Welcome back to the blog for another year - and decade! I hope 2020 is finding you content and well. If not – well, music is a great elixir, and there are a ton of beautiful tunes in this post to help soothe what ails you :).

As has become tradition, my first post of the new year is a look back at my favourite records of the previous year, with a playlist for you to sample songs from each. As a bonus, I've added a playlist of my favourite releases of 2018 as well, since I wasn't blogging this time last year, but had been saving a list of records I loved.

Wow, there were some killer albums that came out in both 2019 and 2018. Once again, I'm extremely heartened by the state of new music – it just takes a little digging to find the good stuff ;).Here are my lists of top 10 albums for each year (in no real order, except for the top 3 in each list):

Now onto the fun stuff - the playlists! These represent what ended up being a fairly random number of my favourite releases. For the 2019 playlist, I was ready to go with a nice, neat 25 albums and 5 EPs and singles, but discovered I'd forgotten a couple of essential inclusions, and struggled to cut anything further. Then I realised one of the benefits of running my own blog is I can do whatever the fuck I want! So, 27 albums it is! (or 32 releases including EPs and singles).

If you are new to my contemporary music tastes, what you can expect is lots of neo-psych, avant-pop, shimmery dream pop, pop noir, and otherwise songs with irresistible melodies and strong songwriting, usually in a retro or classic vein. My playlists tend to be female-dominated - it's not by design, it's just that somehow my tastes lead me to more women making the type of music I love. I've never liked to make a statement of it; in some way, I think it's more interesting and powerful not to point it out, because why should it be unusual? That said, I am pleased to celebrate some extremely talented, sometimes overlooked female artists and present them to an audience who may not yet know them.

These were made on Spotify (RIP my fave playlisting service, 8tracks), but if you have another preferred streaming platform, visit the Soundsgood link beneath the playlist artwork for more listening options (the playlists, however, may be incomplete on some platforms).

Best of 2019: Spotify playlist | Soundsgood (more listening options)

A psychedelic mix just in time for Christmas! There's not much I need to say about this that the title doesn't already tell you. All I will say is, on playing it through, I noticed it's kind of an odd blend of cheerful and sinister – but hey, that seems apt for Christmas! It's named for a song by The Smoking Trees from the superb Active Listener Christmas Album from 2012. (A name-your-price download on Bandcamp, it's well worth grabbing). Oddly, I only noticed after compiling this that there are quite a few tracks from 2012, for some reason. Apparently that year was a fine vintage for Christmas psych!

Okay, so it's nearly March, which probably makes this the world's most untimely 'Best of 2017' list! First I'll get to the music, but there's a personal note at the bottom of this post explaining why I'm sometimes much later with posts than I'd like, and why I think they're still worth doing anyway.

Wow, I was really blown away by the musical offerings from last year! There's some truly spectacular music being made by incredibly creative artists who are dedicated to their craft. and to making brilliant music for the sake of it. Though it's easier than ever to find music from all over the world to suit your particular tastes, I'm pretty convinced there's also just more and more amazing music being produced. This playlist features a song from each of my favourite 2017 albums. It's pretty long, with fifty-five tracks, coming in at around three hours and forty minutes of listening. I heard so much great stuff, this was as much as I could narrow it down! And you'll notice this is only Part One.... 

Image via Discogs

I love a good depressing seasonal tune, and it doesn't much bleaker than one set in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world!

'Juste quelques flocons qui tombent' ("Just a few flakes falling") isn't really a Christmas song, but is apparently associated enough with this time of year to be included on Christmas compilations. This is curious, because the lyrics don't reference anything related to Noël, and from what I can find, the track seems to have been released not around Christmas time but in February, 1967. Perhaps the association comes from its snowy imagery, or the chiming bells that unusually punctuate its psych-folk-pop sound, or perhaps it's because of the story of how Antoine came to write the song.

The idea for the song came to Antoine on Christmas Eve, 1965, according to Anthologie des tubes rock: Soixante ans de musique pour les kids (François Grimpet & Daniel Lesueur, Camion Blanc, 2016), This was shortly before he would score a huge hit with 'Les Élucubrations d'Antoine' early the following year, becoming not only an overnight pop superstar, but a major force in reshaping the French pop scene in the post-yé-yé years. At this point however, he had a debut EP under his belt that hadn't made much of a splash, and was still a struggling musician. Having performed that evening for a modest fee, Antoine had just enough to dine out with his girlfriend but nothing left over for transport, so they footed it home. Walking toward the Marais district, the couple looked back to see a snow-covered Paris, nothing visible except their footprints in the snow, leaving them with the feeling of being the only two people in the world. With his songwriter's imagination and having keenly absorbed the pacifist themes of the likes of Bob Dylan, Antoine soon turned this image into a song about a world decimated by nuclear war, where he and his lover are the only survivors.  

