But that is nothing compared to the broad beams of love that the crowd gives off when you see the band live. Luckily, I got my chance at an unlikeliest of venues in Central London; just off Regent Street at Momo’s.

The music policy is a fusion of Latin, electro, Brazilian, house, future dub and abstract groove but when it comes to ‘hip hop from France’, it’s La Cédille that fit the bill.

Serge Gainsbourg gets a pre-eminent spot on the aforementioned, ‘Le Top des Pops’ and Hip Hop Connection magazine has described La Cédille as, “..the nearest French rap has come to replicating the feel of Serge Gainsbourg,” while their label prefers the comparison to a French version of Philadelphia’s The Roots.

I get to meet lead rapper/singer, Smoov who reeled off the band’s long list of influences. On the jazz side: it’s Monk, Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green. Hip Hop influences include RZA, Pete Rock and Jay Dee. Funk to Afro-beat we’re talking Fela Kuti, Parliament, D’Angelo, Hendrix and Living Colour!

Inevitably, their English is better than my French and guitarist Aurelius told me, that in order to get so many influences and band members egos to gel, “it works like pâte à modeler (translation: plasticine), manipulating songs until they go in a box. It could be a couple of years later before they come out again and they might go in another box.” He says that for a 7-piece band to work like this “there is no leader, it is a democracy.”

The band members in full are (in no particular order) Rice Mo (drums), Pisco (bass), Smoov (rapper), Balto (trombone/rapper), Grillon (saxophonist/rapper), Aurelius (guitarist) and Snarf (rapper). La Cédille (also known as Ça) taking their name from the cedilla from their hometown’s name of Besançon, which is in the Franche Comte region (I’m told to look for the local wines Arbois and Jura). It was pure luck that they were spotted by Chocolate Fireguard as they were on the same bill at a festival just over the border in Switzerland at which Kava Kava were appearing.

Kava Kava’s and label boss Pat didn’t hesitate and signed them up and a trip to Huddersfield was planned to record the album, Vu Du Large. When I asked Pat about the recording of the album, he told me, “they dived into a swimming pool for a week,” which probably meant it was like trying to get kids out of a pool they were having so much fun. He also said with a half excited tone and a half worried look, “we just don’t know how far they can go.” Personally, I don’t want them to go anywhere but inevitably they will progress and improve even more.

Aurelius tells me the new tracks were heard were ‘La Base’, ‘Candeur En L’r’ and ‘Le Thene’, however, there’s no guarantee that these will be on the next album as they’ve built up a hundred song repertoire over the seven years they’ve been together.

So all that sounds good and enough to satisfy current fans such as DJ Excalibur (1Xtra) and Gilles Peterson along with Ninja Tunes’ DJ Vadim, The Herbaliser and Mr. Scruff .

The Momo gig was in part organised to promote French music in the UK and a very enjoyable night it was. We may not be talking ‘Les Top des Pops’ quite yet but they have a great live presence and a brilliant sound. Go see them at Timeless Festival 10th September (see below).

Reviewed:
Various – Interesting Flavours Cat. No. CFA CD007
Thanks to Pat Fulgoni and a special Fly shout to South African Hip-Hop ‘Godessa and ‘Moodphasevise’

La Cedille – Vu Du Large Cat. No. CFA CD008

Links:
Timeless Festival, Ravensknowle Park, Wakefield Road, Huddersfield
10th September, 3 Stages, 11 am to 9.30 pm. Free Admission. BAR!!!
Chocolate Fireguard Music Ltd, P.O.Box 461, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD5 8WL wwww.chocolatefireguard.co.uk
Momo’s Music, 25 Heddon Street, London W1. tel: 0207-434-2011. 7pm till late www.momoresto.com. “A funky restaurant with Moroccan décor and matching menu” Best to phone as there is a variable ‘Members Only’ policy.
Havana In Heddon Street: “a slice of Cuba comes to warm the mean streets of London. Just off Regents Street on a mews called Heddon Street a special musical season, programmed with Best Kept Secret in association with Sister P.R - presented by DJ LUBI - Kicking off with Omar Puente (Thurs 9th June), Osvaldo Chacon u su Banda (Thurs 16th June), Mo’Timba (Thurs 23rd June) and finishing off with Roberto Pla (Thurs 30th June)”
Regent Street – ‘where time is always well spent’ www.regentstreetonline.com
August’s event was an open-air cinema featuring ‘Sky Classic Film Nights’. The last one is, by coincidence, Gene Kelly in ‘An American In Paris’, 30th August.
Radio 4 2.30pm Saturday 20th August; Muriel Zagha’s ‘Le Tops des Pops’ with contributions from MC Solaar, John Peel – Listen Again “French pop used to be a contradiction in terms, in fact a bit of a joke. A diet of Edith Piaf and cheesy Sacha Distel was only really for card-carrying Francophiles. For decades, the scene was dominated by leather-clad rocker Johnny Halliday, Francoise Hardy’s waif-like beauty and Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg gasping their way through the sexy classic ‘Je t’aime, moi non plus’. Now French pop has officially become cool, worldly-wise and full of secret delights. French expat Muriel Zagha goes back to her roots to sample the great vintages of contemporary French music, listening to the different voices of French pop and exploring the culture and attitudes that shaped them.”