Musique

Brigitte Fontaine & Emmanuelle Seigner

  • Posted on 25/05/2011
  • /Under Musique
Can we agree on saying that Brigitte Fontaine is an acquired taste? The grande dame of the odd chanson started her career in 1965, sang traditional chansons but made things more interesting for herself by working with The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Jacques Higelin, Sonic Youth, Stereolab and a whole lot more. She’s in her 70s now, but does not tone down. ‘I am God’s nightmare’, she, erm, ‘sings’ on her most recent offering, the duet-stuffed L’un n’empêche pas l’autre. Her partners have, just like her, instantly recognisable voices, like Arno Hintjens (great track!), Grace Jones (they do an Arab rework of the jazz-standard Caravan together), Higelin of course, M(athieu Chedid), Christophe, Bertrand Cantat and Emmanuelle Seigner. You can see what she made Mrs Polanski do for her track in the video above. Acquiring from the top of your lungs, yessir.

Brigitte Fontaine & Emmanuelle Seigner – Dressing

 

Claire Denamur

  • Posted on 23/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

First there was Dingue Dingue Dingue. Then there was Non Non Non. And now we have Bang Bang Bang. All good things come in threes. And Claire Denamur is a very, very, very good thing. The singer with Dutch, Argentinian and French roots blipped on our radar in 2009. Her first album still is a gem, and from the sounds of it, the sophomore cd will be too. On the just-released EP are four songs, the aforementioned summer hit, two ballads and a very nice rendition of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt, inna Johnny Cash-stylee. Is it a coincidence that the best contender for French summer hit is this track? I think not.

Claire Denamur – Bang Bang Bang

N’Relax

  • Posted on 20/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

Marine Pellegrini is the sweet husky voice of N’Relax, a jazzy band from Lyon that sound like a cross between early Björk and Dutch diva Schradinova. They released two albums, the most recent is more experimental, less breezy. I bumped into this band while looking for songs about bicycles. And guess what. Find free mp3s and more info on N’Relax here.

See a nice video here. And see another nice video here, in which Marine channels her inner Camille.

N’Relax – Le vélo

 

FS Rerun: Le Grand Jeudi

  • Posted on 20/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

Gimme a board, messieurs. Pour les grandes vagues et les surfer garcons (et filles), here’s a twangy big-ninth-version of Charles Trenet’s „La Mer“ by Psycho Tiki entrepreneurs The Aquamarines, and the probably most liquid version of Serge’s & Jane’s „Je t’aime (moi non plus)“ ever heard, performed by Berlin’s number one surf guitarist and lounge expert Kahuna Kawentzmann – the German „Kawentzmann“ translates as a rogue wave you shouldn’t even try on a Big Wednesday, got my drift, kids? Wet name choice, and even your girlfriend may get instantly … okay, forget about that. Both tracks from the stunning compilation „Beyond the Sea – The Surf Instrumental Bands of the World Fearlessly Expand Their Repertoire“. For now: Wahini!

Aquamarines – Beyond the Sea
Kahuna Kawentzmann – Je t’aime

Extra: The original “La Mer” plus a few cover versions, including Cliff Richard en francais, Kevin Kline’s fine cover from the movie “French Kiss”, and a very charming mid-60s bubblegum adaptation by Francoise Hardy.

Charles Trenet – La Mer
Cliff Richard – La Mer
Dalida – La Mer
Django Reinhardt – La Mer
Francoise Hardy – La Mer
Kevin Kline – La Mer
Bobby Darin – Beyond the Sea
Helen Shapiro – Beyond the Sea
The Three Suns – Beyond the Sea

The Way Serge Was

  • Posted on 18/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

Would you buy a used Jane Birkin record from this man? Berlin-based guitarist Kristof Hahn, who has played with the likes of Alex Chilton, Tav Falco, or Chris Spedding, is now touring with US 80s noise legends The Swans and hitting Munich tomorrow, May 19th; the pic actually is from the tour poster. Living in the Rue Verneuil of his mind, Hahn also has quite a francophile schtick that can be heard on his recordings with Les Hommes Sauvages, and he’s also a great storyteller, provided that you speak German: Four years ago, he told a few Serge Gainsbourg anecdotes during a gig in Vienna before continuing with a solo version of Serge’s Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais – deadpan humour plus some sharp, grungy licks the original song lacked for a few decades.