If I'm understanding the lyrics correctly, the final verse sees Antoine comparing himself and his girlfriend to Adam and Eve, but cautioning they must avoid repopulating the world – since the last world was such a flop! What a sentiment to hear in a track that gets billed as one of "Les plus belles chansons de Noël"!

Beware of my Halloween mix this year: it will magically seduce you, take you to heights of beauty and pleasure... before you soon find unsettling and downright terrifying things start to happen. Erotica and horror combine in this blend of vintage soundtracks, dark folk-pop and other sensual, yet deadly, delights.

Please note that this sorcery gets very saucy indeed so you probably won't want to play this at work or around children – unless you're prepared to answer a lot of questions.

Tracklist

1. Jirí Bažant & Jirí Malásek - Erotica 2 (1975. From the Barry 7's Connectors compilation, 2002)
2. Anna Biller - Fairy Lady Harp Music (The Love Witch soundtrack, 2016)
3. Paul Giovanni and Magnet - Willow's Song (The Wicker Man soundtrack, 1973)
4. Manfred Hübler & Siegfried Schwab - Peoples Playground (Version B) (Vampyros Lesbos soundtrack, 1971)
5. Cocteau Twins - Beatrix (Treasure,1984)
6. Goblin - Witch (Suspiria soundtrack, 1977)
7. Midnight Movies - Oh Twilight (Midnight Movies, 2004)
8. Piero Umiliani - Fotomodelle (Svezia, inferno e paradiso soundtrack, 1968)
9. François de Roubaix - Les Dunes d'Ostende (Les Lèvres Rouges soundtrack, 1971)
10. Neal Gardner - The Case of the Bloody Iris (Giallo, 2013)
11. Adrian Younge Presents Venice Dawn - Midnight Blue (Something About April, 2011)
12. Ennio Morricone - Sottintesi (Il gatto a nove code soundtrack, 1971)
13. Bat for Lashes - The Wizard (Fur and Gold, 2007)
14. The Sirens - Femmes (1976. From the Mondo Erotico compilation, 2002)
15. Delired Cameleon Family - Weird Ceremony (Visa de censure n° X soundtrack, 1976)
16. Piero Umiliani - Streghe e convegno (Riunione, sarabanda, purificazione) (Angeli bianchi... angeli neri soundtrack, 1969)
17. Pierre Raph - Crotch Batterie (Requiem pour un vampire soundtrack, 1971)
18. Zdenek Liška - Witches Firewall (Malá morská víla soundtrack, 1976)
19. Isobel Campbell - Lady Of Snakes (O Love Is Teasin' EP, 2006)
20. Cat's Eyes - Door No. 2 (The Duke of Burgundy soundtrack, 2014)
21. White Noise - My Game of Loving (An Electric Storm, 1969)
22. Norbert Glanzberg - The Blonde Witch (The Blonde Witch soundtrack, 1956)
23. Prudence Rees-Lee - After the Moon (After the Moon single, 2017)
24. Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Into the Trees (Until The Hunter, 2016)
25. Richard Hayman and The Manhattan Pops Orchestra- Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere (Tender Moments, 1961)

Credits: Mix illustratiion from the cover of the 1967 gothic romance novel, Strangers In The Night, via My Love-Haunted Heart.

A mix for Halloween featuring music from 70s European horror soundtracks, eerie vintage folk-pop, contemporary pop noir and more. Last year, I made a devil-themed mix drawing from a similar range of artists, but where that one was skin-crawlingly creepy, this is more softly unnerving, with undercurrents of romance and sensuality. It makes me vaguely picture an imaginary classic horror film where a beautiful heroine is lured into a haunted forest by an irresistible but diabolical lover. Amid the prettily haunting sounds, there are still some genuinely terrifying moments – Goblin's bloodcurdling 'Sighs', from Suspiria, for example – should this ominous realm start to feel too cosy. 

The mix image is Elsa Martinelli in Roger Vadim's 1960 vampire flick, Et mourir de plaisir (aka Blood and Roses).

