Comment te dire instrumental
Yes, great instrumental version of Comment te dire adieu (see above). But who plays it? What orchestra? Is it available on vinyl, cd? It sounds a lot like the backing of the Hardy-version, but it’s not. The girl who uploaded this version doesn’t know. I searched Discogs and Originals, but to no avail. Maybe you, dear FS-reader, can help? (Did you know, by the way, that Amanda Lear did a version of Comment te dire too? See a funny lip-synch video here. No, that’s not Amanda, but it is her voice)
UPDATE: Got it! Here.
Charlie, Charlie
First, there was this French song, by our beloved husky superstar Vanessa Contenay-Quinones, together with her O’s (don’t forget to check out her new song!). Then, while searching for non-English filles to play in my podcast, I bumped onto Ania Dabrowska (pictured). A star in Poland, where she scored a hit with the same song about Charlie Charlie, only in Polish. Then I found out that Charlie Charlie was written by O’s member Niclas Frisk, who originally wrote it in English (in 2001) for Nina Persson’s A Camp. Can’t decide which version is my favourite. Ania Dabrowska also sang with Nouvelle Vague (a Robert Palmer cover on the third NV-album 3, but also live in Poland, see this video) and recently released an album with soundtrack-covers in English, wonder where she got that idea. Her Polish albums are way better, try her second album.
Vanessa & the O’s – Charlie Charlie
Ania Dabrowska – Charlie Charlie
A Camp – Charlie Charlie
Gainsbourg en Israel
Several French and Israeli artist paid hommage to Serge on July 28 with a concert in Tel Aviv, with Serge’s son Lulu behind the piano and FS-faves like Rose and Alizee singing (and a gorgeous singer called Shirel, whom I never heard of). Check out a highlights-trailer below. Fan-made video of Alizee’s visit to the promised land here, AFP-reportage about the concert here. (Merci Christophe)
Gaele
Raven-haired beauty Gaele made a second album, that leans heavy on percussion. Because of the way she sings and talks, I’d call her a slammeuse. There are mostly acoustic instruments used on the album, ranging from the ukele to a full brassband. There’s a reggae-vibe, some New Orleans-style funk and lyrics about current affairs (like the financial crisis). One song was written by the great Daniel Belanger. Kick-off track Femme en ic is my favourite because of the jazzy style and the wordplay.
Gaele – Femme en ic
Wild Nothing vs Chantal Goya
Interesting find by music blog Everybody Taste: Chinatown by indie-darling Wild Nothing (see video) is based on an instrumental line from Chantal Goya’s 60s classic La pluie du ciel. Read about it (and download from) HERE.
Too hot
A kooky girl, a phat groove and musings about going to a party, going to the beach, going nowhere….what more do you want from a summer jam? Anais teamed-up for Too hot with Beat Assailant, the American-born producer who is also the mastermind behind French soul-phenomenon Ben L’Oncle Soul. Too hot reminds me of Luscious Jackson, with that laid-back vibe, funny (partly French) lyrics and monster-bassline. Flavour will last until October, definitely.
Beat Assailant & Anais – Too hot
Les filles du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crépuscule was a Belgian label that specialized in sophisticated songs and gorgeous sleeves – designer Benoit Hennebert loved putting beautiful girls on the recordcovers (like the one pictured) LDdC’s peak was in the eighties, when they released album by Anna Domino, (Isabelle) Antena, Paul Haig and Tuxedomoon. Read an extensive history on Crépuscule-activities here. Recently, LTM started re-releasing the backcatalogue and making nice compilations. Like Les filles du Crépuscule, featuring songs by FS-faves like Cathy Claret, Mikado, Antena and Marie Audigier. Great liner-notes, great package, this is what a compilation should be. I was pleasantly surprised by the Patrick Juvet-cover by Isabelle Antena (real name: Powaga) and her sisters, and the discovery of Ludus’ Bardot-cover.
