I say absolutely yes, although like any art form, music is certainly subjective. When I went to Paris on study abroad I had hoped to discover all kinds of great modern French music, but my host mom listened to Debussy and everyone else wanted to know about "Steve Meeler Band". My first meal in a Parisian café was accompanied by the sweet strains of Elvis, Barbara Streisand, and It's Raining Men (Seriously? It's Raining Men? I ask you). Ironically it's been this semester in Provo that I've really discovered some great French pop music, thanks to Dr. Decoo, who takes a few minutes out of class every day to introduce us to a singer or musical. That was how Indochine came into my life. I am crazy about this band; in fact, at the moment they're probably my favorite non-Beatles band. But enough about me. Let's get to the music.
Indochine (according to a very informative Wikipedia article) formed in 1981 and were very successful in France as well as a few other countries throughout the 80s. Although they continued writing and recording during the 90s, it wasn't until 2002 that they made it back to their former glory. Their sound is 80s-tastic (just like their hairspray and music videos): strong melodies, sweet guitar riffs, and plenty of synthesizer. Some accuse them of simply imitating The Cure, but I'll leave that call up to you. Here are a couple of my favorites to get you started. Youtube has many of their videos, and a few tracks can be streamed from the HLRC website. L'aventurier was the song that got them started (I wasn't kidding about the 80s folks); the guitar riff in this song is one of my all time favorites. More recently they came out with this haunting song, J'ai demandé à la lune (featured at Star Académie last week), performed here with Coeur de Pirate at a concert for Haiti. Not long ago Indochine celebrated their 25th anniversary (even though Nikola Sirkis is the only original member left in the band today) with a concert at the Hanoi Opera House, where they reprised their first hit with the help of a symphony orchestra. Enjoy.
Do you want to hear about more French (or francophone) bands? Do you have a favorite you want to tell us about? Leave a comment and let me know!
