I first heard Eglantine Gouzy last year, on the compilation "Four Women, No Cry". Gouzy's song "Zone A" has been a staple of Kate-mixes ever since. The production is extremely spare, and the lyrics go from spoken-word to sweetly sung. Somehow the simple words "C'est la Zone A" are vocally toyed-with enough to make you wish the song was twice as long. Gouzy lives in Paris, and sings in both French and English. Her new album is called "Boamaster" and is out on the Ireland-based Osaka Recordings label (http://www.osaka.ie). She excels at creating intimate music within her very own genre, something that could be labeled "electro-acoustic-art-folk" if you felt the need for labels. The song "Cowboy" sounds like what would happen if Bjork was from Texas rather than Iceland. I think her stuff is so good it's worth paying the import-price, but it's always hard for me to grasp the sound of something i've never heard before by just reading a review, so here is a link to "Zone A" and "Cowboy": Eglantine Gouzy You can also check out more on her myspace page: www.myspace.com/eglantinegouzy Enjoy!
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Oooo ... that's really pretty. If you're into euroindiepop, you might also check out Françoiz Breut and Samia Farah. Breut dated and collaborated with Dominique A, who produces fantastic music in his own right (and has worked with Yann Tiersen). Farah is a bit more poppy, but still quite good.
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I have a few Breut tracks from the blog Filles Sourires, but I haven't heard Samia Farah yet. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Based on your description of Gouzy's stylings I think you'd really dig on Keren Ann, her LP Nolita, especially the first three cuts it's moody as hellbut the tunes really put the hook in me -- she has a great backing guitarist on it; though she wasn't given a lot of fanfare in the states when the LP dropped, she's worth taking a gander at...
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This is very pleasant stuff; thanks Kate. It reminds me a bit of The Books, except it sounds like Eglantine is making those sounds live instead of with samples. A similar dreamy, found-sound, minimal thing though.
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Ookpik, Wow, I totally forgot about The Books, thanks for reminding me. I heard them on the radio a few months back and wanted to pick up some of their recordings.
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this has nothing to do with this post, but how can "halleluwah" not be on your top 5 can songs...?
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Um, maybe because it's not one of my Top 5 favorite Can songs! I fully admit that my list is a very different list from most critics and most Can fans. I have specific reasons and memories that relate to each of the songs I picked. Halleluwah is a very good song, though. If you're interested in the band and their history, there's a book by Pascal Bussy called "The CAN Book" - a good read.