Zane & Rosie

  • Posted on 11/06/2012
  • /Under Musique

An angelic female voice duetting with a male gravel-gargeler (if that’s a word) – ever since Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra set the standard for this musical template, our world has been enriched by tracks from Serge & Jane, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue and countless gothic metal bands. Canadian singer-songwriter Zane, who sounds a lot like Lanegan, teamed up with the lovely miss Rosie Komadina, who calls herself a Croatian gypsy and producer on Twitter, to sing a part English, part French track that’s best summed up in these lines: ‘My mama said if you roll with the gamblers you’ll pay their debts/And sometimes you’ll run into black cats and a few regrets.’ Listen to it on their Bandcamp page (link below). By the way, if you’re into Lee Hazlewood, check out the superbe re-issue of his duets with (among others) Ann-Margret on Light In The Attic, here.

Berry

  • Posted on 07/06/2012
  • /Under Musique

We’re sorry. There is a lot happening. And we tend to miss things. That is the only reason I can find for writing so late about our sweetheart Berry. We only mentioned her here. Nothing more. And of course Berry deserves more (and not only because she is the French singer I saw perform more than once here in the Netherlands).
But what to think about the new album “Les Passagers” that we have to wait about for more than two years? It is a lovely album. If you like Berry that is. Don’t we all? That said, it doesn’t really surprise. There are no songs that really stand out, like we had on her first album, “Mademoiselle“. That album, #2 on the 2008 yearlist, had songs like the title song “Mademoiselle” and “Le bonheur” keep humming in your head. But even, after a few rounds of listening I can’t name a song so intense on the new album.
But still, more of the same isn’t always a bad thing. That proofs this song “Ce matin”.
Be honest, isn’t that the Berry we like to sing for us for ages?

Berry – Ce Matin
See the video for Si C’est La Vie here

Fredda

  • Posted on 07/06/2012
  • /Under Musique

Some filles take long times between albums. Not our Fredda. She is very dedicated when it comes to new albums. Almost every year she serves us with a new one. In 2007 she released “Toutes mes aventures” and in 2009 “Marshmallow Paradise“.
There were also two sixties cocktail albums as Radiomatic together with Pascale Parisot, in 2006 and 2010).
and now there is “L’Ancolie” (Columbine in English). I haven’t heard or read much about it and that is a pity, to be honest. Because it is a wonderful, melancholic  album. On this new album she works closely together with Pascale Parisot, Bastien Lallemant and Filles Sourires’ own Marianne Dissard.
Here is the video of the title track “l’Ancolie“. This is the video for “Il ne me reste”.
On the albumm there are two songs co-written by Marianne: “Journal Intime” and the first track of the album “Morin Heights”. Since that is an ode to the place where the album is conceived I’ll bring it to you here:

Fredda – Morin Heights

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger versions

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger is probably the best known track by French dance-duo Daft Punk. That’s because it was sampled, covered and Youtube’d (if that’s a word) the most. A few weeks back, I heard the new, very good album by Philippe Uminski. I had heard of him before, as a songwriter (for La Grande Sophie, Calogero and more), I didn’t know that he made an album as Uminski with a garage rockin’ cover of HBFS. Which triggered me to search for more covers. I didn’t find any as good and radical as Uminski’s, but they’re nice nonetheless. I also found a solid cover of Cola Bottle Baby by Edwin Birdsong, the sample-source of HBFS. Of course, Kanye West’s rework is present as well. Enjoy. And dance!

Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Matt Mulholland – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Mike Tompkins – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Uminski – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Wilt Ribeiro – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Kanye West – Stronger
Edwin Birdsong – Cola Bottle Baby
Baker Brothers – Cola Bottle Baby

Liza Manili

Actress slash singer Liza Manili released her debut album this week. There’s a heavy Lio-influence in her songs, which is nice. Shame tho that all the five songs from her earlier EP are also on the 11-track album. ith a voice like hers, we need as much new stuff we can get! Se Revoir is my fave on her self-titled album, lots of sighs, mid-tempo beat, happy-to-be-sad atmosphere and off-key synths – all good! More on Liza here, and here. Found this trailer with Liza online. Not exactly Oscar-winning material, I’d say.

Liza Manili – Se revoir

Camille covers Johnny Hallyday

Out of the blue, French vocal-wonder Camille covers a Johnny Hallyday-classic. On her site, she writes: “Que j’aime chanter Que je t’aime ! Bijou érotique. Eclipse de soleil. Où se mêlent l’ombre et la lumière, le Yin et le Yang, la puissance et l’infinie délicatesse, Johnny Hallyday et son contraire.” It’s in the style of Camille’s most recent album, Ilo Veyou. So less bombastic then the original. I thought the song was covered more, but a part from a Dutch duo (cough) and a few lesser known French names, I didn’t find a lot. Camille did a great job, her version is sure a lot more erotic then Hallyday’s. Unless, a long haired, sweaty old guy is your fave fetish, of course.

Camille – Que je t’aime
Johnny Hallyday – Que je t’aime

Melody Gardot

Edith Piaf did (co-)write La Vie en Rose, she wasn’t the first one to record the song. Wikipedia tells us originally, the song was registered as being written by Louis ‘Louiguy’ Guglielmi, since at the time Piaf did not have necessary qualifications to be able to copyright her work with SACEM. In 1945, Piaf’s friend Marianne Michel gave it a first try, for Piaf wasn’t sure it would fit in her repertoire. But from the first time she did sang the chanson, it became her signature song. La Vie en Rose was covered many, many times. Louis Armstrong (love his version), Dean Martin, Madeleine Peyroux, Aretha Franklin, Grace Jones, the list goes on.
And now American jazz singer Melody Gardot covered it, on her most recent album The Absence (a music magazine joked that the title refers to the lack of clothing on the album cover). Melody spices it up, sings it like it’s a booty call. Hard to ignore, judging from that album cover.

Melody Gardot – La vie en rose

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