rafters by the time they took to the stage, and the band didn’t disappoint.  Unleashing their Gallic exuberant indie pop, and performing at times from within the audience, their performance will go down as a real festival highlight of Vive La France! 2012.

But all at Melting Vinyl HQ weren’t about to head off to bed early, not when Nouvelle Vague’s Phoebe Killdeer was in town! Again hot footing it back to The Green Door Store, Phoebe Killdeer & the Short Straws blew away the audience with their powerful Nick Cave infused blues rock.

Bonne Nuit? Non monsieur!

It was Friday night and if an artist is personally endorsed by Air, you can’t afford to miss them! Signed to the prolific French label, Record Makers, Turzi Electronic Experience produced a blistering soundscape, and a fitting finale for the capacity crowd at The Hope!

With all the artists in a party mood, it was time to celebrate in style at the Afterparty at Plateau in the company of not one, but two of the Nouvelle Vague alumni, as Melanie Pain flew in a day early especially to accompany Phoebe Killdeer on the decks until the very early hours of the morning!

Round 3 tomorrow!

Vive La France!

After months of gazing over the channel, the time came for the Vive La France invasion!

Day 1 kicked off with our very own French Connection, Les Zuts at the Green Door Store. As regular festival goers will know, no Vive La France! opening night would be complete with Brighton’s laid back Chanson outfit, and the packed crowd were not disappointed!

As The Green Door Store became packed to the rafters, the mesmerizing Mesparrow took to the stage to show why she is a creative force to be reckoned with in 2012!

And the capacity crowd was treat to something really special by festival favourite, Francois & the Atlas Mountains.  After picking up so much acclaim for their latest release in the last week, the audience moved as one to their captivating fusion of Afrobeat, French Pop/Folk and Chanson.

But the entertainment didn’t stop there! Not by a long way!

Over at The Hope, drawn in be the allure of prolific French tastemaker JD the DJ (Les Inrocks), audiences were treated to the first UK performance from Air Bag One, who proved to everyone in the crowd why The Maccabees were right to personally select them to go on their European tour!

But what was next in store? Only a performance from one of the hottest acts to be featured on a Hollywood soundtrack, College!

You’re thinking that the Gallic treats ended there? No Siree!

Approved by legendary French Label, Kitsune, Polarsets performed a blistering set to a packed venue to cap off a memorable night at The Hope.

Following their set at The Green Door Store, Francois & the Atlas Mountains led the crowd to Plateau for an intimate (a very late night) Afterparty, and personally ensuring that everyone filled the dancefloor to their eclectic blend of Afrobeat and French Pop from the Ages!

As the sun threatened to come over the horizon it was time for bed, as after all this was only Day 1 of Vive La France! 2012!

For more info on Vive La France! 2012 and tickets for other shows please click here.

Well Vive La France! 2012 is ready to go on the 26th January 2012!

With days to go to the fourth annual Vive La France! Festival of French Music and Culture, we thought it would be a good time to introduce you to some of the acts set to provide the joie de vivre to 2012′s event.

French Music pioneer JD Beauvallet has been integral to Vive La France! for the last 4 years, and the founding editor of the groundbreaking French Music magazine, Les Inrocks, took the time to speak to us in anticipation of his DJ performance at this year’s festival:

1. What are you most looking forward to about Vive La France in Brighton?

I am really looking forward to seeing Fránçois & The Atlas Mountains again. I saw them twice in France last year and they were astonishing. Expect silly choregraphies, beautiful sounds from Mali and eccentric pop.

2. How does the music scene in France differ to the UK?

It differs less and less thanks to the same access to music & technology. A band like Concrete Knives wouldn’t have been possible twenty year ago, but Daft Punk told every one not to believe the industry, to do what you want and to forget the chip on your shoulder.

3. What’s you favourite French band and your favourite UK band at the moment?

In France, I love new comers such as Granville, Juveniles, Madeon, Owlle or La Femme.
In the UK, I am very keen on new artists Arthur Beatrice, Breton or Alabama Shakes from the US

4. What’s next for Les Inrocks?

A special issue on Manchester, funny to re-listen to tapes of interviews with New Order, The Smiths, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays or WU LYF.

JD the DJ hosts/plays at the Les Inrocks presents… night at The Hope on 26th January 2012 from 8pm, featuring the likes of Polarsets, College and Air Bag One!

For more info on Vive La France! 2012 and tickets for other shows please click here.

Stay tuned for more artists features and interviews in the coming days.

After first watching this next act in an apartment in Paris last year, we knew that they were one of our number one picks for Vive La France! 2012.

Air Bag One come Maccabees approved, who have recently invited them to join them on their European tour no less, and we cannot stress enough that this really will be the last time you’ll get to see them such an intimate setting!

Check out their effortlessly cool single Sweet England here!

Catching up with the band earlier this week, this is what they had to say:

1. What are you most looking forward to about playing Vive La France in Brighton?

We are losing our virginity. We’ve never played out of Paris, we’ve never play abroad, so we are quite excited ! And we are happy to play with College that we like a lot. But what we are the most looking forward is to enjoy this show.

2. How does the music scene in France differ to the UK?

We suppose England has better bands because English people might have a better culture of rock. In France, we didn’t invent rock’n'roll. But we have some good writers.

3. What’s you favourite French band and your favourite UK band at the moment?

We don’t have favorite bands but we can say that at the moment, we listen quite a lot to Phoenix and Justice as french bands are concerned. And for english bands, we listen to The Maccabees, Metronomy, Radiohead and others…
We almost only listen to english bands.

4. What’s next for band?

We are about to release our first EP, shoot our first music video, and play gigs all along the year!

Air Bag One play at the Les Inrocks presents… night at The Hope on 26th January 2012 at 8.30pm, following on from Les Inrocks’ very own JD the DJ!

For more info on Vive La France! 2012 and tickets for other shows please click here.

Stay tuned for more artists features and interviews in the coming days.