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Raphaël Costambeys-KempczynskiAbout Raphaël Costambeys-Kempczynski Raphaël is maître de conferences at the Sorbonne, Paris, where he lectures in English literature, Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Radio Journalism. Though born and bred in England, Raphaël has spent much of his adult life travelling between London, Edinburgh, Dublin and the Continent. After a short career as a rock band front man and music critic, he worked for several years as a radio presenter/producer and is currently piloting the Radio Sorbonne project. His radio work mainly focuses on the analysis of British current affairs with a cultural angle as well as issues dealing with the reception of popular music. He is known in radio circles as the “Dr of Pop”. He completed his PhD in 2001 on the performances of postmodernity in contemporary British poetry and subsequently left his home in Britain to take up his post in Paris. FeaturesWhere There Had Been Something, There Was Suddenly Something More: John Peel 1939-2004John Peel was the man. For the past 40 years he made sure that Britain didn't just listen to over-produced throwaway one-hit-wonders. [26 October 2004] Columns
Linton Kwesi Johnson and the Eloquence of RiotersThis poetry, symbolically violent in its choice of literary form and symbolically subversive in its choice of Creole, reveals the literacy of rioters. [15 January 2009] (more Channel Crossings) Me, Myself & BBCi: Who’s Watching WhomThe extensive use of mirrors in the Big Brother house behind which many of the cameras are hidden means that when the contestants hear the voice of authority, it is their own reflexion that they see back. [19 August 2008] (more Channel Crossings) Re-make/Re-Model and the Becoming of Bryan FerryRoxy Music positioned themselves as postmodern: boundary blurring, self-reflexive, both serious in an art rock vein and playful in a glam rock vein. [19 June 2008] (more Channel Crossings) 1977: The Year Decency Died - Part IIIf punk’s message was ‘destroy’, then inevitably wrapped up in its own scream of existence was its dying breath. No sooner was 1977 declared the year of punk than the death of punk was in the cards. [10 April 2008] (more Channel Crossings) 1977: The Year Decency Died - Part I"I loathe and detest everything they stand for and look like. They are obnoxious, obscene and disgusting." [9 April 2008] (more Channel Crossings) Songs, Swoosh-ifiedThe quintessential element of the digital audio revolution is the creation of the ‘random’ button, that default 'shuffle function', which renders us no longer creators of mix-tapes, but consumers of playlists. [13 February 2008] (more Channel Crossings) Move Over, iPhone, the French iBike is the New BlackThere's no doubting Paris’ credentials as one of the world’s capitals of culture and style. The French touch brings a sense of panache to our daily lives – when the City of Light sneezes, the world catches a Gallic shrug. [14 December 2007] (more Channel Crossings) Hanging On in Quiet Desperation is the English WaySyd Barrett's physical presence/ mental absence would have undermined Pink Floyd’s American tour, but Barrett was a product of his time, and fittingly, the audience in San Francisco was receptive to the vision of a man decomposing on stage. [8 October 2007] (more Channel Crossings) Fading to Grey: Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky has peered into the abyss of the future with the eye of a true skeptic. And being the intellectual he is I am sure that he has revelled in the abyss staring back at him in an equally skeptical manner. [24 August 2007] (more Channel Crossings) YSL? Why not?For Yves Saint-Laurent, clothes are a way of life and not a way of dressing; you may be wearing the most anodyne of dresses, but if you walk with one hand in your pocket then you create a mind-set. [15 June 2007] (more Channel Crossings) Life on Mars: Just in The Nick of TimeIf there is life on Mars, then the little green men are really the men in blue, and they look just like us. [10 April 2007] (more Channel Crossings) Blank Canvas & Dead SpaceIn this dark, underground place exists a "catacosmos"; where the bones of poor, dead children haunt like angels, and the living, who so badly want to be remembered, mistake their own echo for lasting amplification. [14 February 2007] (more Channel Crossings) God Smokes Cuban CigarsThanks to the upcoming ban on smoking in public places, smirting may take France by storm. That’s all Parisians need: another excuse to stand in the street in loving embrace. [13 December 2006] (more Channel Crossings) Cooking Up a FussThe arrival of the celebrity TV chef is parallel to the rise of the techno DJ: both feed upon our hedonistic fin-de-siècle desires. The rave scene gave us mass love-ins driven by repetitive beats and illicit substances. The chefs do it by teaching us how to knock up cordon bleu dishes in only 20 minutes between the moment we get home from work and the moment we head out again to get blotto. [12 October 2006] (more Channel Crossings) Summer in the CitiesIt is time to face a fundamental vacation truth: no matter how post-touristic we like to think we are, no matter how much money we throw at travelling halfway around the world in order to escape our mundane routine lives, there are only two types of holiday-goer and both are of the Real Touristik variety. [23 August 2006] (more Channel Crossings) From the Beautiful Game to le beau jeuOn French footballers playing in England, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. [15 June 2006] (more Channel Crossings) The Cult of Mediocrity: Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg and the Medio-culturalThe UK and US are often accused of promulgating the cult of celebrity because of their post-industrialist, neo-liberal take on the world that sees culture as a commodity. France, however, is guilty of pandering to the cult of mediocrity. [9 May 2006] (more Channel Crossings) The Learning CurveCostambeys-Kempczynski imagines a French version of The Apprentice. The day after the first episode is aired, French employees would stand around the coffee machine, point at each other, and shout 'Vous êtes muté!'; that is, 'You're Transferred!'