Some French classics

Enjoy these videos uploaded and translated by Lightning494.

One of the most beautiful song of Edith Piaf: La Foule (cover of a peruvian waltz)


An early hit of Serge Gainsbourg, in chanson style, before he decided to sing pop: Le poinçonneur des Lilas


A great song of Brel: Les Vieux

Bye bye Alain

Alain Bashung by Ludovic Carème

Yesterday, the great singer Alain Bashung has passed away. He was 61. With He was one of the few to achieve both commercial and critical success. Fantaisie Militaire, Osez Josephine, Chatterton, and l'Imprudence were widely acclaimed as masterpieces of French rock.

Gaby Oh Gaby (1980)


Vertige De l'Amour (1981)


Ma Petite Entreprise (1994)


La Nuit Je Mens (1998)


Volontaire -with Noir Désir (2000) / song written in 1982

Pissing In The Grass

The new single of Ignatus, Dans l'Herbe, from his 2009's LP Je remercie le hasard qui. The movie clip is really nice too.

Xavier Plumas goes solo

The singer-songwritter Xavier Plumas (leader of Tue-Loup) has released his first solo LP: La Gueule du Cougouar. Here's the single, Ne Demanderai Rien (Will ask nothing).

Some news

Oxmo Puccino aka the Black Jacques Brel is back with a really good new single, 365 Days, of his upcoming LP "L'arme de Paix" (The Peace weapon).

Alain Bashung, the dark Prince of French Music is the winner of the Victoires de la Musique (Music's Victories) for his LP Bleu Pétrole. He has received11 awards since 1986! Camille, Arthur H and Rokia Traoré were also awarded. Good news actually, since the Victoires de la Musique are used to award cheesy artists.

Renaud and I: A Long Story

Guest post by Pyrox

Renaud and I: a long story. I discovered him in 1989 with the opus Visage pâle rencontre public. I was 5 and he had already something like 25 years of career in songwriting and singing. His last LP, Putain de Camion, is a quite personal one (because of Coluche's death) and the selling were not that good. It announced the beginning of the end for the singer. Indeed he had become during the 80's a huge star, with a wide audience and great selling.

The story began in 1975 and this LP Amoureux de Paname (Paris' lover). At that time, he has the style of what we, French people call a "titi parisien" : some young and poor guy of the nearly suburb of Paris (faubourg Montmartre for example), with a very strong accent. He sang about this town he loves and the people who lives in its streets. With Laisse Béton (Give it up) in 1977, his style is the one of a "loubard", French mix between a tramp and a little gangster : no more cap, but leather jackets and motorcycles. But his songs are still the same : story of friends crew, girls, etc.

Musically speaking, his debut LP is very "frenchy": acoustic guitar, accordion, piano. But by the 80's, his style fit more with the period musical clichés: no more accordion, but keyboards and electrical drums. His first LP of the 80s, Le retour de Gérard Lambert sounds strongly rock. By the 90's and Marchands de cailloux and La Belle de Mai, he comes back to something closer that he used to play in the beginning of his career..

After a long break due to strong alcohol and depression problems, he came back with two good albums : Boucan d'enfer (2002) and Rouge Sang (2006). Those are quite good French chanson LPs but they's nothing compared to what Renaud used to be and represent. I'm a huge fan, but it's always nostalgic to remember what he was and what he is now. Sometimes, that hurts. But still. I love him.

And to finish, some listening. During those 35 years of career, Renaud wrote a lot of tracks deserving to be heard. On one hand hard lyrics, violent attacks against politicians of his time and one the other hand emotional songs, most of them written for his wife(ves) and his children.

Découvrez Renaud!

1,2,3,4,5... french music

DL

A bit of everything but not anything.

Among others good songs, there are two of my favorites French rappers (Oxmo Puccino, Booba), one of my all time favorite singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, a collaboration between the 90s great Noir Désir and the Têtes Raides, a rap-accordion song (Java), some chanson classics (Mouloudji, Piaf, Bobby Lapointe, Renaud) and very old chanson, musette and gypsy swing classics (Mistinguett, Django Reinhardt, Emile Prud'Homme) electronic music (Wax Tailor) and an amazing song of the young but already great Mathieu Boogaerts.

1. Bobby Lapointe – Aragon et castille (1956)
2. Java – Ca s’ra tout (Safari Croisière, 2003)
3. Mistinguett – Il m’a vue nue (1927)
4. Mathieu Boogaerts – L’Espace (2000, 2002)
5. Oxmo Puccino – J’ai Mal Au Mic (L'amour est mort , 2001)
6. Booba – Le Bitume avec une plume (Temps Mort, 2002)
7. Arthur H- Le Jardin des Délices (Négresse Blanche, 2003)
8. Renaud – Hexagone (Amoureux de Paname, 1975)
9. Dick Annegarn – Volet fermé (Sacré géranium, 1974)
10. Georges Brassens – Le Temps Ne Fait Rien A L’Affaire (1961)
11. Les Têtes Raides – St-Vincent (Le bout du toit, 2000)
12. Mouloudji – Un Jour Tu Verras (1954)
13. Wax Tailor – Que Sera (Tales Of The Forgotten Melodies, 2005)
14. Georges Moustaki – Le Métèque (Le métèque, 1969)
15. Barel Coppet Et Mister Lof- Jeunesse Vauclin (Jeunesse Vauclin, 1972 – re-released in Tumbélé !)
16. Emile Prud’Homme – Pinsonnette (1936)
17. Django Reinhardt& Stéphane Grappelli – Minor Swing (1937)
18. Lucienne Delyle - Mon amant de Saint-Jean (Léon Agel & Émile Carrara, 1942)
19. Michel legrand – Duo Geneviève – Guy (Les parapluies de cherbourg OST, José Bartel and Danielle Licari singing, 1964)

Discovering French Music 6 from boebis on 8tracks Radio.