Tracklist (Hide details)

1. François De Roubaix - Les Lèvres Rouges (1971)
   From the Les Lèvres Rouges (Daughters of Darkness) soundtrack.
2. Beautify Junkyards - Longo Amanhã (2015)
   From The Beast Shouted Love.
3. Ennio Morricone - Astratto IV (1971)
   From the Veruschka - poesia di una donna soundtrack.
4. Marianne Faithfull - Oh Look Around You (1965)
   From her self-titled debut album.
5. Daniela Casa - Ignoto (1975)
   From Società Malata, reissued on Penny Records in 2013, and again on Dagored this year.
6. Death and Vanilla - Shadow and Shape (2015)
   From To Where The Wild Things Are.
7. Comus - Bitten (1971)
   From First Utterance.
8. The Paradise Motel - Bad Light (1996)
   From Still Life.
9. Broadcast - The Sacred Marriage (2013)
   From the soundtrack to Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio.
10. Jenny Hval - In the Red (2016)
    From Blood Bitch.
11. Cat's Eyes - Pavane (2015)
    From the soundtrack to another Strickland film, The Duke of Burgundy.
12. Françoise Hardy - The Rose (1966)
    From Hardy's first English language album, In English.
13. Piero Umiliani - Nocturne (1973)
    From To-Day's Sound, reissued on Easy Tempo in 1997.
14. Ennio Morricone - Metamorfosi (1971)
    From the La classe operaia va in paradiso.
15. Laurence Vanay - Soleil Rouge (1974)
    From Galaxies, reissued on Lion Productions in 2013, and as a double LP this year.
16. Espers - Flowery Noontide (2005)
    From Espers.
17. Cat's Eyes - Black Madonna (2015)
    From The Duke of Burgundy.
18. Les Maledictus Sound - Heathcliff Y Cry Your Name (1968)
    From Attention (or arguably Les Maledictus Sound - I'm uncertain of the correct title), the only release by this band helmed by Jean-Pierre Massiera.
19. Keith Seatman - A Slight of Hand (2013)
    From Boxes Windows & Secret Hidey-Holes.
20. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - The False Husband (2006)
    From Ballad Of The Broken Seas.
21. Jane Weaver - Parade of Blood Red Sorrows (2013)
    From the 2015 compilation The Amber Light. Originally released on the Initiaani Kesä soundtrack. 
22. Belbury Poly - Pan's Garden (2006)
    From The Owl's Map.
23. Spirogyra - Old Boot Wine (1973)
    From the 2004 compilation Gather In The Mushrooms – The British Acid Folk Underground 1968-1974. Originally from the album Bells, Boots and Shambles.
24. Phillip Lambro / Orriel Smith - Hannah Emerges In the Night (1973)
    Originally from the Crypt of the Living Dead soundtrack, this was included as a bonus track on the 2011 digital issue of Smith's 1968 single, 'Tiffany Glass' (which was also written by Lambro).
25. Still Corners - Demons (2011)
    From Creatures of an Hour.
26. Acanthus - Sleeping Beauty (Samba Des Vampires) (1971)
    From the soundtrack to Jean Rollin's Le Frisson des vampires, released by Finders Keepers Records in 2010.
27. Emil Richards - Opal (October) (1966)
    From New Sound Element "Stones", reissued by The Omni Recording Corporation in 2012.
28. Lake Ruth - One Night As I Lay On My Bed (2016)
    From Actual Entity.
29. Colleen - Le Labyrinthe (2007)
    From Les Ondes Silencieuses.
30. Angelo Badalamenti - Laura's Dark Boogie (1990)
    From Twin Peaks: Season Two Music and More (2007).
31. Maxine Sullivan - Dark Eyes (1938)
    From the 1997 compilation The Chronological Classics: Maxine Sullivan 1937-1938.
32. Jean Prodromidès - Carmilla et Léopoldo (1960)
    From the Et mourir de plaisir (Blood and Roses) soundtrack.
33. Harmonic 33 - Long Shadow (2005)
    From Music For Film, Television & Radio, Volume 1.
34. Goblin - Sighs (1977)
    From the soundtrack to Dario Argento's Suspiria, reissued on Bella Casa's The Awakening box set in 2012.
35. Harper / Russe / St. George  - Nightwalker (1972)
    From Electrosonic, a library music record Don Harper, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson (the latter two under pseudonyms) made for KPM, reissued by Glo-Spot in 2006.
36. Clara Rockmore - Rachmaninoff: Vocalise (1977)
    From The Art of the Theremin.
37. Ela Orleans - Nocturne (2012)
    From Tumult In Clouds.
38. Elysian Fields - Black Acres (2000) – Free download available from Epitonic.
    From Queen Of The Meadow.
39. Luboš Fišer - Blood Red Rose (1972)
    From the Morgiana soundtrack, released by Finders Keepers Records in 2013.
40. Mono In VCF - We Could've Owned The World (2008)
    From Mono In VCF.

