Saturday, July 25, 2009

v/a "La Belle Epoque: EMI's French Girls, 1965-1968"

This was dirt cheap in Glasgow's Monorail, but it turns out to have some really good stuff on it, much more so than the compilation of French girl pop I picked up in the USA some years back (that was admittedly vol. 44 in a series). This one was so cheap that I wondered if it might have been a cheapass bootleg, but it has pretty good sleevenotes, talking a good game about the CD being produced from the original masters, so that sound quality is better than the original releases (which would have been on four track 7" EPs). The guy on the sleeve-notes also claims knowledgeably that one of the stand-out tracks (Liz Brady's 'Partie de Dames') must have been recorded in London, given the production quality, and even goes on to hazard a guess as to who the session drummer was. Another exceptional track is 'Les Mains dans les Poches' by Les Roche Martin, a group comprising two sisters and their brother, here using vocal harmonising that makes their track sound that bit different to the others.

The whole record is of impressive quality, not just the ones mentioned above. I say, therefore, that you should keep an eye out for this compilation.

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