Best of 2013:Stromae "Racine carrée" (2013)

Racine carrée

release date: Aug. 19, 2013

format: 2 lp (gatefold) (orange vinyl) / 2 lp vinyl (2026 reissue) (gatefold)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,16]

producer: Stromae with various others

label: Mosaert / Island France / Universal - nationality: Belgium

Track highlights: 1. "Ta fête" - 2. "Papaoutai" - 3. "Bâtard" - 4. "Ave Cesaria" - 5. "Tous les mêmes" (live) - 6. "Formidable" (live on KEXP) - 7. "Moules frites" - 8. "Carmen" - 9. "Humain à l'eau" - 10. "Quand c'est?" - 11. "Sommeil" - 12. "Merci" - 13. "AVF" (feat. Maître Gims & Orelsan) (live)

[ full album live ]

2nd studio album by Stromae following 3 years after the acclaimed Cheese (Jun. 2010) is like that produced by Stromae himself and released on his own label Mosaert via Universal Music France. And 'produced by himself' this time means co-producing with various others. Only Thomas Azier is co-producer on 3 tracks, Aron Ottignon co-producer on 2 tracks, and then follows 13 other artists as co-producers on individual tracks. I guess, Stromae perhaps wanted a more multi-facetted sound on this compared to the strict and more simplistic debut, although, he's still very much in charge of everything.

All songs and music are credited Stromae except three tracks: tracks #4, #8, and #13 are co-composed by Orelsan (aka French rapper Aurélien Cotentin), and track #13 also with Maître Gims (aka Congolese-French rapper Gandhi Alimasi Djuna). The title of the album is French for 'Square-root', which is underlined on the front cover with the symbol '√x' - something that suggests an exploration of his own roots, musically, and with regards to his identity - ultimately, pointing at circumstances and influences that has formed him as an artist and as a human being.

Cheese came out as an international monster hit debut selling Platinum and Gold in a number of countries and making it to number #1 in Belgium, number #6 in France, and Stromae went from quite anonymous to world famous with one single album. Racine carrée follows closely in the footsteps of the predecessor and it contains some of the same identifiable originality that he laid out three years earlier, and then it adds to his characteristica. Musically, it's a stunning accomplishment to par and even better the great debut with something that more than equals and proves his worth as composer, songwriter and arranger by showcasing new dimensions to his talent. The album is filled to the brim with dance-oriented tracks and hooks and then he continues his speciality by mixing chanson with club & dance. Lyrically, this appears to be filled with a critical perspective on modern life, racism, personal relationships, and more. It's all-encompassing in what appears as another exceptional album. He speaks about so many things here that makes it near extreme. He narrates about SoMe, about a poisonous relationsship, a note on cancer, a reminder about mixed races, a song about pretention, and a song about how the human race appears to have evolved beyond what's reasonable, there's a hommage to Cesária Évora, a song about his father... Every song matters and it works on so many levels that it leaves you almost speechless. What a gifted artist!

Strongest recommendation.

[ allmusic.com, Metro 4 / 5, Télérama 4 / 4 stars ]

Edit 2026:

The 2026 reissue is a double vinyl album with 3 tracks on each side but with the exclusion of the final track "AVF" for reasons unknown. The song appears in the original issue of the album. Nothing has been declared regarding the omission. Guesses are basically two-fold: 1) it's about credits as the song is co-composed by the two artists Maître Gims and Orelsan - the latter is also co-writer of track #4, and supposed conflict of interest is the presence of Maître Gims, who has been subject of several controversies, which releates to plagiarism, homophofia, and most recently: he has been subjected to investigations regarding money laundering. I think, Stromae simply wanted to cut the connection by leaving out a track involving Gims. 2) Perhaps the main reason is that the song doesn't represent what Stromae is all about. The title 'AVF' is short for 'Allez vous faire!', which means 'Go fuck yourself!' / 'Fuck you!" and alone that makes much sense sinse the lyrical content of the song doesn't coinside with the other songs on his album, or any other album by Stromae - this is simply not part of his artistic identity. The really bad thing is that it's musically one of the fine ones on the album.

