Souvenir

Not that there were any complaints before, but on their new album Drums, Sex & Dance, the lovely Patricia is sounding even more sensual than before. Would that have anything to do they now sound like the Spanish brother and sister of Vive La Fête? Patricia looks as hot as Elsje too, with her blonde hair. Yelle is a good reference too, but Souvenir are more adult, grittier, dirtier if you will. Badly lit, crowded club, sweat from the walls, strobelight. You feel me?
You can buy Souvenir's new album (and backcatalogue) via Jabalina's webshop.

Souvenir - Ta Machine

Hansje (rave return)

From my inbox:

Hey people from the fantastic filles sourires blog !

last week we got so inspired by the hansje track,
we made a rock'n roll breakcore mix of it. (or something, there's not really a genre to it) :-)
tried it in a dj set on saturday and the crowd went insane !

it's attached,
hope you enjoy,

greetings,

Mascotte

Hansje - Silex Pistols Piew Piew (Mascotte remix)

Emilie Simon

When electronica-artists turn to the classics, I grow suspicious. You might get something awful like William Orbit's Pieces in a Modern Style, in which the ambient-king butchered masterpieces like Adagio for Strings (later on, both trancemeisters Tiesto and Ferry Corsten dragged it through the mud with their godawful remixes). Using classical themes or melodies is not a problem, Gainsbourg did that masterfully, but when I read the bio for Private Domain, alarmbells go off: 'The idea is simple but ambitious: to take a new look at some great works of the apst in the light our modern digital era, bring together the art of singing from yesterday and today, and help a whole new generation brought up to beats, breaks and loops of today's music discover or rediscover certains works of the classical repertoire.' Producer Iko invited, among others, Mexican techno-star Murcof, Marc Collin and Emilie Simon. I already posted a song from this project here, but the involvement of Emilie Simon makes it more interesting, ofcourse. She redid pieces from Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, and Faurés Après un rêve.
I love Emilie's voice, and the electronica-meets-strings-thing is her natural habitat, but compare her Rêve, to what Barbra Streisand did with the same piece.

Iko, Emilie Simon - Un Rêve
Barbra Streisand - Après un rêve

Oh Canada: Marie Pierre Arthur

One of the overused words on this blog is 'atmosphere' - it could also be the title of Marie Pierre Arthur's debut album. This Quebec girl played bass for Ariane Moffatt and Stefie Shock, and now comes with an album that has gothic touches, as Eno-esque soundscapes. Very percussive, also. Highlight of the album is Entre Nous, a devastatingly beautiful track, in which MPA's voice is very delicate. Single Pourquoi is a folky strummer for overcast days in spring, A talent to watch. See a live video here. (Thanks Ralph)

Marie Pierre Arthur - Pourquoi
Marie Pierre Arthur - Entre Nous

Ludivine

Yes, another post about Ludivine Sagnier, and again about Les Chansons d'Amour. Why? First of all, you don't really need a good reason to post about gorgeous Ludivine. But if you insist: Naive is giving away free music on their site, compilations featuring big hits, nice songs and new stuff. Among that, this song by Ludivine and Louis Garrel. Plus a new production by Marc Collin.

Louis & Ludivine - De Bonnes Raisons
Marc Collin, Paul & Louise, Iko - Here in this place

In other news: Marianne Dissard blogs about her current European tour here.

Camarades

I already posted this Gainsbourg-cover by Odile and Manu, but now they've made a clip too. See the original SG-version here.

Claire, Maud

I am such a lucky guy. Really. Almost everytime I open my mailbox, there are fresh albums by fresh French girls waiting for me. Beautiful girls, making beautiful music, usually. Both Maud Lübeck and Claire Denamur (pictured) are born out of exotic bloodlines. Claire has Argentinian, French and Dutch roots. She grew up in America, but (luckily) chose to sing in French. Her debut-album (highly anticipated here before) is a gem. Jazzy, folky, funny, and sung with that country-ish, tad husky voice that reminds me a little of Janne from Room Eleven. First single Prince Charmant was real good, I'm hoping for Je me sens nue as the follow-up.
Maud Lübeck states Antarctica and Paris as her hometowns, my guess is that there's some German roots as well. We know Maud from the X-mas project, none other that Vincent Delerm took an interest, they both recorded a very moving duet.

Maud Lübeck & Vincent Delerm - Je t'aimais trop
Claire Denamur - Je me sens nue (see live version here)