Primavera Sound 2019: Coucou Chloe + Fucked Up + Apparat (dj set)

It’s true, the name Coucou Chloe is spreading among the hee’s and ha’s of the fashion party regulars thanks to how good she looks on her social networks and because her tracks end up on the catwalks (at Rihanna’s show at the New York fashion week, for example). All seems good up to here, other than the fact that Erika Jane is also behind a bunch of electronic EPs that are more mysterious than the interpretations of the Cabala. Intriguing and sensual, jazzy and underground, whether from her own label, NUXXE or from the circles of the London underground scene, Coucou Chloe, launches musical stories (with layers, nods, flirtations...) that are totally in sync with the post-internet present.

Hardcode, they say, is a short song that goes straight for the jugular. But for Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham, this definition falls short as almost everything else does. According to him, the genre is big enough to take on board extensive narratives and Dionysian epic. And this is demonstrated by the majestic punk operas by Fucked Up, such as "David Comes to Life" and its spiritual follow up "Dose Your Dream", in which the man behind all of this hands over the spotlight to a selection of guests that includes Owen Pallett, J Mascis and the most elusive of all the Miss America (s), Mary Margaret O’Hara. If such a stylistic melting pot makes you feel lost, don’t worry. Go to the front of the crowd and when you (literally) get rammed by Damian you will remember that, even if they dress up their songs in wilsonian harmonies and disco salsa, the domains of Fucked Up are still that of relentless pogoing.

Let’s say you’re racing against the clock because of work. That you have a 48-hour deadline to announce something. The whole line up of a festival for example. This festival for example. Also, around you, are 30 or 40 people working non-stop to make sure that everything turns out well, on time, and perfect. And of course you are stressed. It is inevitable. Then you see that you have to write about Apparat, alias Sascha Ring, 33% of Moderat. So you start listening to "The Devil’s Walk", his latest solo album. And, suddenly, everything is still. His ten tracks do the impossible: they take you out of your world and immerse you in another. They generate harmony. Ambient atmospheres, post-rock progressions and cascades of sadness one after the other until… the record ends and the countdown is back on. What you are left with, is the knowledge that in a few months you will be watching his new show in the Auditori del Fòrum. And you can’t help but smile.