Harley part 4

Merci à Filles Sourires-visiteur Frans for sending me two more mp3's with Harley Davidson-covers (find earlier posts here, here and here). Maybe I should change the name of my blog to Filles En Harley. But then I would not be able to post Belle & Sebastian's live-version (questionalbe quality) of the Serge-song. B&S are a very versatile indie-rockband, who also do James Brown-covers, and I have a version of Poupée de Cire by them as well.
Of better quality (okay, well, you decide) is Harley by Gina X. This German two-piece is best known by their electroclash-hit No G.D.M.Their version of Harley Davidson is in the vein of Serge's later disco-work, like Love on the Beat.
What do you think is the best version of the song so far, Brigitte and Serge excluded?

Belle & Sebastian - Harley Davidson (live)
Hear Here

Gina X - Harley Davidson
Hear Here

Nanette

Radio Oh-la-la's Natasha keeps on delivering the good stuff. Care for some disco?

"Nanette Workman belongs to a special breed of Québécois artists, who as immigrants were willing to live in Québec and learn French rather than coast along as an English minority. Nanette may have started her singing and acting career in English in her native United States, but in the mid-1960s when Québécois culture was en vogue, Nanette was not only crowned Best Female Discovery of 1967 as a French-language artist, she had also become one of their own.

How does a rising young television star and Broadway singer from Mississippi end up in Montréal? First, she met Tony Roman (Anthony d'Ambrosio) in a New York City club, who offered her the chance to sing a rock version of Et Maintenant by Gilbert Bécaud. Nanette’s talent was more than obvious, but unfortunately, so was her broken French. Her accent was such an issue that Tony Roman had to create his own record company to record Nanette.

Nanette learned French and charmed audiences with her American accent, appearing often on television, in particular on the show Jeunesse d'aujourd'hui, a sort of Quebecois version of Soul Train. Her second single was called Peint en noir, a French version of The Rolling Stones’ Paint it Black. In 1968 she not only sang back-up on The Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Women, but also for John Lennon, Elton John and many other big stars, never mind parts in many movies that also involves extensive name dropping.

In Paris she sang with Johnny Halliday, touring several continents before returning to Québec in 1974. That year, she recorded many hits, including a French version of Lady Marmalade. Another hit that definitely shows off her voice is the 1978 version of Ce soir on danse from the rock opera Starmania, written by Québec-France dream team Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger. Of all the duets Nanette performed, one of the favourites remains Aimer d’amourwith Québec’s first-ever French-language funk artist, Boule Noire (Georges Thurston), who also learned French and made Québec his home."

Nanette Workman - Ce Soir On Danse
Hear Here

Nanette Workman - Lady Marmelade
Hear Here

Boule Noire & Nanette Workman - Aimer d'Amour
Hear Here

Harley, plus en plus

And the Harley Davidson-covers just keep on a'coming - this here is a very radical version by bigbeat-godfather J Saul Kane, better known as Depth Charge. Don't know who the fille is who sings the song like she's high as a kite. But boy, do I love that phat seventies organ sound. And yes, the clicks and glitches are supposed to be in the song. It's taken from this album, thanks to monsieur La Rue again for the mp3.



Depth Charge - Harley Davidson
Hear Here

Lio

Natasha of Radio Oh-la-la-fame has written a nice story about "Belgian baby doll" Lio:

"In the 1960s when French teenybopper France Gall sang Les Sucettes supposedly about lollypops at age 19, she admitted being too naive to understand the true meaning of what she was singing. In the 1980s when Belgian baby doll Lio sang and danced around to Banana Split at age 17, she knew perfectly well what that ‘sudden avalanche of whipped cream’ was all about.

Although she has had more success as an actress, fashion designer and posing naked on all fours, Lio has always insisted on a singing career and managed to bring out quite few albums. Such a feat would not have been possible without the help of many a man, including maestro Marc Moulin of Telex fame who produced Banana Split and French singer Alain Chamfort, who helped her with an album entitled L’Amour Toujours, which, well, flopped. The fact that Lio’s long singing career is the result of sheer perseverance rather than talent is in itself quite remarkable.

Another one of her hits was Amoureux Solitaires, which sounds terribly happy if you don’t understand French. Luckily for the Anglo-Saxon world, Banana Split was adapted into English and renamed Marie Antoinette. Even the Belgian government deemed it appropriate to mention Lio alongside other, more famous Belgian singers such as Maurane and Axelle Red, although Lio gets the honourable mention of – and I quote – 'an impudent Portuguese immigrant'."

