Fugu a.k.a Mehdi Zannad is a one-man-band from France. the idea of Fugu germinated while he was studying architecture in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1993, as his first demo lead him to record a 7" on Liverpool label "Sugarfrost".
A couple of years later, with encouragements from both High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan and Stereolab, Mehdi recorded his first E.P and a handful of 7" singles (among them, a split single with Stereolab, another one with St Etienne and a favourite, "F31-she's coming over" on Elefant records).
Fugu's first album, "Fugu 1" was conceived as an idiosyncratic baroque sequel to "Sgt Pepper" meeting "Smile" and meant to be made in perfect 60's facsimile. It gained critical success, got released in US by Minty Fresh and in France on Yann-"Amelie's" fame-Tiersen label "Ici d'Ailleurs". "For Us Records", the in-house label of the Rough Trade Shop released it on vinyl in the UK and it became album of the week on Xfm.
Fugu then opened for Stereolab on a coast-to-coast US tour which started at SF's Fillmore East and ended at the Irving Plaza in NY.
Mehdi collaborated on "happy-go-unlucky", the last Lp from ultra-talented songwriter John Cunningham, who was part of the Fugu line-up for the US tour.
Straightforwardness was the idea for "as found" which has just been released in France and Japan. These are pop songs in the true sense and most classical "canon", tackling US 70's early powerpop, post-60's Beach Boys and McCartney in his first solo album impersonation.
the Lp was recorded in Rouen with Tahiti 80 co-producing, playing, overdubbing, drinking beers, eating de-frozen food and also with Simon Johns from Stereolab on bass, and an appendix lost on the way.
"Here Today" is the right introduction and it's for you folks. So be glad and sing "i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love", because it's here to stay.
Pour fêter sa création l'association Cultiv'Art vous invite à sa soirée de lancement avec un programme éclectique. A l'affiche ce soir :
En première partie de soirée ( 21h) projection du documentaire réalisé par Daddy Yod " Il était une fois Raggamuffin " qui retrace l'ambiance Reggae des années 80 en France.
Puis l'artiste Cheeka exposera ses œuvres aux tons chauds.
Pour assurer l'ambiance musicale l'artiste Afrwukerah nous fera le privilège de passer derrière les platines en piochant dans sa collection de vinyles accumulés depuis de nombreuses années.
En somme, une soirée à ne pas louper dans un lieu convivial : Le Bric à Brac Bar. Passe le message à ton voisin, ton oncle, ta mère, ton chien , .. Toute l'équipe Cultiv'Art te souhaite la bienvenue dans son univers.
thanks for the comment as the album gets made i will be updating the tracks on the page weekly once its finished i will send it out free to anyone who wants it,James
Hello Fugu, grande distribution de clip à budget titanesque featuring: 1247 épouvantails finlandais, une seule statue de Snoopy mais haute de 3 mètres, 10 bornes incendies ouvertes en plein Paris et au moins 2 fans de Joy Division qui se donnent des gros coups de bâtons sur une plage déserte en plein hiver!
Online Now!
