Articles Written By: guuzbourg

Swinging Mademoiselle III

  • Posted on 13/01/2013
  • /Under Musique

Ten years after the release of $T2eC16N,!y0E9s2S5t07BQ0L04pm9!~~60_58Volume II, here’s Volume III of the most heralded French swinging 60s compilation series, Swinging Mademoiselle. Vinyl-only, just likte the other volumes. This volume contains a lot of Belgian filles. I bought it yesterday at this wonderful record shop in Groningen. A word of warning: it was a sealed copy yet it did not contain the insert that is promised on the sleeve. Not the record shop’s fault, it’s something you best check out before checking out.
Volume III is again compiled by ‘Sasha Monett’, who also put together this French volume of Girls in the Garage (there’s another GitG-comp dedicated to French filles, #10). Now, bear with me here. There are two other volumes of Swinging Mademoiselle (I, II). They’re out of print, sellers on sites like Discogs ask around 50 euros for used vinyl-copies. And there are two volumes of Swinging MademoiselleS, released on CD by the Silva Screen label (I, II) – easy to find, not that expensive (about 10 euros). Purists try’n find the vinyl-versions (check out Spiked Candy’s comment below, here), I’m okay with the CDs as well.

OK so far? Clothilde is on all those compilations. Now, Paris-based Born Bad Records released a compilation of Clothilde tracks called ‘French Swinging Mademoiselle’. So far, it’s a digital release only (see HERE), I don’t know if the label will do either a CD or vinyl version. On the Bandcamp-page it says ‘March 1’ as release date, that might be a sign there’s more coming up.

By the way, this is THE winning track on SM vol III: Patricia – Avez-vous déjà-vu? (youtube link). It’s orchestrated by Jean-Claude Vannier!

Under the Radar (2): La Gale

  • Posted on 10/01/2013
  • /Under Musique

la-gale-siteShe’s part Libanese, part Swiss. She raps, in French, over fierce electronic music. Yes, I know, we usually post about hoarse girls, but this is really good too. La Gale, also an actress, incorporates all kinds of influences in her music. In Frontières, imho the strongest track on her first album, you can hear the Middle-Eastern atmosphere. But also the tough, laidback-yet-agressive rapstyle of the great French hiphopcrews, like NTM. Women in hiphop are rare, girls with their own voice are hard to find. Granted, it’s not revolutionary what La Gale’s doing. But it has style, quality and, well, I dunno, I guess it’s nice to hear a fille spit rhymes for a while instead of whispering sexy in my ears. Try it.

Under the Radar (1) : Mathilde Forget

  • Posted on 10/01/2013
  • /Under Musique

indexThis month, we’ll feature French filles who slipped under our radar, that didn’t get the attention they deserve. Mathilde Forget is one of them. The Parisienne released an EP last September, with pretty, electronica-infused and piano-driven songs, sung with an exquisite, fragile voice. Complainte d’anges is the strongest song on her 4-track EP, she’s not breaking new grounds but the fusion of electronics and strings is tasteful, balanced and, oh, that voice. Charlotte Gainsbourg is an easy made reference. Not a big fan of the English track. And then there’s this one too.

Mathilde Forget – Complainte d’anges

Sophie Hunger

  • Posted on 28/12/2012
  • /Under Musique

Sophie_Hunger_-_18__c__Augustin_Rebetez_-_300dpi_-_CMJNNe me quitte pas by Jacques Brel; often covered, seldom bettered. Swiss singer Sophie Hunger (whom we know because of this fantastic cover) does a great rendition on her new album The Danger of Light. She keeps it simple, adds a tad more swing to the melody (great trumpet playing too) but leaves the song as it is: a sad story about heartbreak. It’s the first time Hunger recorded the song, but she played it live earlier.

Sophie Hunger – Ne me quitte pas

Siouxsie, Robert Smith, Bruce Cockburn

I’ve been collecting odd Christmas tracks for about ten years (and blogging about it on this blog), and every year I’m surprised about who recorded what. I mean, check this video. 80s Gothic queen Siouxsie Sioux plus part time Banshees-member Robert Smith miming miserably to original French carol ‘Il est né le divin enfant’ (He is born the divine Christ Child). This was a b-side to the Melt!-single in 1982.

And what about Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, best known for his both brilliant and furious If I Had A Rocket Launcher? On his 1993 ‘Christmas’ album he sang ‘Anges Dans Nos Campagnes’ (Angels we have heard on high), a carol dating back to the 18th century:



Bruce Cockburn – Anges dans nos campagnes
Siouxsie & the Banshees – Il est né le divin enfant

Noël en juin

  • Posted on 16/12/2012
  • /Under Musique

indexVery few new French Christmas songs this year, in fact I only spotted one: Noël en juin by La Position du Tireur Couché, a band I last heard of in 2005. La Position… is one of the bands on a vinyl-only (but also downloadable) Christmas album released by concert hall La Coopérative de Mai in Clermont-Ferrand. Street address: Rue Serge Gainsbourg! Also on that compilation (among others): Mustang, Cracbooms (with this cover) and The Wendy Darlings. Spotify-link here.

La Position du tireur couché – Noël en juin

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