Alain Delon and Celine Dion: Paroles...Paroles

An interesting little clip of the song Paroles...Paroles featuring Celine Dion and Alain Delon, the legendary French actor whose death was confirmed earlier today. 

The song was originally released in 1973 by Dalida with Delon duetting with her, and featured on Dalida's Julien... album from that year. An adaptation of an Italian song, it reached the top ten in France at the time and sold well in other countries, becoming in subsequent years one of the best-known French songs internationally, and inspired covers in other languages.

Delon plays a supporting role in the song, perhaps wisely leaving the actual singing to the female vocalist

A video of the original was eventually released in 2019, Delon's involvement in the original essentially being only in the recording studio. Dalida would continue to perform the song live for the rest of her career, either solo or with other vocalists.

This version is from 1996, recorded in December 1996 for a New Year show broadcast on France 2 on December 31.

 

Clair: Danser ou crever

Here's something nice. In difficult times there's a need for something that's apparently simple, perfectly crafted and 

Clair's Danser ou crever is like a welcome reminder of better times, and a hope that things might be that good again. We can choose to die or we can choose to dance. 

As long as we keep a metre apart.

The song's by Philippe Katerine and was produced by Philippe Katerine and Pierre Daven-Keller. Daven Keller is a long-time friend of this blog, first coming across his  Reaction in C album in 2015, to enjoying his Kino Music collection that was released last year.

Philippe Katerine's Confession album was released in November last year, and Clair features on the track Un Jour Sans.

Festivals 2020: -M- and Black Eyed Peas for Solidays

Another of France's major summer festivals has confirmed some more of the names on its bill, with Solidays, one of the big events in Paris, listing the more names to appear at this year's event.

The biggest new international name is Black Eyed Peas, following the recent success of Ritmo. While WIll I Am might be a household name in the UK, due to his regular appearance on The Voice UK, he's not one of the judges of the show in France where he's perhaps known for his music, tracks like I've got a feeling and Where is the love being massive hits in France as they were elsewhere.

Metronomy and The Black Madonna are among the new acts announced.

Already confirmed at the top of the bill is -M-,  who has been touring in support of last year's Lettre Infinie album. He's got shows in arenas all over France in May, and also plays at some of the country's other summer events including Main Square festival, in June and July. He's also at the O2 Brixton Academy in London in April.

Laurent Garnier, Aya Nakamura, Deluxe , Niska,  Zola and Videoclub and are among others who were confirmed earlier. Others will be added in the coming months.

It's the 22nd edition of the festival, an event that combines activism as much as music. This year it's taking place on June 19 - 21 at Hippodrome de Longchanps.

Tickets go on sale on February 6.

Damien Saez: Two new albums

The news that there are two new albums in the pipeline from Damien Saez is the kind of news that gets this blog excited.

Saez never does things by half,  from his live shows that run for over three hours a night to a  back catalogue that features several triple albums including his most recent, last years Le Manifeste - Lulu.

The new albums go by the names L'humanité and A dieu, Saez releasing the inormation on social media channels. There's little other information, other than an image that could be the cover of L'humanité, a characteristic take on comsumer society.

Of course, there's plenty in this information to inspire questions. Is he referring to the newspaper in the title of the first album? Is the second really a goodbye?

Meanwhile, a new single P'tite Pute has emerged, going some way to suggest the possible musical direction of the new collection. It doesn't sound like it will be a selection of piano-centred chansons,

Saez is the kind of artist that makes reinforces my belief in French music as worthwhile. If at times it can be a thankless task persuading the anglophone listener that French music deserves a listen on its merit, a blast of Saez can be enough to make it worthwhile.

Articulate, intelligent and uncompromising, he's the kind of artist others can only aspire to. He's as poetic as he is political. It's safe to say Le Manifeste - Lulu has been getting played almost constantly here since its release.

Hopefully there will be more live dates announced before too long. I've not had the chance to see Saez live, but there are some superb full concerts from his most recent tour on YouTube. Well worth tracking these down and watching them in full.

L'humanité is released on November 30, A dieu follows in February.

 

Bertrand Cantat: Les Pluies Diluviennes

A new video from Bertrand Cantat, with the track Les Pluies Diluviennes the latest from last year's
Amor Fati collection to get a visual treatment.

The debate over Cantat shows no sign of abating whatsoever. He remains a convicted killer, having taken the life of his then girlfriend actress Marie Trintignant in 2003.

He may have served his sentence, but for many there can be no forgiveness for his actions.

Meanwhile, the death of his ex-wife Krisztina Rády in 2010 has also sparked renewed debate over Cantat. Rády, the mother of two children with Cantat, died in the same house Cantat was staying in, and she had complained of suffering mental abuse from him. Magistrates at the time chose not to pursue charges against Cantat, but there are reports that he now faces another legal inquiry into her death after a lawyer spoke to investigators who invited her to file a formal complaint.

According to RFI, Cantat's lawyer denounced this new complaint as 'based on lies.'

Anger over his return as a solo artist has resulted in the cancellation of festival appearances, but he is scheduled to play at the Zénith in Paris on June 7. His fans will give him a warm welcome. Others say his return will be met with a demonstration.

