Seufzmädchen

The German language has the reputation of sounding harsh, commandeering, brute. But with the right girlie voice, a lot of false air and ofcourse the beauty to match that voice, German can be almost as comforting as French. In the past, I posted about German filles like Kitty Hoff, Lula, Elke Brauweiler and Donna Regina, but they all sang in French. The girls in this post sing in German. And yes, that's just as nice. Trust me.
OK, we start in French then. Wir Sind Helden is a German poprockband that gained some popularity when this song was played a lot on tv during the World Cup Football in Germany. They translated some songs in French - not a bad move. La Réclamation is a very danceable version of Gutentag, the band's first single, and reminds me of Deutsche Welle bands like Spider Murphy Gang. Singer Judith has a very nice out-of-breath voice.
Hottest chick in this post is Suzie Kerstgens (pictured) of Klee from Cologne. A blonde bombshell with firebrigade-lips and Bambi-eyes. They play rock with lots of electronic help (think New Order), that suits Suzie's supersexy voice really well.
JaKönigJa is probably the oddest band here. They play indie-rock mixed with jazz - there is a link with Stereolab and High Llamas. Ebba Durstewitz has a cool, husky voice that makes the music more odd, but her voice softens things up too. Like using a pillow against barbed wire.
Susie Pinkawa has a Vanessa Paradis-ish voice, she's the singer of Berlin-based Viktoriapark. It's like the band records from Susie's bedroom, she sings like she just woke up. Loving it.

One of my alltime favourite German songs is Melancholisch Schön by 2Raumwohnung. Inga Humpe sounds like a tanned Brazilian beauty, wearing a dirndl-dress. This Berlin duo made several solid albums.
MIA is not M.I.A., but a band that's around since the end of the 90s. Singer Sarah Kuttner is a former tv-presenter. Mieze is the name of their singer. MIA apparently stands for Musik ist Alles (Music is everything). Mieze has a nice, melancholic voice.
Maria Antonia is the darkhaired siren of Chapeau Claque (you know, a black hat that you can fold in). The first French name that sprang to mind when I heard them first, was Emilie Simon. Odd but sexy rock.
Annett Louisan has the most fragile voice of all these Mädel. She a nice little tease from the former DDR, who made four albums so far. She sings about love, life and girlie problems. Frank Ramond (yes, a guy) writes all her lyrics.
Swiss honey Heidi Happy sings mostly in English, but recorded one sweet little song in German on her debut. Glad she did.

Wir Sind Helden - La Réclamation (Gutentag)
Wir Sind Helden - Aurélie
Klee - Erinner Dich (VIDEO)
JaKönigJa - Diese Schmerzen Muss Du Teilen
JaKönigJa - Herrin der Balustrade
Viktoriapark - Grau und ganz blass
Viktoriapark - Erika
2Raumwohnung - Melancholisch Schön (VIDEO)
MIA - Tanz der Molekülen (VIDEO)
Chapeau Claque - Rot
Chapeau Claque - Blutenstaubromanze
Annett Louisan - Drück die Eins (VIDEO)
Annet Louisan - Sexy Loverboy
Heidi Happy - Du da, ich da (VIDEO)

Clarika

Thanks to SOM, here's a very special song by Clarika. It was recorderd in 2003 for this webiste. Marco is about Marc Beltra, a French student who worked at the University in Bogota, Colombia. In november 2003, he took a plane to the deep south of the country. He probably got there, but never returned. He's lost for almost 2000 days now. This blog is also about Marc, and other desaparecidos. See a video of Clarika singing the song here.

Clarika - Marco

Oh Canada: Emilie Proulx

You, Mr. Always-in-a-hurry. Miss 75-minutes-in-an-hour. Too much caffeine-people. Sit the f*ck down, okay. Put your legs up. R-e-l-a-x, okay? Not feeling it? Still stressed out? Put this song on, then. It's from Emilie Proulx new album, and this girl likes. To. Take. Her. Time. With. A. Song. Uptempo's a dirty word in her vocabulary. She wants the listener to pay attention, and if your eyelids feel heavy, hey, that's a plus. So sit back, let everything be, and drift away with Em.

Emilie Proulx - Sortir de là

Chanson de Romy

Click above fo one of the most beautiful songs ever, sung by Romy Schneider for the movie Les Choses de la Vie. Covered before (magnificently) by Francoiz Breut. But this time by Berry, and Daniel Darc. As an extra to Berry's re-released Mademoiselle-debut. Yes, they're doing it again: adding a bonus to an album we already have. And no, you can't buy it via webstores outside France. But there's always MySpace. And a recording device.

Berry & Daniel Darc - Chanson d'Helène

Yuri Buenaventura, Berry, Olivia

Few years ago, I was at a Yuri Buenaventura-show at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. I had the feeling I was the only one who knew what kind of music (salsa) Yuri played. Because I was the only one standing up. OK, that had also to do with my low back pain, but still. Older women summoned me to sit down, like the rest. I gazed back with contempt. Yuri and his band walked on stage, with a take-no-prisoners-attitude. He looked surprised, threw a glance over his shoulder, counted to four and it was like the band wanted the walls of Jericho to fall down - latin-style. Screaming horns, rattling percussion: it took about five seconds for the crowd to understand what was happening here, then everybody rose and started dancing.
Yuri gave French standards like Une Belle Histoire and Ne Me Quitte Pas a latin makeover (that actually worked), for his new album Cita Con La Luz he invited gorgeous filles Olivia Ruiz and Berry (pictured) to sing along. Smart guy.

Yuri Buenaventura & Berry - Si Tu Estas Aqui
Yuri Buenaventura & Olivia Ruiz - Te Fuiste

Ariane Moffatt video

Franszelfsprekend

Lists, love 'm or loathe 'm, and that's exactly why we need 'm. Maison Descartes in Holland wants The Public to choose the Best French Songs before 1980, and after. I don't know who compiled the lists, but certainly in the post-80 one they've omitted several big guns. AND added songs that I would never ever pick: Jordy's Dur dur d'etre bébé is there, but no Biolay, no Dominique Ané, no Coralie Clement, no Keren Ann, no Jeanne Cherhal, no Coeur de Pirate, no Mickey 3D, no...I could go on. I suggested to add Los Angeles and Le 22 Bar.
Until they're added, I'm not going to vote.
UPDATE: they're adding this.

My post-80 top ten would be:

1. Axel Bauer - Cargo de nuit
2. Camille - Ta Douleur
3. Coralie Clement - Beau Fixe
4. Dominique A - Le 22 Bar
5. Jo Lemaire - Je suis venue te dire
6. Benjamin Biolay - Los Angeles
7. Vanessa Paradis - Tandem
8. Noir Desir - Le Vent nous portera
9. MC Solaar - Nouveau Western
10. Francoiz Breut - Si tu disais