10/10: Best French albums of the decade (6)

Frans_S is a key figure for this blog. Without him, many tracks here would not've been posted. Here's his list. Pictured is Mareva Galanter (no.5)

1. Coeur de Pirate - Coeur de Pirate (2008)
Suddenly there she was. Beatrice! A tattooed young girl with piano and songs that stuck in your head and heart. Deserves a place in the list, and not only to proof that there is French music in other countries too.

2 Coralie Clément - Salle des pas perdus (2002)
Sweet, soft and tender, with this album she opened a market that looked to be closed since the 1960’s and still attracted a new audience. This album highlights the beginning of a new area.

3 Camille - Le Fil (2005)
It is much too easy to say that Camille is “a unique talent”. But what she does is exceptionelle, not only for France, but for the rest of the world too. This album is –I think- her most accessible.

4 Vincent Delerm - Vincent Delerm (2002)
Debut of a great singer. Lovely almost literary lyrics, which is kind of logical when your father is a famous author. But even if your French isn’t good, the things you recognize in the songs make you dream away.

5 Mareva Galanter - Ukuyéyé (2006)
What a pleasure to listen to this album. Well-known songs from the sixties, sung by a model. Also the additional Scopitones are worth watching. And she was responsible for the rediscovery of the Ukelele!

6 Berry - Mademoiselle (2008)
Lovely debut of a sweet singer. Soft and sultry. Gat album, but after I’ve seen here live last month, I’m convinced she should be in this list.

7 Olivia Ruiz - La Femme Chocolat (2005)
For me the proof that things like “commercial” and “talent shows” obviously can go together very well in French. Participating (not winning) in Star Academy in 2001 but it proved to be the start of a great career.

8 Chiara Mastroianni & Benjamin Biolay - Home (2004)
Same as Guuz said on Keren Ann, is applicable here. Maybe not his best album, but for me this was the first time I discovered Biolay. And a list without him wouldn’t be complete.

9 Adamo - Bal des gens bien (2008)
Huh? Adamo? Yes Adamo. Sure this isn’t the hottest and most advanced album of the decade, but it is such a great example of the respect you can find in French-speaking countries when it comes to old heroes. New, popular artists working collaborating with “forgotten” heroes from the past, making new sounding songs, with full respect to the originals.

10 Filles Fragiles (2007)
Maybe not the best of the ever growing series of Mr. Guuzbourg, but it surely opened the way for French music in the Netherlands. Since then: more French music on the radio and television, even French artists coming further north than Antwerp and no more strange looks when you say: “I love girls, singing in French”.