Since the mid ’80s, the London based Ace imprint has been reissuing obscure gems from some of the more over looked chapters of popular music. They have just launched a new sub-lable ‘Ace International’ with the focus of reissuing over such gems from the non-English speaking world.

C’est Chic documents what was known as the Ye-Ye phenomemenon, a style of pop music that came out of Central Europe in the 1960s. Song-writer Serge Gainsbourg and composor Alain Goraguer were a central figures in popularizing this sound. The ‘Wall of Sound’ inspired mix of this sound is percussion and bass heavy with lush garnishes of orchestration complimented with sweet, innocent female vocals.

Despite only being 22 miles away from England and the cultural dominence of all things British in the ’60s, this music here has a style of it’s own. Most of these tracks have aged well in comparison to their British contempories like Lulu and Cilla Black, who now sound conservative and dated. Eurovision Song Contest winner France Gallis’ two tracks featured are sublime. Annie Phillipe’s ‘C’est La Monde’ has a ballsey riff to rival what any beat combo on the other side of the channel was doing at the time. Other highlights include Jacqueline Taibe, and Anna Karina, whose deep baritone voice is a pleasent contrast to the rest of the vocalists on the CD.

It’s difficult to gauge how much of this music was heard outside Central Europe at the time. A common practice around this time was to translate popular English songs of the moment into various languages for their specific markets, and there are a few examples featured on this compilation. Sheila’s ‘Ala Meme Heure’ was originally recorded as ‘Laugh at Me’ by Sonny Bono, and the Goffin & King penned ‘He’s in Town’ featured here as ‘Tu La Revois’ by Ria Bartok has been covered many times over the years. There are also a few non-French singers included here like Petula Clark and Liz Brady who sang in French to tap into what must have been a lucrative market (The Beatles also recorded some of their hits in French)

One thing many potential listeners maybe unaware of is the influence this sound has had on contempory music. From indie popsters like Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura to more experimental acts like Broadcast, Stereolab and Tortoise. One listen to this compilation and you will soon reach a conclusion that it was not just London and San Fransico that were producing innovative music in the ’60s.

The CD comes with an accompanying booklet which has extensive liner notes so the listener can easily acustom themselves with each artist, making C’Est Chic musically and asthetically a very fine package. French is such a beautiful language to hear spoken or sung. One need not be put off by any langauge barrier.

Its a subject we can all have our two cents worth on and a sure fire water cooler topic.

Podcast what he had to say right here!

This week Stacy Gougoulis has immersed himself into the world of reality television and Zombies – worlds that have taken far too long to collide.

It’s DVD on the Radio on Breakfast with Barr.

And this week he’s immersed in the adventurous world of a plucky young Belgian reporter, his bearded Sea Captain friend, and his dog called Snowy.

Steven Spielberg’s got his eye on him, and Stacy’s got Tintin Fever!

If you’re feeling a little patriotic then why not try one of the two Australian movies our DVD man Stacy Gougoulis reviewed this week.

Samson and Delilah follows the lives of two Indigenous youths in a remote community, while Last Ride looks at the relationship between a father and a son as they travel across Australia.

One film’s up for an Oscar and the other has beautiful cinematography…but the only opinion that matters is our mans Stacy’s.

This week he’s taken on the mammoth task of reviewing the entire trilogy of Red Riding.

It’s based on four books written by David Peace about the brutal killings by serial killer The Yorkshire Ripper, during the 70’s and 80’s in England.

There’s blood, there’s guts and 6 hours of film, so Peter graciously passed the torch Stacy.

This week fate has required him to transform himself into the world of robotic aliens, to witnessed the greatest rivalry of all time, the evil DECPTICONS VS the great AUTOBOTS.

With_Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen_.

We all know most sequels don’t cut it, so was this a Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights or an Empire Strikes Back?

Stacy reviews Tripod’s Live at Woodford and Tim Minchin’s Are You Ready for This.

First up is Tripod’s new DVD titled Live at Woodford. This is a live performance that opened the Woodford Folk festival and comes with an extra feature, How to Train an Attack Dog from Scratch.

Stacy’s Verdict: the DVD failed to showcase Tripod’s funnier work and the extra feature, How to Train an Attack Dog From Scratch, rated higher than the title show.

Moving on, Stacy tell us about Tim Minchin’s DVD Are You Ready for This. The DVD helps showcase Minchin’s talent as a musician as well as his comedic skill.

Stacy’s Verdict: 8 out 10 dancing bears.

Space. The Final Frontier. JJ Abram’s reboot of ‘Star Trek’ has landed on DVD and was under the microscope on Breakfast.

And this week he’s immersed himself in the gritty and grimy world of British crime drama in which we see crime from two very different perspectives.

Australian movies aren’t all about Sigrid Thornton in a corset, you know.

So, special guest reviewer Tom Rogers took the reins and transported us into the world of French cinema to experience the Magic of Jacques Demy; a classic box set from the prolific New Wave director.

This new fella’s an avid consumer of small-screen entertainment with an eye on new releases and old classics, and a mouth that relays what his brain tells him.

Stacy Gougoulis joined Peter Barr for ‘DVD on the Radio’, with two feature length animations that tackle serious historical events on his mind – the Lebanon War and the Chicago Conspiracy Trial.

They are the Watchmen, but who’s watching them?

Stacy Gougoulis joined Peter Barr for another round of ‘DVD on the Radio’, with Watchmen on his mind…

This new fella’s an avid consumer of small-screen entertainment with an eye on new releases and old classics, and a mouth that relays what his brain tells him.

Stacy Gougoulis joined Peter Barr on Breakfast for a special edition of DVD on the Radio; reviewing the short films he saw at the Rottnest Comedy and Short Film Festival.