Thought it might be fun to rank your favorite French albums ,and see if there is any interest in continuing it ? I'd like to have a thread where you an talk about French music , don't hesitate to post the albums or photos and say something on them . The best albums from France ,Belgium, Switzerland etc. AIR were probably one of the very first to make chillout music cool.., they combined chillout aesthetic with downtempo percussion. After all these years sounds smooth as butter.., anyway Moon Safari is still considered one of the most important chillout albums of all time ! This music is perfect to chill out and relax, Air’s airy synthesizer melodies are surprisingly satisfying . It’s all terribly pleasant, especially early on. Opening track “La femme d’argent” is an absolute dream. Smooth keys and funky basslines glide through the percussion like velvet. “Sexy Boy” manages to be lush and lurid at the same time, while “Kelly Watch the Stars” wastes no time flinging you across the cosmos..
Not an album, but rather an old EP, "EDOUARD" My brother brought this EP home for me, upon his return from France, after being stationed there while in the U.S. Army in the mid 60's Also from the same EP ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_mOdSuKjcE
Short-lived prog band Arrakeen is a favorite of mine. On both their albums the singer is a terrific female soprano named Maiko (Marie-Claude Taliana). Steve Rothery from Marillion guests on one track on Patchwork. They toured with Fish-era Marillion in the 80s.
Another very creative French band is Minimum Vital - a folky-prog style band in their earlier incarnation. Most of their material is instrumental.
Tower Records magazine had an article in the early 90's(?) all about French prog. I was fascinated by the article but lost the magazine decades ago. Anyone have any suggestions for French prog groups?
This is one of my favourite albums by Francoise Hardy ! Tant de Belles Choses (So Many Beautiful Things) features 12 hauntingly beautiful songs, most penned by Hardy.
A personal favorite of mine is Amesœurs’ self titled album. It’s an eclectic mix of indie rock, post-punk, shoegaze, and black metal, all colliding and overlapping in different ways track after track. It’s a surprisingly cohesive album for all its off-balance juxtaposition. I also recommend the guitarist’s other (more popular) project Alcest, which mixes a lot of the same influences in a more uniform but less eclectic way.