Cesaria Evora's early years
08/01/2009
Cape Verde's Cesaria Evora enjoyed a rags-to-riches success story in her fifties. But what was the "barefoot diva" doing before that? Now, a collection of 22 previously unreleased tracks, ...
Michel Petrucciani, ten years on
06/01/2009
On 6 January 1999, the music world lost one of its greatest pianists when Michel Petrucciani died at the tragically young age of 36. Renowned for his virtuoso technique and his passionate soul, ...
Anggun goes urban
02/01/2009
Three years on from Luminescence, Indonesia-born Anggun has changed tack with her return album, Elévation. The R&B sounding disc was put together with the hip hop producer
Mr Oizo
01/01/2009
Ever since his chart-topping single Flat Beat back in 1999, Mr Oizo has played the chameleon, constantly changing his image.
Techno, dance music & electro-pop
30/12/2008
2008 found the 'underground' world of techno creeping into pop and film music. Meanwhile, as acts like Remote and Scratch Massive explored an ultra-minimalist vein and ...
The State of French Rap 2008
29/12/2008
2008 was a bumper year for French hip-hop as well as for rappers recording in French further afield. On the home front, Booba made a comeback with his eagerly-awaited second album, ...
'World' view 2008
26/12/2008
Once again this year, music from Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean region continued to make an impact overseas. This round-up is our own partial and highly subjective ...
French pop-rock
25/12/2008
Male/female equality flew out the window on the French pop-and-rock scene in 2008 with rock chicks and female pop singers putting their male counterparts to shame. Meanwhile, ...
French chanson in 2008
24/12/2008
With new albums from Francis Cabrel, Bashung, Christophe, Abd Al Malik and Alain Souchon, 2008 offered its fair share of chart hits and surprises.
Adamo revamps his old hits
19/12/2008
At 65, Salvatore Adamo has decided the time has come to dust off his old classics and revive them on an album. Le Bal des gens bien finds everyone's favourite Italian-Belgian singer joined by an all-star French cast.
Jane Birkin, rebel with a cause
12/12/2008
"One thing's for sure - and that is that love's rarely shared!" says Jane Birkin with her usual radiant, half-shy smile, summing up her newly-released album, Enfants d’hiver. It will come as something of a surprise to fans that Jane penned all the French lyrics on her new album herself...
Charles Aznavour's "Duos"
10/12/2008
Charles Aznavour has teamed up with a host of big-name music stars over the years. His latest release, the bumper double album Duos, finds the legendary French chanson crooner recording a series of multi-lingual duets...
Les Transmusicales de Rennes
08/12/2008
Relatively small-scale but with a massive reputation, "Les Transmusicales de Rennes" is now a major stop-off on Europe's festival circuit. And this year, despite outside temperatures hovering around zero, Les Trans proved to be another big crowd-puller, attracting some 45,000 fans...
Can music go green?
04/12/2008
An increasing number of artists, festivals and record labels have been jumping on the eco bandwagon lately and attempting to raise public awareness of environmental issues. What's more, many bands have been putting their militant ideas into action...
Gojira on tour in the U.S.
02/12/2008
Up until now, the only French artists to have made an impact on the international music scene have been Manu Chao and the French electro brigade. But now it's time to make way for cult French death metal band Gojira!
Erik Truffaz - have trumpet will travel!
27/11/2008
Recession? What recession? Trumpeter Erik Truffaz has decided to defy the credit crunch, bringing out a bumper triple album inspired by multiple trips around the globe. The trio of albums that make up Rendez-vous...
Afia Mala goes to Cuba
25/11/2008
The Togolese singer Afia Mala had always dreamt of heading out to Cuba one day and recording in the land of salsa. And now, after a five-year absence from the recording front, Afia is hot back from Havana...
Anaïs
21/11/2008
Anaïs caused a major stir with her debut album, Cheap Show, selling an impressive 450,000 copies of her "homemade" offering back in 2006. The pressure was on...
Pierre Akendengué defends African history
19/11/2008
Award-winning Gabonese songwriter and musician Pierre Akendengué has been prodigious in his recording output to date. RFI Musique talks to the African militant as he releases his nineteenth album, ...
The universal sounds of Amadou & Mariam
17/11/2008
Amadou & Mariam first shot to fame with their 2004 release Dimanche à Bamako (Sunday in Bamako). On their latest album, Welcome to Mali, ...
