Le Tone - Le Petit Nabab

Weird French popsters Le Tone merge a bass and bleep sensibility with musique concrete on their debut LE PETIT NABIB. "Intro" is a sample-rific piece, but their twee single "Joli Dragon" is a crowd-pleaser with its childlike sense of fun. Le Tone don't pretend to take themselves seriously, and a free to indulge in the near-noir of "Expression du Domaine de la Lutte" or the breaks, strings and gleeps of joy in "Mauvaise Graine." Their approach does allow for some moments of tenderness to creep in, as with "Is It Love" (though the sped-up sample of Chinese opera seems out of place) or the delicate Billie Holiday homage of "Bitter Crop." And "Lessive" takes us out on a tropical note, showing that fun can be as important a musical element as any other.