I've been watching this video on and off ever since coming across it. Guess it's time I got to know this Mademoiselle Berry a little better. Take care y'all and I see you soon.

I still don't know much about this somewhat mythical and sonically adventurous chanteuse, except for the fact that she was born in 1939 and is still going strong and shocking people left and right. My kinda gal, then.

This is one of her first albums (it's curiously titled Brigitte Fontaine est... folle) and it's a treasure trove of quirky pop songs (for lack of a better definition) sung in a very laid-back somewhat out-of-tune style that seems to be her trademark. When asked, music critics have said that she is kind of like a Françoise Hardy on acid or what Piaf might have sounded like if she worked with late 60´s Gainsbourg but these definitions, though amusing as they are, don't come close to painting a proper portrait of this groundbreaking woman.

The album was produced by none other that Jean-Claude Vannier of L'Histoire de Melody Nelson fame and you can expect to find beautifully crafted pieces of music in every track. It's almost like opening a jewel box and finding all these wonderful pieces of jewelry that you'd love to put on you and wear them everyday. And since it is pouring rain over here, I leave you accordingly with Il Pleut, the album opener. Stay safe.

I told you I was listening to all sorts of different music, didn't I? Well, here is another example of my recent Aural Adventures into the Sound Unknown!

Birds Do It - Music From German Sex Education Movies is the title of this great little compilation and I should think it is self-explanatory! No puns here, as you can see - or maybe one or two...! If you lived in Europe some 25 to 30 years ago and had the good fortune of owning a sattelite disk in your home (remember them?), maybe you too ventured into the wild and wonderful world of late-night TV watching, surfing those euro channels up and down in search of that elusive glimpse of a, how should I put it, model for your nude painting project... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge and all that) usually found in german TV stations.

If you are lucky enough to have those kind of memories, then this compilation is really a treat from bottom to end. If not, consider yourselves lucky too and start your education per se by clicking on the play button below! This track is called Sunny Honey and it's sung by one Uschi Moser. Enjoy it!

I told you I have been listening to many different kinds of music lately, didn't I? Well, consider today's offering a small taste of things to come and a harbinger of great stuff coming your way in the next few weeks.

This compilation I'm recommending to you today is the third volume put out by Marina Records label concentrating on 60's/70's funky pop from Germany. If you thought all they did best was house music and electronica kraut rock, think again. Here is proof that the pop scene was a big market over there back in the day and not only that, they managed to merge anglo-saxon popsmithery with their own german sensibilities. Does this make sense to you? I hope it does and I trust I turned you on to this. It's really fun, in a pre-Eurovision kind of way.

I leave you with one of its best tracks: The Beat Goes On by INGA. Oh, yeah.

French groovers Air have always been a favorite in my household, be it when I'm chilling after some hard-working day or even at the beginning of one, their sweet brand of vintage electronic euro-pop is able to do the trick every single time I put one of their CDs on.

So, it was with some expectation/trepidation that I waited to put my hands on their newest album, tentatively titled LOVE 2. And, accordingly, I received it with some mixed feelings. While on one side you get what they've always done best (effortlessly melodic instrumental incursions into electronica), you also get to hear them at their most blatant automatic pilot songwriting of late. Which means you get the usual great tracks you will grow to love and repeatedly play, but you also are forced to hear some pretty uninspired songs clearly in need of some TLC thrown into them.

But at the end of the day, I much prefer an o.k. AIR album to the crap I keep hearing on the radio everyday. On that note, I leave you with the album opener - Do the Joy - one of the standouts on their new album. See you soon.

Love, love, love this new Air video! Wanna try some french music karaoke in english? Just follow the dot! See you soon.

If you knew me, you'd know that I don't quit. Well, at least in certain things I find worthwhile. Good music is one such thing, most definitely.

That said, I had to know more about Jean Pierre Ferland, the author of the song from Charlotte Gainsbourg's new album that kept playing in my head and in my CD player: Le Chat du Cafe des Artistes. A canadian, he is responsible for one of that country recording masterpieces, Jaune, the album you see on your right. So far, I haven't managed to listen to the full album yet (a sacrilege, I know) but what I have heard so far has served to prove what has been said over and over again: that it is an album of many moods and many hidden secrets, with songs unfolding its beauties with each new listenings and arrangements so exquisite you find yourself drifting effortlessly to another state of mind almost instantly.

But I'm going to leave you with the aforementioned track, mainly to serve as a means of comparison with the Ms. Gainsbourg effort in the post just below. Enjoy it.

Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been immersing myself into new music, both old and recent and haven't had the time or disposition to write about it. I had to first let it all sink in in order to make sense of so many new sounds that I'm hearing. Plus, I've been making some bad ass CD compilations for myself and some friends and they also have been keeping me busy all this time. Maybe someday I'll share them with you, who knows. Now, off to Ms. Gainsbourg's new album.

Co-written and co-produced with american indie superstar Beck, IRM is the new album from the daughter of that gallic legend that went by the name of Serge Gainsbourg. And the album really shows the influences: it does feel like a record co-written with Beck with a touch of the french chanson here and there, so I guess you can say that it's a perfect marriage of sorts. Made at a time of intense introspection and soul-searching on the part of Gainsbourg (IRM is a sort of medical X-ray exam you do to your brain), the results are both mysterious and schizophrenic, but intensely addicting and multi-layered. The end result of all this is that you'll find yourself going back to it time and again to hear that particular track that left you wondering and wanting for more.

One of the highlights is LE CHAT DU CAFÉ DES ARTISTES, a cover of a song written by Jean Pierre Ferland. Currently it's my favorite track in the album and you can check it out just below. Enjoy it.