Jacques Dutronc - "Madame L'Existence" CD, Album, France, 2003 (Columbia)

When I purchased Jacques Dutronc's "Madame L'Existence" it was more out of curiosity than being loyal to the Dutronc brand.   I was aware of Dutronc's music from the 1960s and 70s, mostly due to my devotion to Serge Gainsbourg's music and his world.  Still, I don't speak French, but my love for French pop and literary culture is an obsession that is hard for me to explain.  All I know is I want to explore this foreign world, and individuals like Boris Vian and Gainsbourg were the bookends on the shelve that allow me to wander between "BV" and "SG" and back again.  

I adore Dutronc's 60s recording because it reminds me of a hybrid between Ray Davies' commentary on London culture as well as garage rock.  Dutronc seemed to do music that had a wink to the eye, and one of great wit.  Perhaps mostly due to the lyricist Jacques Lanzmann, who was much older than Dutronc, still, served as his mouthpiece with respect to music.    Lanzmann was in his 40s when he wrote lyrics for Dutronc, which dealt with the French teenage culture, but with a profound wit of an older man looking over the scene.  A critical eye perhaps, but I often think of his relationship with Dutronc must have been similar to the much older Paul Verlaine's tutoring the teenage Rimbaud, minus the sexual relationship of course. 

So, I was very curious to know what Dutronc would sound like in 2003, and what I heard was a pleasant shock.  For one, it sounded nothing like his 60s work, but in fact covered in a layer of electronic mood pop music, with Dutronc sounding not that far off from late Serge Gainsbourg.  No longer singing, but in a mixture of talking/phrasing his words for dramatic effect, it had a slightly sinister quality to the music.  Not sure if smoking or drinking, or even aging, has caused the great difference from within his voice, it still had the spirit of Jacques Dutronc.  

The one song that stays in my mind like a fly being caught on flypaper is "Face à la Merde" (In Front of the Shit), which has a haunting melody, and it does have a Gainsbourg approach to life.   A superb album, and as far as I know the last studio album by Dutronc.   I will like to hear from him sometime in 2018. 

Jacno - "Jacno" Vinyl, LP, Reissue, 45 rpm, Mini-Album, 2011/1979 (Celluloid)

Bingo!  I've found the ultimate Techno-pop or Synth-pop music.   I discovered this album through YouTube as well as Apple Music, but finding the actual vinyl is either difficult or expensive.  By luck, I found the record, at a reasonable price and this is clearly a mini-album that needs to be fully reissued to the masses.  Approximately 20 minutes long, it will be the best 20 minutes in one's life.  

There are records that speak to me in a favorable manner, and then there are recordings that hit me like a gentle slap on the cheek, and Jacno's album is such a presence in my life.  I can't possibly fathom someone disliking this record.   Incredibly french whatever that means to the listener, but it conveys such a lightness, but with a tinge of sadness.  Serge Gainsbourg is always sad to me, on the other hand, someone like Jacques Dutronc is happy-go-lucky, until he reached his later years.  Jacno is somewhere between the two artists, and his solo and recordings with Ellie Medeiros (Ms. Brian De Palma) as well as with his early new-wave/punk band Stinky Toys, was a journey through French pop music culture.  

Part of the charm of these recordings is that it's very low-fi in its approach and sound.  One can picture Jacno smoking away ( he did die from cancer) and be working on these tracks by himself.  Most of the record is instrumental, with Ellie singing vocals on one song "Anne Cherchait L' Amour."  It's interesting to note that this mini-album came out at the end of an era (1979) and there is an innocence or the sense of loss.  Still, "Jacno" is a masterpiece. 

