ARTHUR H
SIMPL'HUMAIN
Arthur H is truly a one-of-a-kind artist. Son of poet/singer/troubadour Jacques Higelin he's been able to create a world of his own mixing jazz and chanson in a way no one has done before. The easier way to describe his style would be to label him "the French Tom Waits" which, in a sense, he is: his deep/broken voice, use of jazz instrumentations and peculiar lyrics certainly tend to remember good ole Tom though it has to be said he relies less on country and blues than Mr. Waits does. Whatsmore, there's also some Serge Gainsbourg and Randy Newman in the man's art which slowly evolved from an all-jazz background to more diverse and groovy territories while still remaining faithful to his roots.
All his 7 albums (released from 1990 to 2008 with "L'homme du Monde") are very consistent which made the choice of the tracklist to this compilation a quite hard one... I thus deliberately choose to pick tracks both from his more arty works and easier ones to display a good panorama of what the man's capable of. And if it sure helps to speak french to fully appreciate his art, I'm certain the music holds well enough on its own so that non-French speakers will be delighted too.
I hope you'll enjoy this selection and will want to explore Arthur H's catalogue further on, it sure deserves your attention. In the meantime, let your ears feast on Simpl'Humain and make sure to tell me what you thought of it!
La Chanson de Satie
My ARTHUR H top
1. Adieu Tristesse (2005)
2. Negresse Blanche (2003)
3. Trouble-Fête (1996)
4. Arthur H (1990)
5. Bachibouzouk (1992)
6. Pour Madame X (2000)
7. L'Homme du Monde (2008)
4 comments:
Sadly French is one European language where my vocabulary is limited to asking if anyone knows any of the languages I do speak, but the delivery and the music make his work very interesting (I prefer it to Waits!) Time to learn French, I think!
oh oui, le bestiau est tres interressant
altos
I've heard a bit of his music and loved it, but never an entire record - thanks so much for the time and effort to assemble this overview of his music - most appreciated. Randy Newman & Gainsbourg - now there's a winning combo.
Many thanks for the collection, it's always welcome this kind of initiative.
Thaaaanks duuuude!
mm
ps: i've a blog to:
http://mundomalungo.blogspot.com/
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