RIP Magali Noël
Actress and singer Magali Noël has passed away today. She’s mostly known for the song ‘Fais moi mal, Johnny’, written by Boris Vian. Listen to the original HERE, see Magali perform the song below
Magali sang more cool songs, like this one
Fais moi mal, Johnny was covered many, many times. Here are a few examples:
Parfait Été 2015
The all new edition of Parfait Été, the French summer compilation I make every year for Perfects.nl, is here. It has an African pop vibe, triggered by the Mathieu Boogaerts song I heard on FIP radio. Elegant nouvelle chanson with highlife touches, hmmm, interesting. I know a few more songs in that category. Lo and behold, there was the playlist (available on Deezer and Spotify). With known faces (Vanessa Paradis, Boogaerts, Murat) old 80s culthits (thanks Steve for Lizzy MD) and new names – you should really check out the full album by DjeuhDjoah and Lieutenant Nicholson. GO HERE
New Benjamin Biolay album
Benjamin Biolay released an album with Charles Trenet covers, including a duet with Vanessa Paradis (in J’ai ta main). This is the first single:
Jo Wedin, Jean Felzine
You know sharp dressed & coiffed Jean Felzine, frontman of French RNR band Mustang. You might know Jo Wedin of MAI. What you really need to know is that Jo & Jean made a very cool duet, inna Blue Velvet-Chris Isaak-smoking hot blonde-stylee. Watch below
You can download the track for free HERE
Jo & Jean recorded other duets, check out this one
Laurence Nerbonne
The face and voice should be familiar. Laurence Nerbonne – violinist and vocalist with Montréal’s much-missed alt-rockers Hôtel Morphée – is back, this time flying solo artist and with a sound that is not only totally uncompromising cent pour cent up-tempo electro-pop, but is arguably this summer’s pop anthem.
“Rêves d’été”, with its layered synths and beats combine with Laurence’s rasping and disarmingly seductive vocals to create a ridiculous addictive sound that – trust me – burrows deep into your consciousness and which you’ll find yourself humming along to at every opportunity.
With long-time Hôtel Morphée collaborator Philippe Brault at the controls, Laurence has written composed the most joyous celebration to the healing powers of long summer days and hot summer nights…
Marianne Dissard
We @ FillesSourires love Marianne Dissard deeply. So when the guys of SoFar filmed her new single live in Brighton and asked us if we’d like the world premiere, we acted quickly. So here’tis, in all it’s rugged live-ness (if that’s an expression):
Mélanie Brulée
Mélanie Brulée hails from a Francophone family from Cornwall, Ontario. Her debut album “Débridée” is a little bit-retro yet most decidedly fresh in outlook, very definitely fun and also features a stunning version of a song from one of this blog’s favourite chanteuse.
What makes this album really standout though is the way in which Mélanie – who describes her musical style as ‘indie-spaghetti-western-surf-folk-cabaret’ – has taken typically English musical genres – rock and the roots of ‘Americana’, added copious lashings of guitar – mélangé to create something that sounds both incredibly contemporary and most assuredly French…
There’s rock and roll à la française in Astéroïde”, with it’s metronomic beat and tumultuous tumbling coda of guitars, alongside “Obtus” which is as good a song to launch an album as any I’ve heard this year. A quirky love song it’s incredibly retro – full of 60’s surf and tremeloed guitars – insanely cheerful and features a hook so ridiculously catchy that it should be quarantined in an isolation ward.
There’s also weeping steel guitars a plenty as Mélanie borrows from the rich folklore of Americana; the atmospheric “Peur de moi”, contemporary Alt-Country numbers such as “Coeur sauvage” and “Naked” with the latter featuring some very downbeat, trip-hop rhythms (Mélanie is an admirer of Portishead’s Beth Gibbons). And then there are songs where the guitars just take second billing behind the disarming nasal twang and vocal inflections, such as on “Antidote du doute” – which is just such a great pop-song that it leaves you wondering why all pop-songs can’t be as good as this – the imploring and questioning “Qui suis-je” and the distinctive “Merci”.
But finally there is Mélanie’s version of Vanessa Paradis’ “Marilyn et John”. While it is remarkably faithful to the original, the fragility conveyed by her voice so matches the song’s mood – I’ve always liked the song, but I love this version….
“Débridée” is an exceptional album that’s a little bit different and a little bit unexpected, but one that leaves you wanting to hear a whole lot more of Mélanie Brulée…
New Fanny Bloom remix
Just released, a remix of a Pan-track. Now Evidemment is even more upbeat than in it’s original form. Which is nice
New La Grande Sophie single
Mark S., our correspondent on everything LGS, writes:
La Grande Sophie is preparing a new album with concerts starting in autumn 2015. ‘Maria Yudina’ is the first fruit of her work, issued on 8 June as a single and a video.
Maria Yudina (1899-1970) was a Russian musician who interpreted her contemporary the great composer Shostakovich. She was both among the artistic opponents of the Stalin regime and Stalin’s favourite pianist – a record of her Mozart. Piano Concerto no.23 in A major was reputedly spinning on the record player when Stalin was found dead in 1953. Her story is here and here.
An excellent film about Maria Yudina is here (in Russian with English subtitles).
La Grande Sophie’s wide education – she studied sculpture at the Collège des Beaux-Arts at Marseille – make her always interested in unusual creative artists.
The song has some characteristics of LGS’s earlier work before she turned acoustic with ‘Des Vagues et des Ruisseux’ in 2009. The intricate backing with piano prominent at the end shows how her composition skills have moved on from her rock-guitar days. The long instrumental at the end is an LGS specialism – remember ‘Ne m’oublie pas’ and ‘Ma Radio’ on her ‘Place de Fantôme’ album. As always Sophie has perfect diction.
Also just released is the film of LGS and Christine & The Queens duet of Daniel Balavoine’s 1980s classic ‘Tous les cris les SOS’, performed live at the France Inter 50th anniversary concert on 8 December 2013.
I was able to watch this performance in the UK by single-camera live-stream that night, but the film and sound quality is much better on this Youtube version. That concert also included Christine singing LGS’s ‘Sucrer les fraises’ and Sophie interpreting Christine’s then new ‘Nuits 17 à 52’.
The difference in height, which leads to viewer comments below, is magnified (if you look carefully) by Christine (Héloise Letissier) wearing flat shoes and Sophie her ‘talons’. LGS is indeed tall, as I can confirm having met her. She is 5’10”, the same height as Taylor Swift.