What singers, groups etc do you like, past or present, that sing in French? From France obviously, from Belgium (Brel, Beaucarne...), from Québec (Leclerc, Vigneault and many younger singers), from African countries or elsewhere?
Right now I'm listening to the French singer Barbara http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara (not to be confused with Barbra), who always touches me way down there. I am listening to the "chanson" programme on Espace-Musique, Radio-Canada 2 - any of you can listen to that on the internet.
Posts: 868 | Location: Montréal | Registered: 29 January 2006
j'ecoute par exemple de Canada Voisine, St Pier, C. Dion. de France beaucoup plus; les favorites sont Florent Pagny, Francis Cabrel, Nadiya, helene segarra, M. Pokara. et le seul ancienne se Charles Aznavour.
Par contre sur l'internet j'ecoute plutot espagnol(Espagne) et anglais (USA)
My favourite singers are the Canadian McGarrigle sisters - does that make me very passé? I love their songs whether in English or French, my favourite being The Firstborn Son (...he's the special one) because my first baby was born just around that time and it is so true!!
Pedamar - maybe you are too young! Katie and Anna McGarrigle were big in the seventies (my eldest is now 30!) and that record (yes, an LP then!)was called 'Dancer with Bruised Knee'. They may be a bit folksy for you - they are bit jazz, bit folk, bit pop which I think makes a great mixture. They are still going strong tho' - you can read about them here
Originally posted by felicity: My favourite singers are the Canadian McGarrigle sisters - does that make me very passé? I love their songs whether in English or French, my favourite being The Firstborn Son (...he's the special one) because my first baby was born just around that time and it is so true!!
Felicity:
The McGarrigles have performed recently at concerts our fabulous Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. They are still very much revered in the folk music world, at least here in the Midwest U.S.
Posts: 452 | Location: Chicago | Registered: 25 April 2006
trés bien Fancy Django Reinhardt est belge donc francophone aussi. Jazz player bien connu. les autres oui français.sauf paris combo est un melangé même avec une australiane!
What's wrong with old stuff? What's wrong with Serge Gainsbourg, for instance? And what about Mouloudji (great existentialist era-singer)?? It's not about what your age is, it's how much you are interested in culture, be it present or before your time. If you want to try something really strange, try to find stuff by Marianne Oswald. She was a singer from the 30-50s, who sang Cocteau, Brecht, Prevert --that kind of things. But her delivery is unlike any other singer. For new stuff, a little, not well-known band I like is Holden. Yes, they are french. They are on myspace, although they have a few records out.
I knew you were teasing, but everyday you hear the same rant --"I wasn't born then". What a lame excuse for ignorance! You mean Charlotte? She's so cute & so good that you can but hate her guts!!! More seriously, her album is a little too much father-Gainsbourg-like. The brits who wrote it (along with the Air guys) have discovered the 1970 "Melody Nelson" album, and can't get over the lush string arrangements. And, of course, "Initials BB", the fantastic Bardot hommage written by SG in the sixties (and recorded in London).
yeah its like my grandfather always said: its not how old you are but how old you feel. yes right charlotte. i think it is an attempt of capitalizing on the name: dont see her going much higher if anything the name always help.
I notice that the original query does not exclude males, so I must add Partrick Bruehl. His double cd w/Aznevour is great. I love Carla Bruni, aussi, and discovered the mesmerizing Bia prowling on emusic.
Does anyone have good download sources for French music?
Can't help with download sources but here's a link to French chansons that you can listen to online: http://www.malhanga.com/musicafrancesa/ With all the songs you also get the lyrics.
My favorites: Axelle Red (Belgian!) Nadya Patricia Kaas Julien Clerc (for his incredible looks) Charles Aznavour
I'm just an intermediate student of the language, but I'm always looking for something interesting to listen to. I found them all on amazon.com, although you'll have to go to amazon.fr to listen to soundclips for alot of them...
~ Les Chants d'Eros
Pascal Obispo ~ Les Fleurs du Bien
Nolwenn Leroy ~ Histoires Naturelles
Lara Fabian ~ En toute intimité
Ariane Moffatt ~ Coeur dans La Tete
Posts: 11 | Location: Richmond, Virginia | Registered: 28 March 2006
NPR had a recent segment on current French music. It includes a bit about Charlotte Gainsbourg. I was looking for information about Camille. I heard one of her songs recently from her first album and really liked her sound. They also mention Emilie Simon.
One of my favorites from Belgium is band from the late 80's called Vaya Con Dios. They have a sound similar to Pink Martini.
Posts: 6959 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
From the 60's, I loved Nino Ferrer's witty wacky lyrics. How can such a funny man commit suicide?
From the eighties, I liked the ultra-hip Rita Mitsouko, the only French rock I can "do". The singer Catherine Ringer has such lungs! I saw her explain in an interview that as a young punk (as in the punk movement) she was singing soprano in a Xenakis opera at night and making porno movies in the daytime.
I have a faible all those American pop songs sung by Clo-Clo and others. Carpenters stuff sounds so much nicer in French. Who sang "my baby took the morning train" in French (became "l'amour est comme une cigarette)? Sylvie Vartan? Did she also sing Bay City Rollers' "I only want to be with you" ("à present tu peux en aller)?
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