Friday's French music break - Christine and the queens, "Saint Claude" and the album "Chaleur humaine"

All right, so the last "exception" a couple of weeks ago about not featuring an artist or group more than once as Friday's French music break, is about to be broken again.

And with good reason.

Because the choice this week is "Saint Claude" from the excellent debut album "Chaleur humaine" from Christine and the Queens.

Released in May, "Chaleur humaine" has not only received critical acclaim (and deservedly so) in France, but also internationally as witnessed by this review in The Guardian.

Christine and the queens/Héloïse Letissier (screenshot from "Le Grand Journal" on Canal +)

You might remember earlier this year that Christine and the Queens - actually a one-woman musical project from Héloïse Letissier "combining music, dance, art videos, drawings and photography" was featured as a Friday's French music break with "Nuit 17 à 52".

It was the song Letissier had performed at Les Victoires de la musique (the French equivalent of the Grammy awards), in the category Group or Artist Stage Révélation of the Year for which she was nominated - but didn't win.

The long-awaited debut album "Chaleur humaine" was released in May and it reflects  Letissier's  artistic eclecticism, leading music critics to describe ot as an album "without frontiers".

Sure it's pop, but in the widest sense of the word.

Her music is stylised, melodic and classy - head and shoulders about most of what you might expect to hear on French radio.

And as many journalists have pointed out, it's hard, if not impossible to categorise Letissier's music simply.

The studio versions are as polished and well crafted as you would expect and the videos are similarly outstanding with some natty and intriguing dance moves.

But live, Letissier adds another level, as you can see from a recent appearance on Canal + "Le Grand Journal" and of course that performance at Les Victoires de la musique.

Speaking of live,  Letissier/Christine and the queens is currently on a nationwide tour, including Olympia in Paris in March 2015, and several dates have already sold out.

If you get the chance to see her live, then give yourself a treat, and do.

Also, if there's just one French music album you should buy this year, then make sure it's  "Chaleur humaine".

Oh yes, and here's a prediction.

Not only will Letissier be nominated in several categories at next year's Les Victoires de la musique, she'll also perform (again) and win.

For the moment though here's "Saint Claude" the most recent track to be released as a single from the album ""Chaleur humaine".

But don't be satisfied with that. Discover the rest of the album too.

Bon week-end.

Friday's French music break - Ibrahim Maalouf, "True sorry"

You don't need to be able to speak a word of French to be able to understand this week's Friday's French music break.

No, it's not another one of those groups with a somewhat ludicrous name singing in English.

In fact there are no lyrics at all - because "True sorry" is just a wonderful instrumental brought to you by Ibrahim Maalouf.

Ibrahim Maalouf (screenshot from Les Victoires de la musique)

It's a track taken from his most recent album, "Illusions" which earned Maalouf the "World music album of the year" award at the Victoires de la musique (the French equivalent of the Grammys) in February.

Born in Beirut into a family of musicians (his father Nassim is a trumpeter and his mother Nada, a pianist) Maalouf moved to Paris during the Lebanese civil war.

The 33-year-old is described  as "a pioneering figure in the world of contemporary jazz, blending the genre with pop, soul, electro, hip-hop, French songs and his own Lebanese roots" and he has the international awards to prove it.

He has worked with international artists such as Sting, Amadou et Mariam and Vanessa Paradis, composed music for the cinema, collaborated with symphony and chamber orchestras, created his own label to produce his albums and other projects and artists, and, and, and.

In fact you can read Maalouf on his official site, here.

Maalouf is currently taking his "Illusions" tour around France with concerts also scheduled in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Morocco.

http://www.ibrahimmaalouf.com/concerts/

Olympia in Paris already full  but extra dates have been added in the capital when he plays at La Cigalle in October.

He'll also be appearing at a number of jazz festivals,

For those of you who might adhere to Joey "The Lips" Fagan's description, in the 1991 film adaptation of Roddy Doyle's "The Commitments" that "jazz is musical masturbation (he actually used a more vulgar term in the film)" Maalouf might well make you think again.

While for jazz aficionados, Maalouf will most certainly be a welcome addition to your collection of he isn't already.

Anyway, enough words.

Pin back those lugholes and listen to what Maalouf does best.

