Marine Boreale

A laudanum overdose. Maybe not the first theme that will spring to mind to write a jolly song about, but Marine Boreale (and songwriter Joachim Jannin) did just that. The first time I heard Overdose de Laudanum, suddenly everything went pink. Then yellow. Then I smelled blossoming trees, I heard the birds sing and I felt a strong urge to get the wife 'n kid and bike past the green flat fields in my neighbourhood. When I opened my eyes again, I saw my beatific smile in the reflection of the office-window. I did not take laudanum, but it sure felt that way.

Marine Boreale - Overdose de Laudanum

Coralie Clement

Follow-up to this post: thanks to Martine, I got hold of the soundtrack to L'Idole. This 2002 movie by Samantha Lang (with Leelee Sobieski, pictured) features music by Gabriel Yared. Three (basically the same) dreamy songs are sung by the lovely Coralie, lyrics ofcourse by brother Benjamin. Enjoy. Uninviting review here.

Coralie Clement - Le Rêve de Sarah
Coralie Clement - Lullabye
Coralie Clement - Dorénavant

Carmel, Duffy

Are you following the whole soap about Amy Winehouse? What a shame, all that talent gone down the (crack)pipe. I interviewed her years ago, after the release of the first album. She'd had a rough night (it was written all over her face, and her breath), but she was very frank, outspoken and funny too. But that was then. In the meantime, there are a lot of female Britsoulers ready to fill the hole Amy left (or will leave). There's Adele. There's Duffy. The latter got help from David McAlmont and Bernard Butler (ex-Suede), and her great songs remind me of the golden Dusty Springfield/Cilla Black/Petula Clark-era of blue-eyed Britsoul. But while listening to a 5-track promo, I suddenly remembered that Britsh blonde soulsinger from the eighties: Carmel. The reason she pops up here ofcourse is that she sang a couple o'songs (partly) in French. Not only that, she duetted with none other that Johnny Hallyday! See the video above. And listen to the songs below.

Carmel - Je Suis Tombee Amoureuse (clip)
Carmel & Johnny Hallyday - Je Oublierai ton Nom
Carmel - More More More (not in French, but a great song) (clip)
Duffy - Rockferry (clip)

Oh, and how d'you like this? March 15, Petrol Antwerp. Gainsbourg-galore!

Melanie Bauer

If it's new music, Radio Nova keeps you updated on all the new names from France and abroad. Every night, radio personality Melanie Bauer presents L' Eléphant Effervescent, with sessions, interviews and fine fine music. I see my fellow countryman Pete Philly was one of her guests, last week.
Melanie (who has a very pleasent, high-pitched voice) plus a string of big and new names also record albums under the Ketchup & Marmelade moniker. This is a reference to a very wel known radioshow in the nineties, also presented by Melanie. I posted songs from K&M Volume 1, in June Volume 2 will be released. Featuring a very great, very loud song with 'revelation belge' M. Charivari (who also worked with Armelle Pioline from Holden). Monsieur C. was so kind to send me that song, so this is a big exclusive!

Melanie Bauer & M. Charivari - Tout Nous Separe

The Krolls

"In the band's own mythology, The Krolls are a cross between rabbits (kroliki in Russian) and trolls. The members are drawn as four rabbit-like characters on the band's posters and on the album cover. The band's designer, Vadim Chyorny, has also drawn a logo, with two ls forming a rabbit's ears." [Quote] Welcome to the weird but colourful world of The Krolls, a 'Frenchelectroalcopop' band from St Petersburg (Russia)who are influenced by Xavier Cugat, Shivaree, Charlotte Gainsbourg and 'raggy' music (they mean reggae). A collegue is going to see them this Saturday in Moscow, wish I could be there because I think these jolly hipsters make quite a scene. They do a cover of Nirvana's Rape Me in French (Viole Moi), their hitsingle is called Le Cocaine, Le Chocolat and singer Masha Andreichikova has a sweet girlie voice, perfect for this kind of pop. You can download songs from their MySpace, or from this site.

