Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

"Media reaction to and coverage of the new tracks ...has been curious."
"surprisingly free of the strong anti-Cantat sentiment"
Noir Desir is THE french rock band (with Telephone starting the movement in the 80ies). it's the band who made rock popular in France, and more accessible thanks to lyrics in french and conveying all the poetry and philosophy that make the french language so attractive.
it is like an institution. you can't be anti-french cinema, or anti-french food, just like you can't be anti-Noir Desir. loads of people may be anti-Cantat, but you can't be anti-Noir Desir.
concerning the songs, the cover of Le Temps Des Cerises is rather surprising because for me it is a really sad song and here it sounds like a happy and optimistic song due to the quick rhythm. On Gagnants/Perdants, we hear Cantat raucous voice again, his poetry, him playing with words and never saying the real words but always asking his listeners to find the true hidden meaning.
they are working on songs at the moment, the studio work should be for next year.

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

"You can't be anti-Noir Désir". Yes we can! As Scroobius Pip would say: "Noir Désir; just a band". And a band that sounds like bad Pearl Jam. BAD Pearl Jam!

I would say that Cantat is a 'gagnant', seeing as he's a wealthy rock star who only served four years in jail for beating his girlfriend to death. Noir Désir is an institution alright, and Cantat is obviously part of the establishment. It's strange that some people feel he still has the moral credibility to lecture about corrupt politicians, seeing as how he's a convicted killer. (That was my point about the radio callers saying 'Go on Bertrand, sock it to Sarko!' and the like.)

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

"rock star who only served four years in jail for beating his girlfriend to death" oh come on, do you know anyone who is famous and who served his full sentence in jail?
i'm just saying, Cantat in private and Cantat as an artist is totally different. Noir Desir fans will always make the difference. and so are the other members of Noir Desir, Denis Barthe is a fantastic drummer and Serge Teyssot Gay solo work and guitar skills are excellent. you don't judge and appreciate Noir Desir because of their behaviour, private life, what they did or do, you like them for their sound and what they express and how they express it.
now if you don't like how Noir Desir sounds, which i can understand, just read their lyrics: whether it is on des visages des figures or Tostaky, it is proper texts like lyrics in french should be.

now give me the name of another french rock band who had such importance in France...that anyone knows...and that is still around after 20 years.
(don't tell me Johnny Halliday or i'll kick your ass! i'm looking for a band, and rock! he's not even writing his songs himself anyway)

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

well Manu Chao doesn't sing in French (apart from Siberie m'etait conteee) and he is not rock...!? though La Mano Negra were proper rock. he is more of a latin rhythm, ska and punk genre. i think.
rock bands for me are Luke, Eiffel or Dyonisos but they are all so young and not sure of being around for another 20 years (even though i hope so).

anyway you don't like the band, you don't like him, ok, fair enough. but you have to understand that for french young people fans of rock, they are THE band.
(just like U2 are THE band for some people, even though some members can be really fake in front of the media, and Pete Doherty is THE man, even though some of his acts cannot be taken as an example etc...)
we just want them to create again, just put the past behind and forgive his mistakes, as you usually do to persons that you like and inspire you. that is why we are not going to talk constantly about what happened in Vilnius between two persons totally drugged up and drunk, but instead we are happy that the band that we like and follow during our youth is back.

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

actually i found another band: more than 20 years of career, french, singing in french... not really influential though. and they are not really rock because of the major presence of the 80ies synth...

Indochine.

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

ha, naked on a giant poster? thats eye-catching indeed.
i recommend Paradize and 3. and you have to listen to the title L'Aventurier if you don't know this song (usually all the young french people know the lyrics by heart).
or you can listen to the album INDO LIVE.

i don't know their last album but what i've heard is not good.

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

HI there
You know it's difficult to judges the crime of an other person...I know there aren't any raison to do so.
I believe the guilty one is the one who is suffering at the moment...Things happen that sometime we can't understand, unless you are that person.

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

What a joke! This guy is supposedly full of concern for humanity? Yeah, right. Tell that to the woman he beat to death. What a hypocrite! So, this guy thinks the US is the devil and war is terrible (I'm guessing because it means the taking of human life) yet he thinks so little of it himself that he thinks it's perfectly fine to beat a woman to death? He's a total waste of space. Evidently, it's just fine to abuse women and even go so far as to kill them, as long as you have the money to bribe the right judge. This guy and others like him are always preaching to the people over here in the US about how they're so morally superior to us, but from where I'm sitting he's absolutely no better. In fact, I'd consider myself superior. Never, NEVER would I commit such an act. Shame on him and those who continue to support him. He should be allowed to sink into the pit where he belongs.

Re: French idol's post-jailhouse rock

I agree with Pa.... He has no credibility and is the lowest of low for beating his girlfriend, Marie Trintignant, to death. The band ought to disperse and his other band members find other gigs. He ought to give all his money to battered women's shelters and devote the rest of his life to stopping violence against women. Then, and only then, might I reconsider my feelings about him. Only then might he have any credibility or redeeming value. As far as I'm concerned he has no place on a pedestal in a band. Bravo Montreal, Aix, and any other city that bans him.