"True sorry" is four minutes of pure magic.

And because you can never really get enough of a good thing, three different versions.

First up that performance from Les Victoires de la musique, followed by a (perhaps more refined) duo trumpet-guitar interpretation from a recent appearance on Anne-Sophie Lapix's "C à vous" on France 5  and finally the studio recording.

Friday's French music break - Johnny Hallyday, "20 ans"

Friday's French music break this week is from a singer you may well know - after all he has been around long enough.

Yes, it's that national monument or treasure (or perhaps both) depending on your tastes, Johnny Hallyday.

And the latest single from the ageing rocker "20 ans".

Johnny Hallyday (screenshot from "20 ans" official video)

It has just won "Original song of the year" at Les Victoires de la musique (the French equivalent of the Grammys) which took place at Le Zénith in Paris on February 14.

Mind you, it wasn't exactly the most popular winner of the night with whistles of disapproval from some sections of the audience as the ceremony's host, Virginie Guilhaume, opened the envelope to announce "The winner is..."

Now those rooting for the other contenders in the category in which Johnny (well he can't be referred to by his surname now, can he?) won, clearly didn't realise just how much the dinosaur of the French music scene "deserved" it.

The song - written by Christophe Miossec (lyrics) and David Ford (music) and taken from Johnny's critically acclaimed and commercially successful (that'll help keep him accustomed to his international star lifestyle of a man world famous in France) most recent album "L'Attente" (the best in a long time") had all the hallmarks of a winner about it.

Little matter that Johnny was up against two of last year's best-selling artists, Stromae with two songs "Papaoutai" and "Formidable", and Maître Gims' "J'me tire".

Forget all those statistics and the fact that both artists dominated the charts in 2013 and in fact continue to do so.

Take a look at the stats - for what they're worth.


YouTube views of the offical clips:

"Papaoutai" - 116 million +
"Formidable" - 64 million +
"J'me tire" - 51 million +
"20" ans - official audio and video combined - around one million


Chart history (taking into account sales, downloads and radio play)

"Papaoutai" - four weeks at number one and still in the charts a mere 39 weeks after its release.
"Formidable" - six weeks at number one - and still in the Top 200 charts  after 36 weeks.
"J'me tire"  - 48 weeks (and counting) in the charts - four of which were at the top.
"20 ans" -  five whole weeks in the official Top 200 peaking at 38.


Those figures seemed to count for little on the night.

What really mattered was that the song was sung by Johnny.

And even though the 70-year-old, with a career stretching back decades,  wasn't present at the ceremony, he clearly had (and has) legions of fans who made sure he wasn't forgotten.

You see, the category "Original song of the year" was open to voting from Joe Public, which meant presumably that Johnny's fans mobilised en masse to give him a win when everyone expected Stromae (who put in a stunning medley performance of his two hits and picked up three other gongs including "Male artist of the year) to sweep the board.

So a "deserved" win for the old codger and, dear reader, this week's choice for Friday's French music break.

Enjoy!

Friday's French music break - Les Victoires de la musique 2014

Yes, this week's Friday's French music break is a bit different as it's dedicated to this year's Victoires de la musique, France's equivalent of the Grammy Awards

And here's a thing to kick off. The very (French) group which cleaned up at the recent edition of the Grammys in Los Angeles, won't just be absent, they haven't even been nominated.

The motorbike helmeted duo (no, not François Hollande and his bodyguard) of Thomas Bangalter of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. aka Daft Punk, apparently declined the offer preferring to take their chances Stateside, where they picked up five awards including album ("Random access memories") and record ("Get lucky") of the year.

Organisers sent out a second invitation to the duo to perform but, as yet, there has been no reply.

So without arguably France's most successful international act at the moment, who has been persuaded to appear and who's up for a possible gong?

Well, you can see all the details here, but the most notable inclusion is not a French artist at all, but...ta da...Belgian Paul van Haver, better known by his stage name Stromae.

Stromae (screenshot from interview with Marie Drucker on France 2 television, August 2013)

The 28-year-old has picked up six nominations in four different categories (huh?) including (deep breath) Male artist of the year, Album of the year (the excellent "Racine carrée") and twice for Original song of the year and Video of the year (both times for "Papaoutai" and "Formidable").



