The music of the chanson- electro- nonelectro- garage- rock'n'roll- french-pop- rock-à-billy- disco- international- underground- duo Stereo Total can be described as: 40% Yéyétronic, 20% R'n'R, 10% Punkrock, 3% electronic effects, 4% French 60ies beat, 7% genious dilettantism, 1,5% Cosmonaute, 10% really old synthesizers, 10% 8-bit Amiga-sampling, 10% transistor amplifier, 1% really expansive and advanced instruments, a minimalist production, meaning a home- made- trash- garage- sound crossed with underground, authentic as well as amateurish, ironic as well as effective, pop as well as political.

Stereo Total are Françoise Cactus, (from France, drums and vocals) and Brezel Göring (guitar, synthesizer, sampler).

In the course of fourteen years, eight albums and one hundred and sixtythree songs , the Berlin duo STEREO TOTAL has created a colourful and fascinating universe. Oscillating between the essential punkrock, disco and electro garage chanson and genious diletantism, the songs dazzle us for an instant (most of them not for longer than two minutes), leaving us stunned by their intensity. At the beginning of this ever-expanding musical universe (pleasantly enough!): a woman, a man, and an inexhaustible, sparkling imagination. Françoise Cactus, (who was born Van Hove in Burgundy and has chosen Berlin as her home for something like a generation now) a writer, local diva, who has performed, among other things, as drummer and singer of the "Lolitas" in the eighties. Then there is Brezel Göring, an inexplicable mixture of the hyperspeedy "Grand Duduche" and the elegant, unobtrusive crooner, with a soft voice and a lively rhythm. Bent over his synthesizer, happy as a young boy, he reminds one of the hallucinated inventor Géo Trouve-tout.

To sum up STEREO TOTAL's short history, which began with the single , let us list the different elements characteristic of their musical art: a minimalistic production (in a positive sense), meaning a home-made-trash-garage-sound crossed with underground, authentic as well as amateurish, ironic as well as effective, pop as well as...political. An untiring creative energy, as if it could never suffice, "Oh, but you haven't heard this one!" and wop! here we go again, hardly leaving time to draw a deep breath. A brilliant sense of composition as well as for covering other's material, whatever the source, combined with an excessive love for French chanson (the main weak spot being an evident admiration for the master Gainsbourg). A mystery of words resulting from the French-German/ male-female bilingualism, words in which accents are merrily blended and become more and more exotic from album to album (Japanese, Turkish, Spanish, English). And finally, an explicit and surprising sensitivity for electronic effects and a thrilling beat. A gift of pop music and its everlasting history. The unexpected combination of two traditions - French chanson and German electronica (which not only relates to Kraftwerk, but also to the uniquely German sound of "Neue Deutsche Welle", popular in the eighties, and the emergence of electrogroove, a sound which has flourished over the past ten years in numerous clubs in Berlin is again at its best, enchanting its listeners.

Just as the German audience adores Françoise Cactus charming French pronunciation of the German lyrics, her French collection of texts, poetic and playful, solemn and cheeky, anarchistic and light, makes her the most unknown composer and singer of French chansons - and it is high time that she be discovered. Fragile and irresistible, she stands behind her tiny drum kit and hammers the songs to a sequence in a devilish rhythm. In a matter of seconds she passes from a romantic ballad (No! Do not listen! It's a sad song!) to pure and simple rock, animating Brezel Göring (as well as the crowd) to leap. Indefatigable accomplice and perfect entertainer, Brezel Göring is at her side, stepping on the gas, his fingers working the knobs of his machine or the cords of his rectangular guitar.

TIP: Like any telepathic music, "Musique Automatique" should be listened to with the volume up high - to attract your neighbors!

