Sami, of the Hot Fidelité blog and a FOFS for a long time, lines up his fave French tracks of the year: 1. La Femme - Sur la planche . This unsigned Biarritz band have only released two ep's and already an instant hit. Sur la planche sounds like the best french surf song ever, somewhere between Rock lobster and L'aventurier . 2. Brigitte - Battez-vous . They ask men to fight to get them but each time I hear this perfect combination [...]
New EP is released in January. This video is an update of t his video .
Time to round things up, the best and worst songs, shows and albums of the year. The staff of Filles Sourires (Sky, FransS, Maks, me) will post their personal lists in the upcoming days. I've asked several guest-contributors and Friends of FS (FOFS) to compile a yearlist too. One of the FOFS e-mailed me that he was quite disappointed of 2011, French music-wise. And I have to agree. When I go through older posts, it seems like we've been posting almost exclusively about Coeur de Pirate, the Gainsbourg family and Benjamin Biolay. Ahem. That said, I did hear some [...]
Remember Dave? The Dutch-born, blue-eyed singer had a massive hit in the 70s with a discofied version of Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade ( watch! ). In France, he was major star, but as it goes with names from the past, they fade away. Somebody made the connection of his blue eyes and soul, called in the team behind Ben L'Oncle Soul and the album Blue-Eyed Soul! was born. Is it good? No. Music-wise it's okay. Rehashing Del Shannon's Runaway or Rubettes' Sugar Baby Love in French, wearing a very thin soul-jacket is far from okay. But a re-recorded [...]
Last time one of Thomas Bohnet's French pop-compilations was reviewed on this blog, it led to a catfight between the German reviewer (Sky) and the German compiler (Bohnet). So let's try a cool Dutch approach again, mmkay? First off, one has to applaud Bohnet's tenacity. It's his 6th survey of new(-ish) French pop in a time where compilations aren't top sellers any more and where the non-French excitement about French pop has worn down. His French parties are still running, from 2000 on. A big hand, if you please! Second, though Bohnet certainly isn't deaf for new [...]
We've been singing praise of stunning blonde Vanessa Contenay-Quinones for years ( see? ), and ever since we met her we know she's a hard act to follow. Italian Star Academy-contestant Vivi Calderone took a shot. She covers VC-Q's Bon Bon Bon as her first single. There's a sexy video (if you like girls with heavy make-up), they kept the music and Vivi's voice is as girlie als Vanessa's. Very nice try, but when push comes to shove, we prefer the real thing. Vivi Calderone - Lui ci fa palpitare [...]
The Best of Benjamin Biolay is out now, featuring one inédit. Solid tracklist , though I'm not a fan of that electronically enhanced version of Los Angeles, and I would've include Little Darlin' (from Négatif) and the Lendemains-duet with Françoise Hardy. Still, this Best Of is an impressive body of work, it confirms his status as one of France's greatest songwriters. He should be one of Europe's best loved artists, in my opinion. How can you NOT love a guy who wrote songs like La Superbe, Les cefs volants, Négatif and La ballade du mois de juin? In 2008 [...]
Earlier this year Tom Waits in person gave multi-instrumentalist David Coulter his permission to reinterpret his masterpiece Rain Dogs from 1985. Coulter, who worked with Waits on The Black Rider (1993) formed an outstanding band with singers such as Arthur H. , Camille O'Sullivan , Stef Kamil Carlens , The Tiger Lillies , Erika Stucky and special guest Jane Birkin . Quiet some reasons to go and see this extraordinary gig in Eindhoven yesterday. And after all, there's simply no reason to not go and see Jane B. whenever she's around. Unfortunately the [...]
Dear Béatrice not only made a great second album, she's spoiling the fans with extra tracks and collaborations. Out since today is her version of White Christmas (in French) as a guestvocalist of Michel Legrands Christmas-album . Sweeping! By the way, if you like heavily tattood, husky singing Canadian females, head over to Christmas-a-gogo and pick up a fuzzy seasonal song by Jody Glenham. Furthermore, I discovered that CdP sang a cover of Buddy Holly's Everyday for a Canadian Activia-ad . Downloadable for free via Facebook, but I've made it easier. And finally a [...]
