Têtes raides "Gratte Poil" 1999***

I can't remember when, where, or why I bought this CD. It must have been during one of my visits to Paris, or maybe Brussels but way before my Belgian sojourn circa 2015-16. But why? I am not familiar with this band in any way. The CD may have been playing at a record shop I visited at the time, or else it must have been displayed at one of the shop's listening stations and I decided to give it a listen. Anyway, here it is; one of relatively few Francophone albums in my collection. I think I can adequately describe it in a few words as a mix of indie rock and chanson - Jacques Brel in particular, both because of singer Christian Olivier's phrasing, and because of the orchestrations. The latter are quite full, featuring a lot of accordion, violin, and horns. The music is closer to traditional styles like waltz and bal musette than contemporary rock, even though the fact that Têtes Raides started as a post-punk band is sometimes evident. The tunes are mostly quite upbeat and playful, and sometimes too childlike for their own good - songs like "Chapeau" immediately reminded me of that old nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques" - and that's not a good thing. "Bibliothèque" is another kids' tune, which for some reason is cut up in four pieces and scattered throughout the album. Despite a certain feeling of sameness, there are some brilliant moments that really stick out, especially "Le cabaret des nues" (featuring Yann Tiersen of Amelie fame), "Dépèche toi" and noisy rocker "L'iditenté", a collaboration with French band Noir Desir with the two singers sharing the lead vocal. Other highlights are the Brel-like "Je chante", "Les choses" and "C'est dimanche". As for the lyrics, my French isn't good enough to judge adequately but they struck me as playful and original. In the end, the quirky Frenchness, joyful vibes and cute details (barking doggies in "Ennemis", little kiddie choirs in "Patalo") win one over; but I must admit that, taken as a whole, Gratte Poil can be a bit tiresome.

**** for Je chante, Les poupées, C'est dimanche, Dépèche toi, L'iditenté, Le cabaret des nues, Patalo

*** for Les choses, Bibliothèque II, KO, OK, Ennemis, Le gratte poil, Dans la gueule

** for Bibliothèque I, Chapeau, Bibliothèque III, Bibliothèque IV, Urgence

Various Artists "Nouvelle Génération Francaise II" 1995(comp)-disc1**

Random selection generated headache for me today. In particular a double cd with 34 artists and very little information available. Internet search yields absolutely no evidence of its existence. It is nevertheless as real as you and me (well, me at least. I don't know about you). It seems to be a co-production of the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs with the intention of promoting modern French music and culture abroad. Given that I am the proud owner of the only known (to me, that is) copy worldwide, it's safe to say it hasn't met with the success those bureaucrats envisioned. Tonight I will present the 1st cd, sub-titled "Chanson, variete, rock". It starts off with a dramatic cabaret number from Patricia Kaas and continues with 3 more female artists: velvet-voiced ("voix veloutee" according to the liner notes) Liane Foley, Nilda Fernández with a slightly countryish song featuring celtic pipes and Axelle Renoir with the kind of ballad you'd hear at "Grey's Anatomy"- maybe you do hear it in Grey's Anatomy in France, after all they dub everything in French. "Alain Bashung's "Ma Petite Entreprise" is the first song I like, somewhere between Serge Gainsbourg's pseudo-reggae and Chris Rea. Charlélie Couture is (liner notes, again) evidently a man of many talents including design and songwriting. Pow Pow seem to want to be the French Beautiful South but they still have a long way to go. From there on, things begin to warm up: Enzo Enzo play jazzy and breezy pop and Les Têtes Raides offer their very Parisian melange of cabaret, jazz and indie rock. Le Clam's play fast gypsy chanson-punk in the style of Mano Negra. Kent offer a C&W number with fiddle and Fredericks Goldman Jones another forgettable pop song. The name Patrick Bruel rings a bell but the song sounds like 80's Phil Collins at his worst. Jean-Louis Aubert (leader of 80's new-wave Telephone) seems also to be stuck in that decade. Stephan Eicher is apparently a Swiss gypsy, a curious combination for me to visualise. Some folkloric elements save an otherwise boring song. Daran Et Les Chaises present a typical indie ballad (think Travis, Starsailor, Coldplay etc). Noir Désir are, at last, authentic rockers, playing intense and powerful post-punk. Arno is famous but this is the first time I heard his music."Je Ne Veux Pas Etre Grand" echoes Tom Waits' "I Don't Want to Grow Up". He's very theatrical and reminds me somewhat of Jacques Brel and Leonard Cohen but his voice is more ragged. Overall, I wasn't really impressed by what I heard. Only 2-3 really good songs and maybe another 4-5 passably good. Not a great case for French music, monsieur le Ministre...

**** for Les Papiers(Les Têtes Raides), Tostaky (Noir Désir)

*** for Fatiguée D'attendre (Patricia Kaas), Ma Petite Entreprise (Alain Bashung), Jacobi Marchait (Charlélie Couture),Juste Quelqu'un De Bien (Enzo Enzo), J'attends Mon Tour (Les Clam's), Dormir Dehors (Daran Et Les Chaises),  Je Ne Veux Pas Etre Grand (Arno)

** forDoucement (Liane Foly), On T'a Appris (Nilda Fernández), Lulu (Axelle Renoir), Le Poisson Dans La Vitrine (Pow Wow) Allons-Z'à La Campagne (Kent) Juste Après (Fredericks Goldman Jones) Combien De Murs? (Patrick Bruel) Entends-Moi (Jean-Louis Aubert) Rivière (Stephan Eicher)