Lio - Amoureux Solitaires
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Lio - Marie-Antoinette
Hear Here

Lio - Suite Sixteen
Hear Here

Clémentine

And another guest-selection, courtesy of Andrian @ Sunny (Brooklyn). The only scrap of information I could find in English about her, is this: "Clementine was born in Paris in 1963, her family name is Mitz and she is the daughter of the founder of Orange Blue records, himself a famous collector of jazz records in France. She sings in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese." (My Spanish is even worse then my French, so maybe here's more biographical info.) Clé is a well-known jazz-singer in Japan, she recorded a bunch of albums that are very pricey if you want to buy them in Europe. She also did one track with lounge-meister Stephane Pompougnac. First track posted here is a remixed version of her cover of the famous Un Homme et Une Femme-filmtheme.

Clémentine - Un Homme et Une Femme
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Stephane Pompougnac feat. Clémentine - Morenito
Hear Here

Helena (2)

Helena Noguerra reappears on Filles Sourires courtesy of the stylish and sophisticated monsieur Monte la Rue. He send me an mp3 of Ollano. Merci bien, Monte - I have the album, released one album in 1996 (cd came out two years later, with a different cover) only on vinyl. Ollano was the brainchild of Xavier Jamaux and Marc Collin - the first also did filmscores and produces Bang Bang, the latter is nowadays best known as the guy behind the Nouvelle Vague-project.
The album (no title) is a real gem, with a general jazzy atmosphere, including smokey basslines, soulful Hammond-organs and two singers, actress Sandra Nkake and Helena. She's the one who sings the track posted here. If someone has the Air-remix of Ollano's Latitudes on mp3 (I have that one also only on vinyl), be so kind to send me the file, so I can post it as well.
If you click on Marc Collin's website, please check the singers he used for Nouvelle Vague - it says that the first album of the beautiful Marina Celeste will be released next year in France. Yay!

Ollano - Partir Revenir
Hear Here

Anahy/Les Calamités

Swiss teen-singer Anahy scored a minor hit with Jardin Secret in Germany, France and Switzerland, but the best song off of her fluffy debut-album (released last year) is the sunny and innocent Premier en Amour, a song like a guilty pleasure. Reminds me a lot of the young France Gall.


Anahy - Premier en Amour
Hear Here.


And thanks to Joachim, here's a song by French eighties-trio Les Calamités, a nouvelle-yeye-band (so to speak). Here is a very good website with lots of pictures and soundclips.

Les Calamités - Le Supermarché.
Hear Here.

Clara

Clara is the singer of ...Anabase*, a five-piece band whose first EP is described as moody, melancholic and intimate. Think Portishead and Bashung, or maybe Emilie Simon is a better comparison. Clara's angelic voice is a little more mature then Emily's, but both fit very well in the gentle electronica-driven music. Expedition vers l'interieur was released last year, their site says a full-length album will be released next month. Keep you posted.

...Anabase* - La Piscine
Hear Here

Dalida

Natasha, she of the wonderful Radio Oh-La-La, made her first guest-selection for my blog. Read her story about Dalida:

"Dalida was a performer with enough music, energy and glamour to fill three entire lifetimes. In her short lifespan of 54 years cut short by suicide, she dominated music charts worldwide for 30 of them, singing in no less than 11 languages and selling more than 125 million records around the globe. Miss Egypt in the 1950s, the most popular French artist of the 1960s, her face on a French stamp as recent as 2001, she has received so many honours that it is hard to keep up with her even after her death.

Singer, entertainer and actress, she was born Italian, raised in Egypt, and lived in France. She rolled her r’s, refused to wear much needed eye glasses, constantly changed styles, and followed musical trends from chanson to disco, adapting to the times while remaining true to herself. Her audience loved her then and a whole new generation of music lovers is falling for her today.

Some of the better party numbers from her enormous repertoire include sing along favourites Paroles, Paroles with French actor Alain Delon and the seven minute mini-saga Gigi L’Amoroso. Her best-known hit is most probably her first, Bambino, followed by others, such as Gondolier, Il venait d’avoir 18 ans, J’attendrai and hundreds more. Some people even claim that she was one of the first artists to expose Europeans to rai music. These days, many of Dalida’s hits are being remixed, including Arabic hits, such as Salma Ya Salma and Helwa Ya Baladi.