The "eight-headed beast from the hard-scrabble streets of Menilmontant," Les Sans Culottes borrowed their name from the ill-clad (i.e., long-trousered) citizen soldiers of the French Revolution. The famous disposers of the House of Bourbons have been on a binge ever since springing wholly-formed in the fashion of Pallas Athena from the forehead of band leader, Clermont Ferrand, in 1998, and features the only other continuous original member of the group Kit Kat Le Noir (the band has gone through over 25 different line-ups in their 10 year history with various back-up musicians). In fact, some former members tried to start another band with a remarkably similar concept to Les Sans Culottes in 2005, and even tried to call that second group "Les Sans Culottes." Since this band was already using that name, however, they were stopped by a court order.

The band has released six recordings: 1999's eponymous "Les Sans Culottes," 7 song EP; 2001's "The Ennui and the Ecstasy"; 2002's "Faux Realism"; 2003's "Full Frontal Crudite'- Live in Paris"; 2004's "Fixation Orale"; and 2007's "Le Weekender" on the Vibratone Label. On July 14, 2007, the band also made the cd single "Exquisite Corps" featuring their french language versions of "These Boots are Made for Walkin'" (Ces Bottes ....), and "My Sharona" (Ma Sharona).

The group has licensed songs featured in a national commercial for HP, and for Ariel Lessive in Europe, and Touchstone films' "The Hot Chick" and 2005's Quentin Tarantino- produced Miramax release "Daltrey Calhoun." The band's music was also featured extensively in various MTV programs such as "Surf Girls" and "The Real World." They've headlined such venerable New York City venues as Bowery Ballroom, Joe's Pub, Southpaw, and Mercury Lounge, and have shared the stage with The Electric Six, Holly Golightly, and Detroit Cobras, the Dirtbombs, Ringo Starr, etc.

Les Sans Culottes' first album for Vibratone Records, titled "Le Weekender," takes its signature sound--a snarling Serge Gainsbourg backed by Mott the Hoople, effortlessly blended with cooing 60's girl-group harmonies--but also adds a diversity previously unexplored in earlier recordings bv the band.

The band toys with a hint of lounge on "La Semaine a Deux Jeudis," revels in the infectious pop of "Merci Beacoup" and "Les Enfants Terribles," and dives head-on into Detroit aggro-garage rock in "Basquiat" and "Les Monstres Du Ca." Yet each of the album's 13 tracks retain a common thread -- the unmistakable, inimitable spark of Les Sans Culottes.

The band's sound has variously been described as "Tristan Tzara and Little Richard in a knife fight," "Kim Fowley and Serge Gainsbourg in a game of pictionary," and "Laetitia Costa, Marcel Duchamp, Tuli Kupferberg, and Charo playing spin the bottle." Yet everyone agrees it has to be believed to be seen. It is Grand Guignol rock au maximum French rock for English speakers and others.

Les Sans Culottes take-no-prisoners live shows have "Earned a reputation forexcessively fabulous performances and intoxicatingly catchy pop music in the mold of Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Dutronc." (NY Daily News). "Their live show is a BUH-last, and they bring a veritable Cirque de SLAY stage presence." (DJ Terre T- WFMU). Both modern French Revolutionaries (by way of Brooklyn) and sartorially stylish (culotteless!) maverick rock n rollers Les Sans Culottes are coming to your town to help you party down -- after all, they're an americain band.

The band's new album "Le Weekender", released on Vibratone Records, is now available.

Somehow managing to blend ‘60s Parisian decadence, Atari-inspired eight-bit cacophony, sweeping neo-folk revival, and a post-punk sensibility, Mixel Pixel’s sound palette is dizzying. Their latest outing is a headfirst collision between bourgeois vocal stylings reminiscent of Magnetic Fields and the heavy, unforgiving beats of Chris Clarks Empty the Bones of You. The album somehow sounds like Super Mario strumming Jeff Mangum’s guitar, humming along and bouncing his pixilated little feet to Stereolab and the Postal Service. Otherwise put, Mixel Pixel have crafted an album that dips its toes into just about every hipster-friendly kiddie pool this side of Brooklyn.