With a ready-punctuated name and an appealingly simple approach to graphics, Topette!! would be immediately memorable even if their music was not so captivating. Born out of the friendship of five musicians playing Anglo-French music, they claim to be principally a dance band but they are just as good for listening. Andy Cutting on button box and Barny Stradling on bass are well known to English audiences, while Julien Cartonnet and Tania Buisse come from the French "bal folk" scene. Fiddler James Delarre is a new name to me, but has worked with Saul Rose and Mawkin among others. Together they produce a powerful and propelling sound, Cartonnet on Central French pipes and tenor banjo boosting the melody, Buisse adding bodhran and some choice French vulgarities to the rhythm section of bowel-shaking bass and Cutting's "warm bottom end" - according to the website which has videos and more details.
Bourrées and polkas, waltzes and schottisches, old English dances and new Swedish hornpipes, this is mostly dance music, but not really played for dancing - no chords to start, no once to yourself, no "bisez-vous" at the end. C'est le Pompon is more of a taster, a sampler, and a damn good one at that. You could dance to most tracks - Stradling's The Punisher in 5/4 might be a challenge, and Cartonnet's Opus Lent while technically a waltz is not really designed for dancing, but the rest is certainly suitable for a bal folk. There are some cracking melodies here too: my favourites include Cutting's Ricer, which now has a sequel, and the traditional Polka de Glux which is also on accordionist Seb Lagrange's new album, as well as a pair of delightful tunes by Blowzabella gurdyman Gregory Jolivet. Available to download from Bandcamp, or as a physical CD, this is an extremely enjoyable recording.
© © Alex Monaghan
Bourrées and polkas, waltzes and schottisches, old English dances and new Swedish hornpipes, this is mostly dance music, but not really played for dancing - no chords to start, no once to yourself, no "bisez-vous" at the end. C'est le Pompon is more of a taster, a sampler, and a damn good one at that. You could dance to most tracks - Stradling's The Punisher in 5/4 might be a challenge, and Cartonnet's Opus Lent while technically a waltz is not really designed for dancing, but the rest is certainly suitable for a bal folk. There are some cracking melodies here too: my favourites include Cutting's Ricer, which now has a sequel, and the traditional Polka de Glux which is also on accordionist Seb Lagrange's new album, as well as a pair of delightful tunes by Blowzabella gurdyman Gregory Jolivet. Available to download from Bandcamp, or as a physical CD, this is an extremely enjoyable recording.
© © Alex Monaghan
Andy Cutting - Diatonic Accordion
Julien Cartonnet - French pipes, Banjo
James Delarre - Violin
Barnaby Stradling - Acoustic Bass
Tania Buisse - Bodhran, Feet
Tracklist:
1. Venture (3:10)
2. There We Are Then / Unknown Ditty (4:26)
3. Bourrée morvandelle / La Lustrée (3:50)
4. Balfour Road / Old Molly Oxford (5:23)
5. Polkas de Glux & de Chevroux (3:27)
6. La Pause (4:23)
7. Ricer (3:39)
8. Meatballs, Whiskey & Beer (6:12)
9. The Punisher / Spot’s Tail (5:06)
10. Hamouda / Droneless (3:28)
11. La Belle sur le navire / Bourrée des cochettes (3:43)
12. Sunshine / Scottish Urbaine (4:31)
13. Opus Lent (6:00)
14.[untitled] (0:25)
Julien Cartonnet - French pipes, Banjo
James Delarre - Violin
Barnaby Stradling - Acoustic Bass
Tania Buisse - Bodhran, Feet
Tracklist:
1. Venture (3:10)
2. There We Are Then / Unknown Ditty (4:26)
3. Bourrée morvandelle / La Lustrée (3:50)
4. Balfour Road / Old Molly Oxford (5:23)
5. Polkas de Glux & de Chevroux (3:27)
6. La Pause (4:23)
7. Ricer (3:39)
8. Meatballs, Whiskey & Beer (6:12)
9. The Punisher / Spot’s Tail (5:06)
10. Hamouda / Droneless (3:28)
11. La Belle sur le navire / Bourrée des cochettes (3:43)
12. Sunshine / Scottish Urbaine (4:31)
13. Opus Lent (6:00)
14.[untitled] (0:25)