So Frenchy So Chic

If So Frenchy So Chic is the unofficial soundtrack to the French Film Festival, it begs the question, what else could it be the soundtrack to?

It could be a soundtrack to your next Paris holiday; a playlist on your iPod as you wander the boulevards and passageways. Or a soundtrack to the passing landscapes as a TGV carries you around the country, in and out of idyllic towns and alongside sprawling vineyards.

Which is not to suggest the music is all accordions and clichés. It's just so chic, it could easily be a soundtrack to the next Wes Anderson piece of hip indie cinema, should he follow in Woody's footsteps and start making movies in Europe that is.

Most likely you'll find it to be a soundtrack for your life right now, wherever you are. If it wasn't for the professional packaging, this could easily be just a couple of compilation CDs from a French friend, mailed to you par avion with a simple note attached: "Thought you might like this."

The friend thought right. It's a snapshot of the current French music scene that's so enjoyable you'll find yourself playing the 33 songs again and again until you're singing along in a language you may not even speak.



Part of that language is the tradition of chanson, which Barbara Carlotti continues with her instantly memorable slice of pop called L'ideal. Here and on other tracks you can hear the pop scene enjoying an aff aire de coeur with the indie kids, such as when Nouvelle Vague chanteuse Melanie Pain brings her breathy ingénue routine to Bruises, which just might be the best song Nancy Sinatra never recorded. For those drawn to the CD through the French Film Festival they'll be pleasantly surprised to find Ludivine Sagnier from Swimming Pool singing as part of a threesome (or is that a ménage-a-trois?) in the stripped back Je N'aime Que Toi. Hmmm... the phrase "I love only you" but sung by three people – that sounds like a French movie in miniature.

The acoustic lo-fi sound is also favoured by other popular artists, such as Héléna Noguerra on Work, somewhat ironically titled given the chorus is a laconic "I don't care". There is also some adorably fl ippant Gaulic attitude in Pourquoi Pas Moi, a selfreflexive and energetic yé-yé song by Stella about how easy it is to be a pop star.

Speaking of yé-yé, you'll find a couple of throw-backs to the period now making a resurgence among hipsters, including the bona-fi de 1967 hit 7 Heures Du Matin by Jacqueline Taïeb. This classic example of the yé-yé era includes references to Paul McCartney and even dips into some anglais with the heavily accented phrase "talkin' 'bout my generation". This was a generation which, like Serge Gainsbourg, cherrypicked their chic from across the channel.

Forty years later a new wave of singers is doing it again. Emily Loizeau's sweetly nostalgic Sister includes a chorus in English and verses in French, while others happily switch back and forth between languages more frequently, such as Mathieu Boogaert on the playfully infectious, Come To Me. Other tracks are actually So Englishy that the only French element is an unmistakable coquettish accent.

But whether the songs are French or English, pure pop or indie, even reggae or rootsy, the songs across this eclectic mix have all been chosen with a love of good new music. After all, it might be a cliché, but the French know a thing or two about seduction. The So Frenchy series has sold over 70,000 copies in Australia, and this latest instalment is sure to please its growing audience.

It doesn't matter how chic you are, or how Frenchy for that matter, you'll find yourself playing these songs over and over. It's your soundtrack. Officially. For any additional infos, please contact Jean-Francois Ponthieux – 0420 750 296