musique
Freudian Slip
(Aeronaut, 2011)
Freudian Slip, the third studio album from the elegant, sexy, chic, and multi-lingual Nous Non Plus, features a sweet mélange of indie-pop/rock-synth-laden and hook-filled songs sung mostly in French. Led by the sultry and brazen Céline Dijon (who was raised in Paris and is of Swiss-German/Chinese descent), Nous Non Plus offers French music, sans pretension.
Nous Non Plus (NN+) rose from the ashes of the NYC faux-French band Les Sans Culottes. In 2005, when several members of Les Sans Culottes staged a coup d’état — a grand French tradition, after all — what followed was a truly bizarre encounter in Federal Court involving their former band mates, lawyers, a blind judge, and a seeing-eye dog. Ultimately, it was settled: Nous Non Plus (literally translated to “us no more”) was born.
Though the band members now all live in different cities from Paris to Los Angeles, they reconvened in Austin, TX to record the bulk of Freudian Slip. Working with legendary songwriter/guitarist David Garza and Parisian drum programmer Julien Galner (of Château Marmont), the band mixed programmed loops with live drums, and moog synths with layered vocal harmonies to create their textured pop sound.
The title track — the arpeggiated synth driven “Freudian Slip” — is a musical nod to their personal icon, Serge Gainsbourg and tells the story of a patient falling pray to the sexual suggestions of her psychiatrist.
NN+’s eponymous first album shot to the top 10 of the CMJ charts and their sophomore effort Ménagerie also made a splash on college radio. Songs from their albums have been featured on Gossip Girl and in various commercials.
The band is renowned for their highly charged, sweat-inducing live shows. They’ve played in Paris, La Rochelle, London, Ljubljana (Slovenia), Canada, and across the US.
Menagerie
(Aeronaut, 2009)
« RE-REVIEWED JUNE 13, 2010: I was wrong about the songs on MENAGERIE not having the same ‘hit status – whatever the « f » that means’ – as ONE NIGHT IN PARIS. After my initial period of being enamored with the CD – I re-loaded it on my iPod several weeks ago and I have heard it 100 times since then. I can’t stop playing it. The third track FRENCH TEACHER (J’AI ENVIE DE BAISER MA PROF DE FRANÇAIS) is every bit as catchy as ONE NIGHT IN PARIS – if not more so – and LOLI is too. LE DANDY & BOLLINGER are 1960s/1970s Classic French Pop and completely of the moment (2010) at one and the same time – and SUNLIGHT YELLLOW NOISE revisits Serge Gainsbourg nicely and with great wit. With the apparent success (artistic, at any rate) of MENAGERIE – I cannot wait for their third emission!
MY ORIGINAL 2009 REVIEW: We waited quite a while for this one but it was well worth the wait! NN+ is still as hip as ever and as charming. While nothing on the new CD reaches the hit status of I WANT TO SPEND ONE NIGHT IN PARIS – it is terrific stuff indeed. At one and the same time retro and thoroughly 2009, this is a great place to spend your money on new (and really well-done) French-fusion music. » —caliboy « theatregoer »
Nous Non Plus (self-titled)
(Aeronaut, 2005)
« I had never heard of this group until my girlfriend took me to a gig they were playing at her school, and I was suprised by how catchy they were. they did a fair number of cover songs (including 99 red balloons, which was excellent), but none appear on this album. I picked up this cd after the show, which was over a month ago and I still keep listening to it. Celine Dijon does most of the lead vocals, but Jeanluc Retard def holds his own on One Night In Paris (not about the city..) » —Hipoltry
« I was lucky to run into Nous Non Plus performing at a local club one night not so long ago, and I was taken by surprise by the quality of material and of delivery of this faux-French pop (or as the cheeky band mates call it ‘roque en roll’). The songs vary in their tempo and genres, but they are unmistakably tied together by the band chanteuse Celine Dijon’s seductive vocals and (mostly) tongue-in-cheek delivery. The songs range from the romantic (and also slightly cheeky) duet number ‘Premier Baiser’ (a-la Serge Gainsbourg and France Gall) to energetic and quite and cheery ‘Monokini’ — all songs are incredibly catchy, in the best tradition of the 60s-70s Ye-Ye songs. Buy this CD, you’ll love it and will keep playing this album for a long time. Plus, I guarantee your friends will be impressed by such a keen taste in music. » —Nazar Vojtovich « photoblogger and cineaste »
Nous Non Plus 