Frères Sourires (26): Dominique A

The Month of Male started with Dominique A(né), and it's going to close with the genius from Provins too. (Yes, the Brel-superpost is coming up as well).
His first album La Fosette (1992) singlehandedly kickstarted the Nouvelle Chanson movement, featuring young fresh guys and dolls who were as inspired by American and British indierock as by the grand French chanson-tradition. Dominique is a declared fan of Christophe and Barbara, for instance. His musical style is considered to be minimalistic - I'd call it Spartan. A voice and some noise. Most of the time the noise is produced by a guitar, a beatbox and some samples (Dom almost all the time works in trio-form), but his voice is always on the forefront. And what a voice that is. It can be demanding, it can be sharp, but most of the time it's lovelorn. No other French singer can sound that heartbroken as Dominique Ané. His best album, to me, is Auguri (2001), but the very melodic Tout Sera Comme Avant (2004) and L'Horizon (2006) are great too. The experimental Remué (1999) is best approached with care.
He surfaced before on this blog, and almost all the time it was mentioned he's the former lover of Francoiz Breut (they have a son together). She designed the cover of his first album, sang on several songs like his best-known chanson Le 22 Bar, and he wrote a lot of songs for her. Dom also wrote songs for Jeanne Balibar, worked with Yann Tiersen and is supposed to be a member of the mysterious group Oslo Telescopic. L'Horizon, Dom's last album released in 2006, is an intimate masterpiece.

Dominique A - L'Echo(from La Fosette)
Dominique A - Chanson de la ville silencieuse (from Si je connais Harry)
Dominique A - Le Travail (from La Memoire Neuve)
Dominique A - Je Suis Un Ville (from Remué)
Dominique A - Je t'ai toujours aimée (from Auguri)
Dominique A - Pendant que les enfants jouent (from Tout Sera Comme Avant)
Dominique A - Rouvrir (from L'Horizon)
Dominique A - Mon camarade (Léo Ferré-cover, from tributealbum Avec Léo!)
EXTRA:
Dominique A & Francoiz Breut - Teenage Kicks (Undertones cover) (Merci Susie)