ma folie, mon envie, ma lubie, mon idylle

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

This is perhaps my biggest recent surprise: I had only the dimmest awareness of Vanessa Paradis' pop career, but it transpires that not only is it still going, it's really very good. This is 'Divine Idylle', the single off her new album Divinidylle, which I only discovered after being commissioned to review it.

It reminds me most of Paris Hilton's album - not just the breezy soft rock music or the way Vanessa somehow makes her inability to sustain a note for more than a second seem like a strength (their voices really are very similar! we should have noticed this when Paris came out!), but there's a (WILDEAN) decadence to the lightness, in the way both Paris and Vanessa wrap themselves up - gild themselves - in their charmingly inconsequential vignettes. Key quote from the Paradis wikipedia entry: "They divide their time between houses in the Hollywood Hills and their farm in the South of France, and also own apartments in Paris, Manhattan and an island in the Bahamas."

Comments

Lemon Bagel Surfers

[koganbot]

Paradis had a U.S. album in the '90s that was terrible I'd ever heard (her version of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting For My Man" is one of the worst things I have heard in my life), but she has a Taxi song ("Joe Le Taxi"?) that I like quite well. Other than that, I know little about her, except I saw her in a movie once where I recall her acting well even though it was stupid and French.

Johnny Depp was once being interviewed in Smash Hits when he was still on 21 Jump Street or whatever it was called and he was asked what the name of his favorite group was and then Smash Hits wrote "We couldn't quite hear his response but we think he said, 'The Lemon Bagel Surfers.'" (In other words, he'd said "The Butthole Surfers" and Smash Hits decided they couldn't print that name.)

Re: Lemon Bagel Surfers

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

'Joe Le Taxi' is the only thing I'd known by her, it's not very like this.

Re: Lemon Bagel Surfers

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

there was that be my baby song from the v early 90s when she was hanging out with lenny kravitz too.

Re: Lemon Bagel Surfers

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

'Be My Baby' is excellent.

Re: Lemon Bagel Surfers

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

her worst song is the one where she is actually singing about Lenny Kravitz. argh.

Little Peggy Bagel Surfers

[koganbot]

OK, finally now got a chance to play this; I like the "I Will Follow Him" rhythm (Lex, listen to it); I don't think Paradis's singing has nearly the presence of Paris's; but her dancing is great, total casual here I am lifting and moving my arm. And I quite like the song, a nice rock-pop thing. Not sure what I'll end up thinking, the barely voiced voice w/ the bubblepop. But I think it works, though I'm still skeptical I could listen to her for an entire album.