French For Cartridge
Month
Happy New Year!!
We had the pleasure of recording a session for The Dexter Bentley Hello Goodbye Show on Resonance FM last year and now a particularly noisy version of “A Hundred And One” is on this Best of 2015-show!
We reached the target for our Pledge campaign in the nick of time! Thank you everyone who has pledged, we very much appreciate it!
We’re excited to now move on to the next stage of making the album and will keep you posted on how we are progressing!
You will still be able to pre-order the digital album until the release date in autumn and also get access to the updates on PledgeMusic, but all the other exclusives and extras have now expired.
Thank you again for your support!
Catherine, Henri, Aki, Anssi and CHROMA
LESS THAN A WEEK LEFT!?
That’s right, folks, it’s only a few days left now until the end of our Pledge Campaign and your chance to pre-order our new album with the excellent CHROMA Ensemble!
This is the only way to get your hands on a physical copy of the album, but there are also a lot of other extras and goodies to be had. £8 buys you a digital copy and access to updates from its making, whereas £5000 buys you a song based on your chosen topic - and lots of other nice things in-between, of course, so do have a look around.
We think we have created something quite special together with CHROMA, moving into a slightly more orchestral direction, and we would love to make sure you all get to hear it. As things go, recording an album and everything involved around it, comes at a price and we’d really appreciate it if you gave us a helping hand by pre-ordering the album this time.
Our Pledge Music-campaign is well under way - go on and have a look at our project video and explore all the goodies that can be yours!
There’s plenty on offer, from exclusive demos to cooking classes and customised songs. And a pretty darn good album, of course. You’ll also receive updates on how the recording is coming along.
We really do appreciate your help!
If you can’t wait for new French For Cartridge related music, there are a couple of other things going on too. Catherine’s been gigging with Quinta (Philip Selway, Collectress, Paper Cinema) and Henri has produced the new album by Matt McKee, which has been picked up by both Radio 1 and Radio X. Both artists are well worth exploring!
We’re back in the studio with contemporary music ensemble CHROMA to record our most adventurous album yet!
Pre-order this orchestrated song cycle full of wondrous sounds and surprises now and nose around our campaign on PledgeMusic for lots of fun extras and other ways to support its making!
This album got its start with the last song we recorded for our previous album, its title track “We Humans”. It was recorded with a string orchestra and put us onto a direction that we want to explore a bit more in depth now. Read more about it on PledgeMusic and have a look at the video for “We Humans” below to give you an idea of where we’re heading!
We need your help!
Finally!
An extended version of French For Cartridge is heading into the studio next month - very excited to be working with the excellent CHROMA ensemble on this one!
Happy New Year!
We had so much fun playing the new songs at The Garage before Christmas that we will take another break from planning the new album next month when we play The Windmill in Brixton, London on February 12th.
It’s a night called Pop Composition that looks at what’s happening at the fringes of pop music and it seems like a lot of fun. We’re promised lots of bands/experiments and are playing a short 10-15 minute burst of old hits and new tunes.
Don’t miss!
We spoke too soon!
The gig in Brighton at David Gedge’s At The Edge Of The Sea last month was so much fun that we’ll be out for one more gig this year. On Saturday November 29th you can catch us at Upstairs at The Garage in London. This will be our first gig since starting work on our next album, so expect a few familiar tunes as well as a chance to hear some bright and shiny new ones.
We have a limited amount of cheap tickets for sale at face value in our shop.
Hope you can make it - it will be fun!
If you want to see us live this year, one of your only chances will be in Brighton on the August Bank Holiday weekend, when we’ll play David Gedge’s At The Edge Of The Sea!
Also playing on Sunday August 24th are Wedding Present, Art Brut, Emma Pollock and others. You can buy tickets here. Should be fun!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Inspired by our “Hot Air Balloon” song, one of our FFC chorus girls decided to spend a few months training at the British School of Ballooning. We fully support her decision to leave the dolls chorus for a career in ballooning and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
We blushed a little bit when we heard this.
“A new French For Cartridge album is always a real cause for celebration. They are one of the most creative and adventurous acts that this country has produced in the last few years and yet they still have that pop sensibility and lightness of touch, which means that their experimentation is fun, quirky and engaging. ‘We Humans’ is quintessentially French For Cartridge.”
