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The debut disc from MC Solaar is a clear signal that quality hip-hop can exist outside the U.S. and the English language barriers. Most of his lyrics read as "I'm the man" MC boasts and shout-outs to the Paris hip-hop crew, but the French rapper has superb flow and a masterful producer in Jimmy Jay, an absolute natural when it comes to creating sonic pastiches/collages to fit the lyrics. It's French hip-hop and therefore a softer, gentler sound with the music more on the acid jazz tip to match the rhythm and flavor of Solaar's native tongue. The title track immediately alerts you to the difference -- the rapid but never rushed delivery works off the rhythms of active, chopping drums anchoring a full arrangement topped by organ fills and flavored by sax near the end. Solaar is far from one-dimensional, adeptly adopting a conversational tone ("Victime de la Mode" on a fashion victim theme), changing up vocal tempos (the low-key "A Temps Partiel," a slick segue from the brief, jazzy-with-acoustic-bass "Interlude"), and leaving more open spaces in the forceful "Quartier Nord." He whispers the lost-love tale "Caroline" while Jimmy Jay enhances the melancholy mood with mournful strings and his customary attention to detail and dynamics (listen for the near-subliminal organ). The producer's like that, very smoooove but also deceptive in that there's always a lot going on in the arrangements underneath. "Armand Est Mort" gets a laid-back feel from the sax solo, and a single, mood-creating piano chord echoes "Inner City Blues" enough to make you wonder if that's a fragmentary sample of Marvin Gaye's voice popping up there in the background. But the funk front isn't neglected -- "L'Histoire de l'Art" has clavinet licks and horns over turntable scratches, "Matière Grasse Contre Matière Grise" sports an early-'70s, JB-ish funk backing with wah-wah guitar and upfront drums (and a lyrical day-in-the-life reflection on Paris and the world). And the '70s funk groove for "La Musique Adoucit les Mouers" works from a bass/drums spine with scratching and keyboard sounds while "Bouge de Là" goes off from direct drum drive and bass funk before part two injects skank organ and dubbed-out toasting. It makes for a good transition to the quasi-duel of motormouths on "Ragga Jam," probably good for lighting up audiences live, but just lightweight here, and it brings the momentum to Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo a halt. But it's an impressive debut and important historically -- by pairing a rapper and producer in perfect sync with one another, it gave early French hip-hop a sound and tone of its own from the beginning.© Don Snowden /TiVo

Though it's perhaps Henry's best-known work, Messe Pour le Temps Présent isn't the best display of the powers of musique concrète. Similar to the glut of crossover Moog rock albums around the same time, Henry's occasional bursts of searing computer static are accompanied by a faux '60s go-go beat. It's an intriguing release, but works better for novelty fans and beginners who would rather have a gradual immersion into musique concrète. It earns its stars, however, for its reissue on a French CD that also includes several of Henry's other compositions, including "Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir."© John Bush /TiVo

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After his high-profile duet with Guru on the first Jazzmatazz project, French rapper MC Solaar proved himself a major contender for international rap stardom with his U.S. debut. With the rapid-fire rhyme flow of Souls of Mischief and the smooth delivery of Q-Tip, the young MC conveys more moods in French than most rappers can in English. The extremely subtle grooves supplied by DJ/producer Jimmy Jay provide velvety smooth cushions that wrap around Solaar's warm voice tighter than O.J Simpson's glove, with jazzy, funky samples that prove perfectly suited for the fluid rhymes. One of the few bright spots in a year when the alternative rap scene was largely devoid of originality, MC Solaar came across as refreshing as a cool Parisian breeze.© Bret Love /TiVo

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As of the fall of 2004, the only significant Jacques Brel title in print in the U.S. was Verve Records' 16-track 1988 compilation Master Serie (although, of course, many imports were available to Americans through mail order). That suggested the time was right to bring out a new collection, and DRG has licensed the 40-track, two-CD 2003 Universal International album Infiniment ("Infinitely") for domestic release. In France, and among Brel aficionados, it is the subject of some controversy because of the inclusion of five previously unreleased songs -- "La Cathédrale (The Cathedral)," "L'Amour Est Mort (Love Is Dead)," "Mai 40 (May 1940)," "Avec Élégance (With Elegance)," and "Sans Exigences (Without Emergencies)." The five were recorded at the sessions for Brel's final album, Brel, in September/October 1977, but not included on it. Eddie Barclayof Barclay Records was once quoted as saying of them, "Jacques didn't want them to come out and so they won't be released." Yet, here they are, with an ambiguous disclaimer by Brel's musical collaborators François Rauber and Gérard Jouannest: "The following titles ('With Elegance,' 'Without Emergencies,' & 'Love Is Dead') are unfinished songs which Jacques Brel and we, ourselves, would like to do over. The reason for which has not been divulged." It may be that they mention only those three of the five tracks because the musical backing for them is particularly sparse, usually only a keyboard instrument or two far in the background. For the average American listener who knows Brel from "If You Go Away," "Seasons in the Sun," and the musical revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, however, the effect of the inclusion of the unreleased songs may have more to do with sequencing than content. The new material is right up front on the first disc, just after Brel's version of "La Quête (The Quest)" (aka "The Impossible Dream" from Man of la Mancha), and the effect is to reverse the usual running order of a compilation, beginning with the artist's later material, when his singing is deeper and more mannered, rather than his earlier recordings. Also, it means that an American won't hear a familiar melody until the 12th track of CD one when "Quand On N'A Que L'Amour" (translated here as "When We Have Only Love," but more commonly known as "If We Only Have Love"), one of Brel's biggest hits, begins. After that, as Thelma Blitz's liner notes put it, the rest of CD one and all of CD two "are a crème de la crème 'best of' covering the span of his career." DRG has helpfully provided literal translations of the French lyrics, which non-French-speaking Americans familiar only with the Rod McKuen and Mort Shuman/Eric Blau adaptations will find illuminating, since they demonstrate that those English lyrics range from accurate equivalents of Brel's meaning to fairly broad revisions. Of course, Brel's own interpretations of his songs remain definitive, and in these sonically improved recordings he comes across with all his dramatic, compelling power intact.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

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For their third studio album, Karkwa put together a batch of atmospheric, well-crafted rock songs that mirrored the music of Radiohead and Coldplay. Le Volume du Vent opens with a soft melody that moves into a grandiose, sweeping arrangement centered around lead vocalist Louis-Jean Cormier's melodies. The music only gets more sweeping and grandiose from there. String sections sway wildly, compositional styles are played with, and Cormier croons in French in front of it all. The singsong format of "Oublie Pas" contrasts strongly with the grandeur of "Deux Lampadaires," and the nearly acoustic balladry of the title track sits apart from them both. The compositions are solid throughout. They're full of basic hooks and riffs with an apparent eye toward marketability, but those hooks and riffs aren't entirely gratuitous. Twinkling pianos in "Le Solstice" mirror elements of the Police, and the melancholy directions in "Dormir le Jour" echo portions of Soundgarden's darkness. There's a lot tucked away in this album, packed extremely densely. It's likely to take a couple of listens to get it all. © Adam Greenberg /TiVo