Friday, March 16, 2007

THE DEAD ALL HAVE THE SAME SKIN (1947) by Boris Vian (Vernon Sullivan)




TamTam Books is proud (as usual) to announce the publication of Vernon Sullivan’s (or better known as Boris Vian) masterpiece of noir-gone berserk – “The Dead All Have The Same Skin” (Les morts ont tous la meme peau).

Written one year after the controversial (putting it mildly) “I Spit on Your Graves,” you think Vian would have known better. But no, he decided to do another violent shocker that is ripped out of today’s (or was it all in my head?) headlines. This surreal masterpiece of ‘dark’ writing is about Daniel Parker who is a bouncer in a drink hell bar hole somewhere in New York City (Vian, a French man never been to the States) who is blackmailed by his long lost brother who is black and threatens him to tell the truth about his brother’s racial blood. Parker is not going to take that. His life, by that admission, becomes a tipsy topsey one-way ticket to hell.

If that is not enough it also includes a short story by Vian “Dogs, Desire, and Death” which is an erotic tale of a bad girl, a helpless driver, and the need for destruction and sexual release.

And no not even that is not enough; we have a small essay or more like a rant by Vian regarding the history of his first controversial shocker “I Spit on Your Graves.” And not only that, but also a thoughtful and informative introduction by Marc Lapprand.

Translated from the French by Paul Knobloch. Tom Recchion did the design work.

“The Dead All Have The Same Skin” will be released June 5, 2007.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

The New (Old) Exciting Sounds of Les Fleurs de Pavot

Les Fleurs de Pavot is a band from 1968, formed in France by two hippies Groovy Pat from London and Jesus from San Francisco. But no, actually they were an early 60’s French cover band “Bourgeois De Calais” and who their manager JP Rawson suggested that they try Psychedelic pop. The results are the band and album “Les Fleurs de Pavot.” “Les Fleurs de Pavot” is a very good album. It sort of a cross between early Pink Floyd and French Ye-Ye music.



Jean-Pierre Castelain (Zorba) maybe the only well-known member of this band. I don’t know his music or recordings, but he looks interesting.



The album is co-produced by Bernard Estardy and the incredible Jean Claude Vannier. Vannier did the beautiful arrangements for Serge Gainsbourg’s “Histoire de Melody Nelson” and also released a quite remarkable solo record “L’enfant assassin des mouches.”