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 ...
Cheick Tidiane Seck
02/10/2008
On his third solo album, Sabaly, Mali's Cheick Tidiane Seck invites a bunch of old friends into the studio with him to record his own compositions. Seck - aka the "Black Buddha" - appears to ...
Trust still going strong!
26/09/2008
At the age of 52, Bernie Bonvoisin is not only a veteran performing and recording artist, he is also an experienced interviewee. But this does not stop the French heavy metal singer ...
GAMIQ celebrates Quebec's indie artists
25/09/2008
Six weeks before the 30th edition of ADISQ (Quebec's mainstream music awards), underground artists got to stage their own indie celebration at the GAMIQ.
Elsa leaves mainstream pop behind
23/09/2008
After two transitional albums, Elsa - the former French pop Lolita - appears to have turned her back on the star system once and for all. Her new album, ...
NTM back together again!
22/09/2008
NTM's comeback on the live circuit after a whole decade away is not just the hottest rap news of the "rentrée." It's a major event in the French music world! With five concerts scheduled at Bercy stadium, ...
Jaojoby live in Paris
19/09/2008
"It's going to be hot, hot, hot!" declares Jaojoby, Madagascar's King of Salegy, warning fans what they can expect when he appears at the Olympia, in Paris, on 20 September.
Caracol's intimate 'chanson'
17/09/2008
It's official, Montreal-based singer and musician Carole Facal is a new woman these days. After cutting off her dreadlocks and quitting Dobacaracol ...
Julien Clerc
16/09/2008
Three years after the success of his semi-autobiographical album Double enfance, Julien Clerc is back on the recording front with Où s'en vont les avions.
Roch Voisine goes country
15/09/2008
Three years after Sauf si l’amour, Roch Voisine is back in the music news with Americana, his personal take on the country sound of Nashville, Tennessee.
The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali
12/09/2008
If you don't have the chance to visit Bamako, Mopti or Timbuktu in person, then try and get your hands on the latest CD compilation put together by the travel publishers Rough Guides.
Adieu Hector Zazou!
11/09/2008
Hector Zazou, the multi-talented composer, musician and record producer, was one of world music's great adventurers, exploring ...
Tryo reap what they sow
09/09/2008
Tryo have come a long way since they first got together around a campfire thirteen years ago. The foursome, now recognised as official heavyweights on the French music scene, ...
Thomas Fersen's "Trois Petits tours"
08/09/2008
After exploring the themes of food and 'folie' on previous albums, Thomas Fersen has chosen to turn his seventh album into an ode to the humble ...
The new-style Kid Loco
04/09/2008
After a seven-year absence from the recording front, Kid Loco is finally back in the spotlight with a new album. Party Animals & Disco Biscuits does not mark a radical departure from Kid's habitual sound.
Stereolab's Chemical Chords
03/09/2008
Stereolab, a group fronted by French vocalist Laetitia Sadier, have reigned as one of the top acts on Britain's indie pop scene for over fifteen years. In the process, ...
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