FRANCO CHART-TOPPERS June 2005

Sunny sounds dominate as summer approaches

Paris 

20/06/2005 - 

Summer's coming. A few weeks from holiday time, the world is in the mood for exotic sounds (Amadou & Mariam, Orishas…), while Marc Lavoine switches to summer time with his L’heure d’été.

Marc Lavoine has once more won his place in the sun. The singer has been keeping a low profile since his self-titled album of 2001, the biggest seller of his career which debuted in 1984. Featuring electronic arrangements, his latest album L’heure d’été (Mercury) has just hit the record stores, and the charts too! L’heure d’été shot straight to no. 3 in France and in Wallonia, and reached no. 23 in Switzerland. Lavoine will be extensively touring his new album throughout France, starting on November 15.

Marc Lavoine is not the only one who has been keeping his head down over the past few years. Yann Tiersen has been relatively quiet since the global success of his soundtrack for the film Amélie, and has only just recently released a new album, entitled Les Retrouvailles (Labels/Virgin). It hit no. 6 in the French charts on the week of its release, and has also charted in Belgium (no. 40 in Wallonia) and Switzerland (no. 48). No. 1 in France and Wallonia, the young Raphaël recently climbed to no.10 in the Swiss Top 100 with his pop/rock opus Caravane (Capitol), his biggest commercial success to date. With La Good Life (Up Music), the rapper K-Maro has quickly become the latest French music export discovery, hitting the top 10 in Finland (no. 7), and also charting in Germany (no. 51), Switzerland (no. 64), Wallonia (no; 50) and Hungary (no. 20).

After months where the female stars of French chanson have been riding high, there are only a few remaining singers in the international charts as summer approaches. Mylène Farmer is still doing well with Avant que l’ombre (Polydor), particularly in the French-speaking countries of Europe, where she is no. 1 in Wallonia, no. 7 in France and no. 30 in Switzerland. She has also found favour with the Greeks (no. 5), who had already taken her to their hearts with her compilation Les Mots in 2001. Arielle Dombasle's Amor Amor (Columbia), in which she sings Cuban and Mexican classics, has gone platinum in France. She too has her fans in Greece, where the album is at no. 34, while in Canada it is no. 57. In Belgium, Amor Amor has dropped out of the national charts but is still hanging on in Wallonia (no. 59). An American in love with Paris, Dee Dee Bridgewater recently made an album of French chanson standards, J’ai deux amours (Universal Jazz), which is charting in Greece (39ème), where French music has clearly found some fans recently. Camille and Carla Bruni are also charting internationally, the former with Le Fil (Virgin), no. 30 in Wallonia and no. 48 in Switzerland, and the latter with her now celebrated Quelqu’un m’a dit, which is no. 7 in the U.S. Top World Music charts. Carla is currently working on a second album.

But summer is on its way which means that hot sounds are once again invading the charts. Winners at the latest Victoires de la Musique awards, Mali's most famous couple Amadou et Mariam have won new audiences in Sweden, where their album Dimanche à Bamako (Because/Wagram) is currently at no. 28 on the Top Albums chart, no. 28 in Wallonia and no. 76 in Switzerland. Latin rhythms are also great summer favourites: this month finds Gotan Project's  La Revancha del Tango (Ya Basta/Barclay) doing well in Argentina (no. 18), while the Cuban rap of Orishas, with their latest album, El Kilo (Capitol), is a hit in Brazil (no. 29), Portugal (no. 26), Spain and Switzerland (no. 38). And the multicultural Pink Martini have made inroads into the Greek market, with their album Hang On Little Tomato (Naïve) rising to no. 4.

Electronic music is often seen as a spearhead for French music into international charts, but it's not the case right now. Last month, the genre was hardly present in the international charts. Only three months after the world release of Human After All (Labels/Virgin), Daft Punk only figure in the Belgian charts (no. 34 in Wallonia, no. 83 in Flanders) and in the U.S. (no. 10 in Billboard's Top Electronic). Also still in the Billboard Top Electronic chart are Ravin & David Visan, who produced the 7th Buddha-Bar album (George V Records), and Nouvelle Vague (no. 11). The only electronic act to be doing well elsewhere is Kid Loco, who has climbed to no. 25 in Greece with the soundtrack to the independent American film The Graffiti Artist (FIS).

Gilles  Rio

Translation : Hugo  Wilcken