The Krolls - Viole Moi(Rape Me) (Nirvana-cover)
The Krolls - Au Revoir
The Krolls - Le Cocaine, Le Chocolat

(psst! want to see carla bruni wearing nothing but black boots? here!)

Coralie Clement

She keeps adding new pictures on her MySpace (if that is run by CC herself), but no new blogs about her life, or news about an album. Her Wikipedia says her new album is called Toy Store, and that it features a duet with Etienne Daho. Also on that Wiki: Coralie sang a song in the movie L'Idole. Anybody seen or heard that? Is there a soundtrack-cd?
On her MySpace, Bambi-Rose is stated as record label. That's run by Benjamin Biolay (named after his daughter), but it does not have a website that I can find. The official CC-website hasn't been updated in a while, and from sources at EMi I heard that she left that label. The official CC-site is run by V2 records. The only new thing, well, new to me, were a couple of videos I found on Youtube. Probably directed by Remy Disch, who uploaded 'em six months ago. Great videos, alas Remy did not upload the whole clip. See more here.

Oh, Coralie, my love! Where are you? Give us a sign of life, a date for a new album maybe. Please?

UPDATE: Coralie did the highpitched backgroundvocals on Nada Surf's The Fox, from their new album Lucky.
Nada Surf & Coralie Clement - The Fox
It's not the first time NS and CC worked together, she sang backgroundvocals on Nada's cover of Indochine's L'Aventurier. And NS's Daniel Lorca duetted with Coralie on her Mais Pourtant, from Bye Bye Beauté.

French Wishing: Marianne Faithfull

Guestpost-with-a-twist from Romke. Read on!

Don't forget Marianne Faithfull, who did an entire French album at the end of the sixties or in the early seventies. Unfortunately, somebody stole my vinyl, and I'm not sure it was released on cd.
I also found this video on YouTube. Badly mimed, but still great. There may be more if you search for them. Being a near-sixty year old myself I confess that I've been a MF fan for over 40 years, and is great to see she's still around.
Interesting anecdote from her latest book: as a result of an OD in Australia (I think)the perfectly bilingual MF lost her capability to speak and understand French in one single day. Even today, living in Paris, she doesn't understand a word when people speak French to her!

Marianne Faithfull - Coquillage

Serge

Keeping you up to date about new(-ish) Gainsbourg releases: Les Années Psychédéliques is a compilation (1cd or 2lp's) for those who think the beautiful box Le Cinéma de Serge Gainsbourg is to expensive. Les Années... compiles the funkiest tracks Serge and partners like Michel Colombier and J-C Vannier made for movies. You get Requiem pour un con (plus an instrumental version) from Le Pacha, New Delire from Manon70 and Breakdown Suit from Si j'etais un espion, for example. Almost no girlie singing here, unless you count the giggling in En Melody, and Anna Karina's tender words in Je N'Avais Qu'Un Seul Mot A Lui Dire (from the movie Anna). I forgot how phat the beats in this song are - dj's, take note!

Serge Gainsbourg feat. Anna Karina and Jean-Claude Brialy - Je N'Avais Qu'Un Seul Mot A Lui Dire

Jane Birkin

Looks like I will interview Jane B next Friday, when she plays the Amsterdam Paradiso! I'm nervous already. I only have about 20 minutes, and there's so much to ask. I'll let you know the outcome ofcourse.
Twenty years ago, Jane's eponymous live-album Au Bataclan came out. From that album, I give you the gorgeous Fuir le Bonheur de peur qu'il ne sauve. And from her latest record, the OST to La Tête de Maman, here's a very sweet duet with teen actress Chloe Coulloud (she gets kissed by Jane on the picture).

Jane Birkin - Fuir le bonheur qu'il ne sauve (live)
Jane Birkin & Chloe Coulloud - La Vie te va mieux qu'a moi

Mordi is having a Jane Birkin week.

