May 182009
I once asked a French cafe owner why French pop music was so bad.
“Bof!”, he replied, “because we did not invent it!”
Great answer.
Yesterday a was given a mixed disc of French music. About the only name I recognised was Charles Trenet. Who was going before Charles de Gaulle stormed the Champs Elysses. But my interest was awaked by this tune by a band called Quidam, a trio who hit me like The Go-Betweens on Gauloises.
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So what else is worth a listen from the land of 1,000 cheeses?
Sweet Apple Pie has some decent lightweight power pop on their “Everybody Wants To Be Supertiger”.
If you don’t mind an “oldie” but definitely a “goldie” in more ways than one, I would say Francoise Hardy. You can start out w/the compiliation Francoise Hardy The Vogue Years w/liner notes from Bob Stanley of St. Etienne, that you can easily get. A modern album of hers which is half-decent is Le Danger, which came out around the same time she cotributed vocals on Blur’s To The End. I would also say that her husband, Jacques Dutroc’s first album, which has his 1st big hit, “Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi”, has a lot of great freakbeat songs, especially one song that sounds just like Bowie’s “Jean Genie”.
Here’s a video of the happy couple, w/Jacques Dutronc doing a song from his first album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTLrFi2fe8M
I’m not sure if this will be any help but here goes..
I’m a sucker for Francoise Hardy too. Also, France Gall who is French soft pop that is cool too (IF you like that sort of thing). I’m guessing many here would hate it.
Then there is Serge Gainsbourg naturally, also from that era. If your interested his best of is good but probably a better place to start is with “Histoire de Melody Nelson”. Again, you likely know this already??
More recent is Tahiti 80. But they are rather retro in feel and twee in voice. So again you are warned.
There’s a band called Phoenix that was the musical guest on SNL a few weeks ago. They sound something like this clip, a little too by the numbers, but not awful.
Daft Punk are French. Justice too. Both rock a lot harder than this kind of thing, just not with guitars.
Phoenix I saw supporting Jarvis Cocker. Wierdly they sang in English. I used to think Serge Gainsbourg was a bit of a joke – until I heard the lp Comedy, razor-sharp arrangements, full of surprises, anger and black humour. We went to the Montparnasse Cemetery, where he now resides. Forget Jim Morrison’s grave, this one is one mighty musical landmark. I felt cheered up for days after going there.
France hasn’t enjoyed the musical explosion of say, the Swedes, in recent years. But Quidam make me want to keep digging.
My sister is a Phoenix fan. She’s seen them at least once here in Philly – at the North Star I think. I took a listen once but they didn’t do it for me.
I have enjoyed an older CD by the French duo “Air”. The track “Sexy Boy” off the CD Moon Safari is cool.
Just recently my old band mate M. Ace reminded me of our jaunt up to Allentown in about 1981 or so to see “Etron Fou Leloublan” at some weird gig in the basement of a defunct department store. More on Etron here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etron_Fou_Leloublan
Over the years I’ve warmed up to those older “chansons” – and I’ve got a CD of groovy ’60s discoteque-style songs by, I believe, some of the artists mentioned above and others whose names ring a bell when I hear them. I have to work really hard at getting through most Serge Gainborough songs that I’ve heard, I get that same unintentionally intentionally-so-bad-it-seems-cool-Lee Hazelwood vibe from him.
As for more modern rock, I haven’t heard much that turns me on. Based on some ridiculous theories I have regarding the necessity of gutteral languages in rock, I’m surprised the French haven’t produced some killer rock bands. I love the sound of their language when spoken, but they seem to have trouble making it click in a non-ironic way when it comes to rocking out.
Musette swing is great stuff.
There are two great compilations on the Frémeaux & Associés label called Accordéon: Musette / Swing / Paris 1925-1942.
Anything by Gus Viseur. Absolutely brilliant. Les As du Musette: Gus Viseur in Brussels and the compilation Compositions 1934-1942. Jazz accordian? Yes, most emphatically yes!
Also, Les Negresses Vertes are a terrific band. Really can’t go wrong with any of their albums, especially Mlah.
Post punkers Metal Urbain are pretty wonderful; from today I like Ulan Bator, who are somewhat Sonic Youth-like.
I like a fair amount of French music, although much of it strays beyond “rock bands”, sstuff like Brigitte Fontaine, 70’s disco, more cabaret-ish stuff.
I know they’re not really French, but the McGarrrigles’ French Record is mighty fine.
And Mr. Mod if you want to hear somebody rock really hard singing in French, I recommend Clifton Chenier. A lot of great west African music is sung in French too.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I’d call French a guttural language anyway.
Of course, Africa! I saw Tinariwen last month (in Melbourne). The only word of English spoken allnight was “S’okay?”
It was very “s’okay”. The little stage talk there was was French. Some of the songs are in French, some in Ararbic. They were so magnificiently Malian that I never saw the tricolour in them.
What a fantastic live act, cranking out reverb heavy melodies over driving desert beats. Awesome.