Charlotte Gainsbourg: BBC Radio 6 Music live session

Charlotte Gainsbourg was in London at the end of March for a live show at the Village Underground, a rare UK show in support of last year's Rest album, an outstanding release that was a highlight of 2017 and rightly saw her pick up a Victoires de la Musique award for best female artist.

Her show in London saw a five star review on the Independent website and for the Guardian newspaper, praise indeed from the UK media.

While she was in London she made her debut for radio station BBC 6 Music's Live Room for a session.

She spoke to Lauren Laverne and performed a couple of tracks.

Charlotte is still touring, with a series of dates in Japan, followed by some festival shows including Les Printemps de Bourges on April 26 and Primavera in Barcelona at the beginning of June.

Record Store Day 2018: The French releases #RSD18

The full list of the 2018 Record Store Day releases has been published, and as always it's a mixed (12 inch by 12 inch sized) bag of vinyl.

Amidst the eye-wateringly expensive Grateful Dead box sets and the mountain of novelty content that will still be in the racks in four or five years time, there are some real gems.

And more that a few very fine French flavoured pieces of vinyle.

Air's iconic Sexy Boy gets a release as a 12 inch picture disc to mark the 20th anniversary (!) of its release. Another high profile act of recent years, Phoenix, gets a limited edition heart shaped red vinyl release of the track Monologue.

Serge Gainsbourg, another uncontested icon of French music, gets his soundtrack of the movie La Pacha released in full on vinyl for the first tine It's a collaboration from 1968 with Michel Colombier that includes Réquiem Pour Un Con, one of his absolute classics, and features a previously unreleased instrumental mix.

Serge's daughter Charlotte also has a significant release, with a 12 inch of remixes from her recent Rest album. Soulwax remix Deadly Valentine, and there are two versions of Ring a Ring O'Roses.

Another interesting archive release features Jean-Jacques Perry, with his debut Prelude au Sommeil getting its first full vinyl re-release after it first emerged 60 years ago.

More up to date are two releases by The Liminanas, one a 12 inch featuring remixes of by Laurent Garnier and Arnaud Rebotini of Dimanche and Istanbul is Sleepy, the other a seven inch featuring Dimanche and a cover of The Kinks song Two Sisters.

Record Store Day takes place on April 21.

MC Solaar: Eksassaute

A new video by MC Solaar, with the track Eksassaute the latest track from his recent album to get promoted as a single.

The track comes from his Géopoétique album, released towards the end of last year, and one of 2017's most significant hip hop releases. Solaar hadn't released an album in ten years so the appearance of his new collection in November was met with some anticipation.

A number one album, the previous single Sonotone attracted considerable airplay confirming that Solaar had lost none of his poetic touch,

If there's a somewhat nostalgic tone to the start of Eksassaute, it quickly displays an energy and an electro feel couldn't be more 2018.

Solaar's got nothing to prove, he's a pioneer of French hip hop who effortlessly retains his crown.

He's touring extensively towards the end of 2018, with a show at the Accor Hotels Arena in Paris on November 22.

Juliette Armanet: L'indien

A new video by Juliette Armanet for the track L'indien marking the release of a special new edition of her Petite amie debut album.

The album, which came out last year and has already been a gold seller in France, is being re-issued this month as a deluxe edition featuring four extra tracks.

2017 was a pretty big year for Juliette, the release of her album being backed by extensive touring of France and sold out shows including La Cigale in Paris. Her work's been compared by some to that of the classic French singer songwriters of the 60s and 70s.

Previous songs from the album including Manque d'amour and L’Amour en Solitaire have helped establish her as another of the current generation of female artists in France that look likely to have long and successful careers.

The new single, with its disco flavour and distinctive video directed by Moodoïd's Pablo Padovani should help draw a little more attention to her quirky but approachable style.

Her album's on the shortlist for the 2018 Victoires de la Musique awards, in the Breakthrough album category.

We'll see at the end of the week if the success she's had in 2017 was only the first step towards greater commercial and public recognition.

Regardless of the outcome of the awards ceremony, Juliette's got more live dates ahead of her all over France including two shows at the Olympia on March 6 and 7 and a festival appearance at Les Francofolies de La Rochelle on July 15.

Dita Von Teese and Sebastien Tellier: Bird of Prey

A new track from burlesque artist Dita Von Teese from her forthcoming album that sees her collaborate with Sebastien Tellier.

Tellier has often found himself labelled with the 'new Serge Gainsboug' title in the Anglophone media. Mostly  I suspect - because the Anglophone media can't name many other French artists apart from Gainsbourg.

But writing an album for a female artist who wasn't much previously known as a singer was exactly the kind of thing Gainsbourg did, from Brigitte Bardot to Isabelle Adjani, not forgetting the album he wrote for his partner Bambou and the first album by Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Bird of prey follows the track Rendez-vous which emerged in November, and sounds very much like something Tellier would have cooked up, even with unfamiliar vocals. Exotic, with a psychedelic flavour and a tasteful retro yet very modern feel.

Von Teese is of course much better known to an Anglophone audience, especially in the USA where she's a proper A-list celebrity. Working with Tellier shows she's got a pretty high standard of musical awareness, I'm sure there's no shortage of artists who would work with her, and if it giver Tellier a higher profile in the US, all the better.

The debut album by Dita Von Teese is released on February 16.