Claire Diterzi

The first FS-fave that releases a new album in 2008 is gothic princess Claire Diterzi. Two years ago, the theatrically trained Diterzi made us all shiver with her very noir version of the classic 'Hungarian suicide-song' Sombre Dimanche (or Gloomy Sunday). Now, the former member of Di Terzi has made an album that is an ode to womanhood. Inspired by paintings and sculptures by (among others) Toulouse Lautrec, Turner, Lucian Freud an Van Eyck, plus Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, Tableau de Chasse is not for everyone. Pretentious, sure. Intense? Oh yes. I love those angelic Bulgarian choir-voices, the thick red velvet curtains-atmosphere of most songs. And those electronic beats.
It's all very different from Diterzi's soundtrack for the movie Requiem for Billy the Kid, that involved way more dust 'n gunpowder. From that soundtrack, here's two whispery Bob Dylan covers.

Claire Diterzi - Retiens-moi
Claire Diterzi - Zubrowska
-
Claire Diterzi - Knockin on Heaven's Door
Claire Diterzi - Billy 7

Party over here

Yes, you heard right, another party with a French twist (after the succesful Chick Habit fest), this time on another location (De Nieuwe Anita), but with the dynamic duo Guuzbourg & Natashka. Special guests on Feb 16 are Thomas Deligny of Boutique Chic fame, and his co-conspirer Minimatic. Expect the best yeye, the glitziest eighties-pop, some block rockin'beats and grooves, baby!

Hektor vs Trenet

Shall we call them 'the hardest working band in French filles-land'? The guys and doll of Hektor never fail to amaze me. They recorded a brilliant X-mas song (1), remixed Yelle, covered Daft Punk (2) and now they send me a future summerhit. At least, one can only hope that their version of the classic Charles Trenet song Route Nationale 7 will be all over the radio when the first rays of sun peek through the clouds. Fingers crossed!

Hektor - Route Nationale 7
Charles Trenet - Route Nationale 7

French Wishing: Cat Power, Ladyhawke

Still in French Wishing mode. Here's a guestpost by Randy:

When I first heard about your awesome theme for the month I instantly thought of Cat Power. Though she has been recording albums for 10+ years now (all extremely good by the way), she has nary a song in french. The closest she ever came was on the Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited album from last year, or was it late 06, where she duets with Karen Elson on an english version of Serge and Jane's classic Je T'Aime Mon Non Plus, I Love You (Me Either). And while I would say that this is easily my favorite song on the compilation, it is sad that her husky tones do not ring out in French.
Her rich, deep, sultry vocals are so well suited for singing in french. On her newest album, Jukebox, she sings songs where she seems to be at the alter of Bob Dylan, Song to Bobby, and Aretha Franklin, Aretha, Sing One for Me. Oh how I would love to hear her craft a tune in French for Serge. From her haunting version of Je T'Aime... we can hear that she obviously enjoys the source material. Please Chan, make it so.

And while thinking about Filles I would love to hear sing in French could be a life long obsession, I was instantly struck by a new up and comer, Ladyhawke. She is one of those myspace sensations, who has no album yet, but a song with quite a bit of French spirit, Paris is Burning. This was my absolute favorite song from last year, and I would nearly kill to hear her opt to sing it in French with all of her amazing brashness. Though she is a Kiwi, she has recently moved to Europe to birth her music to the world. Lets hope she smashes out some wonderful tracks in French for that upcoming album.

Cat Power & Karen Elson - I Love You (Me Either)
Cat Power - Song to Bobby (deleted upon request, see comments)
Alternatively, go to Bluesarestillblue for a great Dylan-cover by Cat/Chan.
Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning

French Wishing: Sophie Ellis-Bextor

D'you ever think: how would Sophie Ellis-Bextor sound in French? I do, sometimes. And since today I know how that sounds. Like: please, Sophie, do that to me some more! (it's a cover of Blondie's Denis, or, if you like, Randy & the Rainbows, so the French part is halfway in the song)



EXTRA: thanks to Daniel, here's Sophie together with theaudience, completely in French (and slightly offkey)
theaudience feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Ne Jamais Deçu
theaudience feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Je Suis Content

French Wishing: Blonde Redhead, Goldfrapp

Another guestpost for the French Wishing project. André on Alison and Kazu.

