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ARTIST
TITLE
Sean O'Hagan Presents: The Sunshine World Of Louis Philippe
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
CATALOG #
TR 516CD
TR 516CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/11/2022
Louis Philippe is living the big dream: He's a famous football journalist and a pop star. He writes, arranges, sings, and plays the most elegant pop songs on our side of the Atlantic, he released on the legendary label él Records and his influence on the great Japanese Shibuya sound cannot be underestimated. Tapete Records present a long overdue compilation of some of the greatest Louis Philippe songs from the years 1994-2007. Many of these songs are from albums that have been out of print for a long time, and some of them are being released on vinyl for the first time. The album was expertly compiled by Louis Philippe's friend and sometime musical partner Sean O'Hagan (The High Llamas), who also wrote the liner notes. In them O'Hagan writes and recommends: "Lose yourself in this record and let me warn you. You´ll be humming the tunes and reliving the chorus's and key changes for an age, and if you´re a songwriter you will probably be lifting the melodies without realizing is. That´s the sign of a timeless classic." They say that when Smokey Robinson sings, you hear violins. And when the great Louis Philippe sings, the sun rises, even on 21 December at midnight.
"I first encountered Louis Philippe as a collaborator with The King Of Luxembourg on Cherry Red, the label that was redefining the notion of 'the alternative', resolutely showcasing European eccentricity and melody in the sea of early '80s DIY pop. I was confused and excited all at the same time and recruited to follow the career of this strange fellow. I remember catching a glimpse of him in the buzzing corridors of Cherry Red one afternoon as someone whispered 'That's him, that's Louis Philippe.' . . . As songwriters, we all assimilate our influences and Louis Philippe was learning from the special school of Bones Howe, John Phillips, Maurice Ravel, Paul Williams, Brian Wilson, Michel Legrand, Judee Sill, and Boris Vian, The Tamba Trio... the pattern here was that of an artist who was building a practice based on the pursuit of the exotic soul of harmony and arrangement. This music also extended a European perspective on a pop culture content to accept the Anglo/US axis of influence as a given. But Louis was in love with London and wrote love letters to his new home in song. Alas, some things can never last. Louis Philippe's relationship with Tokyo was also remarkable and important in establishing the Shibuya Sound, a triangular relationship between London, Tokyo, and Paris which also swept up Philippe's collaborators like Bertrand Burgalet and Simon Fisher Turner. And so to be a bit more specific . . . This record is the retrospective of a songwriter, arranger and singer who understands the gift of the chord change, the endless intrigue of arrangement and always knows where and when the sun rises and falls." --Sean O'Hagan
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