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French music giant Michel Legrand made a Christmas-album , with featured guests like Jamie Cullum, Mika and Carla Bruni. It's released in two versions, one with the best-known international stars (Iggy Pop too), one with more French singers, like Olivia Ruiz and Coeur de Pirate. Shame. The track with Carla Bruni isn't the stand-out song on the album, yet it will gather the most attention I guess. So here it is. The orchestra sounds great, Carla should refrain from trying to sing - her whisper is good enough. For me, at least. The song by the way is a [...]
Christmas is nigh (40 days and counting), Christmas-albums and -songs are being released. Really looking forward to Michel Legrand's seasonal album, featuring guestspots from Olivia Ruiz, Carla Bruni and Coeur de Pirate (preview here ). One of the bestest Christmasalbums of recent date was 20082s Des pas dans la neige by Canadian songstress Maryse Letarte . Only original tracks, very atmospherical, solid songs. Her album is re-released with a French bonus track, a translation of Boom Boom (originally sung in English) (it's a Christmassong, trust me). Tips about French x-mas tracks are welcomed in the comments. This also [...]
Mina Tindle (her real name is Pauline) is a French folkster who doesn't sing with a heavy accent (just a charming one) and makes very pretty songs. Feist, Nina Simone, Fleet Foxes, Alela Diane, those are her favourites. She self-released an EP, that contains one French song. Love her high-pitched voice, and I wish she'd sing some more in the language of love. Mina's supporting Coeur de Pirate in December in Belgium and France. See the video for her single To Carry Many Small Things here . See her do a Bob Dylan cover here. Go [...]
The list of coverversions from Histoire de Melody Nelson-songs is long, and the interpretations vary. Jazzy, rockin', pastoral, in various languages - it's all here. If you know of more versions, please let me know. More on the superb reissue here , more on the use of samples from albumtracks here . On Youtube: Joseph Gordon-Levitt covers Melody here Charlotte Gainsbourg covers Hôtel Particulier here Dr Brazuk & Mt Crab cover La ballade de Melody Nelson here Jean-Louis Murat [...]
Tracks from Histoire de Melody Nelson spice up tracks by rappers (De La Soul was the first band to sample Serge), triphoppers, singer-songwriters and French funnymen. Here's a resumé of all tracks that have a Melody Nelson-sample. If you know of/have more, let me know. Tomorrow: the cover versions. Sample source En Melody : David Holmes - S***! S***! S***! (from the Ocean's 13 OST) (2007) De La Soul - Not over 'til the Fat Lady plays the demo (1991) Sample source La ballade de Melody Nelson : [...]
Rufus Wainwright sings Serge Gainsbourg's Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais on the album by Serge's son Lulu. Not the first time Rufus sings in French , and not the first time he sings a song that relates to Serge. It's one of the few highlights on the From Gainsbourg to Lulu album. The music and arrangements are okay (love the Brazilian touch of l'Eau a la bouche ), but having Iggy Pop singing in French has never been a good idea ( remember ?), Shane McGowan in French is godawful [...]
'We found ourselves working with a sort of UFO. We were building something completely unprecedented, without knowing how people were going to react to it. We weren't in the process of interpreting a song or an existing score, nor was it merely a simple album with a series of songs.' Says Jean-Claude Vannier in the extensive liner-notes to the superb reissue of 19712s Histoire de Melody Nelson. Unprecedented, sure: the music was there before the lyrics. But the music and the lyrics weren't made up from scratch. Arranger/producer Jean-Claude Vannier admitted to listening to a lot of Frank [...]
-M- and General Elektriks played a Melody Nelson-medley on Taratata last week:
It's out there, people. The Super Deluxe box set of Histoire de Melody Nelson. I'm picking up my copy this Friday. I expect it to be BRILLIANT. Here's the full version of Melody, a glorious nine-and-a-half-minutes long. Serge Gainsbourg - Melody (prise complèt)
Filles Sourires
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Mr Fogg - Eleven
Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
