Purple Television
Koudlam TV Takeover
It seemed only natural to ask the French composer KOUDLAM to kick off our TV Takeover for 2015. Africa, Mexico, Spain, France, music, architecture, and art: the multicultural, multidimensional, and multitalented KOUDLAM combines all these social energies in his electronic, apocalyptic compositions.
His music has been regarded by critics and public alike as “World Music of the Apocalypse.” KOUDLAM (French slang for ‘a stab of a knife’) appropriates musical codes, embezzling r’n’b, trance, and hardcore techno (his musical roots) to build his own exotic and icy monolith, and once again successfully unites body and mind, dance, and ideas.
The pulsating, symphonic intensity heard in his new album Benidorm Dream, released on Pan European Recordings, energetically conveys the ultra-urbanism of the Spanish Costa Blanca beach town, Benidorm, a pastiche agglomeration with the highest number of skyscrapers per capita in the world, one of which he locked himself into to compose these dramatically charged choruses to the future-present.
KOUDLAM‘S visuals have always expanded on themes presented in his music. The videos for for his latest album so far have reaffirmed that most of the cliches about Benidorm are true. See the latest video for the single Benidorm Dream here. Hotels and apartment blocks that rival New York’s skyscrapers, endless English bars, cheap restaurants, tacky tourist souvenirs, neon signs and clean beaches. We wanted to know more about KOUDLAM‘S influences not only through our interview with him in issue 22 (extract below) but through the TV Takeover. Prepare to find out about his love of dwarfs, minimalist dance, Benidorm storms, Japanese composer SEIJI YOKOYAMA, and wasted youth.
OLIVIER ZAHM – What’s the connection between your musical inspiration and architecture?
KOUDLAM – I’m inspired by the landscapes that surround me, or the landscapes I seek; those can be tall buildings or temples, scenes of nature, or ruins. The landscapes in which we live shape who we are and also shape my music, of course.
OLIVIER ZAHM – Are there any visual artists, filmmakers, musicians that have influenced this album?
KOUDLAM – Oh, lots — but none I can think of in particular. ÉRIC SERRA, SEIJI YOKOYAMA, GUCCI MANE, Jane’s Addiction — that’s a random list of names that comes to me right now. And Apocalypse Now. I have that film running on a permanent loop at my house; the film is a kind of unhealthy background for our lives, but my wife and daughter don’t have a choice — they just have to accept that it’s always there. Sometimes I set off a smoke bomb when I’m in the mood. I like working in the middle of clouds of smoke. There’s an abandoned stadium not far from my house, in Benidorm, and we tested the sound of the album there a lot, often surrounded by smoke.
OLIVIER ZAHM – Are there any political influences?
KOUDLAM – I haven’t looked at any political events since the end of the Soviet Union; however I do know that things are slowly deteriorating. The future is done from a political standpoint. There is no future for man. Except perhaps in religion. You turn on the TV, and you’re immediately transported into the film Idiocracy; there isn’t even a gap. All of this probably influences my music. I try to open little breaks in the music to invent new creatures repopulating the world with impossible things. In this world, which seeks only to sterilize itself, I invent my own oxygen. I imagine that my music is both a maneuver to sublimate my melancholy and an attempt to invent a new utopia.
[January 19 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Danse de Nain (Dancing Dwarf) by Unknown
“I love dwarfs and I try to meet dwarfs anytime it’s possible. I actually met this woman in the video, a great dwarf, in Paris a few years ago. The dwarf is still a mythical character, one of the last, a kind figure inherited from some 19th century circus. Our modern society still leaves little room to appreciate this. They are presented like monsters in shows such as those found in Benidorm, near the strippers and fake Michael Jacksons. These people are fantastic, like magical apparitions. This particular video is purely amazing.” – Koudlam
[January 20 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Fire Of God by Rodney Howard Browne
“As hilarious as devilishly scary. As Nietzsche said, ‘Madness is something rare in the individual — but in groups, parties, peoples, ages it is the rule.’ Rodney is a fantastic Christian guru. His shows are the best.” – Koudlam
[January 21 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Benidrom Storm by Jim Vives & Orquesta Roibe
“A beautiful storm coming up on Benidorm. Stay tuned.” – Koudlam
[January 22 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Arab Drift by Unknown
“Waisted youth doing criminal drifts in some desert city.” – Koudlam
[January 23 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Prostitutes on Google Street View by Doxy Spotting
“One piece of art…” – Koudlam
[January 24 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Hakken by Unknown
“Love this minimalist dance from the north.” – Koudlam
[January 25 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Vang Vieng Tubing 2010 by bartderidderful
“A scary video, which shows typical idiocracy’s dedicated youth spending their time the best way they know. A few years ago they were killing each other here. It’s a strange world. Maybe Bin Laden whatched this before throwing his planes on the twin towers, we might have here the beginning of an explanation I don t know.” – Koudlam
[January 26 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Mustang Wanted Compilation #2 by Mustang Wanted
“Another youtube/gopro hero, trying to get the most views and likes at any costs, extremist of fun.” – Koudlam
[January 28 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Vangelis, The Man and His Music by Electric Theater Show
“A beautiful psychedelic report and interview with an inspiring musician.” – Koudlam
[January 29 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Hide Tribute – Sad Brothers by Caio Passarelli
“I watch this video every night. It’s a tribute to this mythical exuberant Japanese hard rock star called Hideto Matsumoto from the band “X Japan”. The images are fascinating but what is good here too is that the music is not from X Japan but from another mythical Japanese composer called Seiji Yokoyama, a real genius, who composed a lot of manga music from my childhood like Saint Seya in this case.” – Koudlam
[January 30 2015] : Television
Koudlam TV Takeover / Albatross Island Tasmania by Jeff Jennings
“Hope.” – Koudlam