So here are my two cents regarding the French Wishing project. Of course, the easy way out would have been to suggest one of the English tracks by Keren Ann or Charlotte Gainsbourg. But the honour goes to two tracks that somehow coloured my past year of 2007.
The first one is a track of the truly wonderful new Goldfrapp album Seventh Tree which will be available at the end of February but leaked its way onto the net a couple of months ago. Alison Goldfrapp had always been one of my favourite vocalists but on the last couple of albums her mesmerising voice was forced a bit too much to the background by the heavy beats and electronics. Lucky enough for me she and partner in crime Will Gregory decided to make a radical turn in style for their next album. The track Cologne Cerrone Houdini has Gainsbourg and (Femme d’Argent-)Air written all over it. Listening to this gem I just can’t help but wonder how this would sound if Alison decided to sing it in French.

The second track comes off my favourite album of 2007 (not counting Seventh Tree, that is): 23 by Blonde Redhead. Japanese singer Kazu Mikano makes a lot more use of hushed vocals these days. Combined with the more subdued music she and her companions produce on their latest albums you get beautiful songs like Silently. Kazu really shines on this one. If only they’d chosen to record it in French…

Goldfrapp - Cologne Cerrone Houdini
Blonde Redhead - Silently

Liesbeth List

A question I got asked a lot lately (by journalists questioning me about Filles Fragiles) was: are there any Dutch zuchtmeisje/filles fragiles? There are, ofcourse, but very rarely they sing in French. There's Edie. There's Sylvia. And there's the legendary Liesbeth List, a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. Liesbeth's not really a fille fragile, she sings to powerful. Think Dalida. Think Piaf, maybe - List played Piaf in musical. List made a name for herself doing Dutch versions of Jacques Brel songs, worked with Rod McKuen, and sang unforgettable duets with Ramses Shaffy. Her discography is impressive, starting in 1964 up until now. She's the only Dutch artist that I know of, that covered Gainsbourg-songs in French. I thought she only did Sous Le Soleil Exactement (posted here before), but recently I found out she did a quite funky version of L'Anamour. She did that on a German album from 1970, pretty hard to find originally, but thanks to Fonos, I got a copy on cd.

Liesbeth List - L'Anamour (link=fixed)

Francoise Hardy

Tomorrow, January 17th, Francoise Hardy celebrates her 64th birthday. Instead of posting songs myself, I gladly refer you to Blowupdoll, who marks this occasion with a whole FH-week, featuring very special songs.

Filles Fragiles giveaways

The Dutchies are lucky. Radio6 and 3FM are giving away copies of Filles Fragiles this week. Find out more here and here.

French Wishing: Carly Sings

Very special guestpost: Dan on his friend Carly Blackman, aka Carly Sings:

Carly is one of my favorite people that I'm lucky to have befriended. What puts her music apart from others are the delicate intricacies she places in her lyrics. With an in depth knowledge of literature, culture, & a tactile sense of the world, her songs come out dreamy and introspective with a touch of longing. Her voice can be compared to Jane Birkin, but her melodies are richer and have a modern touch to them. Would her songs sound better in French? I don't know. Sung in English, rather than being a typical chanteuse, I enjoy the French ambiance that surrounds her songs.
Read an interview with Carly here.

Two demo-tracks by Carly:
Carly Sings - Eyes Closed (Video)
Carly Sings - You Are Travelling
If you want to hear Carly sing in French, go here and click on L'Amour.

Jane Birkin

Bought Jane's Arabesque Voyage-dvd the other day for 5 euros in a record shop - what a great performance! I knew the album, and I saw some clips, but how fragile, how intimate and how joyous this show is to watch, shot at the beautiful Odeon theater in Paris. For the show and the album, Jane fused songs written by Serge with North-African folkmusic, to great result. Especially her duet with singer Memouen on Valse de Melody (that had an Arabic feel in the original version) is stunning.
At the same time I read a piece on the interview Jane gave to German newspaper Die Zeit, in which she talks about her infamous cuffed-to-the-bed picture, and Je t'aime.

