Louise Attaque: C à vous

An appearance on French evening chat show C à vous by Louise Attaque, marking the release of the band's
long awaited new album.

The album Anomalie was released on Friday, a fourth album by a band who seemed to have called it quits for good following their 2005 release A plus tard crocodile.

But they were always held in affection, their subsequent post Louise Attaque careers meeting with success.

Last year's announcement that they were to reform as a three piece and release a new album and tour extensively was met with excitement and anticipation, subsequent singles sparking debate and rekindling memories.

So an appearance on TV marked the release, with Avec le Temps, one of the singles from the new album performed.

 Louise Attaque begin their live dates at the end of this month, with shows across France and neighbouring countries, and festival dates over the summer.

Review: Ça (C'est vraiment nous)

Today sees the release of  tribute album to French new wave legends Téléphone entitled Ça (C'est
vraiment nous), with a selection of artists interpreting the work of the seminal French act.

Recent years have seen similar albums spotlighting Renaud, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Jacques Dutronc.

Songs on the new collection include La bombe humaine, interpreted by Gaëtan Roussel, Hygiaphone by Zaz and Anna by Tété.  The album was preceded by the single Un autre monde, performed by Superbus

Whatever your feelings on the artists involved, these projects stand or fall on the strength of the songs. In the case of Téléphone, that's  pretty strong start. Most of Téléphone's best songs are here.

 But the interpretations throughout seem a bit polite.  This certainly isn't Téléphone  re-invented as Rage aganst The (answering) Machine.

The version of Argent trop cher for example loses its sense of injustice, too much reverence, not enough venom.  Still,  Zaz's take on Hygiaphone and Gaëtan Roussel's La bombe humaine retain the edge of the originals.

If the purpose of the album is to get people thinking about Téléphone and their songs, then job done.

But if its purpose is to suggests these artists should be held in the same regard as Téléphone, not so much.

Louise Attaque: Anomalie (Clip)

A video has surfaced for the track Anomalie, the song marking the return to action by  Louise Attaque.

The song emerged last week and the band,  featuring three of the four founder members, featured on Le Grand Journal TV show on Canal +.

The single marks the start of a full-on return by the band, one of France's most successful rock acts ever.

 Louise Attaque only released three albums, and achieved not only critical and commercial success, but also genuine affection from fans.

An album is due in January, and tour dates around the country have been scheduled,  including three nights at La Cigale in Paris.

Louise Attaque: New album

Confirmation over the last few days that there's a fourth album in the pipeline from Louise Attaque,
one of the French bands that probably deserve to be described as 'legendary.'

Their 1997 self-titled debut was one of the milestones in French music, the group creating a sound that was as unique as it was captivating, the album a well-deserved record-breaking commercial success.

The band initially spit in 2001 following their Comme on a Dit second album the previous year, forming two separate acts Tarmac and Ali Dragon.

They reunited in 2003 to record the last album by the four piece, 2005's À plus tard crocodile.

Gaëtan Rousse has of course since had considerable success as a solo artist, with the albums Ginger in 2011 and 2013's Orpailleur.

Most recently he's been writing for other artists, his most recent being the single Nos Secrets by Louane.

Some new material appeared from Louise Attaque in 2011, with a new track recorded for a 'best of' compilation that came out at the end of that year.

I said at the time on this blog: "A new track by the band is certainly welcome, and while its unlikely that the band will reconvene on a more permanent basis, it shows that there's certainly a demand for them to do so should they ever want to. "

The new album is expected early in 2016.

Gaëtan Roussel: La simplicité

A new clip for  a song by Gaëtan Roussel , this time for the track La simplicité, a track from his second solo
album Orpailleur.

The album was relased in September, the track Éolienne being released as the first single.

Roussel is the former singer with Louise Attaque, one of France's most successful bands of the 1990s.

He  was later vocalist with Tarmac, before Louise Attaque reconvened in 2003 for their À plus tard crocodile album two years later.

In 2008 he worked with Alain Bashung on his  Bleu Pétrole collection, his last album before Bashung died, andn wrote songs for Rachid Taha and Vanessa Paradis.

Roussel released his first solo album Ginger in 2010.

Earlier this year, Roussel featured at the  Francofolies de La Rochelle festival with a performance entitled  Re-Play Blessures, where he covered the Play Blessures album that Alain Bashung  co-wrote with Serge Gainsbourg.