Qu'est-ce qui ce passe? FAQ about FS

A musicblog about girls singing in French? Pourquoi?!
Did you listen to any of the mp3s? Did you hear the girls sing with their high, breathy voices, songs about love, lust, broken hearts, nasty men, the weather, fairytales? And you weren't enchanted, you did not feel butterflies in your belly, you did not feel the urge to write poetry by candlelight, or stare out of the window and sigh, just sigh from time to time? Strange. I do.

Why French?
It's the language of love, what can I say? Carla Bruni told me (face to face, yes) that it's impossible to write simple songs in French. Lyrics have to be smart, otherwise they get plain stupid. You cannot write a song like, say, Love Me Do in French, and still sound good. Lio's Bananasplit being the only exception.

So you understand everything they're singing about?
Er, no. If I concentrate real hard, I get the picture. But to quote famous Dutch bluessinger André Hazes: "You do not have to understand it to feel what it's about." He was referring to fado-queen Amalia Rodrigues, but it's the same thing for me with Françoise, Coralie, Camille, Emilie and all my other girlfriends.

Is your name really Guuzbourg?
No, it's wordplay. And ofcourse a reference to the man who inspired (or wrote songs for) lots of artists on my site. Gainsbourg is the godfather.

You post mp3s. Is this legal?
No. But mp3s are available for a short period of time, and used to promote wonderful artists who need to be heard more, all over the world. Filles Sourires is not the only musicblog out there, go see on Hype Machine to get a little taste. From the response I get, most visitors eventually buy the cd, provided they like an artist. Look at it this way: the promotional value of FS is w-a-a-a-a-y bigger than the few lousy cents artists 'lose' on me posting their music. The fact that I get mp3s offered by pr-companies and recordlabels, and lots of artists that I contact via MySpace make NO fuss about my posting at all, shows you how it can work these days.

But I am an artist and I think your so-called justification sucks! I want my mp3s taken down NOW!
Okay, hold your horses. Just send me an email: Guuzbourg(a)gmail.com. Sheez.

Where does the term Filles Sourires come from?
It is my translation of the Dutch 'Zuchtmeisjes', a moniker invented by Dutch romancier Ronald Giphart in his second novel Giph. [A literal translation would be Filles Soupir, which to me sounds like girls in a bowl of soup. That's why I chose sourire, which means 'smile', but to me sounds more delicate.] 'Zuchtmeisjes' is used for very pretty girls who, if you see them, make you want to sigh (or smile, in this case) involutarily, as a sign of affection. Is it sexual? You bet.

How did you get all ga-ga over les filles?
After hearing Coralie Clements first album. From then on, I collected as much filles sourires as I could find. When I was a teenager (back in the eighties), me & my parents went on holiday in France a lot and during our trips we listened to French radio. That also helped.

Did you release an album?
I compiled a cd called Filles Fragiles. Pop gems from French demoiselles. Almost all songs were posted on this blog before. More info here.

Who visits this blog
Lovers from all over the world. See that little green thing at the bottom of the page, that says 'sitemeter'? Click on that.

I heard French rockmagazine Les Inrocks voted you one of the 50 Best Blogs in the world. Could this be true?
You heard right. See under 'Press-links' in the Links-list on the right for more praise.

You mention Blowupdoll a lot. How come?
Filles Sourires is very much inspired by Mori Mordi and his Blowupdoll-blog. That's why.