Articles Written By: guuzbourg

June Caravel

  • Posted on 25/08/2012
  • /Under Musique

So this is how the story goes: “For June Caravel, a vocal explorer born and raised in Paris, singing in English had always been the obvious, natural way. She even left France for the UK in 2009 to stop hearing that nagging, repetitive question: “How is it you don’t sing in French?” Until that fateful day in 2011 she met compatriot Pierre Carrey. After an evening of boozing and singing where there was no stopping June’s vibrant adlibs, Pierre jokingly told her ‘J’te ramène à la boutique, si tu continues’ (I’ll return you to the store if you carry on) which sounded like perfect lyrics for a new song in French.”
To cut a long email short, June (who we know from her very cool London tribute) then recorded songs in German, Italian, Spanish and she even re-did a cantata by Bach – using only her voice. If this all sounds a bit Camille to you, it’s ’cause that’s an obvious reference. But June’s June, not a copycat. She can arouse you, make you wanna dance, make you smile, tap your toes, etcetera. I’m in awe.

Listen to some excerpts here.

June Caravel – J’te ramène à la boutique

Granville

Californian fuzz mixed with Normandic charm – that’s Granville. A quartet, Melissa Dubourg is the female singer. They made a few singles, notably Slow (great video), and the just released Jersey b/w La Ville Sauvage (see Bandcamp). They cite Best Coast and Françoise Hardy as influences. Keep an eye on’m! Listen to a Filles & Garçons remix here. Acoustic session here.

Granville – La ville sauvage

Knickers

  • Posted on 13/08/2012
  • /Under Musique

A sixties-obsessed Briton who engaged ‘French girl Sarah’ to sing a wonderful cover-version of Jacques Dutronc’s Les Cactus – that’s Knickers for ya. You can download that cover, plus a rather nice reprise of Baby It’s You via Bandcamp. Read more on Knickers here.

Ewa Swann

Intrigued by the cover of this 45? More intrigued if I told you J-C Vannier is behind this, and that’s it’s a very rare find? Go HERE and listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Lisa Leblanc

It takes a real woman to write a guestpost on, well, a real woman. Natasha on fellow Canadian Lisa Leblanc:

When singer Lisa Leblanc belts, “Maybe tomorrow will be better, but today my life is shit”, the Acadian-Canadian singer, who accompanies herself on the banjo, is pouring out her guts for real. The first time I saw her in the video of “Aujourd’hui, Ma Vie C’est D’la Marde” (‘marde’ = ‘merde’ in Canadian French), I was like a moose caught in the headlights, bought the physical CD my first day back in Montréal on holiday this summer and played everywhere.

Leblanc calls her music ‘trash-folk’, and her first eponymous album, which came out in March, is catching on like wild fire in French-speaking Canada. Ironically, she says her music is all about trashing the ‘fi-filles’, the very kind of girly girls you’ll find on this blog. The ones that steal her boyfriends because of their perky assets, the ones that sing lovey-dovey ‘Céline Dion’ type songs and can’t write or play an instrument. Leblanc beats the musical crap out of all them, but sleeps alone, as there’s always a price to pay for being a real woman.

What’s an Acadian? Cajun, Acadian, keep pronouncing them until they sound the same. Those people down in Louisiana are descendants of Acadians from Canada’s Eastern province New Brunswick where 40% of the population speaks French, peppered with lots of English nouns, like fellow female singers Marie-Jo Thério and Edith Butler.

Lisa Leblanc – Aujourd’hui, Ma Vie C’est D’la Marde
Lisa Leblanc – Cerveau Ramolli

Barbara Lune video

  • Posted on 25/07/2012
  • /Under Video

Remember to brush your teeth afterwards. It’s bubblegumpop with sugarlevels up to eleven. But, sigh, what a girl.

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