2008 RFI Découvertes Award for Mikea
14/11/2008
On 13 November Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo played host to the final of the 2008 RFI Découvertes (new talent) Award. And it was a Madagascan, ...
Abd Al Malik's literary rap
13/11/2008
Abd Al Malik's third solo album, Dante, mines the same rich vein as his award-winning second opus, Gibraltar. The innovative rapper from Alsace has developed a highly literary style. ...
Femi Kuti: alive and kicking
12/11/2008
Femi Kuti – champion of afro-beat, the highly charged fusion music invented by his father, the late, great Fela Kuti – talks about his latest release, Day By Day. Exciting and original, Day By Day is Femi’s fifth album.
Adieu Miriam Makeba
10/11/2008
On 9th November, Miriam Makeba suffered a fatal heart attack after a performance in Italy. She was 76 years old. "Mama Africa", as she was sometimes known, was the first female African singer to gain international renown. Miriam...
Jade
07/11/2008
Trip-hop first emerged in Bristol, in south-west England, back in the mid-90s. But, interestingly enough, the hybrid mix of atmospheric strings, spacey melodies and downtempo beats is now going...
Mélissa Laveaux's Haitian roots
06/11/2008
In just a handful of concerts played in less than a year, Mélissa Laveaux has become an indie blues-folk sensation on the Paris scene. The talented singer- songwriter and guitarist of Haitian descent lives in Ottawa, ...
Mathieu Boogaerts drums it up
03/11/2008
Mathieu Boogaerts upped sticks and moved to Brussels in February 2007, spending eighteen months working on his new album in a converted rifle range.
William Sheller
31/10/2008
On his latest album Avatars, William Sheller - a man already renowned as the most polymorphous of French musicians - pushes back the limits of our collective imagination to explore fantastical universes and virtual reality.
Johnny Hallyday
30/10/2008
After dabbling in blues on his 2007 album Le Cœur d’un homme, Johnny Hallyday is back on track on his new album Ça ne finira jamais,
U-Cef's second album
29/10/2008
Eight years on from Halalium - an acclaimed debut album mixing traditional Arab melodies and drum’n’bass - U-Cef is back in the spotlight with an ambitious follow-up. On his second album Halalwood, ...
Serge Gainsbourg in Japanese
27/10/2008
The Cité de la Musique is currently celebrating the life and work of the influential French music icon Serge Gainsbourg. Apart from photos, film, video extracts and artworks owned by the late singer,...
Cocoon
24/10/2008
Despite their introspective-sounding name, French neo-folk duo Cocoon are not the kind of group to sit quietly in a corner, weaving catchy acoustic melodies and folk/pop harmonies. Morgane ...
Sapho's self-portrait
23/10/2008
After having spent an intensive period out on the road, touring her tribute show to 'chanson' legend Léo Ferré, Sapho returns to her rock roots on an eclectic new studio album, Universelle. RFI Musique...
French Music Seen from Abroad October 2008
21/10/2008
Generally speaking, French music is still struggling to make an impact on the export front. But this has not stopped a new generation of young French 'chanteuses' - including Camille, ...
Jean-Jacques Milteau
17/10/2008
Since the success of his 2001 album Memphis, French harmonica virtuoso Jean-Jacques Milteau has built up a close working relationship with musicians "made in the U.S." Milteau's latest album, Soul Conversation, which...
Mamadou Diabate
16/10/2008
On his fourth album, Douga Mansa (The King's Vulture), Mali's young kora virtuoso Mamadou Diabate reworks a series of traditional melodies from the former kingdom of Gabù (Guinea Bissau, Casamance, Gambia).
Leftfield hip-hop from Montreal
15/10/2008
Quebec's burgeoning hip-hop scene did not start yesterday. Back in the early '90s, a number of happening rap albums (recorded in both French and English) had already made their mark.
Jacques Brel, thirty years on
09/10/2008
When he died on 9 October 1978, Jacques Brel - the most famous Belgian singer of all time - was already a legendary figure of French 'chanson.' And three decades after his death, Brel continues to exert ...
Spleen's Peter Pan complex
07/10/2008
Spleen, a self-taught French-Cameroonian musician, is a rising star on the "Afropean acoustic" scene. After making a name for himself touring with Cocorosie, Spleen recently went back...
Tahiti 80 - back to pop!
03/10/2008
French pop foursome Tahiti 80 have become huge stars in Japan, selling more records there than at home. The band, who have just got back together again after a series of ...
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