Fracassines

Musician and producer Olivier Conan moved from Paris to New York in his 20s. Having immersed himself in tropical Latin styles in the form of his Chicha Libre band and productions for the likes of Los Wembler’s de Iquitos, this is his Latino-francophone combo’s debut album. You can hear Chicha Libre’s brand of psychedelic cumbia in the heterogeneous backing to songs like ‘Son Ombre’ and the instrumental ‘88 Rue Daguerre’, like the album itself a tribute to the street in his old Parisian stamping ground. Conan sings and writes in French, with the timbre and worldly wit of latter-day Leonard Cohen. Combo Daguerre’s shtick is a quirky mélange of Latin and French styles, with its shades of Serge Gainsbourg, chanson and 60s rock. Nostalgia is a mortal illness Conan suggests on ‘Pour en Finir Avec la Nostalgie’, although his own sardonic nostalgia infuses an album both singular and rather admirable.