July 9th: Peu m'importe...On est comme deux Jackson Five

Benjamin Biolay- Trash Yéyé (2007, Virgin France)


Benjamin Biolay is, basically, the new Gainsbourg. It may seem a lazy comparison but in this case, it's an apt one. Biolay is a singer-songwriter, sometime actor and record producer who is at the forefront of modern, intelligent, literate French pop. Trash Yéyé  was his last album for Virgin/EMI before they dropped him after unsatisfactory sales (he then came back with a double LP on an independent label which got rave reviews, so EMI are probably kicking themselves).

Take Gainsbourg. Remove the dirty-old-man element. Add even more talent for lyrical inventiveness. Voila- you've got Benjamin Biolay. His understated vocal style resembles a mix of Serge & Etienne Daho;  his arrangements are full of lush strings, cinematic flourishes and 70s influences. You could go down a list of "essential bits for a  chanson album" and most of them would be here. Although much is familiar, that's not to say that the album is clichéd; it does what it does very well. There are surprises along the way: 'Laissez Aboyer Les Chiens' which starts off  like a French Portishead, the discoish arrangement of 'Rendez Vous Qui Sait'.....the utterly incongrous Bobby McFerrin sample at the end of 'Bien Avant'. Which shouldn't work, but does.

There are various, numerous French artists doing chanson ("nouvelle" or otherwise) badly. Biolay isn't one of them. Anglophone countries' general rejection of foreign-language music will probably prevent him from getting the wider recognition he deserves.

Dec. 18th: Tout seul dans l'arène je me suis perdu

-M- -Mister Mystère (Barclay, 2009)

-M- is the pseudonym of Mathieu Chedid, French singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and son of French-Libanese chasonnier Louis Chedid (hence the pseudonym, to avoid pigeonholing, I think). Mister Mystère is his 4th vocal album; he also has one instrumental LP and a soundtrack to his name.

I may as well say it straight off- I love this album. I haven't heard much of his earlier stuff (yet- it's further down the pile) but what I have heard, I like. Stylistically the album's a bit of a mixture: straight chanson, arrangements strongly reminiscent of  Malian pop, bank robberies in musical form (!), funk....particular favourites are 'Amssétou'-the Mali-esque one-'Est-ce c'est ça?',whose intro sounds weirdly identical to the Kook's 'Naive', and 'Le Roi des Ombres' which has a truly brilliant intro and arrangement,very atmospheric, almost 70s-esque. 

As far as I know Amazon UK don't have this yet. Amazon.fr do, obviously,and iTunes. It's worth seeking out, preferably in physical format:you get a DVD with extra songs as well.  

Dec, 10th:...y que poquito dinero me pagan por mi sudor

Afro-Cuban All Stars-Distinto, Diferente (World Circuit, 1999)

The All Stars are the project of Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, who was partly behind  Buena Vista Social  Club, and included many of the same musicians (Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén Gonzalez, Guajiro Mirabal). This is their second album, a follow-up to A Todo Cuba Le Gusta. The title is apt, since Distinto..is,well, different from their debut, seemingly aiming for a more pan-hispanic, crossover sound, more jazzy and with a lounge feel in places. The playing is still olympic and the talent undeniable, but it feels as if some of the rougher edges have been smoothed over; nothing here really matches their version of 'Amor Verdadero' for me. 'Al Vaivén De Mi Carreta' comes close,but no cigar.
The standout elements of what is a very good ensemble effort are, for me, Ferrer's wonderfully expressive voice and the lively trumpet of Guajiro Mirabal. Buy Distinto... by all means, but buy A Todo... and BVSC at the same time, to experience just how good these musicians can be.

Dec. 5th: F.N., souffrance, qu'on est bien en France

Noir Désir- 666.667 Club (Barclay, 1996)

French rock is awful, right? The French have a reputation for their recent pop music being almost uniformly dire-and by recent i mean anything from about 1971 to the present. Most of the time, this reputation isn't entirely deserved. The language barrier is definitely to blame- a lot of French music focuses on the quality of the lyrics far more than the English equivalent would, but if you don't understand them, it doesn't matter how brilliant they are. Noir Désir (Black Desire) are probably France's premier rock band, have been active for decades and now have a rock'n' roll scandal to go with that: their frontman Bernard Cantat has just been released from prison, after serving time for murdering his girlfriend as the result of an argument.

666.667 Club went double platinum in France, and was very well received. In addition to the basic grunge template, there are gypsy violins and free jazz saxophone, amongst other things. In my opinion the band are at their best in their more politically or culturally aware songs, such as 'Un Jour En France', ridiculing the adulation of a golden-age postwar France ('les trentes années glorieuses' of modern French history) which never really was, and the slow rise of fascism (particularly that of the National Front, or F.N.) which was beginning at the time of this album. Perhaps tellingly, much of the criticism in a song which is almost 14 years old still applies to France today.

The slightly redundant English-language track which seemed to be obligatory at the time is indeed present; 'Prayer For A Wanker' (or 'woncur' as it ends up) but overall this is a very good album, musically tight and lyrically dextrous, and it even has one properly good English track, 'Lazy'. 'Un Homme Pressé' and 'Un Jour...' are the best songs by far but there is plenty here worth investigating.