Mojo - The Music Magazine

"It is quite French," laughs Charlotte Gainsbourg (pictured) when asked about La Rochelle's annual Francofolies festival. Five days around the July 14 national holiday finds Francofolies La Rochelle - the sister festival to Montreal's FrancoFolies - taking over the Atlantic-coast city. 10,000-capacity outdoor venues contrast with the seated auditoriums of La Coursive, the city's well-appointed theatre. The atmosphere is festive, but there's only so many seafront acrobats and silver-painted human statues you can take before overload sets in.

This year, Francofolies is hosting legends such as Jacques Dutronc and Higelin, Alain Souchon, more recent stars, including Charlotte herself, Vanessa Paradis, Phoenix and Emilie Simon, indie contenders Revolver and Pony Pony Run Run and, under the Le Chantier des Francos banner, a raft of up and comers. The world outside l'Hexagon is represented by Canada's Coeur de Pirate, Madagascar's Mami Bastah and Mali's Vieux Farka Touré and SMOD. Following the first Francofolies in 1985, the festival is now the big-ticket event for French music fans.

For Charlotte Gainsbourg, Francofolies 2010 is a rare opportunity to catch some classic performers. "Jacques Higelin has been around for so long, he's a great artist. I listened to him at the end of the '70s. He's important. I love Jacques Dutronc, he was a good friend of my father's. He's exquisitely French. Alain Souchon is very sweet, he's a good friend of my mother. It's nice to be here and to understand the lyrics - you feel part of it. But it is nice to do both - to sing in English too." Despite the festival's name, Charlotte's live set is mostly in English. Phoenix perform in English too. Lesser knowns have their eyes on the Anglophone world too.

On the Friday, Charlotte plays before headliners Phoenix at the largest stage, the Grande Scène. Turning last year's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix into a series of elongated, stadium-friendly anthems incites the crowd to punch the air, while guest drummer and Swede Thomas Hedlund holds it all together. Perhaps this is what winning a Grammy does to your music. There's no such expansiveness from Charlotte Gainsbourg. The clipped, Beck-written tracks from the recent IRM album are an ill fit with the crowd's expectations, but melody-based songs like The Songs That We Sing seduce. A set-closing romp though her dad's Couleur Café is received rapturously.

The multi generational nature of Francofolies is underscored by Higelin, Souchon and Dutronc. Alain Souchon's show is a roller-coaster interrupted by sing-a-longs and guest appearances from his off-key son Pierre and Jeanne Cherhal. Jacques Higelin - a chanson counterpoint to Tom Waits - is a revelation. Off booze and fags, he's in fine and active form, drawing from his recent album Coup de Foudre. Jacques Dutronc, however, is awful. The slap-dash boulevardier persona may have worked in the '60s and '70s, but now it grates. His bar-style band features ex-Magma bassist and star '80s producer Janick Top, but lurching versions of classics like Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi are murder on the ears. After an off-colour natter with the audience about lighting his cigar, Dutronc destroys J'Aime Les Filles. The song breaks down and he's joined on stage by a laughing female dwarf. "Ha ha ha ha" is her contribution.

Thankfully, some of the newer acts wash the nasty Dutronc taste away. Chapelier Fou (a pointless electro recast of Yann Tiersen) and Robin Leduc (Frenchified Americana with irritating show-off drumming) aren't much cop, but Cascadeur is extraordinary. Concealing his identity behind a Mexican wrestling mask, he's stock still behind a keyboard intoning like Anthony Hegarty as if he'd never heard Nina Simone. His English language concerns are impending doom and loneliness, filtered through a '50s sci-fi paranoia. L is a female soloist who could sit well within the 4AD catalogue: her dark reflections (in French) include a meditation the place of women in the independence of Algeria. Just as mesmerising is Canada's semi-falsetto Alexandre Désilets. His rock jumps off from In Rainbows Radiohead, but the songs themselves draw from the classic romantic arc of chanson. Although little heard of, he receives a standing ovation.

It's Zaz and Camélia Jordana that draw most of the buzz beforehand though. Zaz was unknown four months ago, but has recently cleaned up with her jazz/hip-hop/Hot Club Of France hybrid. Jordana reached the semi-final of 2009's Nouvelle Star. (the French Pop Idol). On stage, Zaz is irrepressible. Mugging and constantly over singing in the street argot gouaille, she's French showbiz with a smidge of Janis Joplin. Jordana, by contrast, is low key, restrained and has chosen her straightforward material carefully, showcasing nouvelle chanson star Babx as her pianist. Zaz strains to exhibit her authenticity, but it's the unforced glitzy competition winner Jordana that's more real.

Overall, Francofolies is a sure thing. How else would it be possible to take in music from all generations from the mid '60s onwards? There's no age distinction: it's all part of the culture and it's all here to be celebrated. Whether it's Jacques Higelin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Camélia Jordana or a new artist like Cascadeur, Francofolies is all about the music.

Kieron Tyler

Photos courtesy of Franck Moreau