Dorval

Les collines rouges is both the title of a graphic novel by Dodo and Ben Radis ('graphic novel' meaning in this case that it has comic drawings, but also pages with just text), and an EP by Dorval. The latter is the moniker of Pascale Baehrel, she who made us happily slash our wrists while listening to tear-eyed songs like Ne me demande rien. The comic/novel is about a young woman coming to terms with her past (bad parents, bad marriage) in a little French town in the South. Excellent subject for Baehrel you'd say, but somehow the songs give me no lump in the throat like Dorval did on earlier offerings. Can't put my finger on it. Maybe I need to read the book while listening.

Arthur H.

Often being labeled wrongly as the Parisian Tom Waits, Arthur H. is more like a hipster cross between Belgian throat-cancer vocalist Arno and the late Boris Vian, oscillating authentically between Fantomas and Rimbaud, like my frequent collaborator and friend E-moll Jones once remarked. H’s brand new album Mystic Rumba gathers 23 excellent chansons from his oeuvre, mostly already known from L’homme du monde, Adieu Tristesse, Pour Madame X, and Negresse Blanche – this time all done piano solo style, full of surreal poetry, rugged romanticism, and quiet internal voltage. Just the right stuff for the wee small hours of la désolation sexuelle.

Arthur H. – Mystic Rumba
Arthur H. – Le Baiser de la Lune
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Sélection de Lundi: Nino Doing the Dog

Nino Ferrer nouvelle vague style, a Rottweiler of a song, and the most delirious organ solo ever. Way cool.

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FREE Marianne Dissard album

Go here, and download Marianne Dissard's live album Paris One Takes, featuring her best songs, recorded with her stellar band! Yay!

Winners

Isabelle and Anna Maria won a free Stacey Kent promo copy. Here are their guestposts on their favourite non-French singer, singing in French:

Isabelle:
My favourite non-French singer singing in French is Flemish singer Arno.
He's our own Belgian Gainsbourg. Just like Serge, he doesn't care about established rules. He doesn't mind creating controversy and provoking. People often think he's constantly drunk, stoned or both ;-), but having seen him in concert several times I heavily doubt that. You just have to be sober to throw a microphone back and forth and manage to retrieve it like he does!

He also likes to mix several musical styles as Serge did. Last summer, he created a show called "Arno's Stoemp" (stoemp is a Belgian dish - a melting pot- consisting of mashed potatoes and vegetables) inviting international guest players on stage, from Marocco, Africa,...

Arno - Quelqu'un a touché ma femme (piano version)


Anna Maria:
My favourite non-French singer singing in French would be Debbie Harry of Blondie. Her breathy, seductive French bits in Denis are a bit of a tease and the pronounciation is off, but boy can she sing it like an angel breathing sweet nothings in your ear. Her French version of Sunday Girl is just marvellous. The seventies were a dynamite era for pop and Blondie ruled their corner of the world with their smart, sassy songs.

Blondie - Sunday Girl (French version)

Laurence Hélie

A beautiful blonde posing in front of stacks of vinyl - Laurence Hélie sure knows how to catch my attention. The country 'n folk-influenced singer from Quebec debuted with a sultry album recently, off of which I keep playing Les portes fermées. This song really touches me in all the right places.

Laurence Hélie - Les portes fermées

Tricot Machine

Matthieu Beaumont and his girlfriend Catherine Leduc are Tricot Machine (together with two other guys) and this couple from Quebec first blipped on my radar with the lovely Ours, a few years ago. They did a Christmas album, and now the new cd is out in Canada. Compared to the joyous debut, La Prochaine Etape is more melancholic, with slow piano-driven songs. They did not lose their playlfulness, as you can see in the video for first single Défier les Rites (here, don't worry, no animals were harmed) and hear in the great 30 Ans Hier.

Tricot Machine - Défier les Rites
Tricot Machine - 30 Ans Hier