Their first, eponymous album, which came out in October 2005, revealed them to be one of the year’s best kept secrets, and sold around 30 000 copies. They owe such success to their impressive live shows, which draw an eclectic crowd. Birdy Nam Nam somehow manage to make four blokes standing in a row behind the turntables sexy. Each of them goes at his turntable like a musician does his instrument. They’d fill the space with their effort alone. Now that’s charisma! The defining moment of this international tour was the two sold out concerts at the Cigale in June 2006, when our four DJs were joined for the first time by jazz musicians that brought a whole new edge to their music. These exceptional shows are etched forever in the live album that came out in October that same year, bringing a beautiful ending to the first chapter of their joint adventure.
"We need time. We want to work with musicians again. We want a voice, maybe an MC. We’d love to make a big, fat dance track, for example.” That was one of the four talking to us just before the live album came out. Birdy Nam Nam said they were going to surprise us, and Trans Boulogne Express is the perfect example of how to do it. This new track marked an upturn in the music of Birdy Nam Nam. They move even further away from the hip-hop cannon, delving into electro to plant an irresistible dance floor bomb, infused with their unique science of the sample, and creating something capable of bringing any clubber to their knees. Trans Boulogne Express reveals a new side to the quartet, a new form of mastery. The Aerosteak remix takes up the main gimmick and turns it into an orchestration of - we kid you not – Kraftwerk (Man Machine). The Driver AKA Manu Le Malin, the emperor of French hardcore techno, and the symbol of an extreme musical scene, teams up with his friend Lunatic Asylum to create a no-holds-barred techno mix. Yuksek, the unparalleled producer of the new “French touch” and creator of the critically acclaimed “Composer EP” (on the Swiss label, Relish) and the “It Comes EP” (on Uwe), gives us a live version that translates the contemporary current vibe. The killing kick has struck again!
Birdy Nam Nam take their listeners by surprise, and they’ve met this new challenge with such skill that it can only bode well for their second album, slated to come out this spring. One thing is certain: Trans Boulogne Express is the perfect taster to have you salivating until then!