2013 Favourite releases: 1. Stromae Racine carrée - 2. Arctic Monkeys AM - 3. Tindersticks Across Six Leap Years

Martha Wainwright "Sans fusils, ni souliers, à Paris..." (2009)

Sans fusils, ni souliers, à Paris... (live)
release date: Nov. 24, 2009
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Hal Willner
label: V2 - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "La foule" - 4. "L'accordéoniste"

3rd album by Martha Wainwrigth, where the full title is Sans fusils, ni souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record following the acclaimed I Know You're Married but I've Got Feelings Too (May 2008). The album is not the expected new studio album. Instead, it's the live recordings of three concerts from mid-June 2009 at Dixon Place Theatre, New York, thus not what the title could imply recorded in Paris, France. The album title is with reference to the lyrics of "Les Grognards". All songs are Wainwright covers of familiar Edith Piaf songs and it's basically a tribute album.

It's indisputable that Wainwright is a most talented vocalist with a large repertoire and register, and as a French-Canadian she may possess a natural bond with French culture and traditions, and although she is highly capable as a singer, I just don't think she is up to the task particularly convincing on this arena. Wainwright is known for mastering contrasts between the emotionally vulnerable and the more expressively devilish, and yet here her voice seems to lack an emotional attuned dimension that you find in Piaf's versions, but also in songs performed by Mireille Mathieu, who have given most of these songs a different and personal quality.

It's not an unambiguously bad album, where Wainwright misses the mark - it's only more so that others have done it better.

[ Sunday Tribune 3 / 5, The Times, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Jacques Brel "Brel (aka Les marquises)" (1977)

Brel (aka Les marquises)

release date: Nov. 17, 1977

format: vinyl (gatefold)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,77]
producer: ? (rec. by Gerhard Lehner)

label: Barclay - nationality: Belgium

Track highlights: A) 1. "Jaurès" - 2. "La ville s'endormait" - 3. "Vieillir" - 4. "Le bon Dieu" - - B) 1. "Les remparts de Varsovie" - 2. "Voir un ami pleurer" - 4. "Jojo" - 6. "Les Marquises"

14th and final studio album by Jacques Brel following five years after Ne me quitte pas (Sep. 1972), which is made up of new recordings of Brel's most famous songs making this his first album with new material in 9 years.

Zaz "Recto verso" (2013)

Recto verso
release date: May 10, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,14]

Track highlights: 1. "On ira" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Comme ci, comme ça" - 3. "Gamine" - 8. "Toujours" - 11. "Oublie Loulou" (3,5 / 5) - 13. "Nous debout" (4 / 5)

I think this is an improvement from her debut. In 2011 she released the live album Live Tour: Sans tsu tsou, and without hearing it, I think, her music is well-suited for live performances. It sort of goes hand in hand with the jazz ingredient, which is ever-present in her music. I think, this her second studio album is better because it generally contains stronger and more original tracks. Some tracks are more pop-styled, like the fine closing track "Nous debout", with a chorus-based up-tempo song, and other fine tracks are much more traditional chanson and vocal jazz tracks with less orchestration. I think this is a pretty nice release.

Zaz "Zaz" (2010)

Zaz
release date: May 10, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Highlight: 11. "Eblouie par la nuit"

Studio debut album by Zaz, this interesting new French gypsy jazz and chanson singer / songwriter. The music is light and refreshing but I miss interesting tracks from Zaz.

Yves Montand "Le Paris de Montand" (1964)

Le Paris de Montand
release date: 1964
format: cd (1992 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer:
label: Columbia Records - nationality: France

Tracklist: 1. "Paris canaille" - 2. "La vie en rose" - 3. "Le Chevalier de Paris" - 4. "L'ame des Poetes" - 5. "Sous le ciel de Paris" - 6. "Les feuilles mortes" (Live at Olympia) - 7. "C'est si bon" - 8. "Sa jeunesse" - 9. "Mon manage a moi" - 10. "A Paris dans Chaque Faubourg" - 11. "Marie Marie" - 12. "A Paris"

