I've been a "solo" artist for over twenty years now. A description that is both inexact and unfair to the musicians who've spent most of this time with me, and who have helped me shape my songs all through this period. None more so than Danny Manners, pianist, double-bassist and superlative arranger, to whom you can, and should pay a visit to.
Influences
Ravel, Poulenc, Fauré, Brian Wilson, Prefab Sprout, Bobby Fuller, Jacques Brel, The Kinks, XTC, Richard Thompson, The Zombies, Quarteto Em Cy, Jackie deShannon, Les Baxter, Bertrand Burgalat, Burt Bacharach, Edu Lobo, Sibelius, Duke Ellington, The Young Marble Giants and it goes on, and on, and on.
A word of warning : 'friends requests' from other musicians, record labels, festivals, radio stations etc will be turned down in most cases. This is not meant to reflect on anything other than the impossibility to deal with the huge number of messages, bulletins (and outright spam) that would come my way if I accepted everyone. Please do not feel insulted if a request is refused. You can always add a message to your request if you wish: that'll certainly make me think twice! Comments including photographs, banners, videos and the like will also be denied, unless they have a relevance to this site.
1 September 2008 - French-speaking visitors might feel like paying me a visit here. Which is more or less the musical diary of someone who's lucky enough not to have to pay for his tickets. A word of warning: the emphasis is put, and strongly, on classical music.
26 JULY - 'AN UNKNOWN SPRING' AND 'THE HUDDLE HOUSE' CAN NOW BE DOWNLOADED HERE from EMUSIC.COM.
4 JUNE - 'AN UNKNOWN SPRING' NOW IN STOCK
TO GET YOUR COPY, VISIT SUNSHINE OR CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
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Official website
A potted biography could read like this: Louis Philippe - French musician and writer, born in Normandy, lived in Paris, Brussels and now London, which has been his residence since 1987. Loves his Burgundy wine, Arsenal FC, Francis Poulenc and the poetry of Philip Larkin. So-called 'cult artist' associated with él records in the late eighties, with a small but dedicated fan base; 17 albums released to this date, plus many collaborations with other artists (Valérie Lemercier, April March, Mathilde Santing, Cathal Coughlan, Cinnamon, The Clientele, La Buena Vida, Bertrand Burgalat, Sean O'Hagan, HaLo, Keiichi Suzuki, PJ Proby, Simon Fisher-Turner, Laila Amezian, etc); better known as a political essayist and football writer in his native country; lesser known for his knowledge of edible fungi. Trained as a philosophy teacher, first real job as a cook. Decent-ish chess player. Co-author of the 'Dictionnaire du Rock'. Very busy. Make that very very busy.
Other new releases (click on the pictures for more details):
Louis Philippe Live double-album. Listen to four of this album's songs here
Stuart Moxham with Louis Philippe, 'The Huddle House'. Listen to four of this album's songs here
Finally, you can also listen to many, many more Louis Philippe songs on the net here , thanks to virb.com, the connoisseur's alternative to MySpace.
We've got our first review! In the next issue of R2. I heard you on The Curve Ball this evening and of course I melted again when I heard your voice. You seem to have that effect on me! XXX
I have been listening to 'Sunshine' obsessively over the past few days. It's such a great summer record. A perfect companion to my favourite summer record -'Friends' by The Beach Boys.
Miss Louise Le May requests the delightful company of Mr Louis Philippe in Status and Mood at 9pm where she will be receiving guests in honour of the Mr Curve Ball. Formal dress code: men in hats, ladies in 80s meringue dresses. Strictly no llamas. X
Hey Louis, it's The Curve Ball show this evening. We are all going to gather in 'Status and Mood' on MySpace at 9pm! Should be a cracker of a show! I think he's playing one of mine, I wonder which one? XXX
So glad you found Joe Moe's album! A real gem! By the way, Chris' radio show made me fall head over heels for your work. Beautiful and complex... just the way I love it!
LP: Best wishes on your Curve Ball radio appearance! FYI: Yesterday I added a solo "live" recording of me performing a great from the Bacharach/David songbook, "(Do You Know the Way to) San Jose?". Me and an acoustic guitar and few bum notes. Have a listen.
LP and fans of LP: Please have a listen to my new song, “Consideration” in the mighty MySpace player. It features me and that perfect percussive palooka, Anthony Allen of Washington, D.C. Not a real mix, but pretty much finished. It will appear on my next album, Smellicopter, in 2010/2011. Please “subscribe” to me if you haven’t already. You need to be in the loop, right?
