Dutch Dolls

  • Posted on 25/05/2011
  • /Under Podcast

Without Mordi and his fabulous Blowupdoll-blog, my own blog would’ve never existed. Blowupdoll is the blisteringly beautiful mother of all blogs dedicated to singing girls. So it was a huge honour when Mordi asked me to put together a mix-tape with my favourite ‘dolls’. I chose only Dutch meisjes, singing in Dutch, English, French and even German. My tape, and a lot of other fantastic zips with gorgeous girls, can be found HERE. Pictured is, of course, Mariska Veres of Shocking Blue. You can hear her marvellous voice on two songs on my ‘tape’.

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

 

Benjamin Biolay & Chiara Mastroianni

Nice surprise on the upcoming Jacno-tribute: Biolay teamed up with his ex Chiara Mastroianni, for a tender rendition of D’une rive à l’autre. A song Jacno sang originally with Romane Bohringer. See here. As any Biolay-fan knows, Chiara is the daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, and the mother of Biolays daugther Bambi Rose. They recorded one album together as HOME, an utterly sexy road-trip. Apparently, the idea to record this album came from a trip the two made to The Hague.

HOME (Benjamin Biolay & Chiara Mastroianni) – D’une rive à l’autre
HOME (Benjamin Biolay & Chiara Mastroianni) – Tête à claques

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

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