Friday's French music break - John Mamann featuring Kika, "Love Life"

Friday's French music break this week is one of those songs you're more than likely to have heard on the radio in France at some point over over the past few months

It's "Love life" by John Mamann, featuring Portuguese singer Kika, and is the first track to be released from his latest album of the same name.

John Mamann (screenshot from official video)

The song is  heavy on the feel-good factor; a catchy tune (of course) with simple lyrics (what else) sung alternately in French (Mamann) and English (Kika).

Kika (screenshot from official video)

All in all, it an instantly hummable, whistleable (there's plenty of that at both the beginning and end), singalongable (are any of those words?), la-la-la-able song with a pleasant enough mélodie...whoops, melody - and, let's face it, the simplest of refrains that even the most forgetful will not have trouble remembering.

Love life ( la la la la la... ),
Love life ( la la la la la... ),
It's you and I ( la la la la la... ),
Love life ( la la la la la... ).

Now some of you out there who've read previous Friday's French music break posts (here) might have noticed similarities between "Love life" and another duet from French television actress Élisa Tovati and a former Eurovision Song Contest entrant for Belgium (and runner-up in that country's X Factor), Tom Dice.

Back in 2011 the pair teamed up for the equally melodious and gentle-on-the ear summer hit "Il nous faut" sung in both French and English, and written by...Mamann.

In fact, although the 43-year-old is about to release his third album he's probably better known for his songwriting credentials, having composed and produced for the likes of Johnny Hallyday, Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier and Louisy Joseph after she left the all-girl band (French) Popstars winners L5 to pursue a solo career.

Plus...yes there's more...Mamann is one of the composers of the musical Robin des Bois which has recently opened in Paris and stars (yet) another former Popstars winner, Matt Pokora.

Anyway, that's probably more than enough background info.

If you would like more, you can take a look at a more comprehensive bio (in French) online at Universal Music, log on to his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

Mamann has just appeared as the warm-up act for Zaz in Amiens and has a few performance dates scheduled over the next couple of months, including one at Bus Palladium in Paris on December 3.

For now though, listen to the official video and be prepared perhaps get ready to break out into a few la, la, las.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

Friday's French music break Lillywood and the prick, "Middle of the night"

Friday's French music break this week comes from a group with the (um) glorious name of Lilly Wood and the Prick.

Great name for a band don't you think?

Er. Pass.

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

"Middle of the night" is the first single to have been released from their latest album "The fight", a fine follow-up to their debut "Invincible friends"

Online information about Lilly Wood and the Prick is a bit thin on the ground.

That fount of all knowledge, both correct and incorrect, otherwise known as Wikipedia, doesn't have a great deal on them. In fact their English entry is - well sparse to say the very least - which means you have to go a-huntin elsewhere.

Their website is a little disappointing although is has links to their Myspace account and the inevitable Facebook page complete with upcoming dates.

So who are they?

Well, they're a duo: singer Nili Hadida and guitarist Benjamin Cotto.

The pair write all their own material.

Their sound is distinctive and categorised  - always a bit of a danger when trying to pigeon hole artists whose music defies labels - as folk Electronic / Folk / Pop.

One thing's for sure - they cannot be mistaken for any other French act - in fact you would have a hard time knowing they were French - more on that in a moment.

Hadida and Cotto were apparently introduced to each other back in 2006 by friends in a bar in Paris and began working together within 48 hours.

"We barely each other at the beginning," Hadida told Nagui, the presenter of France 2's music show Taratata.

"But through music we've had a chance to get closer and really understand how the other person ticks."

Hmmm.  Great story isn't it? And the two seem pretty sincere. There again, who cares whether it's entirely true as their music ain't half bad.

Their big break - in terms of wider recognition came at the 2011 Victoires de la Musique awards (the French equivalent of the Grammys) when the pair walked away with the prize of Best Newcomer (le groupe ou l'artiste révélation du public) ahead of  Ben l'Oncle Soul, Camélia Jordana and Zaz.

Now don't worry if your French isn't very good. The group sings exclusively in English - probably down to Hadida's international upbringing and influences (she was born in Israel, raised in Paris and has lived in London and California).

There's definitely a commercial appeal to their music and unlike some other "foreign groups" writing and singing in English, their lyrics actually make sense.

Hadida's voice is distinctive, and what's more the pair can perform live.

There's no playback or flashy gimmicks necessary as witnessed by this appearance on Le Figaro's music show "Le Live".



