10/10: Best French albums of the decade (1)

The end is nigh! Well, the end of the decade that is, and whilst almost everyone is rounding up the best ten albums of the past ten years, why don't we? I asked several contributors and FS-friends to make up a list. I will post those lists in the upcoming days. Here's the first, by official FS-contributor Sky. (Pictured is Clare Muldaur from Clare & the Reasons, no.10)

1 Lina - Redevenir Modeste (2003)
Retro dancefloor electropop, Erotheque style, refined with sharpest fuzz guitars and grown-up lolita tongue play. The sexiest motherfucker of an album imaginable.

2 Ödland - The Caterpillar (2009)
Alizée Bingöllü is simply ravishing, and so is the music: a beguiling and highly addictive amalgam of neo-classical chamber music and surrealist dream pop.

3 Bertrand Burgalat - The Sssound of Music (2000)
Grand sweep electronic lounge symphony, sheer brilliance in sound and vision. Burgalat at the highest peak; nowhere to go but down frome here.

4 Keren Ann - La Disparition (2002)
Melancholy doesn’t get more tempting, and tristesse has never been more seductive: Irresistible elegies, wound around the quietest moments.

5 Le Micro Brise Le Silence - Le Micro Brise Le Silence (2000)
The mic breaks the silence: Rap de Maghrébin from Paris-based MBS, fusing Griot tradition and banlieue street feel with guttural flow and stunning virtuosity.

6 Nous Non Plus - Nous Non Plus (2005)
Absurd, supersmart, and extremely funny accomplishment by NYC faux Frenchmen, chock-full of catchy 80s retro tunes and ingenious lyrics: That soup is hot!

7 Vincent Delerm - Quinze Chansons (2008)
Highly versatile collection of nostalgia pieces & advanced songwriting, oscillating between blues très bleu et pure joie de vivre.

8 Benjamin Biolay - Trash Yéyé (2007)
A trip down the boulevard of shattered dreams, heading towards the avenue of new illusions. Brooding, intimate and upliftingly intense.

9 Coralie Clément - Salle des Pas Perdus (2002)
It would be easy to dismiss this one as sugar-coated bar & bossa jazz. Actually, Coralie’s half-sad, half-smiling approach manages to capture Brazilian saudade, Parisian style.

10 Clare & The Reasons - The Movie (2007)
Only one, but utterly gorgeous song in French on this late, nocturnal show: 'Pluton', a spheric ode to a former planet, perfectly arranged by French violinist Olivier Manchon – sighs from a different star.