Should he not pick up at least a couple of awards, those voting (which, in some categories include the general public) will need their heads examined.

And especially when you take a look at who he's up against for Original song of the year: ageing rocker Johnny Hallyday for "20 ans" and Maître Gims with "J'me tire de".

Nominated against Stromae in both Male artist of the year and Album of the year (for "Les chansons de l'innocence retrouvée" is Étienne Daho, whose low, almost whispered voice (in other words, he's not much of a singer) has been boring some of us with variations of the same song since the early 1980s.

Zaz, Vanessa Paradis (yet again) and peculiarly enough the male-female duo of Lilly Wood and the Prick (Nili Hadida and guitarist Benjamin Cotto) (winners of the 2011 Best newcomer award) are the three acts nominated in the category Best female artist of the year. Perhaps nobody realised that Cotto is a man and Lily Wood and the Prick are actually a group.




Lilly Wood and the Prick (screenshot from  Where I Want To Be (California) official video)

And there are strange things over in the Album revelation of the year category which includes HollySiz (Cécile Cassel) with "My name is", La Femme and their album "Psycho Tropical Berlin" as well as (here comes another silly name) Cats on trees (duo Nina Goern and Yohan Hennequin) with their album of the same name...er "Cats on Trees".

Yes it's Goern and Hennequin's debut album, but they've been performing together since 2007. Some revelation!

Anyway, the awards will be broadcast live on France 2 and transmitted on France Inter and France Bleu radio on February 14, in what promises to be its usually overdrawn luv-in with Virginie Guilhaume at the helm,

Yes, the same woman who hosted the whole shebang (with Laurent Ruquier) in 2013 and who also presents "Qui sera le prochain grand pâtissier?"
Enjoy!

French magazine to publish Adele sextape photos

Oh isn't it just what you wanted to see and read about?

Pictures alleged to be of the Grammy award-winning British singer Adele in a compromising position.

They appear in this week's edition of the French celebrity gossip magazine "Public" which devotes three whole pages of the 23-year-old "enjoying herself".

"It's the revenge of a former boyfriend", runs the headline on the front cover.

"The images come from a video made with a smartphone," explains the magazine.

Infamous French paparazzo Jean Claude Elfassi has apparently also got his hands on stills from the video and to the delight probably of those with the smallest of minds is planning to publish them online from Saturday - uncensored.

Oh well, it obviously pleases some to mess with the lives of others without any sense of morality.

Clearly if someone is a public figure he, or in this case she, is fair game no matter what.

And by the time the singer has managed to get the slow wheels of French justice to grind into action, the story (what story?) and photos will have done their rounds of the magazines and the Net.

Maybe though the whole thing is a hoax designed to sell more copies.

So, just to take your minds away from what will doubtless be a huge (and perhaps meaningless) buzz and to concentrate on what's really interesting about Adele, here's a video - of her singing.

Friday's French music break - Sinclair, "Ça tourne dans ma tête"

Friday's French music break this week is from singer-songwriter Sinclair, who perhaps hasn't quite lived up to winning the best newcomer award (confusingly in the category "group") at the 1995 Victoires de la musique (the French equivalent of the Grammys).

Sinclair (screenshot from YouTube video)

Sinclair (real name Mathieu Blanc-Francard) is very much now a solo act and one whose musical influences, according to his official site, include Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone.

Yes, the 41-year-old has groove, soul and funk in his blood, as you can hear from his latest single "Ça tourne dans ma tête".

But there's a problem with the sound and his undeniable talent at writing songs with rhythm.

First up he hasn't got a great deal of it when he moves - well not if the video is anything to go by.

Secondly his voice isn't that great and the sound is just a little dated.

It might have shades of Mika to it and although it's definitely something to bop around to, that's it really.

Nothing more. Nothing really fresh and innovative.

And that surely just has to be a little embarrassing as Sinclair was a judge during two seasons of the now defunct TV talent show Nouvelle Star (the French version of Pop Idol) before stepping down in 2009 because he hadn't been satisfied with the musical and artistic level of the candidates during season seven.

Anyway, this is his latest single, taken from the imaginatively titled album "Sinclair" (must have taken a long time to come up with that, as it's only his tenth).

