Montreal Mirror : Music : TTC / Les Francofolies

Bastards with beats

>> TTC bring their delightfully twisted French take on hip hop to les Francofolies

Teki Latex is just waking up from a nap after returning from a big music festival in the south of France. Although his group TTC played the smallest stage at the festival, they were still happy to be playing to an excited crowd of almost 6,000 people. "People were really going crazy," he explains, "with girls showing their tits and everything, so it was a lot of fun.

"We love playing to crowds like that. We were able to make it out to all of the major music festivals in France this year, as well as some francophone festivals in other countries, but the same way the records have a hard time making it in non-French-speaking places, we haven't been able to perform in a lot of those places this year."

Teki, along with Tido Berman, Cuizinier, Para One, Tacteel and DJ Orgasmic, make up the cosmic hip hop outfit TTC, whose last LP Bâtards sensibles marked a strange and original moment not only in French hip hop, but in hip hop worldwide. The signees to Ninja Tune's rap offshoot Big Dada brought their delightfully twisted show to the MEG fest here in '03 and can't wait to return. "We're doing two shows, and there's an after-party at Zoobizarre! I think it's run by the same people who ran the legendary Zoobizarre in France."

Talk of the all-important after-party naturally brings us to the topic of R. Kelly, his latest video opus, and the love and respect TTC have for the cornrowed master. "This guy is a genius. I think he wants to be the most popular R&B star ever, and that whole ‘Trapped in the Closet' thing is a monster. I love R. Kelly. It's not unusual to hear an R. Kelly set at a TTC party, early in the morning after DJ Orgasmic has already played his club shit."

Teki is also part of Psychotron, a side project where he collaborates with MC Hi-Tekk Le Receleur from La Caution. "We haven't done anything in a little while because all of a sudden there was a lot of people coming with the same crazy style we had, so we stopped for a bit. We will most definitely be back though, that's for sure."

At la Zone Labatt Bleue (Parc des Festivals) tonight, Thursday, July 28, 10 p.m., free, and with Daniel Russo Garrido at le Spectrum on Friday, July 29, 11 p.m., $9.50

French, toasted

>> More cool calls at Francofolies

Yann Perreau: Perreau's one of the most interesting figures in pop de chez nous these days, but this isn't a show he's doing. Perreau's behind the decks for the first of the festival's nightly Partys du Shag, the midnight DJ sessions at the Monument National on the Main, across from Club Soda. Later down the line, expect the likes of locals DJ Frigid and Ghislain Poirier, and from France, DJ Smokehood, Melissa Mars and Pierre Sianowski, the expert on the Montreal scene at Inrockuptibles, the French pop-music bible. At Café du Monument-National (1182 St-Laurent) tonight, Thurs., July 28, midnight, free

Marcel et son Orchestre: Equal parts musical mash-up and unhinged, costumed comedy caper, a show by Parisian punky party monsters Marcel et son Orchestre - purveyors of what they call "youpi groovy heavy crazy sexy ska" - is guaranteed to have you dancing, and laughing, your ass off. At la Zone Labatt Bleue (Parc des Festivals), Fri., July 29, 10 p.m., free

Parabellum: Well before Ludwig Von 88, Mano Negra and les Garçons Bouchers, France was coughing up some of the roughest, toughest bands in punk rock - les Rats, les Thugs and of course Parabellum. The latter haven't lost an ounce of bite, even if they have put on a few pounds, and their new CD Panem, Circenses & Rock 'n' Roll passes the ballistics tests on that account. At la Zone Labatt Bleue (Parc des Festivals), Sat., July 30, 8 p.m., free, and with le Nombre at le Spectrum, Sun., July 31, 11 p.m., $9.50

» Rupert Bottenberg

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