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A week of chic
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The 21st edition of les FrancoFolies de Montréal hauls out a lot of familiar faces from here and elsewhere in the French-speaking world—Malajube, a string of Coeur de Pirate concerts, Pierre Lapointe, Arthur H (who precedes his Aug. 4 Metropolis gig with a free midnight DJ set at le Savoy the night before). But scan the fine print because amid the big names are some not-so-known notables worth a listen. Payz Play vs. aRTIST oF tHE yEAR: A combination on par with peanut butter and chocolate, or vodka and Red Bull—or perhaps all four sold in a squirt bottle at a sleazy sex toy boutique. Payz Play, the puckish throwback electro-rap offshoot of longstanding Quebec rap unit Atach Tatuq, unite with the salacious dirty-disco dandies of AOTY for what promises to be a righteously rude good time. At the Monde urbain Vidéotron stage (Clark and de Montigny) tonight, Thurs., July 30, 11 p.m., free Zaza Fournier: With an accordion, a petulantly coquettish manner and the sort of knack for memorable little tunes that the chanson tradition demands, Parisian solo act Zaza Fournier is about as archetypically French as French can get, but she puts a millennial spin on the matter with an iPod for a digi-pop backing band and a smartass sense of humour. At the Place Loto-Québec stage (President-Kennedy and de Maisonneuve), Fri., July 31, 8 p.m., free, and with Caïman Fou at Cabaret Juste pour rire, Sat., Aug. 1, 10 p.m., $14.50 Nouvelle Vague: Playing on the trans-linguistic variants in their name (it translates to “new wave” in English and “bossa nova” in Portuguese), this brainchild of Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux made its mark initially with languorous covers of English-language ’80s post-punk hits. For the FrancoFolies, however, they and their singers will be zeroing in on a French playlist, so expect lush and lounge-y spins on Indochine, les Ritas Mitsouko and such. With la Patère Rose at Metropolis, Fri., July 31, 9 p.m., $19.50 Albin de la Simone: Having played hired hand for the likes of Arthur H, Salif Keita, M and Vanessa Paradis, French neo-chansonier de la Simone bowled crowds and critics over with his debut as a solo act—locals in a comparable vein might be Pierre Lapointe and Yann Perreau—and has since shown a propensity for unusual frills (marionette back-up singers, instruments bound in scarlet velour) and collabs with the likes of Feist and Iggy Pop. With Pierre Lapointe at Metropolis, Sun., Aug. 2, 9 p.m., $36.50, and at l’Astral, Mon. Aug. 3, 8:30 p.m., free Zong: The trio of singer Drean and musicians Fever and Costa hail from Île de la Réunion, and put the hybrid grooves indigenous to that little cluster of rocks in the Indian Ocean, off Africa, through the wringer with copious heaps of voluminous dub, punk edge and idiosyncratic sampler sass. Sometimes dense, abrasive and dirty, at other times sparse and heady or slinky and flirtatious, the Zong song rarely remains the same for long. At the Zone Molson Dry stage (Ste-Catherine and Jeanne-Mance), Tues., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., free, and with le Roi Poisson at Cabaret Juste pour rire, Wed., Aug. 5, 10 p.m., $14.50 FOR MORE INFO, GO TO |