One of the most tragic parts of her life is having driven three men to suicide. Once, she performed a song written by a young unknown Italian songwriter at the San Remo music festival ironically entitled Ciao Amore. Ironically, because after having lost the contest, the songwriter was so angry, drunk and full of pills that he first yelled at the jury and later committed suicide. This was even more tragic as Dalida had announced her marriage to him just before the festival.

Dalida has been elevated to the status of cult figure in dozens of countries, including Germany, Canada and Vietnam. Her tomb at the Montmartre cemetery in Paris is probably the most original one there, featuring a life-size statue of her. Not too far away from the Montmartre castle she lived in overlooking Paris a statue of her was erected in Square Dalida.

Dalida’s success and sorrow is nothing short of a real-life Italian opera. Her appearance has all the trappings of kitsch, but in her case, nothing could have been any more real. Her personality coloured all of her music and turned it into something authentic that cannot be ignored, like a big bright summer sun. Dalida may have been the heroine of a modern-day saga on stage and in her private life, but she is still known today as the Maria Callas of the French stage."

Dalida - J'Attendrai
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Dalida - Gigi L'Amoroso
Hear Here

Patricia en Harley

Va va vroooom some more: thanks to Jaime of Souvenir (Patricia is their lead singer) here's their version of Harley Davidson. Props to the trainspotters who recognise the sample-source of the motor-sounds and the sitar.



Souvenir - Harley Davidson
Hear Here

Marion

Marion Benoist is one-half of The Lovers, a French/Basque duo that live in England, got a song written for them especially by Jarvis Cocker and that, according to their stage-act and songs, don't take it all too seriously. Their music reminds me of early Tricatel-Betrand Burgalat-playfulness. It's sexy too, in a oh-la-la-way. Three influences they pick out particularly for The Lovers are Peter Sellers, Jacques Tati and French writer and song writer Boris Vian. A remix-album is on its way, featuring mixes by Fat Truckers, Mark Brydon of Moloko and Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire. Hmm. So much for playfulness. Anyways, posted here are a funny duet between Marion and Fred de Fred, plus a slow, melancholy-infused song by Marion solo.

The Lovers - Fleur Bleue
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The Lovers - Ne Worry Pas
Hear Here

Francoise (4)

Thank you Grooveblaster for sending me this, a heavy spaghetti-westernfunkremix of Francoise Hardy's Si Mi Caballero.

Here's the original, taken from La Question:
Hear Here.

Austine (2) & Charline

Today Mr. Mailman brought Austine's EP La Tendresse, and I'm playing it for the umpteenth time right now. Merde, this is magnifique. It's a lost classic- I never heard from her before; this EP is from 2001, released on a label that doesn't seem to exist anymore. Such a delicate voice, great atmosphere in the detail-rich music, excellent songs. Thé discovery of 2005 for me.

Also really good: Charline Rose. Her debutalbum was recently released. One could say she's the Belgian counterpart of Carla Bruni - sophisticated and sweaty. Or maybe Francoiz Breut is a better comparison - like Breut, Charline played with the Calexico-boys (check French interview). Her bio says she acted in movies like The Doors and Rocky V. Well, not according to imdb, but maybe she was billed under a different name. Or she was a non-speaking extra - shame, 'cause there's nothing wrong with her voice.

Austine - Culinarium Confiteor
Hear Here

Charline Rose - Par Amour
Hear Here

Plus de Brigitte

Blame it on me looking too much at all these pics. Hotdammit, what a sex kitten she was back in the days. Those eyes. Those thighs. Those lips. Hmmmmm... Anyways, here's (count 'em) six versions of Harley Davidson. First up is the most famous one by Brigitte. Very pop-art, very tough-but-sensual, very Serge. So his version is next, recorded during his comebacktour in the eighties, inna reggae-stylee. Then the smokey Anita Lane, whose cover (translated by Mick Harvey, if you're into Serge Gainsbourg, you must own his two fantastic albums with brilliant covers) is in the same vein as the original.
I noticed that Filles Sourires attracts visitors from Japan. Konnichiwa. There are quite a few Japanese artists who covered Serge, for instance Kenzo Saeki, who recorded a very funny (to my ears) album with Serge-songs, under the wonderful title Camembert & Sushi. His jazzy version of Harley Davidson is up next. Then Naho's. Don't who she is, but love her electro-yeye-rendition (taken from Gainsbourg Made in Japan). Finally it's Kazuko Hohki, best known as part of the crazy Frank Chickens. Her version is inna electro-country-latinstyle.