Jacques Dutronc - "Les Play-Boys" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1966/2016 (Disques Vogue)

Jacques Dutronc is up there with the great Serge Gainsbourg, as a cultural force and music-making in 20th-century France.  Since I don't know the French language, I have to just presume what Dutronc's songs are about.  I understand the title "Les Play-Boys."   What is provocative for me is his handsomeness but mixed in with a great deal of humor.  Also, I'm intrigued by his songwriting partner and is responsible for the lyrics, Jacques Lanzmann.  A poet and lyricist.  I believe Lanzmann was in his forties when he wrote songs with the much younger Dutronc, who was in his twenties.  Not a great difference of age these days, but in the 1960s, there was a generation difference between those two decades, and unusual for someone much older, working with a youngster (in theory) to write for the teenage/youth market. But perhaps I'm thinking too much of the American or British, who had a distrust of anyone over 30!

Still, one of the most enjoyable albums to come out of France is "Les Play-Boys" which is 12 songs that seem to be absurd, light on the touch, but I suspect that they are also a deep commentary on culture in Paris and elsewhere in France at the time.   Music-wise, Dutronc reminds me of Ray Davies during the 1960s.  I sense he's very disciplined and focused artist and there is a learned or studied charm in his work.   Like Davies, Dutronc (and Lanzmann) are cultural humorists commenting on the fads ("Mini Mini Mini") and the self-absorption of the young generation("Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi").  Superb entertainment!

Jacques Dutronc - "Jacques Dutronc" Vinyl, LP, 1968 (Disques Vogue)

Soundwise, a mixture of Bob Dylan "Highway 61 Revisited" with overtures to Ray Davies circa The Kinks 1965/1966.   Everything else wise, Jacques Dutronc is an original artist.   Dutronc started off as a session guitarist in Paris, and eventually met up with lyricist Jacques Lanzmann, and wrote many hits in the 60s.   The interesting aspect of their partnership is that Lanzmann is a much older gentleman than Dutronc, and I suspect that his lyrics reflect and make humor of issues that took place in the 1960s.    So there is the edge of two minds working as one. 

"Jacques Dutronc" is 12 songs.  I suspect that this recording is a 12" version of 3  7" EPs.   Every song here is a gem.  Borderline psych-rock but very much in a pop mode,  Dutronc expresses a great deal of fun though his music.   The Kinks reference for me is that I sense intelligence, that is beyond the hit-making process.  Dutronc's visuals on his album cover almost convey a joke, but I also think there is something serious under the joking.   For anyone who even has the slightest interest in French pop, need to have this album.  Dutronc's career is a long one, and his much later recordings are of keen interest as well.  More on that later!

Françoise Hardy - "C'est a l'amour auquel je pense"/"Ca a Rate"/Le Temps de L'Amour"/J'ai jeté mon coeur" (Disques Vogue) EP, 7" 45RPM, 1962

Is there a more perfect recording than "Le Temps de l'Amour?"   I suspect the hand of Jacques Dutronc is part of the songwriting, but it's the Hardy magic that makes it work.  Her iconic coolness slips off the vinyl and she is a unique artist in the French pop music world.  Since I don't understand the French language, her approach to her singing is a mystery to me.  The four song EP is a perfect format, and I'm sorry that it doesn't really exist anymore as an art form for recording artists.  The French seemed to have a thing for that format in the early 1960s.  Hardy had released a lot of her great material as an EP, and it's like a brief time with a great lover.

"Le Temps de l'Amour" and the three other songs on this EP are exceptional.  It's like a well-balanced meal and I'm fully satisfied as a listener.  The orchestration behind her is just guitar, percussion and perhaps an electric bass - it's very simple sound, but it's all there to support her voice. French pop music of this time, like France Gall, is an aural sculpture to me.  I feel I can walk through the sounds and look at it from a distance. 

Antoine - "A Tramontane" EP

Antoine - La Tramontane EP

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Vogue Records

Antoine is totally underrated in the English speaking world, well… more like totally unknown, which is a shame because’s he really good.  On the surface he reminds me of Mickie Most era Donovan.  With a touch of Jacques Dutronc thrown in the mix, with unusual production sounds.   “La Tramontane” is a pysch-pop song with a hint of Nino Rota thrown in.  “Mon auto m’attend” is a relaxed jazzy ballad that goes well with drinking on the patio on a warm day. But really all four songs sounds like a great Donovan b-side.  Truly fab.