Some bands are meant to be. The Anglo-French acoustic dance band Topette!! is one such…a collective of uninhibited musical adventurers playing self-penned and traditional music from anywhere with a winning mix of bonhomie and grit.
Of course it helps that those musicians are some of the finest on the European dance scene…
Andy Cutting – diatonic button accordion
James Delarre – violin
Julien Cartonnet – bagpipes, banjo
Tania Buisse – bodhrán
Barnaby Stradling – acoustic bass guitar
Born out of friendship, the five-piece play naturally social music – for filling dancefloors, for listening, for drinking with friends – but don’t expect it to merge into the background. This is raunchy, up-all-night, joyously jugular grabbing dance music.
Driven by the rhythmic boiler-room of Stradling’s gnarly bass, Buisse’s intuitive bodhrán playing and Cutting’s warm bottom end, the melodies burst out of the seams of this bedrock. With great big anthemic walls of sound, the vibe is ‘Party!’: Cartonnet’s glowing French piping and visceral tenor banjo, Delarre’s bright, bushy-tailed fiddle lines and Cutting’s dynamic accordion style. They are, quite literally, having a ball !
Their album C’est le Pompon… a French expression similar to “that takes the biscuit !” – features an eclectic selection of material. Beautifully recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in Wales, by Topette’s producer and live engineer, Joe Garcia, it opens with ‘Venture’, a rollicking new tune by the band’s accordion maestro, and three times BBC Folk Awards musician of the year, Andy Cutting. French dance tunes abound, including the traditional Bourée Morvandelle and, extraordinary piper, Julien Cartonnet’s own La Lustrée, but then the album careers off via a gloriously plunky version of Ola Bäckström’s Meatballs, Whiskey And Beer, a traditional Gnawa tune Hamouda and, underpinned by some seriously groovy bass, the ecstatic swirling tune–set Sunshine / Scottish Urbaine, penned by the band’s old friend, and hurdy-gurdy-guru, Gregory Jolivet.
This band are tearing up dance floors across Europe, as well as pleasing the ears of festival concert-goers, with their varied and ever-expanding repertoire…
April tour dates as follows:
13/04/2018
Stanely Halls, Norwood Junction – London
12 South Norwood Hill, London, SE25 6AB
tickets from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/438932
14/04/2018
South Bank Club – Bristol
Dean Lane, Southville, BS3 1DB
tickets from www.wegottickets.com/event/425682
15/04/2018
Rhosygilwen Mansion – Cardiganshire
Rhos-hill, Cardigan, SA43 2TW
tickets from rhosygilwen.co.uk
16/04/2018
Mynydd Llandygai Memorial Hall – North Wales
Neuadd Goffa, Mynydd Llandygai, Bangor, LL57 4LQ
tickets from www.wegottickets.com/event/425686
17/04/2018
Gregson Centre – Lancaster
33 Moorgate, Lancaster, LA1 3PY
tickets from www.wegottickets.com/event/425725
18/04/2018
Tyneside Irish Centre – Newcastle
43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG
tickets from www.wegottickets.com/event/425726
19/04/2018
The Heeley Institute – Sheffield
147 Gleedless Road, Sheffield, S2 3AF
tickets from www.wegottickets.com/event/425913
20/04/2018
Wickham Market Hall – Suffolk
High Street, Wickham Market, Suffolk, IP13 0HE
tickets from www.wegottickets.com/event/425788
21/04/2018
Wesley Memorial Church (Back Hall) – Oxford
New Inn Hall St, Oxford OX1 2DH
tickets from www.folkweekendoxford.co.uk
22/04/2018
The Bowerhouse – Maidstone
20 Warwick Place, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8SG
tickets from www.thebowerhouse.info
So …Join in the party! Topette!!
For more informations visit:http://www.topette.co.uk
(Photo and video credits to Simon Houlihan)
