Monthly Archives: June 2012

Elizabeth Anaïs

  • Posted on 29/06/2012
  • /Under Musique

Another great track from the French 80s, taken from Patrick’s stash (who gave me a whole bunch of great French 80s singles, all sung by filles). Beautiful brunette Elisabeth Anaïs had a Lolita-voice, and wrote songs about great novels by great authors. She admired (or admires, for she is still alive) John Fante, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Rimbaud, and named herself after Henry Miller’s muse. She loved wordplay (one single was called ‘Canaille go with you’), so now wonder she worked with Serge Gainsbourg. She sang Mon père est catholique, apparently a very funny song. You can hear a snippet here , I haven’t been able to find the full track as an mp3. Some singles were released on cd, but they’re hard to find. Which is odd, for they were big hits, Anaïs was a juror in 2002 on French Popstars (a tv-talenthunt) and she sang duets with Sanseverino and a track for a movie. On Wikipedia is her most complete discography, even Bide et Musique is incomplete. See/hear tracks on Youtube here, here and here.
I ripped Toutes les mêmes from vinyl, love those breathy vocals, the funky bassline and those typical 80s soundeffects. Plus it’s a catchy song.

Elisabeth Anaïs – Toutes les mêmes

Jolie Jumper, Lazy Lovers


A Canadian all-girl country & bluegrass trio who call themselves Jolie Jumper – how can you NOT fall for that? The girls sing in French and English, they just released an EP (find it on Bandcamp), they sound wonderful together. Oh, okay, they get some help from a bunch of guys, but it’s mainly Audrey PM, Marie-Claude Paquin and Victoria Lord. Look at this lovely video. They list rockabilly as a musical influence, just like Lazy Lovers, also from Quebec. Amélie is the eyecatcher of this quintet, she looks great in her tight red polka-dotted number on the cover of their second EP, the first on which they sing in French. Find that one on Bandcamp as well.

Lazy Lovers – Comme toi
Jolie Jumper – Comme

Fusée Dorée vs No Ninja Am I

  • Posted on 25/06/2012
  • /Under Musique

Here’s an idea for every indie-band: have your new single covered by French girls. Or flamboyant rockers. Or folkies. Or…whoever, really. Dutch combo No Ninja Am I (if you follow Christmas-a-Go-Go, you’ll remember ‘m) recorded Better Mistakes, and then thought of asking as many musicians they knew to record their version. Or just a small part. All versions, bits and pieces were edited into one 28 min-long new version. A bit like this version. One of Holland’s best read industry blogs picked up on it. You can hear Emmanuelle from Fusée Dorée (pictured) is singing a great French version of Better Things, on a ‘pastiche’ that has input from Port of Call, Gerhardt, Max Vanremmerden, Channah, Motel Aurora, Marisela, Martijn Buis, Box of Chocolates, RoSm, Joey de la Fuente & No Ninja Am I. You can listen and/or download for free on Bandcamp. In fact, ALL No Ninja Am I music is downloadable for free!

UPDATE: Emmanuelle put her French (solo-)version of Better Mistakes on Soundcloud, also free to download.

Astrid Adler

Look at those lips. That smouldering look. Astrid Adler released, as far as I can tell, two singles in the late eighties. They were never released on cd. Perds Pas Son Temps is the best of those two, it’s synthesized jazz-pop (think Matt Bianco, Blow Monkeys, Swing Out Sister or, from France, Blues Trottoir), but in a husky, Lolita-esque way. I’ve tried looking up more info about Astrid, there’s an Irish artist with the same name but I don’t think it’s the same girl. Somebody put a bunch of videos on a MySpace account, with more songs. This is the video for Perds Pas Ton Temps.
I got the single from FS-reader Patrick, who gave me a whole bunch of French 80s singles by girls like Astrid, expect more of this in the upcoming weeks. If you have more info on Astrid, please let me know.

Astrid Adler – Perds pas ton temps

New Emily Loizeau single

Kooky French folksinger Emily Loizeau, who made delightful singles like Sister and Je Suis Jalouse, will release a new album in September. First single Vole le chagrin des oiseaux is a very promising first look. Great voice, great atmosphere. Get a preview of her album here. Last year, she released the soundtrack for the movie King Guillaume, with most songs in English. Most songs on that are short, the screwball-comedy-song Girls Like Jerks stands out.

Emily Loizeau – Vole le chagrin des oiseaux
Emily Loizeau – Girls Like Jerks

Christine & the Queens

She looks like the younger sister of Camille, she has a band that’s both ‘fantastique et fantasmagorique’, she performs in a smoking and she covered Michael Jackson, Madonna (while wearing antlers) and Yves Simon. Amazoniaque, a song about a bad dreaming, Amazonian-whipped person by author/singer Simon, is the one French track on her EP, that was released in January. Paris-based Christine & the Queens toured with The Dø, and when you hear her glacial electronic pop, you’ll see why. Lykke Li, Class Actress, Camille + Oomiaq, that part of the pond. A very nice part of the pond, I’d say. Dip in.

Christine & the Queens – Amazoniaque
Yves Simon – Amazoniaque

Paradis video

  • Posted on 18/06/2012
  • /Under Video

No, not Vanessa Paradis, but a soft-spoken French electronica duo. If you’re not into electronica, you might wanna check out the scene starting at 3m31s.

(merci Stereo)

Harder, Better, Continued

Thanks to FS-reader Brad for reminding me that the earlier post on the Daft Punk-covers wasn’t complete. Five years ago The Brassens recorded this brilliant version in the style of Georges Brassens. Later, they changed their bandname to La Pompe Moderne and recorded an EP and a live-album with covers in the stylo of good ol’ Georges. Last year, they disbanded.

The Brassens – Plus dur, meilleur, plus rapide, plus fort (Daft Punk cover)

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