For those of you who don't know, Alizee Jacotey is a French singer who first rose to prominence as a young girl with her single 'Moi...Lolita' and gained a reputation as a precocious teenaged star with a very sensual style. Mentored by Mylene Farmer, a Quebecoise performer who specialised in churning out hits following a certain formula, a similar style of music and sensuality brought more hits to young Alizee (or Lili, as she's known to her fans). One of these was J'En Ai Marre, a single whose stage performances have become legendary for her dancing in skimpy outfits and even inspired a dance in World of Warcraft (the female night elf- the male one was taken from Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'). I will not post that video as it's too common a post anyway. Just search for Alizee on YouTube and that should be the first video up there.
Getting back to Lili... after a few mega-successful years where she just couldn't fail, and through her voice managed to bring soul and personality to somewhat dance-oriented songs in a manner Mylene couldn't have dreamed of, Alizee suddenly took an extended break. She married a singer by the name of Jeremy Chatelain, became a mother, and for the most part lived a reclusive life. In another decade, she would have disappeared completely. But in this period, the internet rules, and her loyal fans not only kept her career alive, but popularised her around the world to the extent that she could perhaps be considered more famous a French singer than even Edith Piaf, albeit within the internet using public.
Then last year, the erstwhile Lolita returned, sans Mylene Farmer's presence and formula-driven records. Her third studio album, Psychedelices, showed a gentleness to her voice and variety not previously expected of the popstar, but it came at a bit of a cost, failing to match the sales of the previous two albums in her native France. Overseas, though, her fanbase was enormous, to say the least, and she has taken the opportunity to visit her fans in other parts of the world. It can only be hoped that the creative tinkering continues and she continues to grow as an artist, and that she can not only regain but also exceed the success of her Lolitaesque PR phase as masterminded by Mylene Farmer.
Now, coming to my own experiences with Lili's music. My first experiences were rocky to say the least, as my housemate played me a song of her's the day before an exam, a song that stuck in my head and almost wrecked my exam. Not being into dance music, that song didn't impress me much, but her voice did have soul. I listened to a few more songs, and eventually found some that appealed to me. Her voice and ability as a performer grew on me, and I became a fan by the time the third album came. Once it came, I loved the new lyrical direction the music took, though I did miss some of the sweeping orchestral symphonies from previous works. But it was like a rebirth, one that Lili needed to be able to move forward after Mylene, and I hope to see her strike the perfect balance in the future. Also, I hope to actually see her perform- I was quite taken with her 'Alizee En Concert' performance- not just the performance, but the rocked-out music and attitude, everything. I even added the drummer from that concert tour as a friend on MySpace because he was so awesome!
Now, for a video. Not the J'en Ai Marre one, but perhaps my favourite Alizee song, A Contre Courant. This has that perfect mix of her soulful voice, and sweeping electric orchestral music. And she just went up on stage and did her bit, which was the best part for me. No revealing outfit, no ass shaking- she went up and sang, and showed she doesn't need to resort to gimmicks to retain that allure [admittedly, given what usually happens on this show Disques D'Or, she probably lip synched, but you get what I mean- this performance was natural].
Other songs of hers containing that mix of soulfulness and sweeping background music include 'Veni Vidi Vici', some tracks from her new album (though this time it's soft, sweet, childlike soulfulness) such as 'Mon Taxi Driver,' among many others on the Psychedelices album, and even some of those dance track hits. And her Alizee En Concert album, quite frankly, cos it showed me that she can cut it, it's not just a million overdubs, that she has a good voice and with properly arranged music she can definitely cut it as a 'real artiste' rather than a popstar clone.
Joyeux Anniversaire à notre p'tite Lili!
Other notable birthdays of the day (only people who are alive, otherwise Joe Strummer would be on this list):
Kim Cattrall, Actress (don't think I would ever be doing a post on her...)
King Mohammed VI of Morocco, King (well, duuuhhh...)
Carrie-Anne Moss, Actress
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google [gee, I wonder who next year's BOTD will be about ;)]
Alicia Witt, Actress (she is a capable actress, I believe, and good looking- think she could have gone a lot farther than she has)
Simon Katich, Cricketer
Usain Bolt, Sprinter (I could have done this post on him, but it hardly seems like Usain Bolt needs ANOTHER post about him at this time!)
Hayden Panettiere, Actress (don't think there's any shortage of posts about her, either...)
No comments:
Post a Comment