* Polka Haunt Us Featured in SCARS Magazine!

Two words: Gothic. Polka.

Gothic, spooky-old, polka. You might not have known it even existed. Today, I am ashamed I didn’t know. Polka occasionally makes its way to our consciences around this time of year, mostly diluted by distractions at Oktoberfests, but Veronique Chevalier…aka the “Weird Val” of Dark Cabaret…is changing how we think of the accordion with her compilation, “Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation.”

POLKA HAUNT US!!! The name alone is enough to kill me, and from the moment I listened to the first track – “The Beer Hall In Hell” – I couldn’t stop smiling. Honestly. Polka Haunt Us. Weird Val may have been gonged off the first season of America’s Got Talent, but all I know is, this is the stuff for me. And I’m not alone. “Polka Haunt Us” was an official selection for Best Polka in the 51st Grammy’s Ballot.

Veronique acted as Executive Producer and lyricist on the compilation, bringing together talent from the polka (and greater) sphere to perform on each track. Really, “Polka Haunt Us” is a concept album, filled with stories from mythology and folklore from across the globe. While it’s definitely the season for gothic polka, these creepy narratives transcend Halloween. There’s an obvious labor of mad love behind Veronique’s research, lyrics, and song titles.

There’s no way to argue this isn’t without its hokiness. (Polka-hokey-ness.) But it’s rooted in cabaret! If we can’t be campy here, where can we? Plus, there’s talent behind the strange. Check out the video for my personal favorite, “Fisher Bird Girl,” based on a Norwegian folktale.

And if that was more seriously surreal than you expected, check out more light-hearted polka fare with “Vampire Surprise,” which tells the tale of an enterprising cook “turning the tables” on bothersome vamps.

Like any concept album, “Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation” is best heard in full. Experienced is probably the better word than “heard,” because even after a total listen, my brain still can’t quite process the awesome oddity of this album. Stream it at Reverbnation or buy it at PolkaHaunt.Us.

Tags: Polka Haunt Us, Veronique Chevalier

This entry was originally posted by fallon on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 9:20 am and is filed under News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Original URL: http://scarsmagazine.com/blog/2009/09/29/two-words-gothic-polka/

* LA Weekly Article: An Evening of Steampunkery

Journalist Liz Ohanesian wrote a lovely follow-up article in the LA Weekly Blog, about our Evening of Steampunkery on Sunday, September 20th @ Echo Curio:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/synthful/scenes-from-an-evening-of-stea/
Scenes from An Evening of Steampunkery
By Liz Ohanesian in Last Night, Synthful

Photo by Liz Ohanesian
Veronique Chevalier and Seth Bedford

Several years ago, LA-based performer Veronique Chevalier launched Red Velvet Vaudeville Variety Show. During its existence, the performances won acclaim for bringing together an eclectic cross-section of performers linked together through the singer's witty MC stylings. Last night's event A Red Velvet & Sepiachord Evening of Steampunkery, held at Echo Curio, relied primarily on music, but still conveyed traces of vaudevillian presentation.

The evening was divided into halves, with each artist playing two short sets. Mixing together sentimental pop (Eli August), performance art (April Hava Shenkman), accordion-based comedy (Seth Bedford) and Victorian synthpop (Unextraordinary Gentlemen) is tricky, but the night moved quickly and cohesively. Chevalier performed one number with accordionist Seth Bedford in between each set.

Chevalier's character is the rumored "long lost granddaughter" of Maurice Chevalier, a French ballerina whose career was cut short when a crazed cowboy shot out the lights in a theater, causing her to fall into the orchestra pit. She has turned to cabaret as a creative outlet and, like all good cabaret artists, mixes randy tunes with dramatic cover songs sung in a very thick accent. The clip below is a cover of "People Are Strange" that has become a staple of her sets.

Veronique Chevalier "People Are Strange"

Photo by Liz Ohanesian
Malcom Schreek of UXG

Unextraordinary Gentlemen were one of the evening's guests. Their sets reminded us alternately of Nick Cave, Virgin Prunes and Monty Python, the latter of which the band discussed in our interview from last Friday. Below is a clip of the trio performing "Black Iron Road."

* An Evening Of Steampunkery @ Echo Curio, 9/20/09

* Time: September 20, 2009 from 8pm to 11pm
* Location- Echo Curio
* Street- 1519 Sunset Blvd.
* City/Town- Echo Park, Ca 90026
* Website- http://EchoCurio.com
* Cost- 8 Bux ($8)
* Event Type: all ages, public entertainment & music
* Organized By: Veronique Chevalier

Sepiachord.com & Veronique's Red Velvet Present!

