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Posted about 1 year ago
La Valse : Les Négresses Vertes : Mlah : 1:33i had very little time out of work to put this post together however craving to post one tonight. gypsy by sense and punk rock by sensibility, the French group Les Négresses Vertes released debut album Mlah in 1987. watch out for raï and Mediterranean vibes as well as accordion, trombone, and trumpet sounds. (yes, this gypsy punk happened decades before Gogol Bordello.)Mlah features original vocalist Helno, né Noel Rota, who died after heroin abuse at age 30 in 1993, after only the sophomore album, Famille Nombreuse. Mlah was followed by an album tour in Lebanon, as bold a move now as it was then. the group's original lineup of nine broke in the wake of Helno's death and most members have since been replaced.in any case, these tracks eased me into an anti-Friday that is about to be followed by a working Saturday. pfft. those are always the worst. after much deliberation, i decided track 1 of album 1 is the best way to introduce my LNV first post. njoy.::. mogger extraordinarypoems had posted about LNV ]here[ but the video embed link seems to be broken::. thanks to the other M for reuniting me with this album::. official site - www.negressesvertes.comZobi la Mouche, arguably the most known track off Mlah
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Comments (25)

  1. poebegone
    poebegone says Il : Les Négresses Vertes : Mlah : 3:31 (that's Il as in IL)
    Face À la Mer from Famille Nombreuse, remixed by Massive Attack from 10 Remixes
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  2. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Punks? Neo-traditionalists!
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  3. scotfree
    scotfree says Language barriers aside, this Helno (is that wordplay?) may be the closest vocalist I've ever heard to the sound and style of Mr. Joe Strummer. Thanks to your cravings, you've made the lunch munch most enjoyable.
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  4. Cody B
    Cody B says Now I like the occasional polka, but accordions don't usually sound this good. Nice one(s). The remix and the first track did it for me. Joe Strummer ,huh, yeah I get that, especially in the first vid. Just another alley to get lost down, thanks (damn you) a lot poe:)
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  5. Bartleby
    Bartleby says Ah, Les Négresses Noires!!! This brings back memories late summer dinners and dancing on the terrace of my friends' parents house. Helno is the "verlan" i.e. backward reading of Noël ("verlan" is also a form of French slang which consists in reversing the syllables of a word. Thus, "pote" or "mate" in French can also be "tepo"). After Helno's sudden death the group kept on making music receiving mixed reviews and successes. If you visit the French beaches this summer, it's more than likely you'll hear one of their songs as their music is associated the happy-go-lucky days of summer: Here are some of my favourite summering songs by them:


    They also did a cover of Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  6. Lady Miss Ian
    Lady Miss Ian says Yo Poe! Mlah was actually the first CD (as opposed to vinyl or cassette) that I bought. I got it even before I had a CD player! We had a French Rock/Pop show on the local community station back in the day, and they hooked me on LNV. It's so sad about Helno. He had a fantastic voice. I was very lucky to see them live, and Helno was a wonderfully sleezy frontman. Merci por le anti-Friday tunes.
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  7. Lady Miss Ian
    Lady Miss Ian says And hey! If you like LNV you might like another French band, "Babylon Circus". They've been described as French Gypsy Punk Ska. The clip below is not so gypsy, punk or ska. Ok, maybe a little gypsy mixed with Dixieland jazz. Bon Appetite!
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  8. poebegone
    poebegone says Jeff, i'll take that as a good thing, in the sense of rethinking and resuscitating. the punk rock reference is to their frequent delving into protest through their songs, from their very first single, 200 Ans D'Hypocrisie. Scott, it looks like Michael has explained Helno. good ear on the Joe Strummer namecheck, they did have a similar coarse-voiced way of intoning about them, and how apt that they both liked to protest through song. Cody, i do also like the occasional polka! now i'm wondering if we have enough mog love on polka, mental-noted for later. the accordion can certainly rock it - i remember seeing Belgian musician An Pierlé performing live lugging an accordion as big as she is.
