Record Mart & Buyer (Feb 2000)
Where does Nigel get them from? More Francophile pop from the ever-dependable Pickled Egg Records this time courtesy of LeBLEU. With a brass sequence that sounds like it's being played by Nellie the Elephant under water, 'Toujours Là' is a quirky and an undeniable romantically moody sounding platter that has all the trapping of a French Whitetown but executed with more drama and feeling. So hummable you'll be whistling it for days to come.

Flip it over for 'Là Bas' whis is acoustically sensitive and tranquil and will leave you begging for more. Sultry pop finesse what more can I say? Better start learning French at this rate.

Mucchio Selvaggio
Da qualche mese la Pickled Egg si sta specializzando nel miglior space-pop cantato in francese che si possa ascoltare sul pianeta. Dall'accento, però, si intuisce che Le Bleu più che dalle sponde della Senna arrivano dalla più cupa Scozia, da Edimburgo per l'esattezza, anche se Ed Beavan, il cantante, giura di essere dell'Essex. Suoni raffinati, puliti e rilassanti sia in Toujours Là sia in Là Bas, con una strumentazione piuttosto spartana - non si va oltre una chitarra, a volte distorta - ma dalla sicura resa sonora.

Gayle Brogan, Boa
To these ears, this wondrous piece of seamless synth pop is simply too good to pass up. "Toujours Là" is simply magnifique: a bedroom OMD from Edinburgh singing in French (and oh it shows in those delightful accents) with an echo-laden whistling solo. "Là Bas" is equally gorgeous in a more fragile way: delicately picked guitar, wibbling synth sounds, a softly echoing beat and sumptous breathy vocals courtesy of Ed Beavan.

Robots & Electronic Brains
Wholly absorbing, it'll move you to tears without understanding a word It's like Norman Blake jamming with a passing tuba player after his nightschool French class---and rather strangely so given that, although now based in Scotland, singer Ed Beavan is actually from Essex. The vibe is earlyish Teenage Fan Club (classically melodic) with more than a hint of Gallic chic (classically effortless) and a slow spin on the dreamy production that leaves you slightly disorientated.

The Satellite (Issue 2)
Anglo-French pop via Scotland - Air and Stereolab certainly have a lot to answer for! It took me ages to work out what/who this lot reminded me of - the answer, I eventually concluded, is Bis-meets-Sid-Barret-meets-Serge-Gnsbourg - but by the time I'd actually arrived at that conclusion Toujours Là had become firmly lodged in my inner consciousness, going around and around in a great big loop. But isn't that fab?

Ptolemaic Terrascope
Geographical confusion has blighted the debutantes LE Bleu, who's 'Toujours La' 7 incher is on Pickled Egg Records (19 College Avenue, Leicester LE2 0JF, UK). They're an Edinburgh based duo, with an Essex-born singer who warbles in French! Duh??? Minimal arrangements dream of Brel, with gtr/elec. percussion and ersatz Gallic charm wafting cafe society/bohemian aromas around like an old neglected Weekend track.