Photo ©Alexandra Taupiac

Former freelance publicist and co-label manager of the French avant-jazz imprint Chief Inspector during the 2000s, Olivier then worked at producing musical shows for Radio France, where he’s now part of the 3D Sound R&D team. He is besides part-time writing over music, member of the vinyl collective Los Tapas Discos and curator of the brand new label WEWANTSOUNDS. Here he picks up his Top 5 “basics” tracks!

 
 
 

Mal Waldron
Right On

“He may be my jazzman. I hesitated with Moanin’ by Charles Mingus. But Waldron also played with Mingus in his early years! I love his minimalism. I remember one night at Le Duc des Lombards in Paris, before it’d been rebuilt. I used to sit on the stairs just above the piano. There was a window pane through which I could see his black hair with his typical white strand, his cigarette always stuck on his lips and his long hands turning around hypnotic patterns. This record was released by the great French producer Gerard Terronès on his label Futura, and I think that another great French producer gave it to me, Jean-Jacques Pussiau of OWL Records.”
 

Bill Withers
The Same Love That Made Me Laugh

“He may be my preferred musician! His writing has the perfect simplicity, his voice is the uttermost sincere I’ve ever heard and I love how he can make you dance on tragic lyrics, just as disco will soon do later on.”
 

Big Audio Dynamite
I Don’t Know

“As a teen, The Clash rapidly opened my mind on possible mixes of white & black music. I then followed Mick Jones with B.A.D and bought the CD when it came out in 1991. I’ve been looking for the vinyl since then and randomly found it on a flee market in Düsseldorf last month. It came without its cover but the vinyl is mint and at least there’s the inner sleeve. I’m close to finishing the puzzle!”
 

Group Home feat. Brainsick Mob
East NY Theory

“I just can’t make a Top 5 without hip hop and Group Home is one of my favorite bands, epitomizing the NY’s east coast indie flavor I always loved. I cherish this 12” because even if it’s not that expensive, this track is quite difficult to find and was released almost like a white label, which was not that frequent in the 90s hip hop scene.”
 

Matthias Reiling
Warm Down

“I bought this one last December at Smallville Records’ shop in Hamburg, where I’ve been visiting Golden Pudel just before it sadly burnt. Giegling had a residency there. I love this label. Guys like Matthias Reiling, Konstantin, Ateq or Traumprinz seem to weave between what’s left of minimal house and hip hop fluffy instrumentals, piling up layers of samples you can discover endlessly. It’s a very subtle craftsmanship, quite dreamy, like their beautiful cover arts. I kind of buy everything they release! House and techno actually works exactly like jazz used to: you can totally rely on labels aesthetics, artists swing from one to another, there’s something very collective in the way they collaborate. To quote only a few, just check the productions of Hivern, Kill the DJ, Correspondant, Comeme or Permanent Vacation.”