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  9. poebegone
    poebegone says Michael, thanks for the vids. for some reason listen a lot to that particular Jane Birkin song, La Gadoue. LNV also covered a Cole Porter song that i seem to forget. it is Indian summer now in Phnom Penh but in hindsight your fab summering songs post may have got me pulling out the LNV's. we have a lot of verlan originating from the '70s pop culture of Manila. the word "bebot" (which the Black Eyed Peas sing repeatedly in one song) is from "babae" or female, and "kelot" is from "lalaki" or male. how are the latter albums? supposedly they are not so good? Lady! it's funny, i also bought a few CDs before i had a CD player. how cool that you got to see LNV live during Helno's days, indeed i've found him amusing in all the videos i've seen. i had cassette re-tapes of theirs (and Indochine and Johnny Clegg, from a French friend i had) and i am completely thankful for finally having the mp3s. strange. i was very recently intending to check Babylon Circus, whom i had never heard but had heard of. why, consider this my introduction. moggers are the best. ;d
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  10. Bartleby
    Bartleby says The albums that Les Négresses Vertes made after Helno's death while being good didn't appeal to me as much as when Helno was. The band was reduced to 5 members (Paulo, Mathias, Stéphane, Isa Mellinos and Mich) each one taking their turn singing. "Zig Zag" was released in 1996... Then I lost gradually lost interest in their music. Apparently, they went in a more acoustic direction... Incidentally, did you know that they owe their name to a bouncer who kicked them out of a club because of a scrap saying: "You get out of here, les négresses vertes!" -- Apparently, they all had their hair painted green. Here's the Cole Porter song they covered: "I Love Paris" (don't pay attention to the clip)
    Here's also my favourite song by them (on "Mlah"): "C'est pas la mer à boire" -- this is a French expression for "it's not such a big deal" (literally "you're not asked to drink up the sea")
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  11. Universalis
    Universalis says ° ° ° So happy to see all those goodies, thanks a lot Poe :)))))) Now i cannot let someone else say it, you talk about LNV, but i don't think that i saw a single word about "Bérurier Noir" ? :)) Helno, before LNV was backing singer in the leading french punk band "Bérurier Noir" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9rurier_Noir http://beruriernoir.fr/ It may sound strange for people out of France, but did you know that many a punk or punk related french band claims as successors of revolutionnary Commune De Paris ?? From the (slightly modified :) french national anthem : "...Le jour de boire est arrivé..." :))))) Merci, merci beaucoup :)))
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  12. Bartleby
    Bartleby says I think everyone was waiting for you, Univ to say "Salut à toi!" -- Bérurier Noir reminds me of a friend of mine was an anarchist and only swore by them. Here's the most famous track by Bérurier Noir: "Salut à toi!"
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  13. Ohm51
    Ohm51 says Well this post is quite the touch of kismet, as I had purchased Les Négresses Vertes back in the late 80's in a discount vinyl rack. Being thoroughly American in that my only language is English, I couldn't make a lick of sense at all from the band's name, the song ttitles, or liner notes; so in that sense I was completely perplexed ... but regarding the music on Mlah, well I was in love with it. And Poe you red buttoned my favorite ones. Here's a confession folks, I love, no, adore, accordians, and all other bellowed, free reed instruments. Accordians, conertinas, bandoneons, harmoniums, harmonicas. Nothing else sounds quite like them. Anyway I had been quite enamored with the music on Mlah but I had absolutely no frame of reference, I had never heard them on radio, or seen a video, or read a review about them, until just now. I particularly love 'Il' ...(which I never understood how to spell till now ;d) ... as a lively and good natured 3/4 romp ... and envisioned it much as it sounds; a bistro song where all are having a grand time and everybody sings along. So what a distinct pleasure it is to find other people who have shared an appreciation for their music. Bartleby I'm gathering from your comments that Les Négresses Vertes was not so much a secret on the other side of the pond. This has been fun and I'm thrilled to finally find out more about this music that I have loved so long. Ohm51
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  14. Universalis
    Universalis says ° ° ° If you love LNV and Mply, Dach posted something good here : http://dachmo.multiply.com/music/item/1766/Les_Negresses_Vertes_-_Mlah
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  15. leftoverking
    leftoverking says heading over there uni... hey poe nice post. i am working this saturday too!!! oh bugger. well, cheers to sunday then... :(|) now to check out these tunes, dang this thread is chock full...
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  16. poebegone
    poebegone says Michael and Francois, i am love-hating you two a little because this post was going to be about Mlah and i was saving the other albums plus Bérurier Noir for future posts; hence, no mention whatsoever. but this is mog and i expected no less, so i am kiddin' about the hatin'. ;D Michael, that's the one, I Love Paris - LOL i am trying not to mind the video. i knew about the scrap and consequent kicking out, suspected the green hair, did not know they owed the quote itself to a bouncer. from the little i've heard, LNV seems to have gone chill out in later work, i've yet to find out how good or bad. thanks for sharing your favorite Mlah song. y'all have been so generous in this thread. Francois, ever since moving to Cambodia, i have become exposed to as much French- as English-language music, which rocks. from punk to hiphop, many a French musician wear "revolutionary" on their sleeve, yes? i am much delighting on the journey and will be posting more French music. je ne parle pas français mais de rien. (:
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  17. poebegone
    poebegone says Ohm, ah, i love fateful unravelings, and things falling into place. i can not speak French if my life depended on it but i do become curious of certain phrases every so often, enough to Google them up and take it from there. Michael's mention up there of "drinking up the sea" to mean "a big deal" is endlessly fascinating. we share a love for those tracks i red-buttoned (La Valse, meaning The Waltz, and Il, meaning He, i think) as well as instruments that bellow; yes, all those you mentioned, whether on their own or combined with percussives. i am glad to reacquaint moggers with LNV, having noted there is no more than one lone post on those wondrous gypsies. Jeff, this thread is chock full, huh? the streaming vids alone are going to get me in trouble with the law (i.e. the office) and then there's all else that require looking up, not to mention the bit of probably misstated French i whupped out for Uni, heh. ohh cheers to Sunday, i think, if i finish work today. good luck to us both!
