Rare English language recordings from the sublime Francoise Hardy – music that's every bit as wonderful as her famous French recordings – and even more compelling to our Anglo-styled ears! The vocals are wonderful – sung with this sense of darkness that's almost got an echo of Nico at points, given the accent – set to backings that balance this darkness with a bit more light, but never in ways that are overly poppy – and which definitely continue that more sophisticated style that Hardy always brought to her music! There's less "yeh yeh" to the tracks than a few years before – and Francoise is definitely digging deeper music at this point in her career – sometimes with a breathy brilliance that's a bit like Jane Birkin too. Titles include "Bown Bown Bown", "Till The Morning Comes", "Loving You", "In The Sky", "Midnight Blues", "Magic Horse", "Song Of Winter", "Strange Shadows", "Ocean", "The Garden Of Jane Delawney", "Sometimes", "Let My Name Be Sorrow", "Times Passing By", "I Just Want To Be Alone", and "Suzanne". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Oh Oh Cheri" "Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles", "La Temps De L'Amor", and "J'Suis D'Accord". CD

The lovely Francoise Hardy is one of our favorite singers in 60s French pop – and here she tells the story behind her music and her long and storied career – all with a voice that's nicely different than the one she uses in her tunes, and which gives us a whole different version of an artist that we already love! This is the first translation of Hardy's book into English, done by Jon E Graham – and the story moves up to the final years of the 20th Century, and offers a glimpse into Francoise life long past her hit records on the charts, to show the evolving challenges and triumphs of an artist who kept on creating, and challenging the world around her. 309 pages, hardcover, with some black and white images. Book

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Really lovely sounds from the young Francoise Hardy – easily one of the coolest, most confident female singers in France at the time! Hardy is neither the emotive style of postwar passionate singers, nor the too-cool style of the left bank – and instead, she's got this way of mixing her own acoustic guitar with lightly lyrical arrangements that never overshadow her role in the lead – far less of the "yeh yeh" style that other singers were using, and which Hardy is too-often considered with. There's a beautifully gentle feel to the record – even though the set features some larger arrangements from Marcel Hendrix – and titles include "J'Aurais Voulu", "Nous Tous", "On Dit De Lui", "Comme Tant D'Autres", "Saurai Je", "Va Pas Prendre Un Tambour", and "Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour". CD

Groovy girl pop from late 60s France – a treasure trove of under-discovered numbers from the lovely Clothilde! Clothilde's from the same vintage as France Gall and Francoise Hardy – but she's got a style that's a bit sweeter vocally, yet still set to the mod-styled backings that really make 60s French pop so great! Tunes are plenty groovy, with a few trippy touches from time to time – and most numbers have a bouncy groove that really keeps things interesting – especially when odd instrumentation creeps into the mix – like bits of musical saw, oddball percussion, and bells and whistles! Titles include "Fallait Pas Ecraser Lau Queue Du Chat", "La Chanson Bete Et Mechante", "Le Boa", " "Saperlipopette", "102-103", "La Ballade Du Bossu", "A Ora Sos'e", and "Qualcosa Che Non Va". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible female pop from 60s France – not weepy ballads or old school Paris numbers, but the kind of hip-snapping, all-groovy material that made the 60s French scene so great! Loads of these tracks are new to our ears (and we love French grooves a lot!) – and this volume of the series seems to dig even deeper than before – through a range of rare 7" EP material and singles, to come up with some killer tracks that will move way beyond the bigger cuts you might know from Francoise Hardy or Brigitte Bardot. The production and instrumentation is superb throughout – often with these funky currents that make these tracks feel years ahead of their time – and as usual with Ace, the whole presentation is great – from ultra-clear sound through full notes on the music too. Titles include "Rouge Rouge" by Christie Laume, "Pour La Gloire" by Annie Philippe, "Demain" by Zouzou, "Cours Si Tu As Peur" by Fabienne, "A La Fin De La Soiree" by Sheila, "Cette Nuit" by Pussycat, "Angel Of Sin" by Charlotte Walters, "Les Prisons De Sa Majeste" by Delphine, and "Le Nenuphar" by Stone. LP, Vinyl record album

Totally groovy work from French singer Gillian Hills – an artist who was initially best known for her work in film, thanks to movies like Beat Girl or Les Liaisons Dangereuses – but one who grew to become one of the cooler singers in Parisian pop during the 60s! Gillian's work here is a great bridge between two generations of chanteuses – a bit early in the "yeh yeh" years of French pop, but still done with all the grooves and jerky rhythms of that scene – but also maybe slightly more expressive at times, in a way that has Hills bringing her acting charisma to the music! Arrangements are often nicely jazzy, but in playful 60s ways – kind of the epitome of the bright, bubbly vibe of the French pop world of the period – and since most of Hills' work from the period was issued on 7" singles and EP releases, not full albums, the music here is a lot more obscure than that of contemporaries like Sylvie Vartan or Francoise Hardy. Titles include "Tut Tut Tut", "Cha Cha Stop", "Je Partirai", "Tu Mens", "Ma Premiere Cigarette", "Un Petit Baiser", "Ne T'En Fais Pas", "C'Est Le Garcon", "Rien N'Est Change", "Maintenant Il Telephone", "Les Jolis Coeurs", "Le Paradis Pour Toit", "Qui A Su", and "Oublie". CD

An assortment of tracks from those years when a lovely face on the cinema screen might also lead some work in the recording studio too – served up here in a mix of tracks from female singers you'll know as jazz artists, plus others you'll remember as movie stars too! The sounds are all lovely, certainly deserving of the pin-up promise in the title – and this volume features 20 tracks that include "Why Try To Change Me Now" by Connie Stevens, "Teach Me Tiger" by April Stevens, "Hit The Road To Dreamland" by Betty Hutton, "Let's Do It" by Jayne Mansfield, "The Thrill Is Gone" by Mitzi Gaynor, "Oh Oh Cheri" by Francoise Hardy, "I Used To Be Color Blind" by Ginger Rogers, "Am I That Easy To Forget" by Debbie Reynolds, and "The Party's Over" by Judy Holliday. LP, Vinyl record album