Review: Johnny Hallyday Le Roi de France

I've been a bit remiss in writing regular reviews in the blog, so time I put that to rights.

I've got a few releases that require my urgent attention and I'll get them on in the next few days.

In the meanwhile, a release that came out a couple of years ago is taking up much of my listening time, so I thought that a mention was well deserved.

The CD is Le Roi de France by Johnny Hallyday, a collectionm of his work from '66 - '69, and astonishingly it's the first compilation for an English-speaking audience, released by UK based specialist re-issue label RPM.

Johnny was at an interesting time in his career, faced with musical and social changes that could easily have rendered him irrelevant. Back then musical careers were expected to be short. No one thought rock 'n' roll would last. Teenage idols were not expected to age, they'd be replaced and forgotten once another craze came along.

But as this collection shows, Johnny had a firm grasp of what was going on in the music scene and a willingness to experiment and move on from where his career had taken him so far. Although an established act, there was no certainty that it would endure and his enthusiasm to embrace new sounds put him at the forefront of a rapidly-evolving music scene.

It's a period that is too often overlooked, coming as it does outwith the nostalgia for his early hits or his later status as France's biggest star.

There are many highlights on the CD, from his work with Page (Psychedelic and A Tout Casser) to his cover of Hush, (under the title Mal) long before Deep Purple made the track well known. To those of an English-speaking persuasion who might think of Hallyday as either a rock 'n' roll nostalgist, a mediocre translator of dated American music or as an easy listening rock crooner this collection is an absolute eye opener.

The tracks on the compilation show Hallyday to be apparently at ease with the massive changes going through the music scene at the time, enthusiastically embracing psychedelia, high energy garage rock and a heavy soul sound that suited his vocal style and also allowed him to express himself as a more mature artist.

It paid off, and Hallyday was, by the late 60s, the undisputed king of France. This collection explains to the English-speaking audience exactly how that happened.

But the sleeve notes suggest that it all came at a massive personal cost. A suicide attempt giving some indication of the pressure he was under.

Incidentally, while sleeve notes normally provide little more than a re-heat of a well-known hagiography, the sleeve notes with this edition actually illuminate much of the Hallyday story to an audience that doesn't have the familiarity with the subject matter nor the patience to wade through French language volumes.

For many in an English-speaking audience, Johnny remains a footnote in the biographies of other more familiar artists, whether Hendrix or Page. Tracks on the album feature Jimmy Page, along with members of the Small Faces and later Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. This compilation shows that Johnny's involvement with figures like these didn't come out of nowhere and I suspect the musical respect went both ways.

If there's a measure of the success of a compilation, it's whether or not it provokes the listener into further exploration. On the strength of this release I realise my knowledge of the French psych scene is almost non-existent, and it's time to investigate further. Any suggestions welcome!

Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains: City Kiss

As the UK bakes in the hottest March weather I can remember, a video that brings back the winter that seems to last forever.

Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains, the UK's favourite French indie band, have digitally released a third single - City Kiss - from last year's E Volo Love album, along with a new video.

The album was arguably the biggest breakthrough French release in the UK and they have charmed a significant following since the release of their album on Domino.

They have a large number of dates in France over the coming months, and the band have also confirmed some UK shows next month along with some festival appearances over the summer.

Apr 14: St Andrews - Eye O' the Dug Festival
Apr 16: Leeds - Brudenell Social Club
Apr 18: London - Cargo
May 09: Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach
May 10-12: May: Brighton - The Great Escape
Jun 02: Long Division Festival
Jun 10: Rough Beats Festival
Aug 17-19: Summer Sunday Festival
Aug 31-Sep 2: End Of The Road Festival

Sébastien Tellier - Cochon Ville

Another track has emerged from the forthcoming Sébastien Tellier album My God is Blue, the single Cochon Ville.

Cochon Ville is a thumping piece of disco, with a real retro vibe.

A number of remixes are expected, with the version by The Magician already circulating, others by Brodinski, Dimitir from Paris and Hey Champ coming out with the relase of the single.

The single will be available digitally from April 9 in France, and April 16 internationally. The Brodinski remix will only be on the vinyl release.

