Musique

Marième Ndiaye

  • Posted on 13/07/2011
  • /Under Musique

Yet another brand new Gainsbourg-cover, France Gall’s Laisse tomber les filles is re-vamped by Canadian singer Marième Ndiaye. Who has Senegalese roots and is called the ‘black pearl’ of Quebec hiphopband CEA (who used a big part of Initials BB for a song). Her solo-debut sports hiphop-, soul- and some African-influences. Laisse tomber les filles isn’t the only cover, there’s a version of Françoise Hardy’s Tous les garçons et les filles, and Mitsou’s Dis mois dis mois. Jean-Pierre Ferland, writer of Le chat du café des artistes (covered by Charlotte Gainsbourg on her last album), turns up for a duet. Old meets new, meets urban styles, and blends in quite easily. I’m not saying Marième is breaking new grounds, but she has a pleasant voice, looks great and her music is sunny. That’s how we like it here at FS HQ, when the rain pours down. Summer’s what you make it.

Marième – Laisse tomber les filles (see video)

Hannah Schneider

  • Posted on 12/07/2011
  • /Under Musique

Gainsbourgs Black Trombone is one of his best songs, but the jazzy song was seldomnly covered. Only a handful reprises, now we can add this sensual version by Danish jazzy singer Hannah Schneider. Her bio tells us she worked with several well-known writers, and that this song was featured in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Hannah has a pleasant voice and likes to colour her songs with 80’s styled electronica and jazzguitar. Shanghai, who provided the music on this track, is a Danish duo.

By the way, if you’re from Norway, Sweden, Finland or Denmark and want to keep me posted on the filles-front in Scandinavia, please do! Chisu, PMMP, Veronica Maggio, Annika Aakjaer, Säkert!, I love ‘m all! Here’s a Scandinavian singer-playlist I made on Spotify.

Hannah Schneider – Black Trombone

Delphine Volange

  • Posted on 12/07/2011
  • /Under Musique

Delphine Volange – for a husky singing French fille, that’s a great stage name. On par with Vanessa Paradis, Marina Celeste and Charline Rose. Posted about Delphine’s first single last year. The follow-up is just released, the b-side sports another version of her duet with Bertrand Belin (see original version and gorgeous video here). That can mean two things: she hasn’t written much new material, or she’s using Belin again to get in the picture. I wouldn’t mind being used by Delpine (ahem). But let’s not get carried away here. Or wait, let’s do. Because she wrote Hôtel Chopin together with the great Jean-Claude Vannier. There sure is Gainsbourgian flavour to the song (Je suis venu te dire springs to mind), not sure if there’s a musical reference to Chopin as well, like Serge did here. With her Barbara Carlotti-like voice, Delphine sure makes me look forward to that album.

Delphine Volange – Hotel Chopin

Erika Spring

  • Posted on 11/07/2011
  • /Under Musique

Erika Spring (Erika Forster-Spring, apparently) is one-third of Au Revoir Simone. For Jacno Future, a tribute to the late and great Jacno, she and Devonte Hynes (Lightspeed Champion) recorded a version of the Elli & Jacno song Les nuits de la pleine lune from 1984. Together with a remixed version of Etienne Daho’s Amoureux Solitaire-cover and Arthur H & Neïmo’s Libellule dans un rectangle, Erika’s version is one of the extra tracks on a special edition of Jacno Future. Gawd, how I hate those extra-tracks-editions, especially when they’re released a few weeks after the non-bonus edition. Vintage old major record company thinking. Anyhoo, on the web, everything is to be found. As far as I know, this is the first time Erika sang in French. Not really sure, but I think I’ve read somewhere that she was born in Zürich. Figures.
Oh, and the original song is of course from the Eric Rohmer film of the same name.

Erika Spring & Devonte Hynes – Les nuits de la pleine lune
Elli & Jacno – Les nuits de la pleine lune

Requiem on a balafon

  • Posted on 09/07/2011
  • /Under Musique

A German vibraphone-player and a Malinese balafon-player doing a cover of Gainsbourg’s Requiem pour un con. Found it on Blundetto’s blog, loved it instantly. It’s all in that indestructable beat, the remarkable sound of the vibes and the balafon (the instruments are related, see Kouyaté and Neerman play live here). The reprise is on K&N’s upcoming new album. You do know Serge’s original, don’t you?

Kouyate & Neerman – Requiem pour un con

Stéphanie Crayencour & Mélanie Pain

  • Posted on 30/06/2011
  • /Under Musique

Belgian beauty Stéphanie Crayencour, who acted in an Eric Rohmer film, sang on a single with folksters Suarez, and soon after released her solosingle. Another song ended up on this compilation as well. Finally her album dropped, an upbeat affair with playful, sweet songs on which she gets help from Saule and Sacha Toorop. One of the highlights is a duet with Mélanie Pain, a song (as I understand it) that answers the age-old question ‘what are girls talking about when they’re amongst each other?’ See a clip of Saule and Steph together here.

Stephanie Crayencour & Melanie Pain – Duo de filles

Luce

  • Posted on 28/06/2011
  • /Under Musique

A 21-year old voluptuous redhead pretending to be a dominatrix – ooh la la. Luce Brunet won tv-talenthunt Nouvelle Star last year, and none other then (Philippe Katerine) and Mathieu Boogaerts contributed songs for her debut album, Premiere Phalange (free translation: ‘dipping one toe in the water’). On which she tries on various characters – the dominatrix in La Fessée, the niece (a touching ode to her grandmother in La symphonie d’Alzheimer), the illegitimate daughter of Catherine Ringer (in Western Spaghetti),  seductress (in Je m’fume) and queen of the mussels (La reine des moules). Her voice is good, versatile and she likes to goof around. The album has a few weak songs, but Luce is definitely one to watch.

Luce – La fessée

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