More Best-of-2013 love for our latest album from Epileptic Gibbon, one of our longtime supporters and host of an excellent show - check it out here.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Thank you to the listeners of Art School Dancing in Edinburgh, who voted us and our “We Humans” to no. 12 in their 2013 Top 100!!
You can also find us on the Best of The Joyzine Radio Show, which is a free download album that features a version of “Spiders” recorded for this excellent show last Autumn.
This is what they say about the album:
“French For Cartridge’s second album ‘We Humans’ surfed the dividing line between experimental and enjoyable as expertly as any that we heard in 2013.”
Well, thank you!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We’re in the top half of Rocksucker’s 100 best albums of 2013!
“Ridiculously eccentric, and jolly lovely with it. It’s rare for something to be quaint and berserk at the same time, but this succeeds valiantly. This is completely off its rocker and we bloody loves it for it.”
Read the interview we did with them in October here.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
2013 was a great French For Cartridge year!
We finished and released a new album called “We Humans”, which both sounds and looks beautiful. There was a wonderful fun fayre in a medieval church tower to celebrate its release, there were library tours and beach performances, a Rough Trade instore and a cooking show as well as fantastic videos for each song made by some very talented friends.
A few weeks ago we also released a digital EP to round things off featuring a few remixes and one new song called “Frequency 349”, the first thing we’ve recorded since the album.
Listen to the new song and watch all the videos below here.
None of this would have been possible without some truly wonderful people.
THANK YOU: Akinori Fujimoto, Anssi Växby, S. Husky Höskulds, Damien Beaton, John Rogers, Mikko Gordon, James Bull, Benji Kontz, Dorna Aslanzadeh, Daniel & Team Cleopatra II, Julie Marthe Hoffmann, Riccardo Arena, Ebba Erikzon, Keiko Sumida, Triona Ryan, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Pizzazz Handbell Trio, Sam Taylor, Joanne Gibson, Jon Roskilly, Barney Samson, Laetitia Stott, Nina Pottell and everyone else who supported us in making and promoting this little piece of art. Let’s make another one soon!
Have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
“Perennially creative”, says Subba-cultcha about us, the new EP, remixes and videos!
Follow the links to hear the EP or listen to the Collectress remix of “Old Books” on the latest svelte selection, where we made it on to the svelte favourites of 2013-show.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
This is the video for “Hot Air Ballon”, that GoldFlakePaint premiered last week.
Directed by Triona Ryan, it completes the 12 videos off “We Humans” and is also available on the new digital EP that’s out now. Buy it on iTunes or watch all the other videos on YouTube.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
“The ever delicate French For Cartridge.”
The new Hot Air Balloon EP and video is up on The Organ today! Sean and Marina were one of the first to champion us way back when and it’s always great to see it up there on their site.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
GoldFlakePaint premieres the new video for Hot Air Balloon!
“It feels mystical and oddly haunting at the same time, like it’s telling a story in a language we can’t understand.”
This video, directed by Triona Ryan, is the last one of the twelve We Humans-videos to be revealed - check it out here.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our library tour has come to an end and we’re wrapping up for winter, but there’s the new Hot Air Balloon EP as well as a few videos from “We Humans” still to be revealed.
“Old Books” is the closing track on the album and not only did it inspire us to head on the road for a string of performances in libraries around the country, but it also gave us the idea for our We Humans Gallery. The song draws a picture of how everyone has a life story waiting to be told, just like old books in a library. So, over the course of the last few months we have collected photos and advice from you people - some of which can be seen passing by in this little clip.
If you want delve into it deeper, flick through all the posts on here or search for the WeHumansGallery-tag.
When you’ve watched the video below, also check out the Collectress remix, which is out now on the Hot Air Balloon EP!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We talked to Amelia’s Magazine about hot air balloons, couples in bands, studying at Goldsmiths, writing operas and Damien Beaton’s artwork.
They also premiere the new video for ‘Old Books’, which Collectress remixes beautifully on the new iTunes EP that’s out this week. And there’s illustrations by Antonia Parker that draw on the video and our recent superhero outing!
Read the article and watch the video here.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We have a new iTunes EP out today!!
