If you compare Parés version with the one by Hills (or Sophia Loren), the Europeans win by a landslide when it comes to sultryness, by the way. Still, a nice touch. Jessica’s version is available on vinyl, by the way.
Jessica Paré – Zou bisou bisou
Gillian Hills – Zou bisou bisou
She looks a bit like Amy Winehouse, doesn’t she? Her Canadian niece, maybe, with Moroccan roots. Ines Talbi (from Montréal) was part of a few bands (none I’d heard of) before she released her debut-album last month. Most of the songs on that colourful popalbum are in English, bar one. And you guessed it, that’s the strongest chanson on Boarding Gate (though I like the humpa-orchestra that walks by in her first single I Know You Know). Because of the vibes, it sounds a bit like an older Radiohead-song. Or Karkwa, maybe. It’s not the first time Ines sings in French, she re-did Mirza on this Canadian Nino Ferrer-tribute. Here’s a live version of Dernière la pluie.
Ines Talbi – Derrière la pluie
Paris-born Pauline de Lassus (credit-spotters: yes, she sings back-up on The National’s Boxer-album) performs under the stage name Mina Tindle. She’s of Spanish heritage, lived in the USA for a while and was part of the bands Toy Fight and The Lime (couldn’t find a link). Last year, her first EP was released and we (yours truly and co-FS-conspirator FransS) saw her perform in Bruxelles, as a support-act to Coeur de Pirate. Highly charming, I even got my EP signed by the beautiful singer afterwards. Her debut-album is out now, and it’s a gem. Two songs in French (see her duet with JP Nataf), one in Spanish, the rest in English. She covered a Caetano Veloso-song in the past, and in some songs you can hear Tropicalia-influences. She loves Dylan and Cohen and Nico, and here I saw her described as a Sufjanienne, for arranging her songs with all kinds of (acoustic) instruments, a nod to Sufjan Stevens of course. Wish she sang more in French, but this is a keeper. Here she duets with Orouni.
Same goes for American singer Maia Vidal, whose first album was released last year (sorry, should’ve posted about her earlier). Read her biography on Wikipedia here. And do try her Rancid-coverband Your Kid Sister here. Like Mina Tindle, Maia sings in various languages, mostly English but also in Spanish and in French. On Le Tango de la Femme Abandonnée, Marc Ribot plays guitar. You can listen to various songs on Soundcloud.
Mina Tindle – Demain
Maia Vidal – Le tango de la femme abandonnée
When Elke, the singer of Mary & Me (a band from Gent, Belgium), starts singing, you know you’re lost. You want to take care of this fragile beauty, knowing that she’s more than a handful. That she will make you jump off of cliffs (metaphorically speaking)(you hope), steer you off the beaten track and confront you with sides of yourself you’d never knew you had. Mary & Me make vortex music: hooked instantly, and then there’s no turning back. There are 80s references, the golden days of Belgian wave, the Les Disques du Crépuscule-era. Anna Domino, Allez Allez, Marine. Their second album is out now (link), with all songs in English. But to make it more interesting for FS-regulars, there’s a French EP coming out as well. Single We Go Round is out in two versions (English clip, French clip). Of course, we like the French version best. Tourne, tourne, tourne, tourne….
See a radio-interview with CdP here, in which she talks about the exploding heads in the Adieu-video. You do check Beatrice’s Tumblr, right? (thx Mark)
Born on Guadaloupe, raised in Canada and blessed with a lovely voice and great features, FM Laeti walked in my life thanks to Dutch Radio6-dj Jaap Boots. When he mentioned she duetted with the new African goddess Fatoumata Diawara, I was sold! The duet, Coco, is a French-Westindian-Malinese culture clash, that works very, very well! Like a cool wind on a hot summer’s day. FM Laeti (the FM is a tribute to the radiowaves, and to ‘different moods’) grew up in a very musical family: ‘My father is a drummer, my step father a classical pianist and my mother an avid music lover. I grew up in quite different places, met a lot of different people, but there was always a lot of music. At home it went from world music, to jazz, to soul and old R&B to classical. With my friends we were always thirsty for new or old musical discoveries from rap, to rock , to folk etc…’, she says in this interview. The rest of her album is all English. Soulful, but not as surprising as this duet. Hope to hear more of that in the future.
FM Laeti & Fatoumata Diawara – Coco
Yesterday, the most important French popmusic prizes were presented to a few FillesSourires-faves. Like weird-but-sexy duo Brigitte, -M- & Vanessa Paradis and Catherine Ringer (ok, I didn’t like her last album, but she’s still a heroine, of course). See all the winners here. See some highlights from the show below. More coming up (I hope)
April 2, 1927 – March 2, 1991. Rest in peace, Serge.