Manchmal signiere ich heute noch nach einem Konzert das Foto, auf dem ich nackt an eine Heizung gefesselt bin. Ich finde mich darauf sehr schön. Aber tatsächlich gibt es, glaube ich, selbst heute keine Schauspielerin, die so etwas tun würde. Es war Serge, der mich für dieses Foto fesselte. Ich mochte es gar nicht. Ich mochte schon das Lied Je t’aime nicht

(Transl: "I still sign that picture after a concert. I think I look very beautiful. But I don't think that any actress nowadays would let herself be photographed that way. Serge cuffed me to the bed for that picture. I did not like it. I did not like Je t'aime, for that matter.") Hmm. Further down, she says that when she broke up with Serge, she felt like she wasn't his puppet anymore. But nowadays, she's reminded of Serge 20 times a day, because people bring him up everytime. "I don't need to think of him myself", she says.
Singing a lot of songs by Serge, like she's going to on February 1 in Paradiso, Amsterdam, helps a lot too, I guess.

Jane Birkin - Valse de Melody
See original version here.
EXTRA:
Beck & Jane Birkin - L'Anamour
Video? Here!

Oh, and by the way, on February 16, not only Thomas Deligny (Boutique Chic) will be at our next Chick Habit party @ De Nieuwe Anita Amsterdam, Minimatic will be present too!

Loane

Meet Loane, a young French singer who started playing piano at a very young age, played in various bands with various styles and who likes Nick Drake, Blonde Redhead, Air and Beth Gibbons. She opened for Michel Delpech once. The first chanteuse she discovered was Edith Piaf, and she feels kinship with Pauline Croze, Ariane Moffatt and Keren Ann. That's all I found out about her. I received a demo-cd with 4 songs (all available on her MySpace), plus a dvd (in 3-inch format, very cute). Her performance is compelling, sweet, powerful. Her voice reminds a little of Brisa Roché's. Husky, just as we like it. Loane's a fille to watch.

Loane - Maman
Loane - Petit Bonheur

French Wishing: Lykke Li

That's what you get for not doing the blogroll; you miss out on the current hype. And that's Swedish lovely Lykke Li. "Lykke Li will be huge. Like, it’s not even a question. Basically Robyn only younger, hotter and better(?), Li takes the best elements of Annie, Peter Bjorn & John and the new breed of British female singer-songwriters to create her own unique lo-fi pop sound", says GWFA. Zeon adds: "I think Robyn's fans would automatically love her. Well, at least in my perspective, I find it hard to just fall a little bit in love with her..." And Stereogum: "Lykke Li defies any sort of formula and is undeniably in for the long run." But what struck me the most (and JOTN, thanks again mon ami) was the description of her influences on her MySpace; "Jane Birkin with no top on." Now, if only Lykke sang in French. Maybe just one song. Or maybe Camille can cover Little Bit, en Français? S'il vous-plait? I'd love to hear her sing: "And for your you I keep my leg apart/And forget about my tainted heart." In French, ofcourse.

Lykke Li - Little Bit
Lykke Li - Tonight
Leif - Little Bit (Lykke Li cover)

Lisa Portelli

You know what they say about people who have a little gap between their front teeth: they're very musical people. Take Vanessa Paradis. Take Rob de Nijs. And take the young (20) singer from Reims, Lisa Portelli. The blondine looks like VP a little, she sounds like Blossom Dearie a little and likes Syd Barrett and bossanova a lot. I adore her young, but wise sounding vocals, the excellent guitarplaying and the intimiste atmosphere of her songs. Like they say here: Derrière ce patronyme au sourire angélique se cache une jeune auteur-compositrice fertile dont les chansons révèlent un caractère bien trempé.
See Lisa's gap in full glory here.

