Ariane and compagnie

Two tracks I always play at French parties are Maldon by Zouk Machine, and C’est bon pour le morale by La Compagnie Créole (LCC). The first one is still an energizing piece of 80s zouk, the latter is highly danceable too, but more of an ironic choice. Back in the 80s LCC was an extremely popular band from French Guiana and the French West Indies who scored massive hits in French speaking countries with C’est Bon, Collé Collé and La machine à danser, to name but a few. They still exist and make albums. It was, and is, happy-go-lucky music, danceable yet a bit cheesy because of the synthesized drums and horns. I was surprised to find out, via Oh-La-La’s Natasha, that a bunch of Canadian bands released a LCC-tribute album in 2010. Even Ariane Moffatt is on it, in a drum-heavy cover of La Machine a danser. Not the first time by the way that Ariane sang on music from the Diaspora, earlier she was part of a collective of musicians who raised money for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Together with Moffatt & Yann Perreau, Montréal-based afrobeat band Afrodizz and Mad’moizèle Giraf (never heard of them) take the biscuit with good, danceable and organic sounding covers – the rest is so-so.

Ariane Moffatt & Yann Perreau – La machine a danser