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)