Haven't felt up to blogging, and I'm not sure when/if I'll return to it. But I'll leave you with my favourite type of post, a double-up:

Sandie Shaw - Oh Gosh (1969)

Pop Junkie on Reviewing The Situation.

Donovan - Oh Gosh (1967)

I think I've hit on a plan to let me keep blogging without exhausting myself and then subsequently losing interest. I'm going to keep things as simple as possible with just pictures and the song and probably not  buying links, although I feel a bit guilty leaving those out. But you should be able to find any albums from the vendors in my sidebar. If you've searched high and low and can't find where to buy something, you can always ask and I'll help you out.

Please use the comments section to ask me any questions. I've taken down my email address, but if you still have it, please don't use it to ask me questions you can easily find answers for on a search engine. I'm also unable to send out anything individually, even for a trade. Nor am I taking requests or band submissions. Unless you're a band in my myspace friends and you want to send me free stuff? Eh? Eh? Can't blame a girl for trying.

I'm excited to be adding Radioblog*, which I discovered on the gorgeous blog Pop 'N Cherries. I've been trying to find a free way to do something like this for ages, but had no luck so it's a happy discovery indeed. This is my exception to my no requests policy; you can ask me to post an mp3 if you like anything on there. And I'm hoping that will make the blog a little more interactive and I'll get some more feedback on what people like. Remember, feedback keeps your widdle bloggers happy and makes them want to go on! Even just a 'thanks' or 'you rule the school' or even 'you suck!' (no just kidding, please don't) is great to hear.

I did think of starting up a forum where readers of this blog and the others that post French 60s stuff regularly could talk about what they love and any new discoveries, or trade stuff, but again I'd be biting off a bit more than I can chew. But for anyone who'd be interested in such an idea, please join the last.fm groups I have, French 60s and Ye-Ye Girls and maybe you could liven those up a bit. Even if you don't use the other last.fm features, the forums have the potential to be a great meeting place for fans.

And don't forget Spiked-Candy Last.fm Radio is still chugging away, churning out lots of aural treats and free to listen to. If the player has let you down before, try the beta for the upcoming release. As long as you have a decent connection, it should work a charm. And I know the 2 separate downloads for the Audioscrobbler plug-in and the Last.fm player are confusing to some; this download has them both in one and guides you through everything you need to do.

Merci, and I'll be back with some tunes very soon :).

Credit: Picture of France Gall, Johnny Hallyday et al from Douce France... Gall

*Songs I posted on Radioblog are now in this 8tracks playlist:

Pop-up player | 8tracks tips | Alternate link

This is the cover of my new favouritest CD in the world - a Japanese release called Cuties, featuring various female artists and female-led bands from around the world covering French pop classics and other lounge/bossa pop tunes. Half the tracks are taken from releases from Spain's Elefant Records. These songs seem pretty hard to come by, so look out for posts featuring more songs from it in future. Today I thought I'd share one that is a gorgeously mellow track just right for a Sunday:

Ana D - Más (1997)

I've only heard two other Ana D songs, but have been mesmerised by them. 'Más', a cover of 'More' from the soundtrack to the 1961 Italian film Mondo Cane, has the same effect on me. This description of Ana D from Grimsey is perfect:

Ana D's charisma is one of undeniable sensuality, breathy poetry, and real beauty. She sings of a strange and wonderful world of love, space ships, and dreams, all wrapped in an intimate world of pop chanteuse ways, seasoned with a hint of sultry bossa nova. In other words, Ana D. invites one into a world within a world. Both worlds are real, if you believe.

'Más' is originally taken from Ana's 1997 album Satélite 99, which is now deleted, but check the usual online retailers for stray copies. Amazon seems to have the best price - and another song off the album to download, as I only just discovered. [Available from Elefant again - see below for links].

Also check Amazon and Gemm for Cuties, but it's quite expensive - from $36 USD up. I was very lucky to get it from Ebay for $8 USD so keep an eye out. [Last I checked, it was even harder to find and more expensive - just one copy each on Ebay and Discogs, at $60-70.] 

Links: Ana D on Elefant
Buy: Satélite 99 (10th Anniversary Special Edition): Elefant Records, Bandcamp