It features ‘Hot Air Balloon’ off our latest album plus some excellent remixes by Chik Budo, Collectress and The Chap plus a new song called 'Frequency 349’.
As always, Damien Beaton has designed the beautiful cover art.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We have a new digital EP coming out next week!
Named after the slow burning live favourite that is “Hot Air Balloon”, it features the lead track as well as recent remixes by The Chap, Chik Budo and Collectress plus one brand new song called “Frequency 349”.
Now, we had grand plans of a French For Cartridge-themed hot air balloon ride to launch the EP and event sent our mascots - a choir of Russian dolls we have at our gigs - off to the British School of Ballooning. But unfortunately, these plans were blown away by the big storm last month and the poor little girls have been waiting for clear winter weather in the office in Surrey since then. We’ll keep you posted how they get on, but here’s what they got up to in the meantime.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We have a new iTunes EP coming out in a couple of weeks that collects the “We Humans” remixes and also features one new song called “Frequency 349”!
By then we’ll also reveal the last remaining videos off the album - if you haven’t seen the ones so far, have a look at the YouTube-playlist below and watch all 9 of them.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
In August when the sun was still shining, we took part in a picnic for an episode of Anne’s Kitchen that has just aired on RTL Luxembourg. This is a great cooking show that looks at British food and culture with a Luxembourgish twist. If you missed the show last Friday, you can watch the episode online (either below here or on the show’s blog) and enjoy some excellent recipes, a tour of Brixton Village and part of our picnic performance right at the end!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
BOOM! SCREECH! SKROINK!
Here you are - a fantastic remix of “Under A Parasol” by Chik Budo!
It will be available to buy as part of a digital EP - complete with the other “We Humans” remixes as well as some new material from ourselves - next month, but have a listen to this already now.
Make sure you also check out Chik Budo’s new mix tape, which is just out and available from Rough Trade. Good stuff!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We had a nice chat with Jonny from Rocksucker the other day. He asked us some questions and we rambled on - read about what we have to say about our current library tour, working with S. Husky Hoskulds, ideas for our next album and symphonic rock…
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We are heading on a tour of library performances across England in October and November!
A lot of our recent album “We Humans” reflects on the circle of life and human behaviour and one song in particular, “Old Books”, draws a picture of how everyone has a life story waiting to be told, just like books in an old library. This song was also partly written as a protest against the recent library closures and is a sort of tribute to libraries.
Come and see us at the following places:
Oct 18th - Cowley Library, Oxford, 1pm
Oct 24th - Southsea Library, Portsmouth, 1pm
Nov 2nd - Hale End Library, London, 1pm
Nov 8th - St. Peter’s House Library, Brighton, 12.30pm
All events are free - more dates to be confirmed.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
The new video for “Good Citizen” features footage from our fantastic French For Cartridge Fun Fayre album launch in July as well as some “subliminal” advertising for our new range of merchandise designed by Elemental Morph.
Watch the video below here and if you are correctly influenced, head over to our shop and buy yourself a Good Citizen bag, Oyster Card holder or T-shirt!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Name: Petter
Age: 35
Hometown: Porvoo
“You can be whatever you want.”
“We Humans” is the name of the new French For Cartridge album. To be included in our gallery of humans, please send us a picture of yourself together with your first name, age and place of birth as well as your motto in life (or the best piece of advice you wish you had followed more often). All entries will be published on our website and a selection will be included in a video for one of the songs off the album.
Please send your entries to info [at] frenchforcartridge.com
As a thank you, you will receive a free download of “Hot Air Balloon”.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Name: Tommy
Age: 69
Hometown: Luxembourg
“My strength is my weakness for perfection!”
“We Humans” is the name of the new French For Cartridge album. To be included in our gallery of humans, please send us a picture of yourself together with your first name, age and place of birth as well as your motto in life (or the best piece of advice you wish you had followed more often). All entries will be published on our website and a selection will be included in a video for one of the songs off the album.
Please send your entries to info [at] frenchforcartridge.com
As a thank you, you will receive a free download of “Hot Air Balloon”.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Here’s the lovely ‘Old Books’ remix Collectress did for us and GoldFlakePaint premiered last week.
If you get a chance to see them live, they will blow your mind.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Name: Benji
Age: 31
Hometown: Luxembourg
“Catch the decisive moment.”
