Ahh, la France. I started last week's blog about Scottish music with a food reference, so we'll do that again. Frog's Legs. What's all that about? Tasteless, if you ask me. Snails on the other hand are delicious. They are lathered in garlic butter though, I guess...
On to the music! It was another hard week of choices for me as I used to live in France and got to know a lot of very good music. We started with a band called Les Wampas. Go to one of their gigs in France, and you'll no doubt hear the chant 'Didier Wampas est le roi' - Didier Wampas is the king. Like the Tragically Hip here in Canada, Les Wampas are massive in their homeland. They'll sell out all their gigs, and play on for a very long time, with frequent audience interaction.
When talking about French music, you may have heard of the likes of Johnny Hallyday and Claude François. They're the French Elvises. Or they're, uhh, Elvish, if you will...
Patrick Juvet (who's actually Swiss) had a massive hit with 'Où Sont Les Femmes?' - written in collaboration with Jean Michel Jarre, whose name you'll also have heard. On the show we played Les Wampas' cover version.
It was Eurovision a few weeks ago. Les Wampas tried out to provide France's entry in 2007 with a song simply translated as 'You Gotta Vote For Us'. Unfortunately, not many people did.
As well as Les Wampas trying out for Eurovision, Sebastien Tellier did in 2008 - and he did make it to the final, coming 19th out of the 25 countries with a measly 47 points. Trust me though, Sebastien Tellier is great - and if you haven't heard of him you may well recognise 'La Ritournelle':
For the up and comer, I chose a track by a sixteen year old kid from Nantes who calls himself Madeon. I've no idea what his real name is, but I can tell you he has talent. Check out his SoundCloud page to hear some of his own tracks and some of the remixes he's done for the likes of your very own Deadmau5, as well as Pendulum, Yelle (another great French artist), Alphabeat and the Killers. And you see that really cool artwork he has? Guess who designed it? Yep, again, he did. He's 16. One six. Sixteen. And obscenely talented.
On to the wild card - Les Têtes Raides. They formed in 1984 in Paris, and have produced eleven studio albums to date. I chose to play 'Les Dents' on the show from their 2003 album 'Qu'est-ce qu'on s'fait chier!'. I'd originally planned to play 'Civili' but changed my mind at the last second after George telling me he loves to dive into the ocean of craziness. Watch 'Civili' below (it takes about 40 seconds to get started).
If you listened to the show you'll also have heard a wee snippet from the Jim Murple Memorial. They're a ska/R&B band, also from Paris. Their next album will be their 24th. If you like what you heard, check them out.
I thought long and hard about playing this next band, Les Hurlements d'Leo. They're probably my favourite French band. They hail from Bordeaux and have just released their 5th album. I saw them live in a little town in North East France called Talange. It was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. I'll never forget it, and if you ever get the chance to see them live, you must. You'll probably have to go to France for it though. Otherwise, get yourself a copy of the album 'Oeust Terne'.
Another French band, les Ogres de Barback and l'HDL teamed up to form a 'supergroup', Un Air Deux Familles. This is their gig closer, a cover of Les Béruriers Noirs' 'Salut à Toi'.
And check out this video, the trailer for the new album from David Vincent et Ses Mutants, from Nancy.
Let me know what you think... tweet me @calumshanlin
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