Studio album by Yves Montand originally released in 1964 by CBS Records and re-issued in '92.
I'm a fan of Yves Montand (birthname: Ivo Livi), his music and the many movies he stars in. Not that I know all of his great catalog. I only own a double cd box containing this release alongside Chansons populaires de France (1956) and of the two, I must have heard the '64 release hundreds of times. What's so amazing about Montand is listening to how he gives life to each song. Maybe because he was such a great actor, he used his gift as impersonator when performing. And therefore you can still find many such live performances with Montand on UTube. I consider Yves Montand to be one of a few great male performers of the 1960s and '70s standards and vocal jazz which includes Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Nat 'King' Cole, Charles Aznavour, and Jacques Brel. The latter perhaps being his biggest contemporary idol, who wrote and composed many of the finest French chansons. Montand didn't compose great songs but had a natural gift of making songs his own.

org. 2 cd release (1992)

[ Another great live performance with Montand: "La bicyclette" ]

Mireille Mathieu "Grand Collection" (2000)

Grand Collection (compilation)
release date: 2000
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Mon credo" (4 / 5) - 2. "Quand on revient" - 3. "La premiere etoile" - 4. "Viens dans ma rue" (5 / 5) - 5. "La dernière valse" - 6. "Un homme, une femme" - 7. "Paris en colère" - 8. "Qu'elle est belle" - 9. "J'ai gardé l'accent" - 10. "Acropolis adieu" - 11. "Pardonne-moi ce caprice d'enfant" - 12. "C'est ton nom" - 13. "Je ne suis rien sans toi" - 14. "C'est a Mayerling" - 15. "Toi et moi" - 16. "Donne ton coeur donne ta vie"

Compilation album by Mireille Mathieu. They don't really make 'em like this anymore... Beautiful, gorgeous and absolutely wonderful French chanson entertainer. She's not Piaf, well of course not, and I must say that I prefer Mireille. I'd like to get hold of some of her original releases one day, as I only happen to have two collection albums and this is the best. Indeed I cannot be certain but I think it must lack some highlights from her long and golden career. Long ago she has won fans all over the world, and in Germany her success has been so massive that she even released and sang German schlager - in German! - A musical style I don't really appreciate... at all. Luckily, that's just diversity isn't it?! I think she's best singing French chansons. Grand Collection contains 16 really fine tracks of this genre. I just generally find it a bit hard to rate compilation albums too high but this is truly recommended.

"Viens dans ma rue" (live version), (playback version)

alt. cover

Charles Aznavour "Visages de l'amour" (1974)

Charles Aznavour
Visages de l'amour (1974)

"Tous les visages de l'amour"

.  .  .
.  .
. 

Françoise Hardy "Clair-obscur" ('Clair-obscur', 2000)

Jacques Brel "Les bourgeois" (1962)

Les bourgeois
release date: Apr. 1962
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Les bourgeois" (4 / 5) - 2."Les paumés du petit matin" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Madeleine" (5 / 5) - 7. "Bruxelles" (4 / 5) - 9. "Les biches" (4,5 / 5) - 11. "La statue" (3,5 / 5)

6th studio album by Jacques Brel originally released on Philips aka "Jacques Brel 6". It was reissued on Barclay as part of the 2003 remaster box set Boîte à Bonbons. The album is yet another fine release with lyrics and music by Brel, or co-written with primarily Gérard Jouannest (track #3), François Rauber (track #3), or Jean Corti (track #2). The best track here is "Madeleine" written by Brel, Corti and Jouannest, and it's one of many modern classics by Brel. The album contains some of his strongest compositions and is one of his finest albums.

Best of 1962:Jacques Brel "Olympia 61" (1962) (live)

Olympia 61 (live)
release date: 1962
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "Les bourgeois" - 3. "Les paumés du petit matin" - 4. "Les Flamandes" - 5. "La statue" - 7. "Marieke" - 8. "Les biches" - 9. "Madeleine" - 12. "La valse á mille temps" - 12. "Ne me quitte pas" - 14. "Le moribond" - 15. "Quand on n'a que l'amour"

Live album by Jacques Brel released by Philips Records and recorded Oct. 27–29, 1961 at l'Olympia in Paris. The album is a marvelous live recording showcasing the skills of Brel at the peak of his career.

