Indochine – “Paradize” A big French New Wave band back in the ‘80s. This was their 2002 comeback disk. Think Depeche Mode in French…
Silent Poets – “To Come…” Probably one of the best chillout disks I’ve heard. These are two Japanese guys mixing and programming and – sadly – they are defunct. The CD package is a limited edition features some moving photos taken in Khabarovsk, Russia. (I don’t know why…)
Tom Waits – “Live In Austin:Romeo Is Bleeding” I never heard of this release before, but there it was at Virgin Records in Paris. From the Blue Valentine tour.
Anaïs – “The Cheap Show” and “The Love Album” I read a little bit about this singer on Amazon before I left, so this was just a shot in the dark. Wow. Anaïs is an immensely talented young French singer (and pretty good in English, too). The Cheap Show is her debut album recorded live with just her, a guitar and a tape loop box. She is passionate and fun, with a great sense of rhythm and a damn good sense of humor. Reminded me a bit of Imogen Heep, but with all the funk and ‘tude of Ani DiFranco. She can be wistful, but she ain’t gonna take your shit! The Love Album was produced by well known hip-hop auteur Dan the Automator (Gorillaz) and though it has some beats, it also shows AnaÏs well versed in pop music. It even has a lovely duet with Chris Isaak. Why are we subjected to all these tween gas bags when they are singers like this out there? Why???
Nitin Sawhney – “London Underground” and “Prophesy” I read about this man’s recent CD in Songlines. Turned out I had a few songs from him on the iPod from different techno disks. But neither tags are correct. In fact – tags do not function here. Nitin Sawhney is writer, producer, arranger, programmer, piano player, guitar player – but mainly we are talking about the “vision thing” here. Sure – maybe Prophesyhangs a bit closer to the techno moniker. More world beat, if you want to call it that. But basically these records are journeys. Point A to point Z and everything in between. London Underground is about London and ALL its people. A piece of R & B fades to some hip-hop poetry fades to a wonderful vocal by Sir Paul McCartney into a slice of the Arab world that’s moves into a gorgeous Chinese lyric backed by classical piano and ends with a duet with Anoushka Shankar. Can’t describe it. You can only listen to it as the work of an artist who understands and cares about his world.

And it’s NOT on iTunes and it’s NOT released in the States. Some crimes leave me speechless.