Brigitte Fontaine - "Prohibition"

Brigitte Fontaine - Prohibition

I-Tunes, France, 2009

Polydor

Older, and still beautiful.  “Prohibition” is Brigitte Fontaine going forward.  She strikes me as total ‘now’ person, and not someone who really looks back.  The album has the electronica sound with middle -eastern flourishes but it is still 100% Brigitte.  With Grace Jones as well!  

It’s funny but i never heard of her till my friend Howard request that I locate a specific CD for him, that was only released in France and Japan.  And since I was in Tokyo at the time, his request lead me to discover her music.  But one cannot really be exposed to her by one album, you have to suck up and get everything by her.  She is an unique artist, and gone through many changes over the years.  In that sense she is like Gainsbourg, who was always true to his identity, but changed musically with the times - and in most cases, not getting buried under the weight of change, but rolling with it.  Fontaine is superb, and “Prohibition” is a strong ‘pop’ album.  Pretty great considering she was around 70 years old during this recording. 

Brigitte Fontaine - "Comme a la Radio"

Brigitte Fontaine - Comme à la Radio

I-Tunes, France, 1971

Saravah

One of those great mood shifters, where France meets American avant-jazz that equals a French sensibility.  Magnificent percussion with the low sounds of a stand-up bass is a very seductive sound. Middle-eastern sounds creep into the framework, and Brigitte Fontaine is simply part of the landscape.  I often think of her as the French Grace Jones, due to her going into unknown territory with no fear.  The music is wonderful and The Art Ensemble of Chicago offers layers of sounds that suits Fontaine’s  voice perfectly.  Torch singing for the adventuress and those who lurk in the 3 AM night. 

Brigitte Fontaine - "Brigitte Fontaine Est...Folle"

Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte Fontaine Est…Folle

I-Tunes, MP3, France

Saravah

The beautiful marriage between voice/thought with arrangement.  Brigitte Fontaine, along with the great arranger Jean-Claude Vannier made a 1968 classic, that is slowly crawling across to the English language world.  Vannier of course is greatly responsible for Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson album, as well as countless others.  The beauty of his work is his playfulness and being true to the material on hand as well.  Its a balancing act that he never ever trips over that thin clear rope.  Fontaine, I think, is an artist who likes to work with others, and for her, that is her strength in that she doesn’t lose her identity or sense of purpose.   A classic piece of music making.

Brigitte Fontaine - "13 Chansons Décadentes et Fantasmagoriques" CD Album

Brigitte Fontaine - 13 Chansons Décadentes et Fantasmagoriques

CD, Album, France, 2002 (originally recorded 1966)

Disques Jacques Canetti

What planet is this woman from, and why am I not born on this same planet?   Brigitte Fontaine, is a force that goes forward and rarely looks back.  But for me who just discovered her maybe five years ago, I have a lot to catch up on.  So I believe this may be her first album.  Chansons Décadentes et Fantasmagoriques.  Fontaine, who I know very little of, with respect to her background, but I have a strong suspicion that she is the bohemian’s bo-ho.  A chanson singer by trade, but one who took that form into another world.  Her singing style is very theatrical with a tinge of contemporary feeling or soul.   What is interesting to me (among a lot of stuff regarding her) is that Jimmy Walter arranged this album, and also worked with Boris Vian.   And she also did an album of recordings of Vian’s music as well.  So that thread between Saint Germain des Prés culture is very much part of Fontaine’s world, yet different because it is being made for the May ’68 generation.  This is an artist who didn’t stand still. I want to belong to her cult.