VF Mix 164: Brigitte Fontaine by La Stampa

Sounds of the French underground artist, feminist and icon.

On the heels of leftfield pop collective La Stampa’s ‘Une fille d’officier’ (Remixes) EP – taken from their Bonjour Trieste LP in 2018, – we tapped them to create a VF mix showcasing one of their favourite cult artists.

For the occasion they chose French avant-garde maestro Brigitte Fontaine:

“Admittedly, not all members of La Stampa understand French fluently, even if the band has songs in that language. But Brigitte Fontaine’s music and voice is so spectacular you can almost get by without understanding the lyrics’ content. Therefore, here’s the best of all best-of mixes.

And there are even more reasons why it’s worth considering Fontaine. Objective reasons. This glamorous French underground icon, feminist, and exceptional artist is a good example of the phenomenon that musical treasures from outside of the English-speaking world all too often go largely unnoticed. Even when they hail from France. Since the late 1960s, Madame Fontaine – usually with her longtime partner Areski Belkacem – recorded many albums, most of which remained relatively unsuccessful. But from the 1990s onwards, she came to the attention of a number of international artists like Sonic Youth and Stereolab, who went on to collaborate with her. Many of her chansons offer what the non-French love about French pop music – and yet more, owing to her stylistic width and experimental edge.

And ultimately, she has that one decisive ace up her sleeve: which important French chanteuse can claim to not have worked with Serge Gainsbourg? Exactly.”

Listen to the mix above and check out the tracklist below:

Tracklist:

1. Brigitte Fontaine – Engourdie
2. Brigitte Fontaine & Art Ensemble of Chicago – Comme á la radio – edit
3. Brigitte Fontaine – Maman, j`ai peur
4. Brigitte Fontaine – Eternelle
5. Brigitte Fontaine – Nous et vous
6. Brigitte Fontaine -Patriarcat
7. Brigitte Fontaine – La fiancée de Frankenstein
8. Brigitte Fontaine – Je vous salue Marie
9. Brigitte Fontaine – La Pythonisse
10. Brigitte Fontaine – Je ne connais pas cet homme
11. Brigitte Fontaine & Emmanuelle Seigner – Dressing
12. Brigitte Fontaine – Barbe á Papa
13. Brigitte Fontaine – Marcelle
14. Brigitte Fontaine – Declaration de sinistre
15. Brigitte Fontaine & Jean Claude Vannier – Le crocs
16. Brigitte Fontaine – Le beau cancer
17. Brigitte Fontaine – Brigitte
18. Brigitte Fontaine & Christophe – Hollywood
19. Brigitte Fontaine & Stereolab – Caliméro
20. Brigitte Fontaine & Rubin et le Paradoxe – Le matin des magiciens
21. Brigitte Fontaine & J. Higelin – La grippe
22. Brigitte Fontaine – Le 6 septembre