Jane & Brett

  • Posted on 25/08/2010
  • /Under Musique
Brett Anderson duetting with Jane Birkin – I was re-reading Sylvie Simmons’ excellent Gainsbourg-biography (I’m writing an introduction to the Dutch translation, out in a few weeks), she mentions this duet in the last chapter. I can’t remember if I ever posted it before and can’t be bothered to look it up. So here it is. Watch the great, almost silent video above while listening (no relation to the song, btw).
The duet is from this compilation.

Jane Birkin & Brett Anderson – Les yeux fermés

Charlotte For Ever 2.0

  • Posted on 24/08/2010
  • /Under Musique

And I quote: ‘The record is swathed in the worst kind of 80s production stylings you can imagine: session muso slap-bass, extended synthesizer solos, show-off guitar licks at every turn, wailing saxophones everywhere … Despite this, Phil is convinced the record is a lost classic of genius songwriting, and my brief was to strip it of the badly dated 1980s production and re-record the whole album to reveal the hidden pop gems at the heart of it all.’
The record in question is Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Charlotte For Ever, written by Serge in the mid-80s. ‘Phil’ is Philip Ilson from the London Short Film Festival – a massive Gainsbourg fan. He wanted to do something to celebrate the premiere of Joann Sfar’s Gainsbourg film. So he commissioned Markus (formerly Their Hearts Were Full of Spring’s frontman) to update Charlotte For Ever, together with Charlotte McEwan (currently a film student at University of the Arts, London). Bold move.

Did Markus and Charlotte as Hige Club do a better job than Serge and Charlotte? McEwan has a voice as untrained as Charlotte Gainsbourg’s, but lacks the innocence that makes the original album such a perverted joy to listen to. Especially in Lemon Incest, a song one should never try to top.
That said, not having to listen to the slapping bass and the nasty synths certainly makes this update more enjoyable. Ouvertures Eclair for instance is a much better song in the cover version.
Listen to (and order) the brave effort by Markus and Charlotte HERE. Hige Club performs live on the Branchage Festival end of September.

Hige Club – Charlotte For Ever
Charlotte & Serge Gainsbourg – Charlotte For Ever

Cours lapin

  • Posted on 23/08/2010
  • /Under Musique

Denmark’s not really the first country you think of when you go look for French singing, fragile girls. That is probably why I missed the memo’s about Cours lapin, a Danish foursome consisting of three guys and one girl who make money making music for films and documentaries. The girl’s Louise Alenius, and if you’re a big Biolay-fan you know her babyvoice from a song on Benjamin’s Clara et Moi-soundtrack. Cours lapin’s first album is out now, sporting 11 songs that meander between Amélie-style chansons (like Mes larmes secretes) and darker, Portishead-ish stuff like Débutants. Cache Chache was kind of a hit in the blogosphere (see?), I’m posting end-song La Fin.

Cours lapin – La fin
Benjamin Biolay & Louise Alenius – The word

Comment te dire instrumental

  • Posted on 18/08/2010
  • /Under Video

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

  • Posted on 12/08/2010
  • /Under Musique

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

  • Posted on 09/08/2010
  • /Under Video

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

  • Posted on 06/08/2010
  • /Under Musique

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

Too hot

  • Posted on 03/08/2010
  • /Under Musique

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

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