I'm in search of French music.  I'm only a few days into learning
French and thought it might be a good idea to hear the language in a
music setting.  Some U.S. artists/musicians that I enjoy are Natalie
Merchant (solo), Tom Waits, Neil Young (mostly his mellow phases:
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Harvest, Silver and Gold, etc.),
Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Alexi Murdoch.  I really enjoy
music with a jazz, blues, and/or folk feel.  Aside from being
excellent artists/musicians, all that I mentioned are typically easy
to understand and, therefore, easy to sing along with (in private, of
course!)  I would like to be able to find some French artists in a
similar style or a similar vein as far as their philosophy toward
music goes.  Just to be clear, I?m not looking for run-of-the-mill
French pop music (I?m not a fan of top 40 radio).  Hopefully, through
this process, I?ll be introduced to an artist/musician that I want to
follow and I?ll also benefit by hearing and learning French.  

Somewhere around 5 suggestions would be great.

Cher M. Plumley --

Music is an excellent way to pick up an affinity for a language and
many French teachers actively use songs as an incentive for high
school students to learn.  You'll be surprised to hear musical themes
and even songs appear across languages.

For clarity of enunciation AND musical qualities, here are my
recommendations in priority order:

Georges Moustaki, a folk singer that some have compared with Bob
Dylan.  Probably Arlo Guthrie (or James Taylor) is a better
comparisons, as Moustaki has stuck to acoustic instruments and can be
hilarious in mocking his own popularity.  He is easily understood (and
albums usually have lyrics).  Recommended: "Bobino 70," a live album,
or possibly his 2-disk collection "Prelude."
George Moustaki
http://www.creatweb.com/moustaki/

Nana Mouskouri, a Greek-born singer who also often sings in Greek, and
English.  A good collection of her French songs is is "C'est Bon La
Vie," which is a series of French popular songs:
Nana Mouskouri
http://www.modempool.com/yhuff/nana.htm

Anne Sylvestre possesses a high soprano voice not unlike Judy Collins.
 She's especially interesting because of an album of traditional
French folk songs, as well as a continuing series of children's songs
in the "Fabulettes" series.  You can listen to samples here:
Amazon.com
"Fabulettes"
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004URKS/402-2500352-2800966

Céline Dion: the French-Canadian singer is as well-known in France as
in the U.S. and has recorded quite a bit in French.  An excellent
break from the softer songs above is "D'Eux," which was published in
the U.S. under the title "The French Album."  It's largely written by
Jean-Jacques Goldman, a French popular singer, and the music is often
fast-paced and emotional -- so it will test your French vocabulary. 
But the lyrics are widely available.  I've put the single link to this
album but you'll find several selections of Dion in French here too:
Amazon.com
"The French Album"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002B44/104-1177830-4110304?v=glance

Except for perhaps Céline Dion, all of these artists have some
interesting roots with traditional music.  The group Tri Yann is
another, with strong Celtic roots stemming from exposure to Breton
music and culture.  I've linked a secondary page of theirs because the
home page has a hard rockin' audio file that plays automatically.  An
album to recommend (and note that there's already a volume 2 of this
collection of 'the best of' series):
"Le Meilleur de Tri Yann"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000084FH/qid=1080682534/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-1177830-4110304

History of Tri Yann
http://edoll.free.fr/hist.html


One final recommendation comes from my daughter, whose French teacher
used the music and lyrics of the musical "Les Misérables" in her
classes:
" Les Misérables"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000020C4/104-1177830-4110304?v=glance



SOME NOT RECOMMEND
---------------------

As popular as Jacques Brassens is, I find many of his songs pretty
topical, making it doubly difficult to decipher the message of the
songs.  He has a habit of swallowing syllables (and whole words) that
make him difficult to understand when first learning the language.

There's no question that Edit Piaf is a great singer, who picked songs
that could tell great stories.  I like her best in collections (like
"Les Chansons de Paris"), as her voice and stylizing are definitely
pre-World War II.


