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MP3: MC Solaar – La Concubine De L’Hémoglobine from Prose Combat

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MP3: Gojira – Clone from Terra Incognita

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MP3: Katy Perry – Hot ‘N’ Cold (feat. Yelle)

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MP3: Plastic Bertrand – Le Petit Tortillard from An 1

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MP3: J.P.M. and Co – Plus jamais ça from Psychoses Freakoid 1963-1981

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MP3: Ludwig Von 88 – Baby from La révolution n’est pas un diner de gala

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MP3: Joseph Canteloube – Baïlèro from Chants d’Auvergne

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MP3: Edith Piaf – Padam…Padam…

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MP3: Daft Punk – Phoenix from Homework

So I’m heading off to Paris for a week of R&R.  Updates will be a tad sparse while I’m out.  But I figured I’d leave you with a smorgasbord of French flavors that span decades, styles and genres.

From the smooth, somnambulic flow of rapper MC Solaar, to the brutality of modern metalheads Gojira, and  punk  both modern (Ludwig Von 88) and early (Belgian Plastic Betrand). From doggedly cultish and eclectic offerings of classic outsider/weirdo producer Jean-Pierre Massiera and the oft-esoteric electronic superstars Daft Punk, to the painstaking collecting and arranging of French folksongs by Joseph Canteloube and plenty of mainstream offerings from the iconic Edith Piaf and to recent international star Yelle.  French artists provide some great offerings for musical canon.

A semaine prochaine!

My eternal gratitude once again goes out to dear friend Jason Willett of the True Vine.  Exposing me to yet another instant favorite, in early December he introduced me to two valued recent acquisitions for the store: Jean-Pierre Massiera’s Psychoses compilations spanning 1963-1978 and 1976-1981.

Massiera is a French renaissance man and cult favorite who has worn the hat of producer, engineer, composer & musician, and charted his own unique career in music.  Massiera cut his teeth as an instrumentalist, forming his first band, instrumental surf-rock peddlers Les Milords, in 1962.

By 1967, Massiera switched gears to concentrate on studio work; he founded a large studio in his hometown of Nice and fed his experimental tendencies by taking session work for more established artists.

In 1968, Massiera unveiled his most widely acknowledged work, Les Maledictus Sound, a bewildering, largely instrumental document laden with extensive cuts blatantly lifted from prominent tracks, warped sound effects and high production values.  Massiera continues his career to this day, balancing work for more successful mainstream artists and exploring his own experimental urges, resulting in a prolific and astoundingly eclectic body of work.

Some cuts from Psychoses: Freakoid 1963-1981:

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MP3: Piranhas – La turbie pirhanienne

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MP3: JPM and Co – Dali court

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MP3: Les Chats – La gâteau du peuple.mp3