Musique

10 Sexiest Women in French Music Today (7)

  • Posted on 18/07/2012
  • /Under Musique

They are sexy and they know it. We continue our list of Sexiest Women in French Music Today with ‘Lewis Carroll’s wet dream’.

7. Alizée Bingöllu

She’s darling ultra, and she knows it. Alizée Bingöllu likes to invent herself as a cross between a wanton antiques collector and a baby pop nymph from Lewis Carroll’s wet dreams diary: Tweedledum and Tweedledee certainly never were as innocent as they seemed to be, and the same goes for Alizée and the Victorian era hokum of her band Ödland, actually a highly curious futureworld postmodernism consistently playing doctor with lovers of French music, Alizée being the nurse inserting a whole lot of strange things in those sensitive orifices. They’re called ears, of course. Her année erotique is the same as Jane B’s, only a hundred years earlier – the one of Lolita 1869.

Ödland – Les Dieux Sont Partis

10 Sexiest Women in French Music Today (8)

  • Posted on 18/07/2012
  • /Under Musique

This blog is a mutual appreciation society. All the lovers of soft sighing, husky-voiced, French singing girls from the past and the present come together to show their love. We’re counting down our first (and maybe annual) top ten of Sexiest Woman in French Music Today.

8. Vanessa Contenay-Quinones

Maybe you think that Vanessa (who recorded earlier as Espiritu, and with her band The O’s) shamelessly adds up all the pouting platinum-blonde bombshell clichés. That her music is no more then a pastiche of lust-injected Brigitte Bardot- and Gillian Hills-hits. Then you obviously never saw her dj, or play live. V, as her fans refer to her, outsmarts you easily with her in-depth knowledge of (French) 60s pop (become her Facebook-friend, and you’ll see). She’s really into this music. And if you, like a few members of the Voting Committee did, saw her up close in a very tight, very red dress and very high heels, then you know that a description like ‘the sweet seduction on high heels with the beautiful, sultry voice and misty eyes’ is more than apt. This woman was créa by the Dieu of Cool.

Vanessa & the O’s – Charlie Charlie

10 Sexiest Women in French Music Today (9)

The upcoming days, we countdown to the Sexiest Woman in French Music Today. Because this blog is all about appreciation, and boy, do we appreciate these girls.

9. Tamara Marthe/Shy’m

Martinique-born Tamara used to be shy, now she takes pleasure in putting herself in the crowd. In very reveaing outfits, as this picture, er, reveals. Shy’m (Shy+Martinique=Shy’m) isn’t a regular on this blog, we tend to keep away from the R&B- and electropop-sisterhood. So we miss out on Tal, Sofia Essaidi, Anggun, Sheryfa Luna and Shy’m. With their bedroom eyes, chocolate-covered voices and lyrics like ‘Monte le désir, d’être une femme dans le moindre de mes soupirs/D’être la tienne dans le moindre de tes délires’ (from ‘Mes fantaisies’ by Shy’m). Or Shy’m-videoclips like this one. And this one. One of the members of the SWiFMT-voting committee confessed that he ‘always watches her videos with the sound turned off’.

Shy’m – Et alors!

10 Sexiest Women in French Music Today (10)

  • Posted on 16/07/2012
  • /Under Musique

This blog is all about appreciation. Of husky voices. Of fabulous chansons. Of beautiful filles. Every opportunity to exposte our love, our admiration, dare I say obsession with these girls, we’ll take. So when Nerve.com published a list of 10 Sexiest Women in Indie Rock, we (that’s Sky, Franss, Marc and me plus FS-readers Sami and Steve for extra input) thought, hey, we could easily make up a French list to counter that. Ok, well, ‘easily’ is a bit of an understatement. We fought. We bitched. We threatened. But here it is. The list. 10 Sexiest Women in French Music Today. You will agree. Or you won’t. But you’ll appreciate it, nonetheless. We’re sure.
In the next days, we’ll countdown to number one.

