I write this while watching the first snow of the year and remembering by it the long lost friend who recommended to me these very Cowboys Fringants toward the beginning of my music exploration life.
He lived in one of the tiny seaside villages in Quebec that mark the northern end of civilization and paved roads, and suggested the warmth of the “Frisky Cowboys” while speaking of sidewalks lined by ten foot high walls of snow.
It would be easy to imagine the song “L’Hiver Approche” as the beginning to an evening of dancing and drinking in a log-cabin pub, kindling a glow in icy windows that could be seen for winter miles and drawing villagers in from the cold. Don’t you think? Well imagine my surprise when I subjected the lyrics to online translation and discovered a raw social critique of consumerism and proletarian drudgery. Perhaps the song is even more timely than I thought.
I edited together an English translation of the French lyrics from 3 different translator programs with a little grammatical license, and it should give you the basic idea.
Artist: OMR
Song: Stood the Test of Time
From album: Superheroes Crash
Genre: Quiet Altsynth [Buy this album][Site]
I imagine this song as a dark-haired girl, sort of shy and unassuming. She’s at a point in her life where she’s going to clubs to be alone. She’ll linger in a dim corner and try with all her might to absorb some kind of meaning from the tide of feelings and perceptions that make up her reality. If you catch a glimpse of her, she’ll be looking straight through you. Some faces bid, “come hither” but hers says, “do you see?“
Being rather interested in linguistics, I can’t help but find hip hop/rap in different languages to be quite intriguing. It’s very impressive how far the genre has travelled in such a relatively small period of time, and how people are adapting it to their own societies and cultural elements. Who would have thought? I really have no clue what most of these people are saying but a good subwoofer and an open mind will probably help you to enjoy them. If all else fails you can just imagine that they are talking about rolling on dubs and imbibing malt liquors.
I’m pretty busy with work recently, so I’ll just give you the guts of what I gots without a whole lot of jibba jabba:
I really like the mood of the subdued background instruments in this titular track, it feels like walking through some extravagant underground cavern. There are other samples here.
“In recent years the X Plastaz have become known for being the first hiphop crew to use Maasai music and culture in their performance. Maasai singer Yamat (also known as Merege) is now a full member of the group who has joined on tour and in the recording studio.” Very cool.
“…their lyrical content, though pro-Israel, is not militant or anti-Arab and has no specific political agenda, though it is sometimes described as right-wing. With occasional Arabic lyrics and songs like “Peace in the Middle East”, they take a stance that can be described as desirous of a better future but unapologetic about the present.” Nice mixing in of traditional instruments and chanting.
“(“Fat/Phat Bread”) from Hamburg, one of the first successful German hip-hop groups. Their raps are usually humorous and of late they have experimented with different crossover sounds.” Fun. German. Hip Hop.
“The third album from French hip-hop artists, produced by DJ Sek, Alsoprodby, DJ Duke, Diesel & Manu Key. Oxmo has sold over 300,000 units of his previous two albums in France.” This song features Casioesque opera-vocals.
You Can Make Our Album Yourself ! Fuck Record Labels ! Fuck Fat and Dumb Producers ! On this page you can download the full version of “Not For Amerika” album in mp3 and original design for it, which you can print out on any printer. We don’t need your money for our music – listen free !
Download the other songs here. Thanks guys. I like the creepy nursery-rhyme-sounding chorus. Most of the other songs are a bit more “normal” sounding.
All songs are now also available in a solitary zip file, if that tickles your fancy. And that’s about it, more to come in part II (Probably Greenlandic, Icelandic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, and Hungarian). What do you think?
Welcome to the Red Ruin blog archive. Through this site we wanted to share our discoveries with you. It isn't currently being updated, but someday that may change. We still monitor comments and emails, so feel free to participate.
The main purpose of this site was to facilitate the awareness and exposure of foreign music, art, cinema, and culture to a global audience. Through exposure, the artists will hopefully accumulate fans in places they couldn't have reached before, which will inevitably benefit them financially. However, if you are the copyright owner of any material displayed on this site, and wish it removed: Please contact me, and it will be done post-haste.
You are currently browsing the archives for the French Music category.