Join MADcap Mistress of Ceremonies MADemoiselle Veronique http://WeirdVal.com as she presents another evening of guerrilla vaudeville at Echo Curio.

Guests artists include:

* Seth Bedford (of New York City) - Composer/Accordionist/Vocalist & Veronique's Official Accompanist http://MySpace.com/SethBedford

* Unextraordinary Gentlement (UXG) - Los Angeles-based Purveyors of Otherworldly Sonic Excellence- http://UnextraordinaryGentlemen.com

* Eli August (of Madison, WI) - Droll Outsider Folk Trio featuring Uke, Standup Bass & Percussion http://MySpace.com/EliAugust

* April Hava Shenkan - Presenting the World Premiere of her new performance piece set to "Blank Face Goblins" (a track from Veronique's Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation CD)- http://AprilHavaShenkman.com

* HELLga @Vampire Con/Hollywood

Greetings dear Fiends & FANgs!

On August 16th, I attended The First Annual Vamp Con in Hollywood, garbed as HELLga, The Devil's Beermaid, with copies of Polka Haunt Us in hand.

I am pleased to say that I garnered some great press, photo and video coverage along with some of the other characters in attendance.

Here are some highlights:

* The Vampire Convention Fangoria.com article:
http://www.fangoria.com/features/21-fearful-features/3653-the-vampire-convention-.html

* 10 Fangtastic Vampire Con Photos on Mania.com website:
http://www.mania.com/10-fangtastic-vampire-con-photos_article_117064.html

* The Younger Statesmen Comedy Troupe Blog:
http://theyoungerstatesmen.blogspot.com/2009/08/younger-statesmen-visit-vampire-con.html

* The Younger Statesmen Comedy Troupe Attend Vamp Con Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-C09Mg3t5w

* Renners Hollywood: Bis(s) die Kasse klingelt - Video (in German):
http://www.focus.de/kultur/videos/renners-hollywood/renners-hollywood-biss-die-kasse-klingelt_vid_12420.html

HELLga Photo on Wire Image

* Veronique @ Chrononaut, Friday, September 18th, San Diego, CA

* Time: September 18, 2009 from 7pm to 11pm
* Location: Queen Bee's (formerly the 8teen Center)
* Street: 3925 Ohio Street
* City/Town: San Diego, CA 92104
* Website: http://ChrononautClub.com
* Event Type: all ages, public entertainment & music
* Organized By: Professor J. S. Greyshade



Ladies, Gentlemen, Harlots, and Scoundrels,

The Machina Fatalis Steampunk Social Club presents an evening’s entertainment unlike any the fair city of San Diego has seen. Chrononaut: a night for temporal adventurers of all ages.

Your host, Prof. J. S. Greyshade, selects sounds from eclectic destinations throughout the space-time continuum such as steampunk, alternative folk, gypsy punk, dark cabaret, gothic, middle eastern, circus punk, and extremely mutated hip-hop.

There shall also be visions of monochromatic beauty from the amazing cinematagraph and a variety of special guests and entertainments.

Steampunk, neo-Victorian, dark cabaret and anachronistic dress is most warmly welcomed.

Friday, September 18th, 2double-ought9:
* Veronique Chevalier & Seth Bedford
* Eli August
Doors open at 7:00. Club closes at 11:00
(one block east of 30th Street and 1/2 block north of University Avenue)

Here is the write-up from the Chrononaut website (http://www.mindspring.com/~eandic/chrononaut/parties.htm):

Veronique Chevalier accompanied by Seth Bedford: In a class of her own, MADemoiselle Chevalier is a madly eccentric chanteuse known as the "Weird VAL" of Dark Cabaret, and has been described by some as a campy incarnation of Edith Piaf from a parallel universe.

A cross-section of her repertoire reveals such gems as her parody of "La Vie En Rose" re-imagined as "Escargots", bemoaning her challenged relationship with the tiny French mollusks. Her unforgettable cover of Jim Morrison's "People Are Strange" does solemn honor to a man who, "had the good taste to die and be buried in Paris." She has also co-written and performs a number of originals with Seth.