10. Juliette Wathieu/Mademoiselle Nineteen

If Bacharach and David had been French they’d have written songs for Mademoiselle Nineteen. With Jacques Duvall as her Gainsbourgish mentor there’s more than a hint of Francoise Hardy and France Gall mixed with a steely dash of 21st Century realism. Juliette may walk on rose petals, but you can bet that the footprints belong to Doc Martins.

Mademoiselle Nineteen – Juillet Brillait

Parfait Pluie


Right after I posted the Parfait Eté compilation, all hell broke loose here in Holland. Torrential rains! As an addendum, I compiled the best rain songs in French, on Spotify.

Salomé Leclerc duets with Joshua Hyslop

  • Posted on 05/07/2012
  • /Under Musique


Lovely Salomé adds French vocals to a song by Vancouver neo-folkster Joshua Hyslop. On his album, one Anna Scouten is Joshua’s English duet partner. Switching between English and French duet partners is common practice for Canadian artists (I guess it has something to do with gaining radioplay this way), for instance, Simple Plan duetted with Natasha Bedingfield and Marie-Mai. It’s that stupid Jetlag song, by the way, so click at your own risk.

Nkake, Air

  • Posted on 04/07/2012
  • /Under Musique

Sandra Nkake, the dark, Cameroon-born beauty with her deep voice, was featured before on this blog when she sang a terrific Georges Brassens cover on her first album. Alas, no French songs on her new one, but Nkake (who lives in Paris) did at some French touches to her songs. Listen to reggae-fied Rock You Well. You know that sample, don’t you? It’s from the Modulor Mix off of Air’s first EP, Premiers Symptomes (also a Serge Gainsbourg-track, the Air-guys are big SG-fans). That Air-song also had a sample, from Gil Scott-Heron’s We Almost Lost Detroit.
See Sandra Nkake’s new single here.

Sandra Nkake – Rock You Well
Air – Modulor Mix
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson – We Almost Lost Detroit

Celine Mastrorelli

A favourite past time is to follow the progress of supersweet singer Celine Mastrorelli. She first popped up on our rader in 2008. Every now and then, there’s a new song on her YouTube-channel. Tracks from her upcoming album Elle était une fois. Good songs, sexy songs, husky songs. With Gainsbourgian influences (I mean, watch this!) This week, Robe de Cocktail (video) is out as a single. FS-reader Gary (who keeps track of CM’s activities even more than I do) compared it to “early Loane”, which is apt. Album’s out 21 September. Something to look forward to. Very much. In the meantime, keep us up to date, Celine. Please.

Celine Mastrorelli – Robe de cocktail

Goûts de Luxe


They made just three (vinyl-)singles in the late 80s, they sounded like a French Propaganda, and they made a videoclip that’s unintentionally hilarious (this one). I do wonder if Jacques le Honsec can watch himself in that video without cringing, or using the facepalm. The story behind Gouts de Luxe (yep, two 7-inch singles from Patrick’s stash again, earlier postings here and here) is kinda funny as well: ‘Jacques Le Honsec’s employment in the record industry allowed him to meet producers in Paris. Thus, a contract was signed. But while recording the first single, “Les Yeux de Laura”, Jean-Éric Montfort was unable to record the parts played on guitar. A studio musician, Kamil Rustam, did it. As a result, Montfort decided to refuse promoting the single as he did not play on it and left the group. In the meantime, Marianna Kliska, who had married Jacques le Honsec, replaced the guitarist.” (From Wikipedia, obviously).
From the three singles, the first was a minor hit, the rest hardly dented the hitparade. They never found the success of, say, Niagara. GdL’s hard-driving Dans un autre pays is the best. High-energy, raucous, thunderous. Omaha Beach came with a cover of Visage’s Fade to Grey (probably ’cause the songs are very similar), you can hear/watch that here. If you have a good mp3 of the long version of Les yeux de Laura (remixed by Dimitri from Paris, apparently), please let me know! Got it!

Gouts de Luxe – Les yeux de Laura
Gouts de Luxe – Dans un autre pays
Gouts de Luxe – Omaha beach
EXTRA:
Gouts de Luxe – Les yeux de Laura (long version)

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