photo of the Pompidou by calinore

As you know some members of HL have serious love for the Entente Cordiale. Personally I would fly just that little bit further and prefer to touch down at Leonardo Da Vinci airport if it had to be anywhere on the Continent.

But that does not preclude me from spreading musical love when it’s due. Another HL favourite you might have noticed is the mighty Luaka Bop label and compilation compiler, par excellence, David Byrne. Last night I started breaking into boxes of CDs that have been sitting around since I moved house at the end of last year, and chanced across a 2002 comp. introducing the French ‘nouvelle’ generation called Cuisine Non-Stop.

The opening track by Lo’Jo just grabbed me and made me dig out the inlay card and check the rest of the CD - which is equally as strong. Java on track five in particular - Acoustic-Gastronomic-Gangsta-Gaulisms…”English Beef -Legalise, Salmonella -Legalise, Spliff -Legalise…” Nice. Not making fun of us over here or anything then…LOL

Apologies for bringing these nuggets of aural treasure to you five years late, but as I always find myself saying these days - better late than never. Translations always welcome, but even if your French is worse than mine, you’ll still enjoy Lo’jo - Baji Larabat Allez!