July 14th: In love with second best

Barenaked Ladies- Maybe You Should Drive (1994,Sire)

We're back to the 'bought in a French record shop secondhand' pile... I love, love, love BNL's début album Gordon. There's not a dud on it, and it's full of genuinely affecting, well written songs- the big hit, 'If I Had A Million Dollars' isn't even in the top 5. 'Be My Yoko Ono', 'The Flag', 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me', 'Brian Wilson', 'What A Good Boy', etc etc are all excellent, and haven't dated at all (if you overlook the occasional Milli Vanilli reference). Unfortunately, the band have never really bettered it. They have had  moments of occasional brilliance since- 'Break Your Heart' from 1996's Born On A Pirate Ship, for example- but have never had an another album with such a run of good songs.
I bought  Maybe You Should Drive expecting Gordon mk. 2. It just didn't happn.There is nothing which touches me to the degree that 'Blame It On Me' does...there is, more seriously, a serious lack of memorable tunes.  With the exception of 'A', I can't see myself being able to hum any of this album by this time next week.
It's not a complete damp squib;'Everything Old Is New Again' is a good example of Steven Page's talent for writing about tragic relationships; 'Great Provider''s production has stood the test of time well.

Generally, the whole album just feels slightly empty. The inclusion of preppy pop songs like 'A'(complete with archetypal crap key change!) or 'Jane' jars with me...which is odd, because BNL are after all basically a pop band. 
I'm guessing mine is a minority opinion, but honestly, buy Gordon or Born On A Pirate Ship instead. They're less obviously commercial and the quality of song is far higher.
I really like BNL. I just don't get this.

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. 13th: A string of pearls goes on forever

 Les Rita Mitsouko- Variety (English Version) (Because Music, 2007)

Les Rita Mitsouko were one of the biggest alternative bands in France of the 80s; a duo of Fred Chichin and Catherine Ringer who first formed and played in various Parisian art spaces in the early 80s. They were active until Chichin died of cancer in 2007-this was the last album credited to the band, an English version of their previous 2007 album Variéty.

I am a big Catherine Ringer fan- more as a musician than as an occasional porn star, admittedly. To me, she's the French version of Annie Lennox: she has a strong, distinctive voice and personality, and just generally kicks ass. The English version of Variety doesn't do her justice, and isn't really a fitting legacy for Fred.

Musically, both versions aren't the best work LRM ever did. A bit heavy on the soft-rock, nowhere near as interesting as some of their earlier work. There are some great songs on the album though: 'Ding Dang Dong' and 'Ma Vielle Ville' particularly, I love- in the original language. Variety was the first LRM album recorded in an English version,and it shows. Lyrically it's somewhat lacking. 'Ding Dang Dong' becomes a straightforward party tune with no real emotion depth; 'Ma Vielle Ville' (retitled 'Paris (France)') changes from talking about homesickness and memory to what appears to be a musical advert for the Paris tourist board.  Also, in my view Ringer just sounds better in French, like she actually means what she's singing.

Variety isn't a bad album,but it's not particularly good either. The French original is much better, as the musical shortfalls are compensated for by the lyrics. If you were to get one, I'd get that, preferably. Or even better, get Catherine Ringer Chante Les Rita Mitsouko and More à La Cigale, her post-Fred live CD of LRM songs and appropriate covers. It contains all of the good songs on Variéty, in French, and with much more energy than on disc

Dec. 9th: Ne te mouche pas dans ma robe, pas cette fois. Relève-toi...

Cali- L'amour Parfait (Labels, 2004)


 Cali is a French singer and erstwhile rugby player, who'd been in various punk and alternative bands before releasing this, his first solo album, in 2004. The album's big hit, 'Elle M'a Dit' (She Told Me) is still being played on the radio, 5 years later. It was everywhere last year; I couldn't go to a supermarket without hearing it over the PA. There's a reason it was the album's biggest hit; it's by far the best song  here. The rest of it is pretty much your standard French-language chanson-influenced  adult pop; Cali's voice is pleasant, there are bits of viola and saxophone to inject a little bit of personality, it sounds like he's been listening to a lot of Radio 2.  It's not awful, it's perfectly passable, but there are 1001 French singers doing the same thing. If the lyrics were at the level of the chanson music he claims as an influence, this would be lovely. But they're the usual 'I love you, you don't love me, occasional French existential metaphor, I am so lonely without you' and therefore the album's stuck with James Morrison and Katie Melua as competition.
On the other hand, musically 'Le Grand Jour' is basically a baroque piano prelude followed by a great Handel-esque string arrangement, and 'Fais De Moi Ce Que Tu Veux' is orchestrated very well, again with a great string section.