Lisa Portelli - A Mon Meuble
Lisa Portelli - La Coccinelle

Daft Punk fume une pipe

Forget the girls and the sighing for a few minutes. Think about Georges Brassens. Then think of Daft Punk. Now, try 'n mix the two. You think that's impossible? Ofcourse not. La Pompe Moderne, a group of humourists from France, pay tribute to both Brassens (they used to call themselves the Brassens, but for reasons that are beyond my understanding of French, they changed it, see the explanation on their MySpace) and the helmet-wearing filterdisco-gods. They don't use computers, drummachines or effects, just upright bass, clarinets and sax. What you get is Georges Brassens doing DP's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, while smoking a pipe. It's great, it's funny, it's a nice interlude, that's what it is.

La Pompe Moderne (The Brassens) - Plus Dur, Meilleur, Plus Rapide, Plus Fort (Daft Punk cover)

French Wishing: Isobel Campbell

Guestpost! Ken on Isobel Campbell:

There is something rather magical and compelling about girls singing in French – maybe it’s just the lure of the exotic, but I think it goes beyond such a simplistic generalization. The appeal of a sweet, fragile voice clearly expressing the emotion welling up from the singer’s heart (love or longing, joy or sadness) is irresistible. I don’t mean to imply that this notion is something unique to French singers, but I do think that the French pop tradition has perfected it and expresses it with graceful elegance. It would be wonderful to hear Alison Krauss, Nanci Griffith, or Susannah Hoffs cover songs from Keren Ann or Emily Loizeau, but my favorite wish would be for Isobel Campbell to record her album Milk White Sheets in its entirety, entirely in French...her voice is so tender and seductive that the result, I’m sure, would be truly sublime – intimate, beautiful, and melancholy.

Just listen to her sing and see if you don’t find yourself French Wishing along with me...sigh.

Isobel Campbell - Beggar, Wiseman, or Thief
EXTRA:
Gentle Waves feat. Isobel Campbell - Evensong (French version) (thanks Wouter)

Marianne Dissard...

is looking for gigs in Europe, coming March. Her album (with help from Calexico) is nearly done, she loves to play her songs. When she's here, she won't bring Matt Mitchell (with whom she so sensually performs Quand Refleuriront Les Lilas Blanc on Filles Fragiles), but instead Naim Amor (her amant) comes along. If you're a clubowner, and you love to have the both o'them, contact Marianne via her Myspace, or send me an email, I will pass it on.

French Wishing: Histoire de David

Guestpost! Jan Willem on Dave's True Story:

In the series of songs that ought to be sung by French girls, a case can certainly be made for I’ll Never Read Trollope Again by New York beat lounge duo Dave’s True Story. This band, consisting of witty songsmith and guitar player Dave Cantor and blissfully laidback parlour siren Kelly Flint, somehow manages to strike a balance between nostalgic lounge jazz and utterly contemporary lyrics. In this particular song, from their 1998 CD Sex Without Bodies, Miss Flint laments the unfortunate association of a lost lover with her favourite novelist: 19th century English author Anthony Trollope. This gives rise to a hilariously elaborate rhyme scheme that lets ‘Kafka’s tale about that lonely vermin’ chime with ‘Immanuel Kant in German.’ It is tantalising to contemplate what a translator of genius might be able to accomplish in a French version. Naturally this would need to feature a slew of Francophone novelists and philosophers. Any suggestions for a whip-smart French girl singer who might cope with such a song?

Dave's True Story - I'll Never Read Trollope Again

Manda

How it works nowadays: you're an unknown artist, it's your dream to collaborate with a fairly known triphop/lounge-collective, you send 'm a message via their MySpace site, and bang, you end up on their new album ánd you go on a European tour with them. Happened to French singer Manda, she was picked up by Morcheeba. The latter, you might know them from songs like Trigger Hippy and Rome Wasn't Build in a Day, used to have one singer, Skye, but for new album Dive Deep the producers decided to take the Massive Attack-route and invited several vocalists. Like Thomas Dybdahl, Judie Tzuke and Manda. Her song is the only French one on Dive Deep. It's gentle, it's short, it's nice.