I think The Magician remix is a great piece of work, doing exactly what a good remix should do and re-imagining the dna of the original track into something different but equally as good - if not better - than the original.

Tellier's album looks certain to be one of the year's most interesting releases. Tellier appears to be in a full-on messianic

My God is Blue is due to come out diguitally on April 16, the physical release on April 23

Live: 1995 at the Jazz Café

With the release of their new Ep La Suite earlier this month, 1995 look set to be the breakthough act in the French hip hop scene this year.

They play in London at the Jazz Cafe this week, in what will be their UK debut performance.

I've already featured the six piece last month, their new release being much-anticipated following their strong debut La Source least year.

I'm sure their live show will be every bit as dynamic as their releases.

Serge Gainsbourg - Le Soldat et le sable

It's almost beyond the scope of this blog to mention the atrocious events in France yesterday, but it would be remiss of me not to.

With France in a state of national mourning and one of the largest manhunts ever seen under way, the shootings at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse have brought the country together in what the president has called "a national tragedy."

Terrible enough that French soldiers should be shot dead in the street, but the events of yesterday were horrific.

Evils like anti-semitism and racism have no place in society, and France's reaction of horror to what unfolded will hopefully ensure that elements that support these attitudes understand clearly that there is no place for them.

France's Jewish population has contributed massively to the country over the centuries, their place at the heart of France's culture assured.

The song was originally by Serge Gainsbourg, written in response to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war in 1973. This version by the Chorale Juive de France.

Jean Giraud and Moebius

With the death last week of the artist Jean Giraud, also known as Moebius, France lost one of its best finest comic artists.

His work was hugely regarded, not just in the circles of comic book enthusiasts, and France takes its comic books seriously, but far beyond as well.

While BD like Blueberry are huge in France and elsewhere in Europe, his work with the Silver Surfer established him as one of the greats in comic art in the USA.

Personally this was where I first encountered his work, the Silver Surfer under his hands becoming a figure quite unlike any other super heroes of that era. With the silver Surfer, Moebius quite literally took an established character into another dimension.

The Silver Surfer was one of the few super heores that held my interest long after my interest waned in other Marvel or DC characters.

My interest in science fiction cinema was where I next came across his work. With films like Alien, Tron and the Fifth Element, his style can be seen in every strand of their DNA, the influence in turn of these films continuing to inspire more recent work, whether the Tron remake or the new Alien prequel Prometheus.

Star Wars and Bladerunner are two films that although his involvement was minor, his style can be seen as a major influence, and again the cultural reach of these films goes far beyond their expected audiences.

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said that the simultaneous death of Giraud and Moebius meant France had lost "two great artists."

This clip was from a documentary about Moebius from 2007, the music was by Karl Bartos, former member of Kraftwerk. It's great to see his work as an animation, and the Karl Bartos music is a perfect match.

Festival: Big Festival in Biarritz

The bill for another of France's summer festivals has been revealed, with the Big festival taking place in Biarritz, the country's surf capital, from the 18th to the 22nd of July.

The first 11 artists have been confirmed, and so far it is a predominately French event.

Pete Doherty is at the top of the bill, I'm sure he's as much a fan of the beach and sunshine as the next man. New York's The Rapture are there too, and although American they're no strangers to France with their most recent album In the Grace of Your Love being partially recorded in Paris and produced by Philippe Zdar from Cassius.

Meanwhile, there is a very strong list of French artists on the bill so far. Sébastien Tellier is there, playing following the release of his My God is Blue which already looks set to be one of this years' most interesting releases.

M83, one of the strongest live acts around anywhere never mind France are playing. Birdy Nam Nam, Izia and Yuksek have also been confirmed.

Skip the Use, Shaka Ponk anad Joeystarr are also on the bill and more acts are to be added.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now and day tickets are available from March 28.

BIG Festival from BIG Festival on Vimeo.

Le Francais J'adore: Noga

Some clips have emerged online from the weekend's ,Le Francais J'adore francophone music festival that was held in London's Trafalgar Square.

The scope of the French language artists featured at the event went well beyond the borders of France itself, embracing French artists from elsewhere in Europe, Africa and North America.

