Introducing Miss Laila France!
Somewhere between east and west, male and female, old and young, the 1950s and the 21st century... ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present Miss Laila France!
It all began in 1994 when Kahimi Karie (the super-cute Tokyo photographer turned model turned singer) approached Momus (the biggest french pop fan they'd ever had on the el and Creation labels) asking for five songs for an EP.
The resulting record, 'I Am A Kitten', set west Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district on fire. 'Good Morning World' and 'Le Roi Soleil', which followed in 1995 and 1996, poured petrol on the flames. Kahimi became a huge star in Tokyo then left to live in Paris.
Around this time an explosion began to happen in sophisticated bachelor pads all over the world. The roots of the music that we call Trance Cocktail started on Moogs in Stockholm (The Cardigans and Komeda), in Muzak in London (Mike Flowers and Count Indigo), in stereo in Tokyo (Pizzicato 5 and Kahimi Karie), before becoming known as Loungecore in America (Combustible Edison) and Neo-Eurovision in Berlin (Stereo Total).
Momus, who moved to Paris in 1994, placed an advertisement in the french capital's most adventurous magazine, Nova. 'Girl singer wanted for an album of songs in the style of 1970s Italian soft porn films', it read.
The half-Thai, half-French Laila France, a 21 year-old student of the plastic arts, was the successful applicant. Over the next year Momus and Laila wrote an album together, meeting every Wednesday in Montmartre. (Laila was often obliged to sting the lazy Momus back to work with a whip).
'Orgonon' is the result, a record dedicated to the spirit of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, who believed that orgasmic energy, correctly accumulated in little boxes, could save the world.
The Italian soft porn themes are still audible, as is the presence of Kahimi Karie, Serge Gainsbourg, Klaus Nomi, Vince Clarke, Visage and Francis Lai. But there are also exotic elements of Drum and Bass added in London by Pantunes, and a haunting remix by techno artist Scanner.
Thank you for choosing Trance Cocktail Airlines. Please place your arm rests down and your tables up and prepare for take off!