Revenge is a dish best served cold-hearted, I always say. Take Requiem pour un Con by Serge, for instance. I love that beat, I love that guitar, I love the bitchy way Serge spits the lyrics in the mike. Swiss diva Laurence Revey proves you can spice it up a little by adding moans 'n groans, as if she's a sexy feline purring on the grave of her adversary. Cold-hearted maybe, but with glowing cheeks. Hehe. Laurence Revey - Requiem Pour Un Con Original video of the SG version.
Who needs a stagename if you're called Gaetane Abrial, eh? Her debutalbum Cheyenne Song (just out) has it's moments - not when she's travelling through Katie Melua-territory, mind you, but when the dobro comes into play (courtesy of Jeffrey Pevar, who worked with David Crosby and Ray Charles) for instance. Or when she's channeling Gainsbourg, in Initials DD. Don't know who sings the male part, could be mixer Dominique Blanc Francard, who worked with SG, and Jane Birkin. (I stand corrected, see comments!) Gaetane Abrial - Initials DD
It took about a month to make the video above: 3 weeks to write the scenario, a day to shoot all the pictures (3311 shots), record the song and edit in two weeks, but the result is a great stop-motion-clip. The actrice is called Melody, the song (and the rest) is by Carole, aka Debut Septembre. This French artist (she sings, she writes, she makes videos) lives in Sydney, Australia and wants to make a video for all her songs. These will be shown during concerts - no dates yet, because, as you can imagine, it takes a while to get all videos done. Carole sings in both English and French, she has a pleasant, cool and dreamy voice and writes very poetic songs. Beg-Meil is about escaping Paris, driving to the town Beg-Meil, to hear the birds and smell the salty air. Musically, I would place her near Emilie Simon and Marina Celeste. Looking forward to more videos. Debut Septembre - Camille Debut Septembre - Beg-Meil
Somehow, I never dove into Barbara's discography. Maybe because she's definitely not a fragile fille, with her deep, thunderrrrring voice and her fierce presence. But when I received this link (keep watching), I realized I had some catching up to do. Luckily, Natashka came to the rescue with a great guestpost:
It’s autumn, somewhat windy but not too cold, you’re in Paris, and just before the sun entirely disappears for the day you want to clear your head with a late afternoon trip to a quiet terrace alone. You order a rich, intense demi-tasse of French roasted coffee. That first sip goes straight to your brain and lights it up like fireworks on Bastille Day. That’s what Barbara’s music and lyrics can do if you let it.
Deeply intense singer-songwriter Barbara had equally complex artists as friends and influences such as Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens whose songs she recorded and which won her awards earlier on in her career. In Filles Sourires terms, she’s the old skool goth girl in the corner that sings like a beautiful blackbird if you’ll just listen to her carefully that first time. Take another sip of that strong coffee. While Edith Piaf played the victim and Juliette Gréco the mysterious one, Barbara’s darkness was just as attractive as it was intriguing. In true French music tradition, you can’t just casually listen her songs: you get drawn in and you want to know more. She once was invited to give a recital in the German city of Göttingen. She stayed a week longer than expected and wrote a song called Göttingen before the week was up. Soon after, some of her songs were translated into German and Barbara eventually received the medal of honour of the city. That the kind of effect she has had on people. Her hair is pitch black and her eyes heavy with black eyeliner. At least three songs by Barbara have the word black in the title: L’aigle noir (The black eagle) a veiled reference to the incest she survived and probably her biggest hit covered by many artists, Il était un piano noir (There was a black piano) more veiled references to the home front and Le soleil noir (The black sun) with its solemn contrabass intro and lyrics evoking cycle of life colours: white, grey and red.
The great thing about my French fille obsession is that the well never runs dry: almost every day I discover new great artists. Take 26 Pinel, a Paris band lead by singer Alexandra Gatica who are named after their adress (26 Rue Philippe Pinel). They play acoustic, folky and upbeat music, and so far made two albums. Recently I received their 2006 cd Conversation de Film de Rêve, and immediatly fell in love with Alexandra's husky voice, and the great bohemien-sound. Gatica sings about love, childhood and heartbreak, and probably something about a big teddybear. See a clip here. 26 Pinel - Née Là 26 Pinel - Le Prix
- April 29: hear Guuzbourg play and see The Lovers play @ Festina Lente, Amsterdam (Queens Night) - May 3: hear Guuzbourg & Dewey play Stevie Wonder-songs (by him, with him or written by Stevie) @ Bar Struik, Amsterdam - May 24: hear Natashka & Thomas Bohnet play @ De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam - June 13: hear Guuzbourg play @ Circus Treurdier, Studio K, Amsterdam - End of September: releaseparty Filles Fragiles II, former Shell Canteen, Amsterdam (to be confirmed) - October: see Alfa Rococo play @ some venue, Amsterdam (tbc) - November: see Francoiz Breut, Barbara Carlotti and Peppermoon play @ venues in Leiden and Amsterdam (tbc)
There have been tributes to Serge, covers, honourable mentions, but as far as I know nobody ever wrote a song referring to one of SG's chansons. Up until now. Belgian fille Eva de Roovere, who sings in Dutch, wrote for her new album Over & Weer (Back & Forth) the song Zoals in dat ene liedje (Like in that one song). She sings: Zoals in dat ene liedje ben ik gekomen om te zeggen dat ik wegga (Like in that one song I've come to tell you that I'm going). Ofcourse she means Je suis venue te dire que je m'en vais. And although the memories are sweet (he's the one who introduced Miles Davis to her - talk about a special friend), Eva's the one who's leaving. It's a good song, I really dig the music. That goes for the whole album (out 4/25), sweet, slightly naive lyrics, with really good, roots-y music. Eva de Roovere - Zoals in dat ene liedje CLIP of Serge doing Je suis venu te dire