Kristof Hahn – Je suis venu te dire …

Liesbeth List

  • Posted on 17/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

‘Ik dans dus ik besta’ is a Dutch translation of ‘Je dans donc je suis’, a song written by André Popp for Brigitte Bardot. She had a hit with it in 1964, this cover by List is from her debut-album from 1966. I recently came across this version, and thanks to Sylvester and Paul, I can post it here. Liesbeth List, for the uninitiated, is Holland’s most respect chansonniere. She made her tv-debut in 1964, duetting with Gainsbourg. Later, she recorded several chansons in French and translated versions. Songs by Barouh, Gainsbourg and most famously, Jacques Brel. I had the distinct pleasure to meet her at the presentation of the Filles Fragiles #2 compilation, that features a Gainsbourg-cover by her.
This Bardot-cover was never released on cd, oddly enough.

Liesbeth List – Ik dans dus ik besta
Brigitte Bardot – Je danse donc je suis

Rummelsnuff

  • Posted on 16/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

You know Rammstein. This German band mixes metal with (homo-)eroticism, electronics, East-German references, irony, humour and great visuals. Introduction? See here. You might not know Roger Baptist, aka Rummelsnuff. He’s a one-man Rammstein, who recorded several albums under different monikers. He once recorded a cover of Becaud’s Nathalie, on his most recent release Brüder the Gainsbourg-and-Bardot-duet Bonnie & Clyde gets a treatment. Roger gets help from French actress and singer Valerie Renay (pictured).

Rummelsnuff – Bonnie & Clyde

 

Lisa Portelli

  • Posted on 11/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

The weird, almost frightening yet compelling video for Lisa Portelli‘s Dans l’air has ‘David Lynch’ written all over it. The music reminds me of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet as well. Her second album Le régal (‘A pleasure’) contains more of these atmospherical country-noir tracks, like Les chiens dorment or L’échelle. On these, 24-year old Lisa sound like an auto-tuned Vanessa Paradis – tuned to ‘odd’ that is. On other songs she rocks out, like in the very strong title-track, or the blues-y Animal K. Not everything works, probably because her voice is, at times, less compelling than her videos. See live videos here, here and here.

Lisa Portelli – Le régal

Baby pop

  • Posted on 08/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

A Dutch version of France Gall’s Baby Pop, a song written by Gainsbourg. A pleasant surprise, I wasn’t aware it existed. It was the b-side to the only single Eindhoven-born Leontien Snel made in the 60s. See ReadySteadyGirls for some background. Many thanks to @LatoUno and of course @Frans_s for unearthing this gem. Anyone who saw the Gainsbourg-Vie Héroique movie (and if you’re a regular visitor, I’m sure you saw it), remembers the kind of cruel scene with Sara Forestier playing France Gall, singing Baby Pop totally out of tune to a bemused Gainsbourg, played by Eric Elmosnino. The only other cover of Baby Pop that I know of, was made by French singer Antoinette. If you know of other versions, please send me (guuzbourg (a) gmail) an mp3!

France Gall – Baby pop
Sara Forestier (as France Gall) – Baby pop
Leontien Snel – Baby pop
Antoinette – Baby pop

Little Majorette

  • Posted on 05/05/2011
  • /Under Musique

Whilst making a Spotify-playlist with Scandinavian filles (who do not sing in English, see here), FS-regular André introduced me to Little Majorette. A band of Swedes who got together in 2007 and made a couple of EP’s. Their album Rifle Heart is out now. On the last EP there’s one song with a French title that’s partly sung in French too. Zoe Durrant has a gorgeous voice, I’m very much into that electronic-kitschpop sound. What I’ve heard so far is very, very sultry. Hope Little Majorette will sing in French some more.

Little Majorette – Sous les étoiles

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