Last year I picked up on a Keren Ann cd, "Nolita". Some songs were sung in English, but it was the French vocal songs that grabbed me. French pop was something I once avoided but now, having hunted down Keren Ann's back catalog, I totally love what I hear. Next up I searched for samples and then albums from Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Francoiz Breut and yes, Brigitte Bardot. I haven't explored much beyond these chanteuses but I'm willing to explore deeper into this genre.

Anyone else here like French pop or French alt-pop (as I suppose Keren Ann might be) and can recommend other artists? I'm especially curious about Brigitte Fontaine who I've only heard some short samples from.

Neither of these feature female singers, which seems to be the connection between your other guideposts, but I would recommend the French alt-pop groups Phoenix and Tahiti 80 (and Air, but they're much more well-known). For English-sung but French-accented female vocals, try Ivy, fronted by the lovely Dominique Durand and featuring the skills of Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger.

I'd forgotten about those artists you mentioned, pE. I do have Alphabetical by Phoenix and Apartment Life by Ivy (it's been on my list to re-play for too long). I haven't heard Tahiti 80 yet, thanks for tip on that one. There's a couple French electronica pop artists whose names escape me now that I heard tracks from on some comp I can't recall. Sounds like more research is ahead of me.

Tahiti 80 is super-cool, if you let them be.

Check out Ivy's Guestroom, which is all covers of songs by The Go-Betweens, Ronettes, Nick Heyward, House of Love, Orange Juice, and more. Quite loverrly....

Thanks for the recommendations, ya'll, and keep 'em coming. The French electronica artists I was trying to recall are Octet, Cassius (more dance-oriented) and Dimitri From Paris (this sounded the more fun of the trio).

I'm from the province of Québec in Canada, so here are some VERY great artists / songs from Québec:

- Dumas (I will put some pressure on everyone until i know that someone listened to some music from Dumas ) Here are some of its awesome songs: "J'erre", "Avant l'aube", "linoléum", and the extreme high recommended "Valmont"

- Jérome Minière (singer-songwriter-electro)
- Daniel Bélanger

Some chanteuses:

- Taïma (it's kind of a duo, but it's the girl who sings)
- Lhasa
- Arianne Moffat

quote:

Originally posted by eggTweedyegg:
I'm from the province of Québec in Canada, so here are some VERY great artists / songs from Québec:

- Dumas (I will put some pressure on everyone until i know that someone listened to some music from Dumas ) Here are some of its awesome songs: "J'erre", "Avant l'aube", "linoléum", and the extreme high recommended "Valmont"

I found a videoclip of Dumas tonight and really enjoyed it. If you know of any song samples somewhere, I'd be happy to give them a listen (I couldn't find any on his site, it was really slow navigation there).

I also found quite a few samples for Arianne Moffat who has gained top priority for my album want list. Still researching the others you mentioned and much thanks for mentioning them!

I'm happy to see that you've enjoyed these artists. Here are the best songs/videos from Dumas: J'erre, Linoléum, miss Ecstasy, Vol en éclats

Tahiti 80 - "Wallpaper For The Soul" is a GREAT disc. But like someone else said, you have to take it for what it is; catchy, well-arranged pop with not much lyrical depth. Still, on that level it's pretty outstanding. Its sound lies somewhere inbetween Top 40 pop and something more indie like Air or The Beta Band (maybe?).

Follow-up time: I picked up some used cds, a couple by Ivy and one by Tahiti 80 (A Piece of Sunshine, still looking for Wallpaper for the Soul). These were all excellent.

I also found online used copies of a Dumas album and one from Arianne Moffat. Really love these two albums and am searching for the other chanteuses mentioned by eggTweedyegg.

Also found a used album from Dimitri From Paris which was most fun, and am hunting other cds from that artist.

The latest Francoiz Breut reminds me of Keren Ann, so that makes me pleased as punch.

One of my favorite 2006 releases is Le Volume Courbe' I Killed My Best Friend which has a mix of French & English vocals. The music is folktronica, not pop, and I love how the singer- Charlotte Marionneau- sings/whispers/moans the vocals. Oui oui!

Uffie.

My girlfriend and I were recently in France. We were hanging out at a hip bar that was playing some MTV videos on the TVs. A really cool video came on from a French band, and I think the name of it was "L'empire", but we aren't sure. It showed two people, a japanese girl and some other guy were both doing vocals. Very cool motions graphics and the song was great too. Anyone heard of them? Or if this is the name of a song? What's the name of the band?
Thanks in advance!