[coll]: FRANCOPHONE SINGLES, FEBRUARY 2006

Here’s another batch of new French songs we received as CD-singles from the Francophonie Diffusion network, ranging from folk-pop to hip-hop. Original album titles listed below. There’s a special “treat” at the end (heh heh heh)!

Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9

1. Anis – “Cergy” from La Chance… (4:16)
Squirrel Nut Zippers-ish good-time rag: nice vox, tinkly piano, clarinet, tuba.

2. Balbino Medellin – “Gitan de Paname” from Gitan de Paname (4:01)
Flamenco-billy! Gypsy intro, then uptempo w/sneering vox, Morricone guitar

3. Balbino Medellin – “Les Reines” from Gitan de Paname (3:51)
midtempo, Spanish guitars with accordion & raw vocals, a real nice sound

4. Marc Lavoine – “Toi mon amour” from L’heure d’été (3:34)
pop ballad with marching beat, pretty chorus adds strings; dull, but nice

5. Raphael – “Et dans 150 ans” from Caravane (2:34)
sweet lullabye-ballad, relaxed and swaying w/acoustic guitar, accordion

6. Rohff – “La puissance” from Au-delà de mes limites (4:12)
hard-edged hip-hop: dull intro, plodding beat, but I like his delivery

7. Rohff – “Seul contre tous” from Au-delà de mes limites (5:15)
funkier and more energetic than #6, MCs trade off, sound really pissed

8. Kaly Live Dub – “Don’t Disturb the Dragon” from Repercussions (5:29)
creepy-ass dubtronica: horror-film creaks, asian moans, reggae beats

9. Kaly Live Dub – “Dirha” from Repercussions (5:07)
not quite as creepy, but still out there, with Arabic samples this time

10. Rinôçérôse – “Bitch” from Schizophonic (3:59)
rock-star posing, so bad it’s… well, bad. But it made me laugh, repeatedly.

[Fo] 3/13/06