Seth Bedford is a New York-based composer, arranger, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and visual artist Seth blends the musical idioms of Weimar kabarett, American jazz, Tin Pan Alley, French chanson, tango, New Wave and a variety of other musical sources to create a sound that defies categorization. As a composer, he's written music for cabaret, theater, film and the symphonic concert hall, and he is also the artistic director and vocalist for Huxley Vertical Cabaret Nouveau, an 8-piece acoustic cabaret orchestra performing primarily in New York's Greenwich and East Village

* Visit Veronique's YouTube Page

Veronique Chevalier is the eccentric Françican (Français-American) Chanteuse (Songstress)known as The "Weird VAL" of Dark Cabaret.

She's an unparalleled Parodist; Purveyor of Over The Top Lunacy, and Spooky Polkanista, who has been described as a campy incarnation of Edith Piaf from a parallel universe - the one in which her parents are Jim Morrison, and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and her godparents are Lucille Ball and Weird Al.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VeroniqueChevalier

* Wonderful Review of Polka Haunt Us!

Polka Haunt Us Recording Delivers Spook-tacularly
by Frank DiCostanzo

After listening to Veronique Chevalier's "Polka Haunt Us," one wonders how something so devilish can indeed sound so heavenly. My mortal ears were scintillated in ways I never could have imagined. Supported by the elegant production work of Jann Castor, this single-themed compilation is just oozing with originality and sophistication.

It all works to compliment the creative lyrics and showmanship of the mastermind behind the songs themselves. Chevalier weaves together her imaginative lyrics with thirteen spooky folktales and fables from around the world, giving each song a unique historio-cultural orientation.

Of course, one can just sit back and listen to this Wonka-esque boat-ride of musical delights, oblivious to any folkloric inspiration. The music's impact alone is enough to keep you at the edge of your coffin.

A quirky yet dynamic concept album, both Halloween- and polka-inspired, "Polka Haunt Us" brings together a talented menagerie of world-renowned musicians, from Lili Haydn (the Jimi Hendrix of violin), to UCLA percussion instructor, Kirk Brundage, to Norwegian soprano, Elisabeth Ekornes.

And the list hardly stops here. Also featured are 2007 Polka Grammy Nominee Alex Meixner; virtuoso accordionist, Gee Rabe, vocalist/actress Marion Ramsey (Sgt. Laverne Hooks of Police Academy film lore), and accomplished "world" guitarist, Goh Kurosawa, to name just a few of the sixteen artists brought together by chaunteuse extraordinaire, Veronique Chevalier.

Even those familiar with Chevalier's penchant for the outrageous will be impressed with the generosity—and grandiosity—of this truly potent witch's brew of a record. Take the Afterwife Polka Tango, a track inspired by Eva Peron's publicly displayed corpse (with music composed by Mike Surratt):

"Evita's husband that Juan Peron Embalmed her in a fancy tomb of her own So he was prepared in the afterlife To have himself a trophy after-wife"

This sets up Eva as the perfect contrast to dead wives who now haunt their cheap, ungrateful husbands from beyond—and at times out of—the grave: "If you hadn't buried me in that cheap casket, I'd still have all of my original skin left."

Then there's Devil's Guitar, based on a purely American myth about a young man called Lazy Billy who discovers a guitar (possibly belonging to legendary bluesman, Robert Johnson). However, the guitar is a snare set by the Devil as Billy ultimately, and comically, plays himself to death: "On and on poor Billy played, his fingers bloody stumps / Then he knew he'd been betrayed, the Devil always trumps."

This sort of pointed satire is typical of Chevalier's vaudevillian style and slapstick candor, but "Polka Haunt Us" moves beyond the boundaries of satirical lyric-based music.

Tracks like Blank Face Goblins and Strange Faces in the Floor launch the listener almost without warning into the realm of the experimental. Yet it is experimental in the traditional sense, artfully combining styles of music seemingly disparate, while calling on themes and soundscapes of more popular music forms.

Add to this subtle, interspersed vocal arrangements (notably Strange Faces and Kalkajaka Polka) along with highly-crafted sampling and noise manipulation (Polka Haunt Us), and the album truly paints Chevalier as a 21st-century iconoclast at her best.

I look forward to whatever future achievements lie in store for the ambitious Chevalier. "Polka Haunt Us" has a robust, if not grotesque charm, making it a true masterpiece of the bizarre. I find it a consummate compilation, worth cherishing for many full moons to come.

Frank DiCostanzo is a writer, musician, and entrepreneur. His company, Messina Editorial Group, specializes in book editing, writer coaching, and multimedia consulting. Visit him at: http://MessinaEditorialGroup.com

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