1962 Favourite releases: 1. Jacques Brel Olympia 61 - 2. Chet Baker Chet Is Back! - 3. Dexter Gordon Go

Jacques Brel "Marieke" (1961)

Marieke
release date: 1961
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

5th studio album by Jacques Brel aka "Jacques Brel 5" released on Philips. The album consists of tracks composed by either Brel alone (5 tracks), Brel together with conductor François Rauber (two tracks), or Brel with Gérard Jouannest (8 tracks). The album contains some of his most well-known compositions: "Marieke", "Le moribond", "On n'oublie rien", "Le prochain amour", "Les prénoms de Paris", and "Les singes". The track "Le moribond" was transleated by Rod McKuen and covered by Canadian singer / songwriter Terry Jacks as "Seasons in the Sun" and that version became a big international hit in 1974.

Jacques Brel "La valse à mille temps" (1959)

La valse à mille temps
release date: 1959
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "La valse à mille temps" (5 / 5) live - 4. "Je t'aime" - 5. "Ne me quitte pas" (4 / 5) - 6. "Les flamandes" (4 / 5) - 10. "La colombe"

4th full-length studio album by Jacques Brel aka "Jacques Brel 4". Like many of his early albums this release is just a self-titled album but is also known as "La valse à mille temps" (taken from the first track). I also enjoy his three earlier albums from the '50s but this particular album is considered one of his best ever original releases, and his first big hit album. It's his second release featuring the great French conductor François Rauber with whom Brel wrote two of the original 10 songs, although, the album's strongest tracks are written by Brel only.

Jacques Brel "Au printemps" (1958)

Au printemps
release date: 1958
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "Au printemps" - 3. "Je ne sais pas" - 4. "Le colonel" - 8. "L'homme dans la cité?" - 9. "Litanies pour un retour"

3rd studio album by Jacques Brel originally released on Philips aka "Jacques Brel 3". This is another great album by Brel mostly consisting of his own compositions but also introducing 5 songs co-written with François Rauber who is also credited as orchestral conductor (tracks #2–3, #8–9, and #11–12) alongside André Popp (tracks #1, #4, #7, #10, and #13). The original lp contains tracks #1-10, with tracks #11-13 being bonus tracks on the 2003 remaster issued on Barclay Records as part of the 16-disc box set Boîte à Bonbons.

Jacques Brel "Quand on n'a que l'amour" (1957)

Quand on n'a que l'amour
release date: 1957
format: cd (2003 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Quand on n'a que l'amour" - 2. "Qu'avons-nous fait, bonnes gens?" - 3. "Les pieds dans le ruisseau" - 5. "La bourrée du célibataire" - 7. "Saint-Pierre" - 8. "J'en appelle"

2nd studio album by Jacques Brel originally released on Philips aka 'Jacques Brel 2'. As the debut, this consists of compositions written by Brel (except track #4 co-written with Jacques Vigouroux). And much like the debut, this hardly contains superfluous songs - and the album itself is quite remarkable. Orchestra conductors here are: André Popp on tracks #1 and #4-10, Michel Legrand on #2-3, and François Rauber is credited on track #11 (which is an alternate recording of track #1) on the 2003 remaster cd edition.

Jacques Brel "Jacques Brel et ses chansons" (1954)

Jacques Brel et ses chansons [debut]

release date: 1954

format: cd (2003 remaster)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracks (org. album): 1. "La haine" - 2. "Grand Jacques (C'est trop facile)" - 3. "Il pleut (Les carreaux)" - 4. "Le diable (ça va)" - 5. "Il peut pleuvoir" - 6. "Il nous faut regarder" - 7. "Le fou du roi" - 8. "C'est comme ça" - 9. "Sur la place"

Studio album debut album by Jacques Brel aka 'Grand Jacques'. The tracks #1-9 represent the original vinyl lp recorded at Théâtre de L'Apollo, Feb. 15, 1954. The cd-version consists of 15 tracks, of which tracks #10-15 are bonus tracks on the 2003 remaster 'Velours Box Set', which is a part of the extensive 16-disc box set, Boîte à Bonbons. Aside Brel himself, the album also offers examples of the arrangements by André Grassis' (tracks #1-9). All compositions from the original album except two by Glen Powell are all credited Brel.

This first one out may not contain a long list of great classics but it still showcases Brel's gifts as songwriter, composer, and not least: singer.