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  18. leftoverking
    leftoverking says the accordion is tasty, and those guitars are pretty damn rad in their own right. gotta say i enjoy both singers. sad helno passed away. the dude is freaky lookin'. ha ha.
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  19. 1234chainsaw
    1234chainsaw says Cool. I remember getting this album from my public library in about 1991 and liking it quite a bit. The tape I made was lost along the way a long time ago, thanks for the refresher!
    Permalink posted 06/07/2008
  20. ivylander
    ivylander says Great post. I still pull this CD out on a sunny day from time to time, two decades on.....
    Permalink posted 06/07/2008
  21. BecauseYouAreHere
    BecauseYouAreHere says I have always loved this group! Their songs are like Lay's chips to me - "You can't eat just one".
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  22. Universalis
    Universalis says ° ° ° Sorry if we ruined your post-pre-plan :))) connexions to this is automatic for me i don't even have to think to it, i almost typed faster than lightning :))) And while you are in Cambodia, there are surely plenty of opportunities for you to learn french, évidemment Mademoiselle :)))
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  23. Anna
    Anna says "(yes, this gypsy punk happened decades before Gogol Bordello.)" Lies, you sit on a throne of lies! *cries quietly in her corner* OK, enough playing the hurt, hot-headed Gogol fan :) As a sober-headed GB fan, and as a beholder of two ears that were raised feeding on Mediterranean sounds and are very attracted to gypsy-oriented musical flavours, I want to thank you kindly for this introduction. This will be one of those rare occasions in which I will have no choice but to put my I- have- to- understand- the- lyrics- to- enjoy- the- music tornado aside, and gladly to do so. This is oh so fine. Thank you very much! On a relevant note, I was listening to Beirut's first album today. I really enjoy the music, but it makes me feel a bit sad that this exact type of music has been existing for centuries, before Beirut, and yet it was treated as a new revelation by hipsters (I feel bad for using the word "hipster", but I couldn't think of a more appropriate one). It just goes to show, doesn't it?...
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  24. poebegone
    poebegone says Jeff, accordion - check, guitars - check, vocals - check. is it me or does Helno look like Steve Buscemi? Pekka, same here, i had it on a re-tape (no one says "re-tape" anymore, seriously) and had almost completely forgotten these guys until an upload showed up. the internet rocks, eh? Bill, it is perfect for "summering" as Michael puts it. yikes, has it really been two decades already? i feel like a fossil. BecauseYouAreHere, i feel the same way about chocolate-coated macadamias so i suppose i can relate. (: Francois, you are so right, i am forced to start understanding French here. once i thought i passed by a misspelled building sign - it said "Hopital" - little did i know it wasn't misspelled at all! Anna, i love Gogol Bordello, and i love Eugene Hütz. they are original in their own right, and he is so proudly Ukranian! also, you are certainly wiser on Mediterranean sounds. oh, i feel the same about lyrics - i have to work doubly hard to like songs that sound gibberish and it feels silly most of the time. ha ha, i think "hipster" was just right. i love Beirut. (i know, i love a lot of things!) Gulag Orkestar is so brilliant. i'm easy - anything that sounds great feels like new to me when i hear it for the first time. i dread to become jaded by music, hope it never happens. "a sober-headed GB fan" - mwahahah i love that.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  25. Universalis
    Universalis says ° ° ° It's easier to learn french than what it seems at first, many words in english and french are, if not similar, from the same origin. Late latin language that made the basics of french, italian, spanish, portuguese and romanian languages strongly influenced the english language at the time it started to become "fixed" into it's modern form. We usually take "The Bard" as the reference point toward modern english language. The Bard ?? it is one of the nicknames of Billy Shakes, yes that's good ole William Shakespeare :))) Wikepedia : William Shakespeare
    Permalink posted 06/10/2008

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