Their music is simple without any pretensions although Hadida admits that some of the songs, much like the group's name, are meant to provoke.

Ah yes.

About that name...

"Nili isn't necessarily Lilly and nor am I the Prick. In fact it could be the opposite," Cotto said with a degree of humour in an interview with By the Way blog.

"Seriously though the name is more about a group of words which (to us) sound good together and it's in keeping with how we want to progress: the magical aspect reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland mixed with something a little more down to earth."

Yes. Well.

Maybe they'll think about changing their name should they ever become successful outside of France.

One thing's for sure, whatever they're called, the pair produce some excellent music.

Here's the official clip of "Middle of the night".

Enjoy.

Star Academy's Manika Auxire - the voice that could sink a thousand ships

A couple of familiar formats have returned to French TV screens recently and both of them are searching, or supposedly acting as launching pads, for musical "talent".

Star Academy, the show that "discovered" Jenifer, Nolwenn Leroy and Magalie Vaé (who?) during its nine seasons on TF1, and the Pop Idol-inspired Nouvelle Star which over eight years on M6 gave France the likes of Christophe Willem, Julien Doré, Amel Bent and Jonatan Cerrada (another "who"?) are back after an unregrettable absence.

Manika Auxire (screenshot profile on Star Academy)

You might have a little difficulty finding either of them as there was a reason why TF1 and M6 cancelled the shows.

But that hasn't stopped two of the country's digital terrestrial television (TNT) channels, repackaging clapped-out concepts in an effort to attract viewers.

While Nouvelle Star is still in the audition phase on the newly-relaunched D8, owned by the Canal + Group, Star Academy is well underway on NRJ 12.

There have already been two live prime time shows: the first to introduce the contestants to the viewing public, and the second to begin the process of weekly elimination.

And on the evidence so far, the least that can be said is there's far from being a bottomless pit of musical talent in France.

Well, that can surely be the only conclusion to be drawn by the inclusion among the 14 Star Academy competitors of a certain Manika Auxire.

The 22-year-old put in a show-stopping performance of the Carly-Rae Jepsen smash hit "Call me maybe" (Jepsen was herself the product of a TV talent show in Canada) during the opening programme.

Obviously not content with brutalising Jepsen's song, the former Miss Poitou-Charentes (aha...the real reason for her inclusion - to add "une touche de glamour" to the proceedings?) found herself among the three nominees threatened with elimination the following week and promptly massacred another tune...Zaz's 2010 hit, "Je veux".

Now for those of you with strong constitutions, you can hear just how talentless Auxire really is - well at least when it comes to singing.

Here's her version of "Call me maybe" followed by Jepsen's just for comparison.





And if you're a real glutton for punishment, speed through the whole of the second programme to discover her - thankfully - last TV warbling performance (for now) at one hour 21 minutes and 47 seconds - almost two minutes of aural torture.

Or you could always listen to Zaz.



A word of warning. Dowloading the full replay programme will take a while, so you've more than enough time to peel the spuds, wash the kitchen floor or wrap some Christmas presents.

But if you have both the patience and the masochistic tendency to hear how awful she is, you might want to dull the pain with a very stiff something-or-other beforehand.

The woman can't sing - in tune at least - and perhaps it's not surprising the French have the expression "chante comme une casserole", although that's being a little unkind to saucepans.

Friday's French music break - Zaz, "La Fée"

Friday's French music break this week comes from a singer who over the past year has had phenomenal success in France.

Zaz (screenshot from Le Figaro video)

Zaz fair burst on to the country's music scene in 2010 with her self-titled debut album totting up sales of 500,000 +

It spent over two months in the top spot and generated two hit singles; "Je veux" and "Le long de la route".

The 31-year-old was nominated in the category "Best newcomer" at the French equivalent of the Grammys - les victoires de la musique - losing out to the group Lilly Wood & The Prick, but she picked up "Song of the year" for Je veux.


Clearly Zaz isn't an overnight sensation. She has worked long and hard to get where she is and has probably been helped by a voice that is markedly different from anyone else's and a style of music that is distinctive with its jazz, folk, pop and street influences.

Her latest single, La Fée (the fairy) is also taken from her debut album and is one of three tracks written for her by singer-songwriter Raphaël.

La Fée (screenshot from lyricstranslate.com)

It is - quite appropriately - enchanting, and once again displays the unique quality of her voice and her ability to use it almost as an instrument.

