Françoise Hardy’s piano in Voilà, combined with eerie, dark rockabilly. Now there’s a treat. The guy responsible for the mix is Alex Zhang Hungtai (aka Dirty Beaches), a Taiwan-born Canadian immigrant who spent a good chunk of his life feeling unmoored and adrift. He loves David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, Wong Kar Wai and the music of Johnny Cash and The Stooges (he covered them both). Dirty Beaches’ album was released in March, but Jan Kooi told me about Lord Knows Best, with the Hardy-sample. This video merges images of Hardy and Hungtai. In the same vein was the use of Chantal Goya in a track by Wild Nothing.
Dirty Beaches – Lord knows best
Françoise Hardy – Voilà