Daniel Bélanger

In January, I posted a lot songs by Canadian artists. Because I was struck by the number of great singers and great songs coming from that country. In the months that followed, more and more Canadians (from Quebec mostly, but also from other states provinces) came to my attention. And I loved that. Recently, the new album by veteran Daniel Bélanger was released. A very good cd, my introduction to this artist. My Canadian friend, dj-partner and musical conscience Natasha wrote this guestpost on Bélanger:

Born and raised in Montréal, Daniel Bélanger dropped like a bomb onto the Québec music scène in 1990, winning prizes and breaking records left and right. He writes eloquent songs that every guitarist plays at parties (guilty as charged) and on stage he seems shy, making him even more intriguing. The story goes that Bélanger had written tons of songs and had to be convinced by his brother Michel to finally pursue a musical career. Lucky for him, his brother owns Audiogram, Québec’s major French language label.
On Bélanger’s brand new album Nous, Filles Fragiles-favourites such as Amylie and Caracol have joined in, with the male end being held up by Damien Robitaille and Julien Mineau of rock band Malajube. Ariane Moffat toured with Bélanger in 2001 as a keyboardist for his fourth album Rêver mieux and other singers such as Luce Dufault and Isabelle Boulay sing songs by Bélanger, already considered Québécois standards.
Nous is more extroverted and funky, less ethereal and more of a collective affair. Bélanger has always loved funk, but has said he can’t imagine himself trying to imitate African-Americans. 'Funk is directly related to the body. It’s as if your ass is thinking, because your ass can’t think the way your brain does.' That’s probably a revelation coming from an artist who has been living inside his head for more than two decades.
One of my personal favourites is Sèche tes pleurs from the 1993 album Les insomniaques s’amusent, which in my books comes in second to Jacques Brel’s Ne me quitte pas in the pain and desperation felt when your ass gets dumped.

Daniel Bélanger - Sèche tes pleurs
Daniel Bélanger - L'équivalence des contraires

Marina Celeste

Marina Celeste is one of those filles that make me feel completely defenseless. I cannot resist her charm. That face, that singing voice, the reason Filles Fragiles #1 kicked off with a Marina-track, was because she's the embodiment (in many ways) of what a fille fragile/zuchtmeisje is. Acidulé and Cinema Enchantée both are solid albums, her work with Nouvelle Vague (esp. on the first album) is great. A third album is in the works, The Angel Pop. An EP is out now, and that features mostly English songs. I'm not against French artists singing in English. But I do think part of the attraction, the mystery even, of filles like her lays in the French language. In English, it's kinda bland. That sole French song on the new EP is great. The Buzzcocks-cover's too Vague, the rest unintentionally funny, mostly because of that accent. That said, I will try and see he play live in Utrecht, in December. And I am genuinely curious about the upcoming album (next year), though I do hope she won't pull an Emilie Simon on us. See a making of-video here.

Marina Celeste - La corde raide

Pomplamoose

Biographies. They can be pages long. They can be short: 'Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn started making music together in the summer of '08, and decided to form a band. Pomplamoose thus represents the collaborative efforts of the two afore-mentioned musicians. It also means grapefruit in French.' Pomplamoose hails from California, they do covers (ranging from Beyonce to Simon & Garfunkel) and write their own stuff, mostly in English. Nataly has a sultry voice with added ennui, a bit like Feist. No wonder do cover Leslie's Gatekeeper. Their French song Le Commun des Mortels is excellent, with those little bells and choirs. Hope they will write in French some more. (Thanks Lewis!)

Pomplamoose - Le commun des mortels
Pomplamoose - Single ladies (Beyonce cover)
SEE their cover of Piaf's La vie en rose here.

Gainsbourg the movie (new trailer)

Voulez-vous dansez avec moi?

Where? Here!

Single play

From http://twitter.com/Draaikolk: Just received this one thanks to @Guuzbourg & @natashenka007, love it, especially the Spinshots track!

Oh, and we have a first winner of a FREE Gainsnord-7". See here.

Sélection de Lundi: Pet Sounds

In this video, already posted by Guuzbourg a few days ago, you can catch a glimpse at Mathias Malzieu and French indie artists Dionysos playing the immortal Nazi Rock for the upcoming Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque movie. Malzieu is also a talented writer: In his dark fantasy novel + accompanying album La mécanique du cœur young, cuckoo-clock hearted Jack is taught several things by the prostitute Luna (voice by Spanish actress Rossy de Palma), among them the nice Latin word Cunnilingus – for innocent Jack just the right choice for naming his ... hamster, and now imagine all those kids doing the same when the announced film adaptation comes out. Which would have been Serge’s idea of fun for sure, as well as our Monday morning extra track.


Dionysos w/ Babet & Rossy de Palma – Cunnilingus mon amour

Connie Lingus – Fuck Me Forever