Brigitte Bardot - Harley Davidson
Hear Here.
Serge Gainsbourg - Harley Davidson
Hear Here.
Anita Lane & Mick Harvey - Harley Davidson
Hear Here.
Kenzo Saeki - Harley Davidson
Hear Here.
Naho - Harley Davidson
Hear Here.
Kazuko Hohki - Harley Davidson
Hear Here.

Do you know of more Harley-coverversions?

Gaëlle et Brigitte

If you would meet a nice looking girl that sounds exactly like a young Brigitte Bardot, you wouldn't waste any time enlisting her in your band, right? That is exactly what the guys of La Position du Tireur Couché did when they met Gaëlle Le Cozannet. This summer their official debut-album came out, Acapulco, a sunny affair with sixties- and seventies-references, for instance one song is called Steve Austin. Summer music to make winter evenings seem less cold. The bandname by the way is taken from a book about a sniper by Jean-Patrick Manchette.
Posted here are the title track and the teasy duet Je m'en Lasse.

To compare the voices of Gaëlle and Bardot, also posted here is La Fille de Paille, by Brigitte. Plus, this is a very nice pic of Brigitte that I wanted to post for quite some time.

La Position du Tireur Couché - Acapulco
Hear Here

La Position du Tireur Couché - Je m'en Lasse
Hear Here

Brigitte Bardot - La Fille de Paille
Hear Here

Austine

"Une voix fragile accompagnée d'une guitare ou d'une orchestration sophistiquée mais toujours juste, qui démontre une volonté de s'éloigner d'une 'tradition chanson française'." Count me in! This blurb (taken from here) is a very apt description of Austine, who made an EP in 2001. Great voice, sexy atmosphere. A full album never saw the light, but she sings a sensual duet with French singer Hugo on his recently released (and recommendable) second album. I love the break, with Austine whispering.
Anyone who knows more about Austine,or has a good picture, please let me know!

Hugo & Austine - Fouille-toi:
Hear Here

Françoise (3)

One of the mysteries concerning les filles sourires (apart from: 'Why was there never a follow-up to Dorval's beautiful debut-album' or 'If Coralie Clément is really the sister of Benjamin Biolay, what is her, and his, real name?') is: whatever happened to Tuca, the female Brazilian guitarplayer that made Françoise Hardy's album La Question (from 1971) such a masterpiece?

As Dutch/American vj Adam Curry once said, there are no secrets, just information you don't have. On this great blog, the mystery is revealed: Tuca died in 1977, because of losing too much weight too fast. How sad. To celebrate the magnifique musique that she and Hardy made, here's two songs from La Question. Doigts and the title-track.

Francoise Hardy - Doigts
Hear Here

Francoise Hardy - La Question
Hear Here

Carole Laure

Another guest-selector, the distinguished gentleman Monte La Rue, came up with a beautiful gem. Read his story about Carole Laure:

"No discussion about French Canadian singer and movie star Carole Laure is complete without bringing up the subject of ex-pornstar and songwriter par excellence Lewis Furey. Meeting up in the mid-seventies in Quebec, enstrangled in a complex Gainsbourg/Birkin-like relationship, they continued making albums together for the next 20 years. But it is their first album Alibis(1979) which leaves the deepest impression. Furey's fake Berlin 1920's tango & waltz pieces(remember Lou Reed-Berlin) are drenched in drama and blood and Laure's erotic poetry-like voice provides the perfect backdrop for a decor full of nostalgia and heartache. Think The Nightporter (movie with Dirk Bogarde/Charlotte Rampling) and you are getting close. The songs consist of the French versions of Furey's first three solo albums (Lewis Furey/The Humours of/The Sky Is Falling) and are a collection of flawless 'campy' masterpieces. Laure and Furey have since moved to France, still perform together and have made many albums, but the scars left by Alibis will forever haunt their careers."

Carole Laure - Tout Le Monde Dit
Hear Here

Patricia

I promised Modcentric over @ Mod-ified to post Patricia's French cover of sixties-classic Nights in White Satin by Moody Blues. I love the 'plop'-sound of the bass, and the melancholy (bordering on crying) in the voice of Patricia.
There's very little background info on Patricia (this little), so anyone who can tell more about her, please do so in the comments!

