Back in Town is a song by
Izia, a French rock band fronted by and named for Izïa Higelin. Even though she comes from a showbiz family, the band initially found little favor on French radio. But after a string of
blistering live performances all over France, the self-titled first album became a hit and won a couple of awards at the prestigious Victoire de la Musique ceremony, where Izia performed the song
Let Me Alone. There are a bunch of live performances online, including of
Life is Going Down, a cover of AC/DC's
Touch Too Much and a
duet with Iggy Pop. This past November, sophomore album So Much Trouble was released, featuring such songs as the
title track,
On Top of the World, and my favorite,
Baby.
posted by Kattullus
on Dec 16, 2011 -
9 comments
After Kad & Olivier sign off and the Satisfaction production logo fades, viewing audiences are oftentimes treated to a cold open of an empty talk show set... one that quickly becomes the impromptu dance floor for a shameless Frenchman making an absolute giddy fool of himself while lip-syncing pop songs alongside a menagerie of...
wait, *what*?! That's right.
The Late Late Show's Craig Ferguson appears to have
a not-so-secret French admirer -- one who's not above ripping off both his opening titles and
his signature dance sequences (including
the iconic animal puppets):
"ABC" by The Jackson 5,
"Flashdance" by Irene Cara,
"On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull,
"Waka Waka" by Shakira,
"Men in Black" by Will Smith,
"Let's All Chant" by the Michael Zager Band,
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!,
"It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls, and
"Vive Le Vent (Jingle Bells)" by Tino Rossi.
Luckily, Ferguson's sense of showmanship is
more prodigious than litigious -- he responded to Arthur's "
homáge" by booking a pair of translatlantic crossover shows, with Arthur visiting LA that week and Ferguson flying out to Paris just last month. Video of both shows (plus lots more) inside!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 11, 2011 -
12 comments
"
Imagine, amid the grey serge of wartime France, a tribe of youngsters with all the colourful decadence of punks or teddy boys. Wearing zoot suits cut off at the knee (the better to show off their brightly coloured socks), with hair sculpted into grand quiffs, and shoes with triple-height soles - looking like glam-rock footwear 30 years early - these were the kids who would lay the foundations of nightclubbing. Ladies and gentlemen,
les Zazous."
[more inside]
posted by Paragon
on Feb 8, 2010 -
15 comments
On September 10th, to celebrate their initiation week, 172 communications students at the University of Quebec at Montreal
decided to put on a show. After weeks of preparation, the costumed and prop-wielding crowd enacted
an exuberant, complex, and flawlessly-choreographed performance of the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling" that sprawled through the campus's multi-story Judith Jasmin Pavilion... and they did it all in
one continuous take (on their
second try). The feat is just the most recent example of "
lipdubbing" -- a video phenomenon where a single camera moves through a crowd of highly coordinated lip-syncers in a single seamless take, with the original recording dubbed over the finished product.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Oct 1, 2009 -
83 comments
Emily Loizeau's
Je Suis Jalouse was for me the kind of song that immediately makes you want more. Emily's debut album
L'autre bout du monde (
The Other Side of the World) was released in 2006. She began studying piano at the age of 5, and cites Georges Brassens, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles as her primary influences. Listen to more wonderfulness with
Sister,
Je Ne Sais Pas Choisir, or the
title track from her debut album.
More listening if you are at last.fm
posted by lazaruslong
on Jul 17, 2009 -
5 comments
Head over to
Cheikha Rimitti's MySpace page and listen to the first tune up on her player (starts when you open the page), called
Saida. Whoa! Is that badass or
what? Well, there's 5 other tunes of hers there for your listening pleasure, covering a wide swath of stylistic territory within the Algerian music tradition she was such an important part of. Yet
another MySpace page pays tribute (with 4 more songs!) to this powerful singer, and you can also learn more about her at the
Cheikha Rimitti website, which is in French, but with links like "Musique" and "Vidéos", you shouldn't have too much trouble with it. There's an informative English-language video
biography of this "Mother of
Raï", not to mention this performance footage (with those fantastic flutes!) of
Saida.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Feb 5, 2008 -
18 comments
Flamenco clearly belongs to spain. But so many immigrants came to France to find work or escape from the civil war that there is a small community of guitarists in southern France who are playing it with original voices.
Bernardo Sandoval was the subject of a
post in mefi music some time ago.
Antonio "kiko" ruiz is about to come to the United States with Renaud-Garcia-Fons : their work can be seen
here.
Serge Lopez is another great guitarist who puts some
guitar parts on his website.
Salvador Paterna adds to the traditional sound of flamenco both the 'oud and the violin.
They are all from or nearby
Toulouse.
posted by nicolin
on Sep 4, 2007 -
8 comments
Remember
these? Of course you do! Well, two
new videos make for interesting comparison. Not Washington D.C. but Paris France. Not the subway station but the streets. Not classical but pop. Not Joshua Bell but
The Shins. Begin armchair comparative cultural criticism.....NOW!
posted by jmccw
on Apr 16, 2007 -
24 comments
Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail. Best known as the drummer for 1970s punk band The Damned, Rat Scabies grew up with a father interested in the mysteries of the French town of
Rennes-le-Château, which may or may not contain the Holy Grail and in the enigmatic priest
Berenger Sauniere. Conspiracy theories surrounding the town first popped up in the 1970s book
Holy Blood, Holy Grail and gained a certain amount of infamy in recent years from
The DaVinci Code.
Upon striking up a friendship with his neighbor, journalist Christopher Dawes, Scabies discovered common interests in conspiracy theories and all things paranormal and a shared hatred of the
DaVinci Code. Now the pair wrote a book about their alcohol-sodden quest for the Holy Grail that asks the question: What happens when an ex-punk rocker goes looking for the Holy Grail?
posted by huskerdont
on Sep 16, 2005 -
19 comments
French politicians polish cultural credentials. France's presidential hopefuls have begun pledging to defend the country's cherished culture, hoping to drum up support from artists worried that American films and music will steamroll finer French productions.
This rhetoric makes it sound like American films are picking up guns to massacre poor defenseless French culture. Maybe American films are so successful because they give people something that the "finer French productions" don't, and if so, then is that such a horrible thing? After all, we are just giving the people what they want, right? And if that takes money away from more artsy productions, then whose fault is that anyway?
posted by epimorph
on Apr 8, 2002 -
15 comments
