(Cartell Music/SBS)

The Francophile’s annual must-have

I may as well be blunt: if you’re at all interested in French music as it is currently made in France, for French listeners, you must buy this compilation. I stress the qualifier because you won’t find anything from French bands popular in the Anglophone world: there’s no Phoenix here, nor Daft Punk. (Charlotte Gainsbourg gets a pass as one of the few French singers popular both home and abroad.) For the most part, the singers on this compilation employ French (with a smattering of English), so it’s not for the Southern Cross tattoo set, but it does reward French speakers or those capable of listening to foreign pop. Some highlights: Nouvelle Vague chanteuses Phoebe Killdeer and Marina both turn in excellent solo tracks, hinting that solo releases may be on the way, à la Nouvelle Vogue graduates Camille and Mélanie Pain. Meanwhile Nouvelle Vague themselves cover Fad Gadget’s Under The Flag in their new country & western style, and Emilie Simon turns in a completely un-Emilie Simon-esque track in the brassy number Rocket To The Moon. Even Johnny Depp’s girlfriend Vanessa Paradis turns in a number here (unfortunately, not as catchy as her early hit Joe Le Taxi). But, as is usual with these compilations, it’s the unknowns that shine: Rachid Taha’s Bonjour would be total Triple J-bait were it not in French, and -M- gives us a finely-balanced and haunting track in Le Roi Des Ombres. With 32 tracks across two CDs, it’s a great value proposition, and simply a must-have for francophiles, francophones, and those interested in world music.

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CHAD PARKHILL

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