Between britpop and new wave, the Lanskies delivered a very good second album, “Hot Wave”, made up of energetic songs and catchy melodies (“Romeo”, “48 Hours”, “Fashion Week”), even incorporating some hip hop influences song (“Move It”).
We can also highlight the beautiful “If You Join Us”, perfect for disenchanted dance. In the end, this is an album that shows without any complex to Bloc Party the way they should have followed.
♪♫ Listen: “48 Hours”
On their third album, “Ecran Total”, Mustang’s Jean Felzine, Johan Gentile and Rémi Faure added a pop touch to their rockabilly influences, which gave their songs tunes of evidence. For example, “Coup de foudre à l’envers”, that vies with T. REX or Supergrass, or the very Smithian “Sans les filles comme toi”.
But this very dense album – incredible collection of unstoppable songs – is best to be enjoyed live. Indeed, the Mustang’s concerts are a mix of energy combined with fine arrangements and delicate style of instruments-playing.
♪♫ Listen: “Le Sens Des Affaires”
By mixing elements from British indie pop, glam, world music and jazz, Moodoïd offers a kaleidoscopic music that’s always inventive and surprising.
While their debut EP was produced by Kevin Parker from the Australian band Tame Impala, Moodoïd’s first full-length “Le Monde Möö” comes with the assistance of Nicolas Vernhes, who previously worked with Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors and Deerhunter.
♪♫ Listen: “La lune”
Moodoïd on www, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud.
The album “Nuit Noire” by Marc Desse is one of the great revelations of the year because his post-punk, with a very rock background, in the lineage of the Stranglers, exudes a dark and luminous poetry, running emotions very high.
♪♫ Listen: “Henri et Elsa”
Marc Desse on Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter.
Released in the middle of spring, “The Bloom of Division” by Marble Arch rightly deserves a place among France’s best records of 2014 with their hazy shoegaze tuned up with a multitude of inspirations.
♪♫ Listen: “In My Heart” + album stream
With her first album “Adieu l’Enfance”, Paris-based rising artist La Féline explores a refined new wave, but also subtle, falsely naïve, and always profound and clever.
♪♫ Listen: “Adieu l’enfance” + album stream
In “Rise”, the Paris group Jessica93 incorporates metal influences with the Cure style of “Pornography” to get a heavy and completely obsessive cold wave.
♪♫ Listen: “Asylum”
Jessica93 on www, Soundcloud, Facebook.
Among the other surprises of the year, we also have to mention the very 50s and 60s “10 Hits Wonder” by Gaspard Royant, a newcomer from Haute Savoie.
♪♫ Listen: “The Woods” (live) + album stream
Gaspard Royant on Soundcloud, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.
The band Coming Soon confirmed the hopes that were glimpsed in 2013 with the EP “Disappear Here”, shifting from an ‘anti-folk’ style to a colorful, bright and jubilant mix of pop, rock, R & B and electro.
With their full-length album “Tiger Meets Lion”, and thanks to hit songs such as “Vermilion Sands”, “Tiger Meets Lion”, “The Night Stephanie Died”, “LWL”, they trace their way somewhere between Arcade Fire and Gorillaz.
♪♫ Listen: “Tiger Meets Lion” + album stream
on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.
The upscale soul of “The Way I Am” by Cherry Boop & the Soundmakers will, depending on your age, bring back some good memories or make you wish you were born a little bit earlier.
♪♫ Listen: “Missed You” + album stream
Cherry Boop & the Soundmakers on www, Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter.
French folk and country are not left behind with the EPs by Alma Forrer and Baptiste W. Hamon: first of all “Alma Forrer” with the sublime Bobby, and secondly “Quitter l’Enfance,” in which the two artists have recorded one magical duo “Peut-être que nous serions heureux”, as intense as a “Murder Ballad” by Nick Cave.
We really enjoyed the very good first single of Baston, especially the B side “Falkland”, that is an amazing hybrid of 80’s indie pop and 60’s garage rock.
Baston on Soundcloud, Facebook, Bandcamp.
The high priestess Cléa Vincent has flown far over the pop landscape with her EPs “Non Mais Oui 1/2” and “Non Mais Oui 2/2”. The hits “Retiens Mon Désir” and “Château Perdu” magnificently started and ended our musical year.
Juniore is the new musical project by Anna Jean. With the blessing of the francophile label Entreprise and the support of Samy Osta, this band manages to enforce its own recipe completed with its 60s influences, as if Françoise Hardy broke into the musical atmosphere of a good old western movie.
Sans Sebastien and its disco pop hit “Sous Ma Jupe” made us twist all night long, and we hope it’s not finished yet.
Sans Sebastien on Soundcloud, YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter.
The Pirouettes, with their 80’s synthpop, reminiscent of Luna Parker, have successfully passed the EP step with “L’Importance des autres“, especially thanks to some excellent songs such as “Oublie-moi” and “Dernier Métro”.
The Pirouettes on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.