Quebec-French music

thankyougrandma

I predict this thread will sink fast , but i have some free time ahead, so here are some Quebec bands music i think everyone should discover (even if no one will ), all in french... (no illegal mp3 link provide).

If you're french or from Canada and want to contribute or are in a french band, post your link here.

Jean Leloup
Try:
I Lost My Baby (english chorus!!!)
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/51635

Breastfeeders
Try:
Angle Mort
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/27909

Malajube
Try:
La Valérie
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/32574

Plywood 3/4
Try:
Bombe à Talon Haut
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/48899

Fred Fortin
Try:
Scotch
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/15383

Karkwa
Try:
Le Coup D'état
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/51639

Navet Confit
Try:
Automne
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/73642

1STmammal2wearPants

merci madame, mais je n'aime pas la musique francaise :(

however, i do like a band from montreal, arcade fire.

thankyougrandma

1STmammal2wearPants wrote:

merci madame, mais je n'aime pas la musique francaise :(

however, i do like a band from montreal, arcade fire.

last time i check i was still a guy

French is not a genre, it's rock in french, folk in french, indy pop in french, punk in french, etc.... just sayin...

Arcade Fire are great, i hope they'll make at least one complete french song for the next album...

1STmammal2wearPants

thankyougrandma wrote:

last time i check i was still a guy

French is not a genre, it's rock in french, folk in french, indy pop in french, punk in french, etc.... just sayin...

Arcade Fire are great, i hope they'll make at least one complete french song for the next album...

i just saw the grandma, so i assumed haha. sorry

surferdude

thankyougrandma wrote:

last time i check i was still a guy

French is not a genre, it's rock in french, folk in french, indy pop in french, punk in french, etc.... just sayin...

Arcade Fire are great, i hope they'll make at least one complete french song for the next album...

Quebec and french rock are their own genre just like Quebec is a nation. In general french and Quebecois music has their own musical and lyrical sensibilities, history, distinct society over englisgh rock so it is it's own genre.

I used to like Offenbach and a few others when I heard them in Montreal. But I basically enjoy music more when sung in my native tongue.

thankyougrandma

surferdude wrote:

Quebec and french rock are their own genre just like Quebec is a nation. In general french and Quebecois music has their own musical and lyrical sensibilities, history, distinct society over englisgh rock so it is it's own genre.

I used to like Offenbach and a few others when I heard them in Montreal. But I basically enjoy music more when sung in my native tongue.

But "french music" doesn't describe a genre, that's all i mean. Quebecois trad music is a genre, with Irish roots, accordeon, violins, reel etc.

Quebec rock might be a genre, and it will soon invade the ROC and the States... hehe...

Yefa

I saw La Bottine Souriante headline the Saturday at the 2005 Lowell Folk Festival. They were amazing & had the whole crowd going. Go see them if you have the chance - you won't regret it.

http://www.bottinesouriante.com

thankyougrandma

thankyougrandma wrote:

Malajube
Try:
La Valérie
http://www.postedecoute.ca/catalogue/album/32574

WOW!!

I usually don't like Pitchfork, but they had a review of Malajube newest album, which is a total surprise cause french bands are usually flying way under the radar. It's a great album (top 5 of the year, easily), and the review is pretty accurate.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39144/Malajube_TrompeLoeil

thankyougrandma

Yefa wrote:

I saw La Bottine Souriante headline the Saturday at the 2005 Lowell Folk Festival. They were amazing & had the whole crowd going. Go see them if you have the chance - you won't regret it.

http://www.bottinesouriante.com

Great! I'm not a huge fan, but this music sure is great to get everyone in the dancing/party mood . There's a lot of these bands, La Bottine Souriante are only a sample, see Yves Lambert (he started La Bottine Souriante, now on his own), Les Charbonniers de l'enfer, Mes Aieux and many many more.

Klaypersonne

If you're into more experimental and out there music, you could try Fly Pan Am. They're a band from Montréal (who sadly are on indefinite hiatus) and are mostly instrumental. However they do have a number of songs with vocals in French, especially on their album N'écoutez Pas. It's some pretty good stuff.

bubbamackdaddy69

Yeah I've listened to some french music in the past and really like Jean Leloup..
as well I have listened to Berurier Noir somewhat when I was younger and Les Colocs

alobar

These are awesome songs! Thanks for the post.

Here's my ranking of the artists:

1. Malajube
2. Karkwa
3. Les Breastfeeders
4. Plywood 3/4 (or Beaute Mecanique)
5. Jean Leloup
6. Fred Fortin
7. Navet Confit

Sonja_S

What about the Low Millions? I know their album is in English, but Adam Cohen's solo album is in French.

