France is easily one of my favorite MySpace music destinations. I've stumbled on so much cool stuff I've had to start keeping a notebook. Here are a few of the most interesting artists I've tuned in to lately.
Les Kiffeurs (Paris): Loosely translating as people who like to take pleasure, Les Kiffeurs is a side project of French pop-rocker Frank Schiff with female vocalist Cora and DJ Fred Bee. Essentially a Euro-dance club track, "Give Me the Kiff" not only has a great riff, the spoken interplay between the male and female parts is a perfect mix of sexuality and ironic humor. And when she says "ooh la la," well...
Henriette Coulouvrat (Paris): Coulouvrat's song "Paddy Fields" adds Asian musical swatches over Euro-dance beats to create a unique sound the likes of which I've never heard. The music is immaculately done, yet there is always an undertone of humor and taking musical conventions to excess.
Osni (Lille): This hip young French band that describes itself as "sexy noise Frenchies" has mastered all the tricks of surf guitar and that Link Wray voodoo and turned them into some of the most muscular yet highly listenable rock tracks on French MySpace. Check out "Surfer Sofa" and "I'm A Ghost."
Three Cheers For Dirty (Lille): This young outfit describes its music as "post-tekno electropunk." Check out "Blond and Brown Public" and the percussive "Two Boys For Every Girl." Yeah, I know - there's something in the water in Lille, home of my favorite French band, Mouflettes.
Les Marvellous Pig Noise (Montpellier): I was completely surprised by the soft, piano-laden jazzy blues of these five Frenchmen from the far interior. The gospel harmonies are so black they'd make the Blind Boys of Alabama proud. There's true love for Louisiana in "Louise et Anne." Also check "Se Soir Je Bois Du Noir" (and try to say that really fast three times in a row!).