Powaga Sisters – J’aime regarder les filles
Ludus – Nue au soleil
In other news: I upped a new podcast featuring great non-English songs from all over the world (Italian rock, French soul, Texan mambo, Libanese dance, etc), go here.
Fredda vs Henri Matisse
Because of a Henri Matisse exposition in MoMa New York, five great French bands and singers were invited to play in the Big Apple. Barbes Records releases a digital-only compilation (out Aug. 3 on iTunes, Amazon, etc) with songs by FS-faves like Holden, Marianne Dissard and Fredda to promote the expo and the artists. The only song about a Matisse painting is an inédit by Fredda (Fréderique Dastrevigne) called Fenêtre à Collioure. Which, as you all know, is also a painting by Matisse (pictured). The brushes in the intro sound like a brush on canvas – intentional? Fredda sings about the boats in the window and the colours – lovely song. Dates for the NYC-shows here. If any of my American readers is going to one (or more) of these shows, please write a review!
Fredda – Fenêtre à Collioure
Ça Plane pour Lou
Today, two experts proved what almost everybody knew for over 30 years: Roger Jouret, better known as Plastic Betrand, did not sing the biggest Belgian punkhit ever: Ça plane pour moi. Bertrand’s legal team isn’t impressed, they released a statement saying that in a legal sense, their client is still considered to be the performer. The history of the song is shady. First off, their was Jet Boy, Jet Girl, sung by Elton Motello (aka Alan Ward, a sound engineer who’d record an enormous amount of hits). Story goes that producer and co-author Lou Deprijck used the same band to record a less risky version. Lou himself sang, but because he didn’t look punk enough, drummer Roger became the face of the record. It sold 8 million copies. UPDATE: Jouret fessed up: he did not sing on the record.
Deprijck, who’s best known for his latin-disco-outfit Two Man Sound (they also recorded a version of Jet Boy, Jet Girl called Bad Boy, Bad Girl – if you have an mp3, please share!) but also the man behind Viktor Lazlo, Lou & the Hollywood Bananas and Kim’Kay, didn’t seem to mind that much that he wasn’t considered the singer. He was co-author of the song, so the money came pouring in. But maybe, like Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog, he wanted the full credit. In 2006, Lou lost a court case about who sang the song. Now, speech-experts say they can tell it’s Deprijck singing. And what about Alan Ward/Elton Motello? He worked with Lou several times after Plane became a millionseller, so I guess something was settled. Read this interesting article on the roots of the song too. Belgian hero Arno Hintjens claims that Jet Boy was based on a song he did with his first band Tjens Couter in the mid-70s. Alan Ward was the engineer for that session.
In the past and present, Ça plane pour moi was covered many, many times. Even US indie-darlings Vampire Weekend did their version. I did a post with over 15 versions on the old blog. On this blog you find a nice round up too. This time I present several recent versions that I like a lot, plus the above mentioned roots-versions. Two covers are sung with the real Plastic Bertrand, by American country-funnymen The Boss Hoss and Canadian gypsyjazz-funnymen The Lost Fingers. Annie Dufresne is from Quebec as well, her version is at break-neck speed. I recently came across the rockabilly-version by Dutch oldtimers Keessie & the Seltans of Swing, and the 80s German version by Benny (hilarious video here). I really like the Nouvelle Vague-cover, and the ironic dance-rework by Set de Choeur. Plastichke is a funny Belgian parody. Read all about that one here.
Tjens Couter – Gimme what I need
Elton Motello – Jet Boy, Jet Girl
Benny – Bin Wieder Frei
Plastichke – Ca gaze pour moi
Annie Dufresne – Ça plane pour moi
Boss Hoss & Plastic Bertrand – Ça plane pour moi
Lost Fingers & Plastic Bertrand – Ça plane pour moi
Nouvelle Vague – Ça plane pour moi
Keessie & the Seltans of Swing – Ça plane pour moi
Set de Choeur – Ça plane pour moi