Morcheeba feat. Manda - Au Dela

Monsieur & Madame

One of the best, and best-named bands from Belgian rockhistory is Allez Allez. They made two albums in the eighties, their blend of new pop, funk and african rhythms made them the Flemish Talking Heads. Songs like African Queen and Valley of the Kings still make people dance, leftfield dj's like Prins Thomas & Lindstrom remixed their songs recently, Richard Dorfmeister is a fan. One of the more prominent members of Allez Allez was Serge van Laeken, better known as Marka. To be honest, I wasn't aware of his musical activities after Allez Allez fell apart, but he is very versatile: rock, rap, rai, Flemish songs, French songs. Enfin. Thanks to Jana, I was introduced to Monsieur & Madame, Marka's electropopproject with Laurence Bibot. Their main goal is to have fun, they've played from Osaka to New York and they make danceable, humorous songs with eighties-influences. Marka says in this interview : it's young music for the old (at least, I think that's what he says). If you like Yelle, Lio or Vive La Fete you like M&M. Watch a funny video here. Buy cd's here.

Monsieur & Madame - Monsieur & Madame
Monsieur & Madame - Poulette
Allez Allez - Allez Allez

Dates you might want to know about

January 9: I am guest in Cantina, Jaap Boots' radioshow on Radio6. Two hours of my favourite music. You can tune in online.
February 1: Jane Birkin plays Paradiso, Amsterdam. I'm dj-ing that night.
February 16: Chick Habit party in De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam. Featuring Guuzbourg, Natashka and very special gueststar Thomas Deligny.
March 15: Soirée Gainsbourg in Petrol, Antwerp. Featuring dj's Guuzbourg, Louis Katorz and Pierre Elitair.
April 12: Chick Habit party in De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam, featuring Guuzbourg, Natasha and very special gueststar Thomas Bohnet.

Speaking of Natasha: she has a wonderful giveaway contest on her blog. Check!

French Wishing: Les Rita Mitsouko

Very nice contribution from Jana to the French Wishing-project. Read on!

'A legend in France!'
With this motto I invited my friends to join me for the concert (October 2007) by Les Rita Mitsouko. It was the first time I would see them.
Pop and rock, world music, electronic beats, guitar solos and French chansons. That's what I expected. Although it was a tender, energetic, and overwhelming concert, I had a strange feeling afterwards. The French input was poor and the guitar solos were gone. What happened?
Catherine Ringer, the driving force and lead singer of the band, sang most of the songs in English.
Fred Chichin, the master of guitars and composer of sweet songs was already ill. This great musician passed away November 28th.According to Fred's wish Catherine continues singing and presenting there newest album Variéty, or Variety as said on the UK version. This bilingual title explains a lot why Les Rita's sing their songs in French or English. And because of that I would like to present one of the newest tracks on these 2 albums.
The main reason why I like this group so much is because of their fantastic lyrics. And the fist time I heard the song 'Ma vieille ville' (My old city) in French it was so beautiful. It explains someone's return to Paris which was once his or her home.

"Tu étais revenu
Par une belle soirée d'été, avais marché
L'Ile de la cité
Sous le pont Marie la seine
Les lumières t'ont fait pleurer
Tout est changé et tout est pareil"

But when i heard the English version 'Paris (France)' it was totally different.

"See the lights along the bank
The sting of pearls goes on forever
In a window there's a light
And life goes on regardless
But don't you want to dive in the water"

Catherine explains: "We don't want people to think we are singing about Paris, Texas. It's about a Parisian rolling around the globe to find something new in life before coming back here to find that he has changed, like the town. It's touristic. We sing about the lights on the Seine."
The touristic part could be cancelled and the lights on the Seine we can all imagine. So I prefer the French version. It's much more natural and softer when Catherine sings it.