Noga was one of the artists on the bill, a Swiss singer from Geneva. She takes French chanson and adds a jazz and world flavour.

Her most recent album - her fifth entitled Miel & Poivre/Poivre & Miel has been available since 2010.

The event on Saturday was supported by the International Organisation of the Francophonie and the Institut français and was the UK's biggest event marking international French language say 2012, which happens on March 20.

With the Olympics just a matter of weeks away, London will be host to one of the biggest international events this year. With more eyes than ever on the city, hopefully events like this will also benefit some great French language artists as well.

St Patrick's Day - Alan Stivell and Shane MacGowan

With St Patrick's Day marking celebrating Ireland and celtic culture, I again though it worth marking the occasion on the blog.

The celtic culture of Brittany has much in common with Ireland, with many similarities, but is less well known internationally.

I think I decided to put this track on the blog for this occasion ages ago, featuring as it does one of Brittany's most famous voices with one of Ireland's best known figures. I know the Pogues weren't born in Ireland, but there are many of the Irish diaspora who would describe themselves as Irish despite not having been born there.

St Patrick's is a wonderfully inclusive celebration of nationality and culture, and the shared celtic culture between Ireland and Brittany is certainly worth celebrating

Francophone music festival in London

March 20 is the journée internationale de la Francophonie, a day that celebrates the use of French language around the world.

Events being held in many places to mark the day, which was instigated by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie is a body of governments of countries that have a link to French culture and language.

There are 56 member states, three associate members and a further 16 observers. Not bad for a language that many think is only used in France and Quebec. While many member countries don't have French as their native language, others do. Some are former colonies and others have less formal links to France but are linked by international friendship and a shared appreciation and involvement in French culture

March 17 sees one of the major events in the international celebration being held in London, with around 50,000 people expected to attend an event in Trafalgar Square with live music by French artists from around the globe.

The bill showcases some great Francophone talent, and makes the case clearly that the francophone music world extends well beyond the borders of France, with artists from North America, Africa and elsewhere in Europe.

Jali, a Belgian from Rwanda brings a blend of soul, reggae and chanson, Naby from Sénegal, rapper Rayess Bek from Lebanon, Mélissa Laveaux, a Haitian folk singer from Quebec are on the bill, along with Noga from Switzerland and electro pop artists Alfa Rococo from Quebec.

It's a celebration of not only the French language, but of French music at its most inclusive, and it will hopefully be a great event.

Vive le Roq: Second Birthday!

Today marks the second anniversary of the Vive le Roq blog, and while it seems like a while since I picked up digital pen and paper, it's been a busy time.

A brief article about Jean Ferrat following his death marked the beginning of the blog. True, I'd though about it for a while, and originally thought about launching it on June 21 to mark the fete de la musique but I thought I'd waited long enough and started the ball rolling.

At first I thought it would be a challenge to fill a blog every day with my ponderings and musings, and for the first year that was pretty much the case. Finding time, finding inspiration (!) amidst the day to day goings on of family and professional life seemed a challenge, but before too long I found my stride and things have been getting along just about fine.

The number of visitors has progressively grown, with last month being our busiest month so far. I've managed to keep up a pretty decent average number of posts, with a record of 27 posts in June last year. When you consider that in 2010 I managed a total of 24 for the entire year, that gives you some idea about how far we've come.

I've heard some great music and I've enjoyed sharing it. Hope you enjoy it.

If anything there's more that I could write about if I could find the time.

I've been almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of quality French music that's coming out, never mind looking back at some of the key earlier releases.

One thing I have learned is that stories reflecting on the blog itself do not get as much traffic as the ones that celebrate music, which is probably exactly as it should be.

Thanks for dropping by and be sure to come back again regularly

Merci et à bientôt

jk

Rétro: Brigitte Bardot

While not unexpected, the misjudged intervention in the French 2012 election campaign by Brigitte Bardot is a sad reminder that racism is still very much present in France.

Bardot wrote to Nicolas Sarkozy accusing him of letting down animals by failing to ban halal slaughter. She's also called on mayors to back Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right Front National party, in the election.

Bardot's politics having been to the far right for some time, her present husband being a one-time adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine Le Pen and himself former Front National leader. There are also her previous convictions for inciting racial hatred against Muslims.

