New Sounds in French Pop
Today I'm presenting a trio of French pop artists on the verge of crossover success into the American indie pop market. French pop has developed a large following in Europe in the five decades since musical provocateur Serge Gainsbourg teamed up with actress Brigitte Bardot to record a series of best selling European records including
Bonnie & Clyde,
Comic Strip and
Harley Davidson.
In 1969 Gainsbourg teamed up with his future wife Jane Birkin to record
Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus... which established Gainsbourg & Birkin as the avatars of fashionable pop music everywhere, except in the United States. The heavy breathing of Birkin toward the end of the song reminded American music industry executives of somebody in the throes of enjoying consensual adult sex and the music industry mavens solidly refused to distribute
Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus in United States. A few brave music retailers sold imported copies
Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus under the counter. I'm told the easiest way to find a copy of
Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus in 1969 was at the local porno shop. If
Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus had been released in the United States in our current pop music market of 2011, I doubt if anyone would blink an eye at the sexual content of the song.
With the rise of interest in global music & the availability of more English language music by French pop artists, French pop is poised to establish a beach-head in America after five decades on the fringe of the American music mainstream. In the space below I'm presenting three of my favorite contemporary French pop artists for your review.
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Random Recipe
Random Recipe is a quartet from the French Canadian city of Montreal fronted by two female vocalists. In addition to French pop, the band performs an eclectic array of outernational music including hip hop, jazz, folk, samba, bossa nova and trip hop. There isn't a whole lot of biographical information available on the individual members of Random Recipe. Some the videos of their live performances indicate that the band is still a work in progress still working off the rough edges of their stage act,
The song that really caught my ear was the irresistible
Shipwreck in which they poach a few of the lyrics from Louis Armstrong's
Wonderful World.
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The Limiñanas
Based out of Perpignan, France, the Limiñanas are composed of drummer Marie Limiñana and bassist/organist/jack-of-all-trades Lionel Limiñana, as well as a host of guest vocalists. With their combination of fuzzy organ, half-spoken/half-sung vocals, and vintage production, the band captures the sexy, ultra-hip sound of classic French pop. It would be easy to mistake this 2010 recording of
Down Underground for a lost French pop single from 1968.
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Keren Ann
Singer/songwriter Keren Ann Zeidel, who records under the name Keren Ann, was born in Israel in 1974 to a Dutch-Javanese mother, and a Russian-Israeli father which makes her an unlikely candidate for French pop stardom. She currently splits her time between Paris and New York.
Keren Ann isn't exactly a newcomer to the scene. She has a large following in Europe but remains under the radar in the United States. Her French language albums
La Biographie de Luka Philipsen &
La Disparition, both released in 2002, are favorites of mine.
Early on Keren Ann was influenced by Joni Mitchell and was more of a folk music singer. Over the past decade she's evolved into more of French pop performer with trip-hop influences. Keren Ann along with a new generation of French pop chanteuses like Charlotte Gainsbourg & Francoiz Breut are reshaping the sound of classic French pop using electronic and trip hop production techniques.
The success of French pop singers in the United States has proven to elusive over the years. Up until recently the best of the French pop singers like Francoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Carla Bruni, and Vanessa Paradis have recorded nearly all their music in the French language. Keren Ann was one of the first French pop singers to break the longstanding taboo against recording English language albums. In 2007 Keren Ann released the self titled
Keren Ann, her first all English language album but it failed to spark widespread American interest. From my perspective, Keren Ann's English language debut wasn't nearly as good as her previous French language albums.
Last year, Charlotte Gainsbourg's first English language album
IRM was near the top of many best of 2010 indie music lists. Keren Ann's earlier English language album wasn't nearly as successful. Perhaps Gainsbourg's crossover success with an English language album will create a growing awareness of other French pop singers in America. Keren Ann has a stronger singing voice and writes better songs. Many attribute Gainsbourg's new found success in the United States to the involvement of her collaborator and new musical guru, Beck, the brilliant American pop music chameleon who is the darling of indie music opinion makers everywhere.
Keren Ann's soon to be released second English language album may finally establish her career in the USA. The song below,
My Name Is Trouble is an advance release song from that highly anticipated February 28th 2011 English language album release entitled
101.
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