Tels Alain Bashung is a just-released tribute to the great French rocker, who passed away in 2009. He left a discography that, for the non-French listener, has as much turn-ons as turn-offs. He wasn’t a fantastic singer, technically. He had, as Sky said already in the post below, a tendency for pumped up stadium-rock and yes, he was obsessed by Dylan. Yet, albums like Play Blessures, Fantaisie Militaire and Osez Joséphine are still very listenable, and songs like La nuit je mens or Madame rêve lost nothing of their emotional value. Plus, he played in a few very good videos (like Volutes). On Tels Alain Bashung, FS-faves like Keren Ann, Vanessa Paradis, M, Dionysos and Benjamin Biolay make his songs their own. No stinkers here (ok, well, Christophe maybe channels some bad stadiumrock-vibes). On the dvd that accompanies the cd, almost all artists tell melancholic stories about Bashung, his songs and their memories. Oddly, rock-trio Mustang is also featured, yet they’re not the album. Shame. Their approach to rock ‘n roll is very much in the vein of another of Bashungs heroes, Gene Vincent.
Keren Ann – Je fume pur oublier que tu bois
Alain Bashung – Je fume pour oublier que tu bois
Note from Sky’s editorial desk: I beg to differ, Guuz — Christophe’s cover of Bashung’s Alcaline has class and haute tension.
Christophe – Alcaline
Alain Bashung – Alcaline.mp3