So without further ado here's La Fée

For those of you who understand French enjoy the magic of the video.




If you need a translation of the lyrics, you'll find a rather good one here.

And just to compare and contrast, here's the version as sung by the person who penned the song, Raphaël.



Bon weekend.

Yael Naïm wins Best Female Artist at France's Victoires de la musique awards

Tuesday evening saw part two of Les Victoires de la musique awards, the French equivalent of the Grammys, broadcast live from Paris on France 2.

"Part two" because, in their infinite wisdom, organisers decided viewers probably weren't up for several hours of tra-la-la-ing and thank you speeches to all and sundry and split the ceremony in two.

Yael Naïm (screenshot from YouTube video)

February 9 was dedicated solely to newcomers and "revelations" with the public getting to vote in each category and the whole shebang being broadcast live from the northern city of Lille on France 2's (much) smaller sister station France 4.

Meanwhile Tuesday saw awards handed out to the "more established" artists with industry professionals getting to determine who got what.

Of course the voting procedure is more complex than that; but by and large the heavyweight awards were decided by those "in the know" who had already whittled the nominees in each category down to four and, apart from the Song of the Year which was left to a public vote, determined who got the gongs.

Perhaps the most interesting category of the evening was that of Best Female Artist because it had, in a real sense, a truly international flavour to it.

Added to that, there were some stunning performances although only three of the nominees were present.

Canadian Cœur de pirate (otherwise known as Béatrice Martin when she's not performing) who won the award in 2010 for Best Song gave a simple voice and piano rendition of "Francis" from her self-titled 2009 album.

Nigerian-French singer-songwriter Aṣa (pronounced Asha), trademark big specs and velvet timbre of a voice, treated the audience and viewers to a groovy "Be my man" taken from her 2010 album "Beautiful imperfection".



And French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naïm added a touch of soul and jazz as well as a heap of gospel to her pop-folk rock "Come home" from her "She was a boy" album.

Phew!

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Only Vanessa Paradis - French model-actress-singer and partner of Johnny Depp (or should that be the other way round?) was missing.

Perhaps she had guessed she wouldn't be picking up an award this time around but she already has a heap of them to her name.

And the winner is...Yael Naïm.

In the night's other categories awards were picked up by Gaëtan Roussel for both Best Male Artist and Best Album, M (full name Matthieu Chedid) and veteran Eddy Mitchell jointly for best concert/show/tour and Philippe Katerine (love him or hate him) for his splendidly as-usual off-the-wall "La banane" as Best Video.



The last award for Best Song - and the only one on the night left to the public vote - went to "Je veux" by Zaz.

As Paris Match said, "A lively evening and a long way from the seemingly interminable hours of poorly paced entertainment" viewers were subjected to last year.

Albi's Pause Guitar festival line-up announced

If you're looking to attend an open-air concert in a spectacular location this summer then perhaps you need look no further than the southwestern French city of Albi.

Albi (from Wikipedia, author: Marion Schneider & Christoph Aistleitner)

The line-up for this year's Pause Guitar festival taking place July 7-10 has just been announced, and if you're a fan of the French music scene, then it's definitely the place to go.

All four of the acts nominated in this year's category of Best Newcomer at Les Victoires de la Musique, the French equivalent of the Grammys, are slated to appear; winners Lilly Wood & The Prick, Ben l'Oncle Soul, Camélia Jordana and Zaz.

Also performing at various venues throughout the city will be Joe Cocker, Philippe Katerine, Gaéten Roussel, Aaron, Cocoon and, and and...

Heck, if you want a full list of who'll be playing when and where, and you want to books tickets, head over to the festival's website and take a look around.

If (French) music ain't your thing then Albi has plenty more to offer.

It's the capital of the département of Tarn and just an hour's drive away from one of the country's largest cities, Toulouse.

Set on the river Tarn, it's architecturally stunning with a host of terra cotta brick buildings typical of the region, most notably the 13th century Sainte Cécile Cathedral.

Sainte Cécile Cathedral, Albi

Not to be missed either is the Palais de la Berbie which since 1922 has also housed a museum dedicated to the works of the city's most famous son, the painter Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa.

Last August the Episcopal City of Albi became a Unesco World Heritage site.

It includes the Cathedral, the Palais, the Pont Vieux - a stone bridge built in the 11th century and later clad in the characteristic red brickstone - as well as parts of the banks of the river Tarn.

Albi, river Tarn

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.