While not exactly out of character, it's sad for a couple of reasons. Obviously it shows that racist attitudes are still very much viewed by many as acceptable. When someone in the public eye - and whether she has 'retired' or not, Bardot is well aware that she remains a public figure - expressed such abhorrent and nonsensical views

It's also sad considering how she was when she was young, regarded internationally as one of the icons of French style and glamour. She was unique, there was no British or American equivalent of Bardot.

Similarly it's a disappointment as her opinions damage much of the work towards animal welfare in France. Calls for humane treatment of animals will be viewed by many now as covertly racially motivated.

But at her peak she was a genuine icon who many have since tried to emulate, mostly without the same degree of success.

There are many great clips of her musical work online, including her work with Gainsbourg, but this song with its recent use as the soundtrack for a commercial deserves to be heard for more than just 20-30 seconds in an advert break.

Festival: French acts at SXSW, Austin Texas

With the SXSW festival getting under way in Austin Texas, some fine French acts are carrying the standard.

Bureauexport has an event- France Rocks Austin 2012- at the festival, presenting some of France's finest to an influential crowd.

SXSW has increasingly become a key event in the US music market, particularly for foreign acts aiming to establish a reputation in America.

Featuring at the France Rocks Austin 2012 event are The Octopus Project, College, Housee de Racket, Anoraak, Yan Wagner, Rodrigues, Hindi Zahra, Doldrums, the Two and Gush.

Yelle are also at the event with a DJ set.

Other French acts like Yuksek are playing other events during the course of the event.

An interesting set of acts, some very well known in France and others less so, all getting a chance to get better known across the water.

BureauExport has made a dowloadable sampler available, featuring tracks by Hindi Zahra, Yuksek, Yelle and others, so that even if you can't get to the event, you can still check out some of France's finest new sounds.

It's available to download from this page> http://www.francerocks.net/austin2012/sampler/

Live: Yeti Lane tour dates

Yeti Lane begin a UK tour today, on the back of the release of their new album The Echo Show, released on Sonic Cathedral records on Monday.

The Paris-based duo bring their 21st century take on progressive psych to six venues across the UK:

March 13: LONDON Hoxton Bar and Kitchen
March 14: BRISTOL The Cooler
March 15: MANCHESTER Ruby Lounge
March 16: LIVERPOOL Static Gallery
March 17: LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
March 18: GLASGOW King Tuts

Following the UK dates they play in France.

The new album, their second, follows their debut two years ago.

As well as the new release, a remix of the track Sparkling Sunbeam by former Spaceman Three cosmonaut Sonic Boom has been made available online.

Festival: Les Eurockéennes

An announcement of some of the first names confirmed for this year's Les Eurockéennes festival in Belfort at the end of June.

While the Cure have been confirmed as a headliner, a line-up that so far includes Justice, Jack White, Cypress Hill, Lana Del Rey, 1995, Mastodon, Refused, Orelsan, The Kooks, Dropkick Murphy, Whiz Khalifa, Charlie Winston, Shaka Ponk and HF Thiéfaine has been revealed.

The event is one of Europe's biggest festivals and has been running since 1989. Last year saw sets by Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age and Arcade Fire at the top of the bill.

Full details of this year's bill will be unveiled on April 17.

Victoires de la Musique 2012: Winners

With the Victoires de la Musique 2012 awards ceremony at the weekend, one of the high points of the awards season saw some of the country's biggest acts rewarded for their success, both artistic and commercial, over the preceding year.

Two wins for Orelsan and M this year, and for once an award ceremony that wasn't dominated by Adele.

This year's roll of honour was:

Male artist: Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine

Female artist: Catherine Ringer

Breakthough artist (public vote): Orelsan

Breakthrough artist: Brigitte

Chanson album: Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine - Suppléments de mensonge

Rock album: Izïa - So much trouble

Urban music album: Orelsan - Le chant des sirènes

World music album: Jehro - Cantina paradise

Elecronic or dance album: Justice - Audio, video, disco

Original song: Laurent Voulzy - Jeanne

Show concert or tour: Roc'éclair tour - Jean-Louis Aubert

Video: Vanessa Paradis & M - La Seine

Music DVD: M - Les saisons de passage

The ceremony programme can be watched online at this page for the next few days: http://www.pluzz.fr/victoires-de-la-musique.html

Rétro: Francis Cabrel and Shakira: Je l'aime a mourir

With Shakira taking a classic French song to the top of the country's charts, I thought a mention of the song Je l'aime a Mourir was appropriate.

