Novelle Musique

Well, since I'm a big time music fan I thought that perhaps some of you out there may find it interesting to learn a bit about the artists you can hear and see along the rightside of your screen:

1. REGINA SPEKTOR

Regina is alas not from France but hails from Russia and grew up in New York. I had to add her to the playlist, not only because she is a brilliant musician but she is a speaker of the truth. Paris is in fact lovely in the rain!

2. JONI MITCHELL

One of the world's greatest songwriters and a native Saskatchewanian, Joni is a classic. Her song, Free Man in Paris appeared in 1974 on her album Court and Spark and is about music promoter and close friend David Geffen who she traveled to Paris with.

3. SARAH SLEAN

Many of you may be wondering why Sarah made the playlist cut. Well, her new record, The Baroness is not only brilliant but Sarah wrote it while here in Paris. She relocated here to the City of Lights and did some soul searching in her tiny apartment and the songs on the album were the result! Thus, Slean makes the list simply because she wasn't afraid to move her life across the ocean and she has captured the beauty of this city into an amazing piece of music!

4. AXELLE RED

She is actually a Belgian singer but chose to write and perform in French. Ma Priere appeared on her second album released in 1996, it means My Prayer. The song is basically about how people in the world are acting and how she has traveled through Europe and Africa trying to keep hopeful that the world can change. If anyone else understands it better, let me know, my French is still tres horrible!

5. NOIR DESIR

These guys are a French rockband from Bordeaux. Although popular through the 90's, the band hit troubled waters in 2003 when lead singer Bertrand Cantat was in an altercation with his girlfriend after a party which resulted in her hitting her head and going into a coma in which she unfortunately died from. Cantat was accused of manslaughter and spent 4 years in prison. The bands guitarist has recently said they are planning a new album but was unsure as to whether Cantat would be a part of it. The song, L'homme Presse is criticizing the media industry, producing trash tv and sensationnal programs only to make money, and disrespecting the people's intelligence.

6. MORCHEEBA

They are a British trip hop/pop/jazz group from Britain. Au-dela is off their latest album which includes vocals from a number of different artists since the band no longer has their lead singer Skye Edwards. Their song Au dela features a French singer named Manda who is also featured on the song Gained the World. I'll let you know more about her when I do a bit more research, for now, here's the lyrics to Au-dela en anglais:
BEYOUND/NEXTWORLD
I live and die
I laugh and I cry
I empty the sea
I empty the world
I tell the flower
and the vapour lake...

Sky of all colours
Your sun warms my heart

I live and I fear
I cry in pain
In secret, I bury myself

I look for warmth
I escape in the air
To the next world

Sky of all colours
Your sun warms my heart

*Special thanks to Jon for the insider info on Axelle Red and Noir Desir