Song(s) of the Day # 1,507 Forever Pavot

The anxiety of influence. What to do about it? How many times have you seen a review of a new record over the past few years which cite Stereolab and Broadcast as prime influences. I've done it myself on here more than once, most recently in the case of the new Gwenno album Le Kov. I'm going to do so again now, talking about the latest record by French artist Emile Sornin under the moniker Forever Pavot, La Pantoufle which came out last year.

The conclusion of the considerable influence of Stereolab and Broadcast on La Pantoufle is unmistakable. It swims in the lake of sound these two bands established the best part of two to three decades ago. It's not as if they didn't draw on things themselves too. Exotica, Philip Glass, Esquivel, The Velvets, Krautrock, Eno, Free Design, Gainsbourg, Film Soundtracks, blah, blah, blah. Sornin is quite upfront about the influence of both bands in interview he states, 'I feel a lot like Stereolab or Broadcast. These artists that draw on the past to do something new.'

So where does that leave us with La Pantoufle? Well it's great when it's not annoying. And when it's generally annoying is when it tries to be funny. In shorter tracks like The Most Expensive Chocolate Eggs which has a dreadfully irritating voiceover straight out of sixties kitsch culture and exploding machine noises of the kind you expect to hear only from children's toys. Or Jonathan et Rosalie where the two characters concerned appear to make love for the minute and a half that the track lasts.

Where they play things straighter, they're more successful. They've got language on their side of course. French is the natural habitat for this kind of artistic posing. Jean Cocteau was laying the foundations for this stuff more than a century back. Four or five tracks on here hit clear bullseyes. So while inspiration is immediately apparent, execution is often quite excellent. Though Forever Pavot never achieve the majestic victories achieved by the new Olden Yolk and Gwenno's albums just released, (both reviewed on here recently) who make the past work for them in the most successful ways imaginable (or Stereolab or Broadcast before them for that matter), they do hold on ultimately for an honorable draw.