my 2010 music

I thought I would mention a few tracks I have liked in 2010, and which I think are important, although on thinking about it they are not very anglophone, and French popular music does not travel anywhere much except Quebec.  Still... look them up on youtube if you fancy, you might find something you like

Sexion d'Assaut, Desole (title means "sorry" - they are an "underground" rap collective from Paris and this track is about teenage angst)
Calogero and Grand Corps Malade, L'Ombre et La Lumiere (title means "light and shade" - Calogero is a left-handed pop singer with a brain and Grand Corps Malade does slam (speaking poetry over music) and walks with a stick, hence the name, the track is about fame)
Diam's, Coeur de Bombe (title untranslatable, something like "Heart Bomb" - Diam's is a half-French half-Cypriot rapper with very much her own style, these days she wears a head covering and may have converted to Islam, the track is about the end of a relationship)
Calogero again, Le Passage des Cyclones (title means "a hurricane passes by", the track is about a turbulent relationship)
Plan B, She Said, rap'n'soul from the wonderful "The Defamation of Strickland Banks", the track is about celebrity stalking
Benjamin Biolay, La Superbe (title untranslatable, something like "The Proud Beauty", which sounds like a horse but is about a woman, the track is about the end of a relationship, Biolay is the mop-haired singing star who denies having had an affair with First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, he is very jazz influenced and some of his tracks include a theremin, thanks to the late Paul for putting me on to him)
Lady Gaga, Bad Romance, what can I say, thank you Gaga for doing what entertainers are supposed to do, entertain the public.
Eminem, Not Afraid, the most joyful song to come out of rehab, thanks to Shaun Woodward MP for putting me on to Em, and thus to rap and hip-hop, ten years ago (it's a long story)
the late Alain Bashung, Sur Un Trapeze (title means, unsurprisingly, "On A Trapeze", track is about a turbulent relationship, what a voice, wish I had discovered him early enough to have gone to a concert)
Gnarls Barkley, Going On, the track is about joy and journeys

this blog is not usually about music, but this stuff has meant a lot to me this year, so I wanted to share it.  I haven't necessarily linked to the track I mention, but to a cool video of the artist in question.  Enjoy it.