The song , originally by Francis Cabrel, featured on his 1979 second album Les Chemins de Traverse.

It was Cabrel's biggest hit, a commercial high point in a long career, and was number one for five weeks in 1979.

However, Shakira probably became more aware of the song though Spanish language versions of the song.

Cabrel recording one himself - under the title La Quiero a Morir in 1979 for his Spanish language album Algo más de Amor. A cover by Sergio Vargas in 1986 later became a big hit in Latin American countries.

Shakira's cover of the song, in French and Spanish, reached number one in the French charts and was there for several weeks. She performed her version of the song at the NRJ Music Awards.

Shakira became the first Colombian to be honored by France as a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in January.


Francis Cabrel (unplugged) version:

Francis Cabrel-Je l'aime à mourir by manon42


Shakira version from the NRJ Awards

Comett: Once Upon a Time/The City of Lights

A mention for the single Once Upon a Time/The City of Lights by French band Comett.

France currently has a well-deserved reputation for electro pop releases, and this is certainly one of the best I've heard recently.

The band is a duo, Alex and Julien, that has been active since 2005, releasing their first EP that year. They have not released much over the years, but they are working on their debut album.

In recent years they have collaborated with graphic designer Ozano to produce their striking visual identity, which they've made the most of in this memorable video.

The video was made by production company Les lapins de l'espace and features a character who has been named Cosmo, who appeared in an earlier video by the band. As one Youtube poster commented: "It's like they're a new clay-mated daft punk."

Les lapins de l'espace have also made videos for Zuccero and Hawa.

Comett are currently working on their debut album, hopefully surfacing some time in 2012.

Tindersticks: Paris gig live streaming

A quick link to a live streaming this evening (March 5 2012) for a live streaming of the gig at the Trianon in Paris thanks to Arte

http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Tindersticks_en_direct_du_Trianon/

Although an English band who work predominately in English, they have long had associations with France throughout their career that has spanned over 20 years.

They were responsible for the soundtracks of the films Nenette et Bon, Trouble every Day, 35 Rhums, and White Materials, while former band member Dickon Hinchcliffe was behind teh soundtrack for Vendredi Soir and Stuart Staples did the soundtrack for L'intrus.

Last year a collection of their soundtrack works was issued as a box set collection and they performed shows related to their cinema work in collaboration with Denis last year.

Their new album The Something Rain, was released last month.

Victoires de la Musique 2012

This weekend sees the high point of the French music awards calendar, with the Victoires de la Musique 2012 taking place.

The award ceremony, which has been running since 1985, is broadcast live from Paris on France 2 on Saturday night.

The awards cover a wide variety of categories, while not quite as many as the Grammies, The majority of the awards are selected by votes from music industry professionals, and there are a couple of punlic votes.

Personally I think it would have been interesting if Alain Bashung had been nominated, perhaps for best music video. During his lifetime he won more Victoire awards than anyone else, and it would have been somehow appropriate for a posthumous one for the album that came out last year.

There's no category yet for best Anglophone blog covering the French music scene, but hopefully one day!


Male artist of the year:

Benjamin Biolay
Julien Clerc
Thomas Dutronc
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine

Female artist of the year:

Catherine Ringer
Camille
Nolwenn Leroy
Zaz

Breatkthrough group or artist (public vote)

Brigitte
L
Inna Modja
Orelsan

Breakthrough group or artist

Alexis HK
Brigitte
Imany
Skip The Use
Chanson album of the year


Camille - "Ilo Veyou"
Coeur de Pirate - "Blonde"
Catherine Ringer - "Ring'n'roll"
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine - "Suppléments de mensonge"


Song of the year (public vote)

Jean-Louis Aubert - "Puisses-tu"
Camille - "L'étourderie"
Mika - "Elle me dit"
Laurent Voulzy - "Jeanne"
Show/tour of the year


