So Frenchy So Chic – The Best Of French Sounds
FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS, SO FRENCHY SO CHIC HAS GONE ON AN ANNUAL TREASURE HUNT. THE RESULT? A SPIRITED MIX OF THE FRESHEST, BRIGHTEST FRENCH SONGS OF THE MOMENT.
This perennially popular annual compilation had Australia listening to Camille before she became a JJJ darling, Fade Out Line before The Avener’s remix topped charts across Europe, Yael Naim’s New Soul before it became the soundtrack to Apple’s MacBook Air, and to Lilly Wood and the Prick ahead of Prayer C becoming an international hit.
Dancing, hanging out with friends, enjoying sunny afternoons in the garden with a glass of Champagne in hand; So Frenchy has been a soundtrack of musical joie de vivre. And now, to celebrate a decade of friendship, its curators have carefully culled its whopping 360-song playlist down to the very best of the best.
Back when it began in 2005, the first volume shipped shy of 2,000 copies. Just eight weeks later it had sold a staggering 15,000 albums. Clearly the Australian music loving public and the curators’ tastes were aligned. Since then around 180,000 people have been seduced by So Frenchy, released annually as an unofficial companion to the Alliance Française French Film Festival under the auspices of the French Music Export Office and the Institut Francais. As the CDs kept coming, the SFSC brand moved into live shows, including sold out concerts for Nouvelle Vague and Emilie Simon at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall and Sydney’s Metro. An SBS TV series in 2009 and a summer one-day festival followed in 2012. So Frenchy So Chic In The Park is now five years old, bringing the latest acts in French music out to play live and matching them with a grand picnic of fine French food and wine.
And speaking of French music – back to this best of compilation. A listen through its 40 tracks reveals there is no one genre called “French music.” It’s really a kind of cultural crossroads where many styles, sounds, influences and grooves come together, from traditional pop, blues, electronica and rock to today’s interpretation of chanson. What all the So Frenchy songs do share is that certain je ne sais quoi that resonates with Australian listeners. And, while at the time of each year’s release we loved them for being of the moment, listening back on these songs now reveals they also have a timeless quality.
It’s clear our love affair with So Frenchy So Chic will continue. It’s a part of our lives, and 10 years on, though all the shared parties, happy encounters, melancholy moments and treasured memories, it has remained a very good friend – with great taste in music. Joyeux anniversaire, mon amie.