“We Humans” is the name of the new French For Cartridge album. To be included in our gallery of humans, please send us a picture of yourself together with your first name, age and place of birth as well as your motto in life (or the best piece of advice you wish you had followed more often). All entries will be published on our website and a selection will be included in a video for one of the songs off the album.
Please send your entries to info [at] frenchforcartridge.com
As a thank you, you will receive a free download of “Hot Air Balloon”.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
“We want it to last forever.”
The new Collectress remix of our “Old Books” leaves GoldFlakePaint wanting more! Have a listen to the track that’s just been premiered over on their site, together with some details of the upcoming library tour.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our red and black special edition “We Humans” shirt collection has popped up in our merchandise store. AVAILABLE THIS WEEK ONLY!!!! Designed by Elemental Morph. Who wants one?
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
The latest video taken from “We Humans” is called “Soap” and was premiered by The 405 earlier this week! The clip stars a bar of soap and some water. “Simple, but effective”, says the reviewer. We cannot but agree.
This is the 8th video out of 12 songs off the new album and there’s plenty of very good stuff so far. You can see all the videos on our YouTube-page or on here and if you like what you hear, you can purchase the album or the recent 7" single from our shop, Amazon, iTunes, Rough Trade, Norman Records or your local record store!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
The Rough Trade instore on Bank Holiday Weekend was great!
We filled the shop with sounds from dictaphones, megaphones, toy pianos, taiko drums and desk bells. We even got the superhero costumes out…
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
The new video for “Boxes”, made by Keiko Sumida, is here!
Calling it a short film would probably do it more justice - a love story set amidst some ugly/pretty modernist East London urban boxes.
This is of course one side of our new AA-sided 7", which is out this week and available to buy from Rough Trade, Norman Records, Amazon, iTunes and our own shop, together with the album it’s taken from.
If you like it, buy your copy online now or get your copy in person from us when we play at Rough Trade West this Saturday, August 24th.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
There’s been some very nice reviews over the last few days!
“And the award for the weirdest album of the year goes to…We Humans by French For Cartridge”, according to Closewatch! We’re especially liking the bit where the reviewer calls the first three songs “the strangest opening salvo from an album I’ve heard in a long, long time.” Just like we intended.
But our favourite is this one from Rocksucker, who gives “Piff Paff Pow” 4/5 in their Best Singles Of The Week-column:
“Ridiculously eccentric, and jolly lovely with it. It’s rare for something to be quaint and berserk at the same time, but this succeeds valiantly. This is completely off its rocker and we bloody loves it for it…How is it even possible that this comes from the same planet as Travis’s new single?”
We were also mentioned on Drowned in Sound’s weekly singles write-up, The Chap remix of “We Humans” was played on this month’s svelte selection and we were again featured on Art School Dancing on Castle FM in Edinburgh.
Don’t forget to buy your copy of the new 7" from all the usual places or come and see us at Rough Trade West on Saturday and get it then!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our new 7" vinyl single is out today!!
This double A-side features “Boxes” and “Piff Paff Pow”, a Yin/Yang-pairing off the new album, with beautiful packaging by our designer Damien Beaton. Limited to 300 copies, it also includes a download card.
Buy it from the following places:
Straight from us
Amazon
Rough Trade
Norman Records
iTunes
And your local record store!
Need more convincing before parting with your money? Watch the fantastic video for “Piff Paff Pow” and listen to “Boxes” below or come see us live on August 24th at Rough Trade West.
What others say:
“It starts like Alt-J, becomes alt-jazz, and gets weirder and weirder!” - Paul Lester/Amazing Radio
“Cerebral composition with an infectious quality.” - Clash Magazine
“Kontz & Vaxby have a deft musicality… ace.” - The Quietus
“French For Cartridge have a knack for creating textured and dynamic songs that defy convention” - 7bitArcade
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Did you think the videos would stop now that the album is out?
Well, you were wrong! There will be a video for each of the songs off “We Humans” and next up is this beautiful animation made by Ebba Erikzon for The Puddle and premiered on the Clash Magazine website earlier this week.
Ebba is a Swedish animator/filmmaker, who has previously worked on stuff for Radiohead and also made the video for Twice As Nice from our first album. We think her video captures the fragile mood of Nina Pottell’s lyrics perfectly!