Jean-Louis Aubert
Catherine Ringer
Stromae
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine

Rock album of the year

Archimède - "Trafalgar"
Izia - "So Much Trouble"
Keren Ann - "101"
Shaka Ponk - "The Geeks & The Jerkin Socks"

Rap/urban album of the year

Booba - "Autopsie, Vol. 4"
Joeystarr - "Egomaniac"
La Fouine - "La Fouine vs. Laouni"
Orelsan - "Le chant des sirènes"

World music album of the year

Jehro - "Cantina Paradise"
Magic System - "Touté Kalé"
Titi Robin - "Les Rives"
Tinariwen - "Tassili"

Electronic music album of the year

General Elektriks - "Parker Street"
David Guetta - "Nothing But the Beat"
Justice - "Audio, Video, Disco"
Yuksek - "Living on the Edge of Time"

Video clip of the year

Julien Doré - "Kiss Me Forever"
Inna Modja - "French Cancan"
Orelsan - "Raelsan"
Vanessa Paradis et M - "la Seine"

Music DVD of the year

Indochine - "Putain de stade"
M - "les Saisons de passage"
Christophe Maé - "On trace la route, live"
Raphael - "Live, filmé par Jacques Audiard"

The Monkees in Paris

Sad to hear of the death of Davy Jones, one of the Monkees. Despite being a "manufactured" group created for a TV series, they created some great music over the years and had a huge influence.

Their recordings helped define an era and remain classic songs, the TV series endeared them to an audience that went far beyond their initial viewers in the late 60s and live recordings of the band showed them to be a competent and energetic act that would inspire garage rock bands around the world as much as either the Beatles of The Stones.

The Monkees TV show only features one episode filmed on location outside th USA, The Monkees in Paris. The band were not well known in France at the time as the show that made them stars in the US and UK was not shown in France.

The plot sees the band take a holiday to France to get new ideas for the show. The Monkees TV show, for all its apparent 60s stylings, including references to the TV show they were on, directly addressing the audience, inventive editing, owed much to techniques that had been pioneered in preceding years by French cinema.

The episode featured many chase scenes through the streets of Paris as the band are pursued by girls and fans. There's not much other than this to the plot, but some great scenes of Paris in the late 60s. There are certainly some very bewildered passers by at the Les Halles market.

Filmed in June 1967, it was one of the later episodes of the show, before their full length film Head, regarded by many as a classic of its era.

France was chosen as a location ironically because it would have been difficult to film in the UK on account of their popularity at the time, and they actually could have been pursued by fans for real.



However, the French connection with the Monkees continued with the track The French Song, a tribute to French chanson by the band, recorded on their 1969 album The Monkees Present with Davy Jones on vocals.

It was their eighth album, and came out when the band were a three piece following the departure of Peter Tork. The best known song on the album was the song Listen to the Band

It would be their last album with Mike Nesmith, and following this release the band would continue as a due of Jones and Micky Dolenz for one last album before their 80s reunion.

For their apparent artificiality, the Monkees somehow captured a less cynical, innocent and fun era of music.

Editorial: March 2012

Another month gets under way at Vive le Roq HQ, as we tidy up and smarten ourselves up again after the biggest number of visitors to the site in a month we've ever had.

Despite February being the shortest month, it's been the busiest one yet for the site.

While we've ratcheted up the number of stories produced, the number of visitors has gone up even more, so thanks again to all who have dropped by.

While the beginning of the year is traditionally a quiet one for releases, there has been plenty to keep me busy with award ceremonies and France's subsequent international triumph with The Artist. Add to this Madonna's new single - pretty much a Martin Solveig record that just features her vocals - being launched at the Superbowl, probably the US's most watched TV event, and the success of Justice and M83, there's no denying that French music is in a good place right now.

The award continue this month with the Victoires de la Musique coming up in the next couple of days, and more interesting releases coming up soon.

So it promises to be an interesting month ahead. Stick around and I'm sure we'll have somthing you'll enjoy.

As always I can be contacted by email on johnkilbrideAThotmailDOTcom. just change the words for the symbol or the dot.

Merci et à bientôt

jk