This new album was long awaited with a really interesting media coverage (even my local newspaper published an interview about Bob) in France. So after the mega hit of “Disco Crash” and the number 1 hit feat. Goleo “Love Generation“ the expectations for this new opus were really high. And yes Bob did it again with his new album “Paris by Night (A Parisian Musical Experience)” by going in several new musical directions. Before listing to this album I wouldn’t have expected that it’s possible to mix so stylishly styles like Africanism, mambo, pure electro, traditional folklore music, with a high usage of well-known samples.
In some way this album can be placed between “We No Speak Americano” by Yolanda Be Cool, a Caro Emerald track because of the high usage of typical 20-30’s retro-jazz samples and in some parts of the album you might get the feeling you are listening to a Parov Stellar track.
Enough presentation! here is my review, track by track:
Summer Moonlight: Yeah we are starting with a pseudo-trance / electro song à la Paul Van Dyk with a catchy refrain with auto-tuned voices and the typical dance piano.
Groupie: Ouch ok this a crazy song because Bob has mixed the OST of “Le Avventure Di Pinocchio” (1972!) with electro music. The result is the following:
Bob’s version (The clip is highly inspired by the motion picture “The Artist”!)
Original version:
No no no no: Take some balalaika and a famous Russian sample and place the whole stuff with a little bit of crossfading and here you have the track. Nothing really new… it’s, the same style as “Groupie”
Gipsymen: This is my absolute favorite song of the whole album! This song uses the famous sample of the Négresses Vertes of the 1988 summer hit ”Voila L’été”!
Definitely a perfect track for this summer! You can’t stay still while listening to this track, you must dance. Bob stretched the sample with cool accordions (hey you are here in France ) and this intensifies the tsigane / gipsy touch of the track. It’s a song that will make you want to dance around a fire camp! And here is the original song:
C’est la vie: this is a really curious mix between an Elvis like-pronounced text (or for the French visitors it sounds as if either Danny Brilliant, Eddy Mitchel or Johnny Halliday were singing ). The lyrics are describing a typical day of a jobless guy that stands up in the morning and is entirely focused on the evening and preparing himself for the party. The song might be surprising when you listen to it first. I was impressed to see that the 60’s way of pronouncing the lyrics are perfectly matching the electro style.
Far l’amore featuring Raffaela Cara: yes this clip is pretty old and was already shown in 2010 (no, I mean the original one is from ) but come on, I’m sure you will appreciate the appearance of the Italian actress Caterina Murino in this clip 😉
The track contains the full sample of Raffaela Cara’s original track and transports the listener into the Dolce Vita phenomenon of the 70’s where everyone was cruising in Rome’s small streets with their Vespas or Fiat 500s and throwing some coins in the Trevi fountain. A really good track although already being included in Bob’s previous album “Disco Rush”. Bob revived with this track the Italo-Disco movement of the 70’s! It’s also interesting to listen to the original track to see how much Bob took from the original one 😉
Russian Groove: Here again Bob creates the surprise by using two famous Russian samples and a catchy accordion sample, giving this faux-parisian touch to the whole song.
My Guitar: I stated Parov Stellar previously: this song has also a some kind of Russian cabaret touch. Really funny song but it’s obvious that it won’t be a megahit.
Paris by Night (Je cherche après Titine): Ouch or wouah? mixing a Charlie Chaplin sample with electro music is really daring. I have mixed feeling, not knowing if it was appropriate to use this sample in a middle of a rather beat-ful track: it gives a circus-ish touch preceding the clown’s entry. To be honest I’m absolutely not convinced by this track and mainly because the sample seems (to my ears) badly integrated into the song (you hear the bad quality of the sample used).
Mambo Explosion: Yes the title says everything: finest Mambo and definitely a song to which you can’t stay still: you must jump off your seat and dance 😉
Sea Lion Woman: This is a really pure Africanism / tribal house track using the famous Sea Lion Woman
song by Nina Simone as a basis for the samples. The track is really good and the voice of Nina is really bewitching.
Together Forever: This song is my second favorite one of the album. With the guitar sample it reminds me a little bit to Tiesto’s “Ride” track.
Samba in Hell: Once again the title tells you what’s inside: pure samba with catchy electro tunes.
Let me tell U something: This production beams you back to the 90’s with the first house super hits: a gospel lady screaming with a catchy house beat à la Mousse-T (“Horny”). To be quite frank this song should have been added to a Ministry Of Sound CD. In some way sounds also like a typical Roger Sanchez track. This track is more a Miami track that an Parisian one!
Cinderella: I have mixed feelings about this track. It goes in a total opposite direction than the complete CD. Really don’t know why this track is on this CD.
Conclusion
Some tracks are really interesting with a real musical research and other gives the feeling that a well-known or popular sample was stretched ad vitam æternam over a catchy techno beat without any inspiration. This is a little bit the problem of this CD: of course Bob’s talent of mixing is indisputable, but it would have been cool that the whole CD was mixed with cool transitions between each track, because in this form it’s only a juxtaposition of potential club hits with several musical directions without a “glue” between them. Perhaps the title of the album is in this way a little bit misleading.
Must-have on your iPod:
Gipsymen
Sea Lion Woman
Samba in Hell
Together Forever
Far l’amore
Final note:
Amazon MP3 Player for Bob Sinclar Paris By Night (A Parisian Musical Experience)
Sources
http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/169012/Bob%20Sinclar-Groupie_Fiorenzo%20Carpi-Pinocchio/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Sinclar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone
http://www.20minutes.fr/vousinterviewez/1128379-20130329-interviewez-dj-bob-sinclar-nouvel-album-paris-by-night
http://www.bobsinclar.com/