Les Rita Mitsouko - Ma Vieille Ville
Les Rita Mitsouko - Paris (France)

French Wishing: Kim, Carol, Jenny

Maks has an original take on the French Wishing project. He raves on about his fave non-French filles, AND suggests some French lovelies who could 'fillesourire' his fave songs. Here goes:

1. Kim Deal (Pixies, Breeders)
The first one who always slips into my mind while discussing female singers is Kim Deal. Call it a fetish, call it a nostalgic love, but to me her voice is simply unequalled. Always a bit hoarse and so arousing, you immediately forget that her looks didn't improve through the years (due to several addictions and overweight that is). But she's still got this beautiful Mona Lisa-ish smile on her face that makes her even more intriguing. Together with Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses, Belly) she did a fantastic cover of Chris Bell's 'You And Your Sister' for This Mortal Coil's album 'Blood' in 1991. A classic duet, screaming to be 'filles sourired', to make it even more irresistible.
Filles suggestion: Roxane K. & Charlotte Gainsbourg

2. Carol van Dyk (Bettie Serveert, Chitlin' Fooks)
Dutch indie-rockgroup Bettie Serveert is going strong for over 16 years now and from the very first start I was hypnotized by mysterious beauty Carol van Dyk (think Nico meets Sharleen Spiteri), but especially by her vocals. In 2006 they recorded their latest, 'Bare Stripped Naked', with acoustic versions of old tracks and new material as well. The track 'Roadmovies' from that album was yet another new tiny little pearl in which Carol sings with soft voice about personal independence. So fragile, there must be a fille out there to cover it once.
Filles suggestion: Camille or Sandie//Trash

3. Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley)
Rilo Kiley recorded a nice pop-album in 2007 called 'Under The Blacklight'. The bright and soulful voice of singer Jenny Lewis though, is impressive enough to carry a whole album on it's own. She doesn't necessarily need the other members of Rilo Kiley. But hey, as long as they're still here, they better write great songs. With '15' they did. An outstanding piece about paedophilia and prostitution, complete with horns and theremin in a somewhat rancid atmosphere. Risky business to do songs with heavy themes like that. Luckily Jenny succeeded and there is probably only one chanteuse who could do it in an even more rousing way. Come on, see it as a prelude for your 'Suite Sixtine' from 1982, Wanda de Vasconcelos!
Fille suggestion: Lio

This Mortal Coil - You And Your Sister
Bettie Serveert - Roadmovies
Rilo Kiley - 15

Hektor

Could be an entry for French Wishing, because en français is the best way to hear Hektor's frontfille Carina sing. But her lovely accent works very well in their noisy cover of Daft Punk's dancesmash Technologic (not really sampled for, but definitely very much an inspiration for this). Also, Hektor remixed Yelle's Ce Jeu, to fabulous heights. Did I already say 2008 kicks off very nicely?

Hektor - Technologic
Yelle - Ce Jeu (Hektor remix)

French Wishing: Soko

New year, new project. Songs by girls, not sung in French. But oh, how great they would sound if they were. First up: Alex on I'll Kill Her by Soko.

A new year, a new French beauty. Last year we were drooling all over import-Frenchie Uffie, this year Stéphanie Sokolinski from Bordeaux stole all our hearts. If she whispers in our ears with that husky, squeaking voice and zat 'eavy Vrench accent, we're off to dreamland. Under her Soko moniker she released five songs so far, I’ll Kill Her is the key track. It's about that blonde bitch that stole her boyfriend. How stupid can you get? How can you trade darkhaired stunner Stéphanie, actress and singer, for some broad? Oh, how right Soko is when she sings: she’s a bitch you know, all she’s got is blondeness, she’ll dump your arse for a model called Brendan. Soko can thank her carreer to the whole affair, the dimwit ends up empty-handed. New song ‘I’ll never love you more’ is half-whispered. But, all in English. Soko's new-found self-esteem would've been so much more eloquent and convincing if it were in French. Still, nobody can resist Soko.

Soko - I'll Kill Her
Listen to a remix/cover by Klaxons here.
See video here.

Barbara Carlotti

Another exclusive at the start of a new year: thanks to David and radioshow Rockfort, I give you Tunis by Barbara Carlotti. This version of the song, that opens Carlotti's most recent album Les Lys Brisées, was recorded especially for Rockfort.

Barbara Carlotti - Tunis (live)