music and notes : : notes and music

You know that whole trend of modern bands mining past decades for their sound (and sometimes even their dress sense) and, as a byproduct, milking the nostalgia factor for all it's worth?

I'm down with that. I am. Milk away, I say.

It's working for me.

Even by saying, "I'm down with that," I'm probably marking myself as aged and decrepit (I'm over 30 for god's sake: utterly irrelevant), but whatever. Holler at your ... girl. And all that.

Because it seems like grunge is working its way back around again, and I'm all for it.

Here is where I need to segue seamlessly into the fact that Noir Désir are one of my all time favourite bands, even though I came to them a decade late, never saw a video until today (thanks YouTube), didn't understand their lyrics at first, and only heard of the tragic story concerning lead singer Bertrand Cantat and his then girlfriend Marie Trintignant fairly recently.

Noir Désir were huge in France in the 90s, but like I said, I caught up with them a decade late.

I guess you could characterise their sound as garage rock (with elements of grunge, or alternative rock), but their oeuvre has a passion, social awareness and immediacy that is rarely as present in the music of their stateside counterparts. (Think: Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, et al. When I revisit their albums now, they still pack a visceral punch, but their incessant self-absorption sets my teeth on edge.)

In another stunning segue (or, if you prefer: non sequitur), this is where Zero come in.

Zero are -- according to their MySpace bio -- a Franco-German rock band, formed in Berlin back in 2001.

They have one demo EP, are now based in Paris and played their first live show in April 2008.

They're very green, and relatively unknown, but on the strength of their single "Les Suicidés", alone, I think they are more than worthy of donning the mantle of Lords (and Lady) of rock français, the coveted spot once occupied by Noir Désir.

Zero are picking up that mantle and running with it, like delirious, naughty children.

There are shades of a harder-edged, darker Karwka in their sound. And a definite whiff of Cobain, too.

Are they a decade too late?

Needless to say, I don't think so.

But then again, what do I know? I'm aged and decrepit.




You can download their tunes over at Jamendo. So get on over and check it out.

[Zero - MySpace] [Zero - Jamendo]

Labels: Alternative, French, Grunge, Noir Desir, Rock, Zero

Hailing from Paris, France, Etyl is (to all intents and purposes) chanteuse Eglantine Hermand.

Hermand has two albums under her belt so far -- La Tortue from 2005 and Les Souris, which was released in March of this year. (And which, unfortunately, stinky old iTunes Canada does not carry.)

Ranging in influence from pop, to electronic, to jazz, Ms. Hermand has a thoroughly distinctive voice and style and I, for one, am hooked.

I guess maybe I'll have to go hunt for her album the old fashioned way? Like in a store? Where they sell you a little box with a shiny disc inside? Crikey...

You can always go and check out her MySpace page, and I would, if I were you. It's well worth it.

Meantime, here's "J'me Fais Mal" from Les Souris:

Labels: French, Indie, Pop, Video

"L'amour et la violence" is the final track off the album Sexuality by french composer Sébastien Tellier.

The album was produced by Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, and there are definitely traces of Punk all over this album. But Tellier, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, is extraordinarily talented, and "L'amour et la violence" is a beautiful meditation on love, life and regret.

It's not so much in the lyrics of the song, but in the mood it creates.

So melancholy, so sweetly tragic, and oh, so very french....



[Sebastien Tellier - MySpace] [Artist website]

Labels: Ambient, French, Pop

I chanced across the following video recently thanks to (of all people) that mad old bird Camille Paglia.

It's a duet between Charlotte Gainsbourg and Étienne Daho, live, on French TV.

It looks like it's been lifted directly from 1972, is cheesy as hell, and I think it's magic-pants. Their performances are so relaxed and unaffected -- light-years away from the absurd bread and circus acts deemed "music entertainment" by our southern neighbours.

I love the word-play in this song, with the constant repetition of the suffix "if", and the way Gainsbourg and Daho's voices perfectly compliment one another.

And Gainsbourg, in this video, is ... dare I say it: Hot.

There I said it.

She is utterly understated and unpretentious and authentic, yet she is smokin', and somehow a thousand times more sensual than, say, this.

Watch:

Labels: French, Pop, Video

According to Wikipedia (I know, I know, can we really trust Wikipedia? And yes, this is thorough-going laziness) -- but anyway -- according to Wikipedia Justice are a French electro house duo consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay.

They've been on the scene since 2003, but released their debut album in June this year.

Think: a harder-edged Daft Punk, with the irreverence and playfulness of LCD Sound-system.

I don’t want to reduce the band to subjective comparisons, however, because it’s entirely its own beast.

A lean, hungry, very clever little beastie. Here’s Let There Be Light and Phantom Part II:



[Justice - MySpace]

Labels: Electronica, French, House