Take a listen and see what you think.

And if you like it, perhaps you want to check him out live.

For a full list of tour dates (march and April 2012) check out his website or go to his Facebook page.

France's "Grammys" - les victoires de la musique

Yes, yes, yes.

We all know that when it comes to music and film, only the United States and a handful of other English-speaking countries really count.

Sure there have been "foreign" Oscar winners across categories (usually the less well-publicised ones) over the years but by and large it's a collective slap on the back from Hollywood to itself.

The same can be surely said for the Grammys. Even though there are awards recognising reggae, Latin and World Music, the international headlines are made by the likes of Lady Gaga Justin Bieber and co.

Just take a look at those nominated in the category Best New Artist this year.

There were five them; Esperanza Spalding, the winner, Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence and The Machine and Mumford & Sons.

Notice anything?

Here's a hint: United States, Canada, Canada, United Kingdom, United Kingdom.

Yep. That's where this year's Best New Artists came from!

But of course there's a whole world beyond North America and other native English speaking countries - really.

And there's plenty of music around that never reaches the ears of those most attuned to the language of Shakespeare in all its many forms, simply because...well who knows? But it probably has something to do with it not being in English.

So to redress the balance - just a little - here's a selection of what was on offer this past week in France as the award for Best Newcomer was handed out at part one (it's complicated) of Les Victoires de la Musique, this country's equivalent, if you will, of the Grammys

First up, Ben l'Oncle Soul

Ready to groove? Then how about tuning your ears into Benjamin Duterde, better known under his stage name of Ben l'Oncle Soul.

Ben l'Oncle Soul (screenshot from YouTube video)

The 27-year-old from the city of Tours in central-western France first came to the attention of a wider audience in 2009 after the release of a six-track EP which included his remake of White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army"

Over the past year though his self-titled album has won critical acclaim with what is described as a sound influenced by the "old school of artists such as Otis Redding, Al Green and Aretha Franklin."

Yes, Ben l'Oncle Soul is French "SOUL" writ large very much in the style of all those US greats and, as if to drive home the point, he's signed to Motown France.




Camélia Jordana

The second nominee was 18-year-old Camélia Jordana Aliouane.

French television talent shows have thrown up a number of fresh faces over the years.

Some have gone on to become household names, others have disappeared whence they came.

Camélia Jordana (screenshot from YouTube video)

Camélia Jordana (she dropped her surname for professional purposes) falls into the former category.

Largely expected to win the now defunct Nouvelle Star (the French version of Pop Idol) in 2009, she was in fact knocked out in the semi-finals.

But "talent will out" and after signing with Sony music, she released her first (self-titled) album in March last year and has already had three hit singles.

No matter what you think of her voice, it's certainly one few can forget.




Zaz

Now here's a coincidence - another artist hailing from Tours - Isabelle Geffroy or "Zaz" to use the name under which she performs.

Perhaps there's something in the water.

Zaz (screenshot from YouTube video)

Her music is a truly eclectic mix of blues, jazz, variety, rock, reggae, rap and the kitchen sink combining with her distinctive sound to produce a singer, who in the words of critics, "Beyond dispute has been blessed with a unique vocal ability as well as a power and vibrato."

Her debut album was a best seller in France last year, hitting the number one spot for six weeks has so far produced two enormous hits; "Je veux" and "Le long de la route".




Lilly Wood & The Prick

Last - and by no means least as the saying goes - Lilly Wood & The Prick.

Lilly Wood & The Prick (screenshot from YouTube video)

Formed and fronted by Nili Hadida et Benjamin Cotto[ back in 2006 - the group perhaps puts paid to the idea that Myspace no longer has any role on the Net, because that's where they were first "discovered".

They sing in English and their music is described as a pop, folk, electro.




There you go. Proof that music is alive and well in France with four artists whose styles are refreshing and...well...you judge.

Now you're probably wondering who won.

Well, after all that lengthy introduction about the Grammys and the overall lack of recognition for acts other than North American or British ones because of the overwhelming linguistic bias...blah, blah, blah.

Yes you've guessed it. The French gave the award of Victoire de la Musique in the category "Best Newcomer" to the only act that sings exclusively in English.

Oh well.