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This budget-priced three disc set focuses on French vocalist and songwriter Alain Souchon's earliest recordings for RCA. Souchon was with RCA from 1974 through 1984, when he signed with Virgin International. While it's true Souchon is now recognized more for his later material, the genius of his collaboration with producer and co-writer Laurent Voulzy, was on full display in these earlier sides. This set contains 42 tracks compiled from seven albums. Scattered among the hits are rarities, live cuts, and songs from film soundtracks.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

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Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulen (known to Western audiences simply as "Amelie") was a magic realist romantic comedy by French auteur Jean Pierre-Jeunet which introduced French composer Yann Tiersen to listeners worldwide. Tiersen's whimsical, deceptively simple instrumental music was equally influenced by composers like Chopin and Satie, as well as contemporaries such as Michael Nyman and Philip Glass, and emerged as an enjoyable blend of European classical music and French folk. Playing a variety of instruments from piano and violin to accordion and xylophone, Tiersen composed a number of delicate, charming pieces which suited the somewhat magical mood of the film very well and deservedly made him a star in his own right.© Sergey Mesenov /TiVo

Bernard Coulais, who is admired for his scores for Winged Migration and Microcosmos, is again showing his resourcefulness in using instruments that are available to him. The soundtrack for the popular European film Les Choristes combines songs, sung by the boys' choir in the story, and regular soundtrack music to accompany the action of the film. Christophe Barratier, the film's director and a classical guitarist, wrote the main theme of the film, "Cerf-Volant," which is woven into the first track "Les Choristes." But Coulais composed and arranged most of Les Choristes' score. Themes from the songs are woven into underscore tracks, which are written along the lines of scores by Rachel Portman or Danny Elfman, and they demonstrate Coulais' facility with instrumental and vocal color. Affecting melodic material is tied to rhythmic accompaniments, primarily using strings and light woodwinds, with brass and percussion providing reinforcement at times. Other tracks add the choir or harp, piano, or celesta to the mix. The opening "Les Choristes" is similar to Fauré's Pavane, with a soloist singing with the accompaniment of the choir and pizzicato strings. "Action Réaction" is an adagio for strings, beginning in unsettling dissonances and ending in dark unison. Songs written for the film have memorable melodies, easy lyrics and generally easy harmonies, perfect for a chorus of schoolboys (not to mention soundtrack sales). These include a very brief, jolly arrangement of a folk song about a legendary highwayman, "Compere Guilleri." "In Memoriam" tests the boys' part-singing skills with its frequent passing dissonances in its harmonies, which remind you of Mozart's choral writing. The boys are not always pitch perfect or together, but then they shouldn't be, as they are portraying a group of boys just beginning music lessons. Nor do they sound like a crystalline English boys' choir, but the unpolished dimension of their voices blends well with the rich orchestral writing. While there are a few tracks that obviously are film music and do not quite stand up by themselves, the soundtrack as a whole is charming and listenable, with an appeal of its own that should attract more than just fans of the film.© TiVo

J'accuse marks the triumphant return of Saez to the sharp-edged alternative rock style that he abandoned six years earlier after his third album, Debbie (2004). Lyrically dense and musically unpredictable, it's a mystifying album that reestablishes singer/songwriter Damien Saez as one of the most remarkable artists in the French alternative community. J'accuse is the album that many fans had been long awaiting as Saez dabbled with different styles and defied expectations time and time again. On the other hand, defying expectations is something that fans had come to expect from Saez. Despite breaking into the Top Ten with his second album, God Blesse (2002), and nearly topping the charts a couple years later with Debbie, Saez has always gone against the grain. Maddened by the commercial success of Debbie, he quit the recording industry altogether for several years and confined himself to live performances and Internet output. When he finally resurfaced, it was with a bewildering triple album of chanson, Varsovie-L'Alhambra-Paris (2008), and an English-language odds-and-ends effort billed to the moniker Yellow Triangle, A Lovers Prayer (2009). Perhaps Saez needed to go through what he did and leave commercial success behind for a while before returning to the alternative rock style that brought him fame in the first place. It's hard to say. Whatever his motives, it's a relief to hear him once again doing what he does best, pushing the boundaries of French rock. J'accuse opens with a tantalizing three-minute a cappella, "Les Anarchitectures," before kicking into gear with the full-throttle hard rock of "Pilule." From a musical standpoint, "Pilule" isn't a significant departure from the first half of A Lovers Prayer, but it sure sounds a lot better to hear Saez kicking out the jams in French. Not that his English is bad on A Lovers Prayer; it's just that he's a far more interesting lyricist in French. Its title referencing a famous article written by Émile Zola, J'accuse is a cascade of language. The title track is especially dense. Not until the nine-minute instrumental interlude "Regarder Les Filles Pleurer (Thème)" does Saez stop to catch his breath. Fans of Saez's first three albums should rejoice. J'accuse is the return to form that they've been long awaiting. It's still a difficult album, make no mistake. The second half is particularly knotty. Yet it wouldn't be an effective Saez album if it weren't challenging to some extent. © Jason Birchmeier /TiVo

Of the many collaborations between director Jacques Demy, composer Michel Legrand, and star Catherine Deneuve, 1970's Peau d'Ane is in many respects the most surreal and extravagant, if not the most accomplished. Where their earlier Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Young Girls of Rochefort were full-blown musicals steeped in contemporary pop and jazz motifs, Peau d'Ane -- a lavish adaptation of a Charles Perrault fairy tale complete with outrageous costumes and sets -- quite naturally boasts a more traditional and classical score, but while Legrand's songs and arrangements are certainly lovely, they nevertheless lack the spark and energy of his earlier efforts for Demy. Where both Cherbourg and Rochefort command attention like few motion picture scores, Peau d'Ane operates largely as background music. Only a few of the songs feature vocals, and among them only "Les Insults" is truly compelling. But until the film Peau d'Ane resurfaces on video, the score will have to do.© Jason Ankeny /TiVo