AND SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
--------------------------------

You can listen to France Inter, the radio chain that broadcasts
domestically and internationally, on the Internet.  France Inter has a
number of different channels, offering choices like rock 'n roll,
blues, culture or news:
France Inter
http://www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-inter01/direct/index.php?ok=1

TV5, one of the French news channels, is available on some cable
systems in the U.S.  There's a full-day of French programming for
$20/month on Comcast, but you may have French nightly news available
at no charge on the International channel, as we do here in Seattle
each night at 6 p.m.:
Canada Heritage
"TV5 -- International Francophone Network"
http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/ai-ia/fi-if/tv5_e.cfm


And finally, as baseball season's about to start, there's one team
that broadcasts its games in French too:
Montreal Expos
http://www.exposdemontreal.com/aujeu/index.htm


There also are several popular French films that are worth watching. 
In many of these cases the plotline has been so strong that American
versions have been made of these films, but of course often the
originals far outshine the imitations.  "La Cage aux Folles" and
"Trois Hommes et un Couffin" are favorites but a French culture group
actually tracks what's being shown in the U.S.:
Frenchculture.org
http://www.frenchculture.org/tv/movies/

DVDs of French films can be ordered but be wary of whether or not they
can be played in U.S. DVD players, as manufacturers often put zone
restrictions on the discs.


Google search strategy:
singers' names -- such as "Georges Moustaki"
"TV5 international"
"popular French music"
"popular French singers"

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Great answer with many suggestions.  I've reserved "Bobino 70" at the
library and will be working my way through the list.  Merci beaucoup.

One other thing you might try is alt.binaries.mp3.secular. For some
reason, this Internet news group seems to contain a huge amount of
really excellent French language music. A surprising amount of it is
very good, and many styles are represented.

Of course, I do not recommend that you actually download this music,
rather use it as a guide to what you might be interested in
purchasing.

Alan Kali

Sorry, I mistyped. It is alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.secular.

Alan Kali

Great answer, Omnivorous!

I have one additional suggestion: I've always loved the sweet, simple
folk-style songs of Soeur Sourire, "The Singing Nun," who recorded an
album that became a hit in the '60s:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000I9FP

M. Plumley --

Thanks so much for the comments and the extra sum!  I'm glad that your
local library has Moustaki's 'Bobino 70' -- it's really a gem of a
live performance.

I'd have tried the other bit of universal advice: "if you want to
learn French well, you should get a French girlfriend."  But that
might be over the edge if you're married!

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

This is my first time in Google answers. I got to this forum via
queries into french music. I began learning French 1 year ago &
thought that since I love music, I would progress more quickly
listening to french music. I love it.

Suggestions:

La Tordue: Champ Libre. I had to get this from amazon.ca. Fantastic!

Les Tetes Raides. Le Bout de Toit is a good place to start. They have
an incredibly long discography.

The above two bands are similar and have similar roots. New
chanson--Gainsbourg for modern times.

Sanseverino. Fantastic Django-esque riffs with modern lyrics. Both

   Les Tango Des Gens

and the newly released

   Les Senalgalaises

are excellent.

Les Negresses Vertes. Funky, funky stuff.

Jean LeLoup. Quebecois rock. If you like sixties rock
Try (again via amazon.ca)

   Les Fourmis

or 

   Le Dome

or

L'amour est sans pitie

I love Thomas Fersen. Any and all of his stuff. Look at the Tot Ou Tard 
website (his music label & also that of Les Tetes Raides.)


Malicorne/Yacoub Gabriel.

   Les Chathedral De L'Industrie

   ELF

  or
  
  Quatre

1980's rock a' la Peter Gabriel, but with more depth.
You can find this at www.cdroots.com.

Dionysos. If you like modern punky rock, this is it. The lyrics are
fantastically odd.

   Western Sous La Niege 

is excellent.

More modern stuff:

 Mickey 3D : 

   Mistigri Torture

or

   La Treve.

This next suggestion is a little far afield. Llhasa is a woman who has
a Mexican father, an American mother & was raised in Quebec.

   The Living Road

from Tot Ou Tard is fantastic, but there might be too much spanish and english
mixed in with the french for what you want.

If you are in the mood for romatic (and I must say, excellent) french then try

Herni Salvador: Chambre Avec Vue.

(Suprisingly, he is an Argentinian)

or

Carla Bruni. Quelqu'un M'a Dit.

She is an Italian model with a French mother. Excellent.


I could go on & on. 

    Marie Kiss La Joue

    Mathieu Boogaerts

    Camille

    Cali

    Emilie Simon

    Francoit Breut
  
    Java

    Les Hurlements de Leo

    Fatal Mambo

    Paris Combo

    Louis

    Bran Van 3000

    Alex H

    Alexis HK

& on & on & ....


A bon plaisir,

Allan