Patricia - Mes Rêves de Satin
Hear Here

Soeurs Winchester

They were probably not sisters, the two Anglo-Japanese singers of British band Lucky 15; after making a split-single with Katerine, the musical mastermind persuaded Lisa and Yoshiko in 1997 to make an easy-listening album with experienced jazz musicians, completely sung in French. That album (very hard to find nowadays) was called Les Soeurs Winchester chantent Katerine, and isn't quite easy to listen to. Take the slightly bonkers saxophone and effects used in Bon Chic, Bon Genre ). Or the lyrics to Les Problèmes . In this interview, Philippe says he was inspired to do the project because of the movie Les Petites Marguerites. Never saw it - anyone who did? Howzit?
(Thank you, Roar, for the LSW-mp3's!)

Les Soeurs Winchester - Bon Chic, Bon Genre
Hear Here

Les Soeurs Winchester - Les Problèmes
Hear Here

Baccara

In the mood for some cheese? Spanish duo Baccara (Mayte & Maria) were discovered on the isle of Fuerteventura, where they were entertaining tourists. Germans Rolf Soja & Frank Dostal wrote big European hits for the duo, like Sorry I'm a Lady and Yes Sir, I Can Boogie. In 1978 they represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Songcontest with the song posted here, Parlez-vous Francais?

Baccara - Parlez-vous Francais?
Hear Here.

Axelle (2)

Axelle Red, my favourite Belgian redhead, has a new single out, J'ai Fait un Rêve/I Had a Dream, no doubt inspired by Martin Luther King's speech with that name. Here you can find the lyrics in French and English. Don't you think some of the text also applies to what is happening in the French banlieus right now?
Posted here is the 'Alf & Alex Gopher'-remix of J'ai Fait un Rêve. Seven minutes of soulful bliss.

Axelle Red - J'ai Fait un Rêve
Here Hear

Martha

You've probably heard of the Wainwright-family: dad Loudon, mom Kate (McGarrigle), son Rufus and daughter Martha. An odd family, they write songs about their private quarrels. For instance, on her first album Martha wrote a song about her dad called Bloody Motherfucking Asshole. After a dinner with his dad, during which he threatened to kill his son, Rufus (very popular in France) wrote Dinner at Eight. Loudon announced the birth of his son to the world with the witty, jealous Rufus is a Tit-Man, which Kate retaliated with First Born: 'He's his mother's favourite and his grandmother's too/He'll break their hearts, and he'll break yours too.'
Disfunctional? Maybe. But they're all very good songwriters and singers.
Martha's first album was re-released recently with a few bonustracks, and the reason she's on this blog is because one of those bonustracks is a cover of Barbara's classic chanson Dis quand reviendras-tu?

Martha Wainwright - Dis Quand Reviendras Tu?
Hear here.

Keren Ann

Mordi over at Blowupdoll posted a great Keren Ann-track, which reminded me that I still have to post a track by the Dutch-Israeli singer/songwriter - what's a shrine to Filles Sourires without her? Keren Ann Zeidel is one of the most talented songwriters of her generation, no wonder Guy Chambers (talk about someone who knows how to write a song) asked her for his wonderful Isis Project. She's the only fille sourire I've talked to (so far), a short telephone interview for the release of Not Going Anywhere, during which she told me she thought Dutch was a too harsh-sounding language to sing in (thanks again!). Keren Ann released four albums; two in French, one in English (not her best) and this year the bi-lingual Nolita. More and more tristesse filled her vocal chords through the years, which makes her music perfect for fall- and winter-evenings. Just keep sharp objects and firm ropes out of the way.

From Nolita, the David Lynchian/Twin Peaksian sounding title track, almost eight tensed minutes.

Hear Here.

From La Disparition, her second album, Dust in the Wind Au Coin du Monde:

Hear Here.

From the German compilationLe Pop En Duo a trio-song with help from Dominique A. and Vincent Delerm, Veruca Salt et Frank Black:

Hear Here

By the way: if anyone has Tout Doucement, the coverversion of Bibi's hitsong from the eighties (also covered by Feist) that Vincent Delerm and Keren Ann recorded, please let me know!

Bia

In the comments of the Brisa-posting (below), someone (Roar?) mentioned Brazilian-born Bia. As a big fan of bossa, samba and favela funk, I had to hear this bi-lingual singer sing in French. One could say she's a fish in the same pond as Bebel Gilberto and Céu, only more traditional: no electronics for Bia. A new album is on the way (released first Quebec, than the rest of the world, 'cause Bia is living in Montréal right now - seems like FillesSourires is on a Canadian streak this week), you can listen to snippets on her site. Love that Tom Jobim-translation to French, ánd her Portuguese translation of Serge's L'eau à la Bouche. Also present: a translated version of the Keren Ann/Biolay-written, Henri Salvador-sung Jardin d'hiver.

