Lean later work from Philippe Doray and his anti-social associates – material that draws heavily on some of the cold wave electronics of the early part of the 80s, and which also has some of the playful presence of the German new wave too! The music is definitely out of time – very different than anything recorded in the French mainstream of the mid-80s – and delivered with a style that clearly knows the darker reaches of the sonic spectrum, but which never lingers there too long. Doray handles a variety of keyboards and synth, and since both straight and with a vocoder – alongside contributions from others on guitars, keyboards, saxes, and flute. Titles include "Flash Back", "Le Petit Geant", "Aurora Day (edit)", "Choc D'Amour", "Le Composant Compositeur", and "Secoue Le Flipeur". (Rock, French) LP, Vinyl record album

A mindblowing collection of work from one of our favorite film composers ever – and a package that showcases as much jazz and vocal material as it does his work for cinema! The design is wonderful – a big-styled package with a huge volume of notes and photos – served up with 20 CDs that each focus on a different theme, many of which are presented in full album reissues of material from Michel Legrand's long and storied career – alongside other work that's always been hard to find on CD! CD1 features early jazz records Legrand Jazz and Plays Richard Rodgers. CD2 and CD3 feature vocal material – the albums Michel Legrand Chante, Serenades Du Xxeme Siecle, Les Moulins De Mon Coeur, and Michel Legrand (1981). CD 4 features nouvelle vague/new wave film work. CD5 features work with director Jacques Demy, including some unusual moments. CD6 is a tribute to Steve McQueen – soundtrack work from Thomas Crown Affair, Le Mans, and The Hunter. CD7 features albums with Stan Getz and Bud Shank. CD8 features 22 vocal songs by French performers. CD9 features 19 tracks by international performers. CD10 features rare work for stage musicals, including the long Monte Cristo soundtrack. CD11 features work for animated films – including Il Etait Une Fois L'Espace, Michel's Bird, and Oum Le Dauphin Blanc. CD12 features a tribute to Alain Delon – the soundtracks for Cercle Rouge and La Piscine, plus a vocal track sung by Delon. CD13 features work for director Jean Paul Rappenau – soundtracks for Le Sauvage, Les Maries De L'An II, and La Vie De Chateau. CD14 features full album collaborations with Phil Woods and Sarah Vaughan. CD15 features collaborations with Stephane Grappelli. CD16 features concert performances – the albums Legrand Cinema and Legrand Concert, plus bonus tracks. CD17 features orchestral works from recent years. CD18 and CD19 feature some material from rare or previously unreleased soundtracks. And CD20 features rare and unusual material – including work for Radio Luxembourg, some jazzy bits, and even a commercial for Heineken! (Soundtracks, French) CD

This was Brel's last album before his death, and it's an oft-overlooked piece of work that's fantastically different from his better-known 60's oevre, but also every bit as great as that stuff. The tracks on here have an amazingly sombre quality, and are filled with deep swells of emotion that probably made Scott Walker, Mort Shuman, and all the rest wish that they'd waited another 15 years to cover Brel's work! And because this stuff missed the big 60's wave of English translation, it's a lot less familiar, which makes it even more important to have in the original format. Titles include "Jojo", "Jaures", "La Ville S'Endormait", "Voir Un Ami Pleurer", and "Les F...". Fantastic, and a fitting last testament to one of the world's greatest artists! LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool work from Belgian artist Jacques Charlier – music that almost brings a cold wave style into play with some more familiar French song styles – but with this dark edge that almost feels like work on Factory Records or Disques Du Crepuscule! A good deal of these tracks are unreleased, and fit nicely to the few that came out on albums in the mid 80s – almost all with a spare drum machine rhythm behind Charlier's effects-laden guitar and stark vocals – sometimes coming across like Vini Riley of Durutti Column in an angry mood on a bad day! We'd not heard any of this work when it was release, which makes the whole thing a great discovery, especially given the unreleased tracks – a set with titles that include "Vampirella", "Perki Show", "Check Up", "L'Amour Dans Les Chansons", "Sambas", "Passing Time", "Tout Va Bien", "Un Chat Dans Mon Lit", and "End Of WE". (Rock, French) LP, Vinyl record album

A huge amount of music, and the first-ever collection to really do justice to the huge amount of vocal material recorded by the lovely Jeanne Moreau – a figure that most folks know as an actress on screen, famous for her work in French film starting in the new wave generation! Moreau sang a famous song in an early film by Truffaut – but shortly after that, she began a legacy of really interesting, well-done albums that created as surprisingly strong legacy away from the screen – music that's included here in a complete collection of her work, then mixed with lots of other rare music too! The core of the set features seven full albums, all with a lot of bonus tracks – her two albums of songs by Cyrus Bassiak, plus Les Chansons De Clarisse, Jeanne Chante Jeanne, Chante Norge, her 1994 album of songs by Satie and Poulenc, and her 2010 duet with Etienne Daho! Then, there are three more albums of additional material – one of 25 songs from films, plus two more CDs that offer up La Voix De Jeanne Moreau. Then, the set also features two more DVDs, which feature television performances from the late 50s onward – most of which we've never seen. The whole thing comes in a massive book-style package, with 48 pages of notes and images – and a whopping 203 songs in all, including lots of unissued work too. CD