Inkdaub

What about Les Georges Leningrad? Are they from Montreal?

thankyougrandma

Inkdaub wrote:

What about Les Georges Leningrad? Are they from Montreal?

yes they are, i saw them opening for Sonic Youth, weird band...

thankyougrandma

Here's another great review for Malajube latest album...

Malajube
Trompe-L'Oeil
(Dare to Care)
US release date: 31 October 2006
UK release date: Available as import
by Adrien Begrand

When Final Fantasy was named the winner of the inaugural Polaris Music Prize, Canada’s answer to the UK’s Mercury Prize, it wasn’t the biggest of surprises, as Owen Pallett’s one-man band has captivated critics and indie fans enough during the last two years to be a deserving recipient of the $20,000 award. That said, when the 10-artist short list was announced earlier this past summer, an even more obscure Montreal band turned out to be the biggest revelation, its song on the subsequent short list compilation the disc’s highlight, leaving many English speaking listeners, not to mention the odd juror (including yours truly), wondering, why am I only hearing of Malajube now?

Montreal has given us a bevy of Anglophone music over the past few years, ranging from the great (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade) to the atrocious (AIDS Wolf), but for all the indie cool the city has exuded, the majority of Francophone bands have seemed to slip past the tastemakers’ radar. The province of Quebec has a strange, insular French-speaking popular culture, one that remains foreign to the rest of Canada, so when Malajube beat out other well-hyped Canadian acts like Destroyer and Islands on the Polaris list, one had to wonder cynically if the nomination was a token nod to French Canadian music. Thirty seconds into the jubilant “Pâte Filo”, however, and any skepticism was swept away by some of the most euphoric, contagious Canadian indie rock to come out in the last 12 months.

With its kitchen sink approach to recording, cramming every sound imaginable into a muddy mix to the point where you think the proverbial dam will burst, by as many contributing musicians as Broken Social Scene uses, and with songs that mine several different musical eras at once, Trompe-L’Oeil is arguably the most joyously cluttered album to come round these parts since the Sleepy Jackson bombarded its way into our hearts three years ago. At first, Malajube’s apparent lack of focus is alarming, but at the heart of every song is a beguiling simplicity, with astounding hooks buried underneath all the energetic activity, completely devoid of the kind of preciousness that tends to undermine the music of other hipster darlings.

There’s such a whirlwind of activity on the album, and all sung in French, I might add, that it’s best to sit back and drink it all in. To mention all the influences pulled out would be pointless: folk morphs into twee, into ska, into cabaret, into goth, into ‘70s AM radio pop, into post punk, into power pop, into post rock, and on, and on. Lyrically, singer Julien Mineau tosses out oddball poetic nuggets in his native tongue, from polar bears riding buses to mouths full of confetti, but whether it’s a genuine love song ("Ton Plat Favori") or a bit of esoteric wordplay ("Casse-cou"), the music, and most importantly, the hooks, are superb enough to transcend any language barrier.

“Pâte Filo” is an absolute gem, highlighted by its cascading piano, Mineau’s blissed-out falsetto vocals, and note-perfect use of slide guitar, which ascends and descends playfully. The buoyant “Montréal -40°C” might seem like a Modest Mouse homage at first, but quickly dissolves into a whimsical sing-along refrain followed by an inexplicable waltz during the bridge before concluding abruptly. Ragtime piano collides with robust rock ‘n’ roll on the riotous “Ton Plat Favori”, while the gorgeous ballad “Étienne D’Août” moves at a surprisingly restrained gait, boasting the kind of dreamy melody that British piano balladeers would kill for, yet never panders to the listener, the second half inclusion of strings sounding more stately than stadium rock.

Elsewhere, “Le Crabe” pulls out the power chords briefly, its wonky opening riff gives way to four more separate movements in four minutes before comfortably coming full circle at its conclusion. The frantic “Fille À Plumes”, meanwhile, features flailing, dance-driven percussion by Francis Mineau, while “La Russe” marks a sudden foray into simple techno, with guest vocals by separatist Quebecois rap group Loco Locass. “La Monogamie” is a good microcosm of the entire album, a song that careens from one extreme to the other, but miraculously, the band manages to keep everything intact, the stylistic shifts never sounding arbitrary.

Like the best indie rock records, Trompe-L’Oeil works around its low-budget limitations; the mix does sound dense and overwhelmed at times, but the vocal melodies are always there to keep each song centered, and when the instrumental arrangements do come close to overkill, the band always knows just when to pull back enough to avoid alienating the listener. Not only is it one of the finest Canadian albums of the year, but it’s a huge one for Canada’s Francophone music community, one that’s managed to attract the attention of people outside Quebec, opening a small, hitherto unknown musical scene to a much larger audience. Vous avez attiré notre attention, mes amis. Keep the great music coming.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/7135/malajube-trompe-loeil/

Echoes

I wake up to french language pop every morning, and it sounds really nice