But posted here is Les Mures Sauvages, from second album Sources.

Hear here.

Brisa

Look at the cover picture. Now that's what I call dew-eyed. If I told you Paris-Match called Brisa Roché the new Billie Holiday, that she was born in California, toured as a child in Romania, sang in Parisian nightclubs and covers Salvatore Adamo on her debut album (that was released in 2002 but recently re-released by the famous Blue Note-label), you'd really want to listen. Right? Well, I did. And I'm not quite sure what to make of this 'eskimo baby'. Some kind of Madeleine Peyroux (whom I do not like)? An off-key Norah Jones who likes to rock out as well? On Brisa's album are two French songs, the aforementioned Adamo-cover Dans Le Vert de Ses Yeux (1), and self-penned Coco, recorded with trumpeteer Erik Truffaz (2). Both are posted here. What do you think?

Hear here 1.

Hear here 2.

Ariane (2)

Don't know about you, but I'm already thinking about my Best Albums of the Year-list. In fact: one mag and one site already asked me to send my top ten to them. In December I will post the Filles Sourires-Best of 2005-list. It's nearly complete, but I'm holding my breath a little for Le Coeur dans la Tête, the new album by Canadienne Ariane Moffatt. Her debut, officially released in 2002, recently was made available on iTunes (and Amazon.fr), probably in the wake of the release of Coeur on Nov. 16. Her site tells us it will be a versatile album, ranging from reggae to electro. I've ordered it, and will post a track as soon as mr. Mailman delivers it. Ariane's debut Aquanote had a dubby, electronic vibe as well, but sported some beautiful pianoballads too. Posted here is Bien Dans Rien, which to me sounds like a take on Satie.

Hear here.

Lola

Canadian duo Lola Dutronic (Richard Citroen, Francoise Hart) count Serge Gainsbourg, Air and April March as their influences. On their debutalbum (released last month) they make gentle, electronica-driven popsongs that indeed breathe the spirit of the influences just mentioned. They do a lot of coverversions: one very Air-y version of Katrina & The Waves' Walking On Sunshine, La Maritza by Sylvie Vartan, Francoise Hardy's Ma Jeunesse Fout le Camp and BB's La Fin d'Été, that was also recorded by Hardy on the Ma Jeunesse-album, by the way. Posted below are Lola's version (1) of Ma Jeunesse, and Francoise's original (2). Here at Chez Filles Sourires we certainly like a band that makes tongue-in-cheeky French pop (ever heard Les Sans-Culottes, by the way?). Also, check some great Lola-remixes!

Hear Here 1.

Hear Here 2.

France Franzözisch

And we're back, after three exciting weeks in South Africa. Only to find my beloved Paris, and the rest of France, burning. I feel a bit awkward posting upbeat French songs in these times - then again, this isn't a political soapbox, but a shrine for the beautiful produits de la France. Let's hope things quiet down a bit, nobody dies no more and that the government finds the right ways and takes the right actions to cope with the problems.

On the more fun side: Vincent send me this link. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Lisa

Lisa Barel played in lots of piano bars, I understand from this biography. Does that mean the stern-but-sensual looking Barel played standards in eateries, with a very big cognac-glass on her piano? Or in small, cosy cafés that had a piano? What exactly is a piano-bar, and do they still exist in France? Anyways, through sheer perseverance Lisa got a record-contract, and in 2001 her debut was released. It's a dreamy affair, with hints of Joni Mitchell. Posted here is Mon Jardin. I don't know if the album was a succes in France, I guess not 'cause there was no folluw-up. Shame.

Hear Here.

Elisa (2)

Thanks to FillesSourires-regular Roar I got to know Elisa Point (I posted a song earlier). Her girly voice is heavenly high-pitched, her songs meander between sexiness and seriousness. There's little I could find on the net, 'cept for this page with an odd biography, from which I understand she's very much inspired by great poets. Her last album was released in 2004, and she also wrote a book (I can't make out if it's a novel or a poetry collection). The song's posted here are from Elisa's first two albums from 1983 and 1995. Brigitte B. (1) is a joyful, kinda synthi-poppy song about, well, you know who. La Chaleur et La Poussière (2) is a string-infused, very sexy song about a naughty girl.

Hear Here 1

Hear Here 2