I like Metal Urbain, of course. And Mopo Mogo. And Sloy are a good band who are kinda like JSBX or something. And uhhhh... maybe the Stinky Toys ? But other than that I don't know much about french bands or music. What french bands do you guys like ?
edit: I forgot about Heldon.
Re: Good French Bands ?
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 5:21 am
by DaveA
Am no expert, but if you're into the post-punk/avant-garde stuff, definitely check out Ruth/Thierry Mueller, in particular his classic album, Polaroid/Roman Photo. I also like his much later album Far From Paradise with Mushy. A swell, all-killer-no-filler compilation, So Young But So Cold came out in the aughts, featuring Ruth and the likes of Charles de Goal, Jacno (of Ellie & Jacno fame), J.J. Burnel of The Stranglers, etc.
As far as sixties, vaguely mod/freakbeat/whatever stuff goes, Jacques Dutronc is a must. Also a fan of Ronnie Bird (see this CD), particularly "Les Filles En Sucre D'orge" and "S.O.S. Mesdemoiselles." Some great ye-ye girl stuff is to be found if you look into France Gall and Annie Philippe, etc. There's also a very good compilation Whizzz!, which you can download from Amazon if the disc isn't available for a reasonable enough price.
Lio's album Suite Sixteen is sort of an eighties pop update of this stuff. It's catchy and well executed.
As something light, have always found this eighties Elli & Jacno track, "Chica Chica Bongo," to be fun:
As far as sort of moody, instrumental/"library"-adjacent music goes, I love Jacqueline Thibault's stuff under the name Laurence Vanay, in particular this and this (the first one especially goes over well this time a year).
ATM, that's all I got. Am of French descent partially and have absorbed a lot of French culture, but as an outsider I couldn't say much about what goes on there today (French hip-hop/indie rock/metal/dreampop/punk/etc.). HTH
Treponem Pal's debut (1989) kicks some serious ass. Industrial heaviness ala Young Gods. Add some Godfleshery.
Noir desir had some following here in Spain but they're meh.
Re: Good French Bands ?
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:10 am
by tallchris
Baton Rouge. Their last record "Totem" has become one of the my favorite records of the last few years. Broke up shortly after its release, and sadly one of the members recently passed away.
DaveA wrote:As something light, have always found this eighties Elli & Jacno track, "Chica Chica Bongo," to be fun
Elli & Jacno, wow. Deep '80s pop. Stinky Toys, the punk band from which they sprang, were not so remarkable excluding the song "Birthday Party," which is bizarre, fractured, and completely amazing (w/one of the world's most awkward music videos). Methinks Elli in that clip also belongs in the crushes thread from the old forum.