Vive le Roq @ 5: Five great tracks

There have been over the past five years a huge number of songs that have impressed me, but I
thought a list of five that particularly blew me away was called for.

They were not necessarily the best songs, or even the ones I've heard over the past five years that went on to become favourites, but these were all songs with a certain je ne sais quoi, all giving an immediate reaction of chair de poule.

The kind of tracks that made me think that I was on the right track looking at and listening  to French music.

Commet - Once upon a time / The city of lights



I heard this track long before the release their debut CD My reality is your fiction, and it was a striking piece of music. And a wonderful video as well. The album lived up to the expectations of this track.

Girls in Hawaii - Misses



When I heard this song I was impressed by its simultaneous strangeness and familiarity, that even though it was in English it was still evidently a French act. But it gives it a beauty and individuality of perspective that many indie acts strive for but few actually have.

Zaz - on Ira


I've always thought that Zaz is the kind of artist that fulfils expectations of an anglophone audience about what a French artist should be like, perhaps a bit too much. Her music is immediately likeable, if unchallenging, But theres' no denying this is a great song. A massive hit, and deservedly so.

Mylène Farmer - Bleu Noir


I've never been a huge fan of Mylène Farmer, being left like many confused by an artist who chooses to apparently express her thoughts about philosphy, art and culture through the medium of euro disco, but this track is simply outstanding. Maybe its the consequences of her working with Moby on this number, but to these ears it sounds like little of her other work.

Fauve - Les hautes lumieres


While I liked Fauve, I ever felt totally convinced. Were they really ground breaking or just rap with the hip hop removed? Was it poetry but with lyrics that missed the mark occasionally. But everything is right here, all doubts cast aside.