. [18 April 2006] (more Channel Crossings) Going CuckooHomeland Security resides with the Ministry of Agriculture. From mad cows to birds with the lurgy: there's no getting away from biological warfare. Channel Crossings takes a political detour to see why British and French ministers never bite the hand that feeds them. [14 March 2006] (more Channel Crossings) How to Earn Your Anti-social Badge of HonourAwright all you bus-riding yobs! Fix up! Look sharp! [9 February 2006] (more Channel Crossings) The Good Old Days Tomorrow Brings'Tis difficult for a modern man of means and ability to be the intellectually, culturally, environmentally, absolutely inclusively-thinking global specimen of the species the world demands of him. New Puritans and Neo-Cromwellians battle for his soul. [1 December 2005] (more Channel Crossings) I Drink Therefore I AmOne can't be left alone to indulge one's poison, these days, without some bothersome governmental agency, or the busy-body press, sticking its nose in one's businesses. [7 October 2005] (more Channel Crossings) We Say ‘No’; You Say ‘Non’. Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.England vs. France. A bit of good humour on both sides, heard just above the snarls. [12 September 2005] (more Channel Crossings) When the Bulbs Flicker in the City of LightsThere was a time when a simple trip cross the English Channel would place your social status in the ascendancy, much like serving in the colonies in the 19th century. But nowadays in Paris, try finding an affordable broom cupboard of one's own. [11 May 2005] (more Channel Crossings) Bored Housewives: A Lifestyle Choice?Costambeys-Kempczynski puzzles over the roles, and the meaning of the roles, of modern, married, hetero women: their voracious sexual appetites; their productivity level while pregnant; and their entertainment factor. [9 March 2005] (more Channel Crossings) Forgive Me Father, For I Have BoughtShopping within three European countries on a 'universal' credit card can prove to be most taxing to one's historical, not to mention monetary, tolerance. Damn the Irish, the French, and not least, the British! [5 January 2005] (more Channel Crossings) Fair-Weather FriendsThe 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale has been overshadowed by neo-colonial interests; the focus no longer being on Africa but on the carving up of the Middle East -- and at times of its inhabitants -- and the wealth it can offer the West. [10 November 2004] (more Channel Crossings) Let Paris DecideAs the school year begins in Paris, there are many new changes facing students and teachers: hijabs, kippas, turbans, and large crucifixes -- along with knives, guns and other weapons -- will have to be left at the school gate. [15 September 2004] (more Channel Crossings) Subvertising: The Re-emergence of Political Graffiti on the Parisian UndergroundIt's a modern-day, consciousnesses-raising revolution! Government funded, non-profit organisations stage anti-advertising raids, trashing idols of consumerism in the Parisian métropolitan transport system. [21 July 2004] (more Channel Crossings) Rode to Joy: A Path to Cultural Immigration?Founded to enhance political, economic and social cooperation, will the European Union prompt movement of the masses? Of those who move, who in the crowd is an immigrant, who an expat? Which promises economic rejuvenation; which threatens on-the-dole failure? Which brings civilizing infusion; which brings cultural pollution? [19 May 2004] (more Channel Crossings) Reviews
Forest: ForestIf you're a deaf, tramp-like, fire-eating, unicyclist elf, then Forest might just offer the soundtrack to your life. [26 September 2005] 
The Dead 60s: The Dead 60sPlaying the degeneration game. The Dead 60s take us back to the days of a leaden age. [23 June 2005] 
Gomez: Out WestSomething old, something blue, something borrowed, but nothing new. If you don't know Gomez then this live double album was meant for you. [7 June 2005] 
British Sea Power: Open SeasonProbably the first time anadiplosis has ever been used in a rock review. But that's the kind of band British Sea Power want to be. [26 April 2005] 
Stereophonics: Language. Sex. Violence. Other?No more croaking ballads? Have Stereophonics finally decided to move on or are they just Britrock revivalist bandwagon jumpers?" [20 April 2005] 
Ocean Colour Scene: A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying SquadImitation isn't always the sincerest form of flattery and somebody needs to tell Ocean Colour Scene. [13 April 2005] 
Linton Kwesi Johnson: Live in ParisTwenty-five years on and Linton Kwesi Johnson is still fighting against the terrorism of institutionalised racism. Live in Paris celebrates the on-going struggle of our 'revalueshanary fren'. [16 February 2005] Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds + Mercury RevThis is what childbirth must feel like... from the baby's point of view. A hard-earned evening in Paris. [23 November 2004] Franz Ferdinand + The Kills + The Zutons + The KillersThe French have spoken. Hey Strokes! You're free to leave. [16 November 2004] |
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