And the Scandi contingency of the band is digging the Alfons Åberg-feel of the houses at the beginning…
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Look! Regardez!
Clash Magazine are premiering the latest video from “We Humans” over on their website!! A beautiful animation by Ebba Erikzon for “The Puddle”. Yay!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Missed the French For Cartridge Fun Fayre?
There will be a number of occasions to see us play live in London in August:
August 17th
FFC Kids Party @ Stepney City Farm
More info here.
August 18th
Dinner With Daisy Club Night @ Jamboree
More info here.
August 24th
Free instore @ Rough Trade West
More info here.
All the gigs will be with a slightly different set-up, choose one or come to all!
Now, will Henri wear his golden shoes to any of them?
(Photo by Benji Kontz)
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our “Boxes/Piff Paff Pow” 7" vinyl, designed by Damien Beaton, will be out on August 19th!
Pre-order a copy including downloads from:
Rough Trade
Norman Records
Or buy it in person on August 24th when we play an instore at Rough Trade West!
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
We’re playing an instore gig at Rough Trade West in Notting Hill on August 24th!
Come down and browse through some excellent records whilst enjoying an acoustic-ish set by us. We have to fit in behind the counter, so you can expect some variation of what we usually do - we’ll think of something fun!
And if you buy our album or the 7" which comes out earlier in the week, we’ll sign it for you…Starts at 5pm and entry is free. More info here.
New album “We Humans" out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our favourite rock band The Chap has made the first in a series of “We Humans" remixes!
A number of very talented friends of ours have reworked some of the songs off We Humans - all of which you’ll get to hear over the next few months. Have a listen to this one above and if you’re not familiar with this brilliant band make sure you check out all their own albums.
Now, what’s French for clubbing??
New album “We Humans” out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our French For Cartridge Fun Fayre last weekend was sold out and great fun! The album was duly launched with the help of candy floss, street organ music, lots of friendly people, a sweaty set inside St. Augustine’s Tower in Hackney and a special performance of “Old Books” on the roof overlooking East London to close the evening. For those of you who missed it, there’s more photos on Facebook.
New album “We Humans” out now - available from our shop, Rough Trade, Amazon, iTunes or your local record store!
Our new album, “We Humans”, is out today!
We started work on this record about two years ago. Between then and now, we’ve had hours of writing, rehearsing, demoing and recording; we’ve driven ourselves crazy with 0.5 dB changes to the mix no one else will hear; we’ve put an awful lot of thought and big emotions into it; we’ve had the enormous privilege of getting help from lots of very talented friends; we’ve spent hours on the phone confirming the correct Pantone for the cover; we’ve celebrated it all with a magical Fun Fayre; we’ve broken the bank a couple of times and most of all we’ve had lots and lots of fun.
Although it’s a cliché, it does feel like we’ve created a little human. A French For Cartridge-baby that we’ve sent out in the world and that is now out there for you to have, whatever that means. Love it, ignore it, tell all your friends about it, have a think about it, let go of it, get excited about it - do with it what you like, but please treat it gently.
Available from the following places:
And your local record store!
The French For Cartridge Fun Fayre is now sold out!! Yay!
If you’ve got an invite and still haven’t received details about the location etc. please send us an email to info@frenchforcartridge.com
Although all tickets have been allocated, you can still pre-order the album ahead of its release on Monday and get all the other goodies with it. If you order straight from us before Sunday midnight, you’ll get the album, T-shirt and Oyster card wallet for the super saver price of £10 plus postage - there’s only a very limited number of these bundles left and they won’t be available at this price after Monday, so go on and get them while you can!
Henri chatted to Artocker about writing and recording the new album as well as all the events surrounding its release. It’s a fairly in-depth interview, which you can read over on the their website or below here.
We’ve also had yet more radio play following all the action last week. “We Humans” is turning into a bit of an Art School Dancing-hit on Castle FM and “Boxes” was featured on the svelte selection on Purple Radio.
Finally, we were also featured on Tuna The Day as their Catch of the Day with “Next Addict”. As for the French For Cartridge Fun Fayre, tickets are almost sold out, so if you want a pair you’d better hurry up and pre-order the album now!