David McKenna
, May 18th, 2021 08:14
David McKenna ponders the influence of Paris’ Seine-Saint-Denis suburb and samples Marseille rap, mongrel folk and prepared pianos. Home page photograph: Sourdure by Eloïse Decazes
Recently I’ve been reflecting on the outsize impact of one of France’s smallest administrative departments – Seine-Saint-Denis, which covers a little over 90 square miles and is known informally as
le quatre-vingt treize or
le neuf-trois – ‘the ninety-three’) after its department number – on French popular music. Listening to Gazo’s superb
Drill FR release and looking up some autobiographical details, I found myself thinking “oh,
le 93 again!”
Established in 1968, Seine-Saint-Denis is part of Paris’s
David McKenna
, March 16th, 2021 09:08
David McKenna celebrates ten years of the Rockfort column and tackles folk, rap, the dark arts - and classic French Europop
This column marks the ten-year anniversary of Rockfort on The Quietus, a realisation which is a source of delight and no little consternation (for me, but perhaps for others too). It’s the sort of moment that leads to pained reflections on where the time has gone, and what I’ve achieved. Then I remember that over the same period Daft Punk only managed to release one paltry album before splitting up and I feel much better!