So here's the deal. I'm going to let you in on a secret.. psst.. you should probably know about this band.. they're named Malajube.. and they are amazing!
That said, I stumbled upon the masterpiece of Malajube in the fall of 2006 when they released their second album, Trompe L'oeil. If I used a CD player it would have been melted at this point by over play. Malajube, like many recent bands of great prowess hail from the greater state of Canada. Montréal to be exact. Malajube sing entirely in French, but despite the fact that I can understand a total of.. six maybe seven words, they are action packed and full of fun. In interviews, I've read how they can (and do) speak fluent English, but given that they were so affected by anglophone American music during their youth, they wanted to grant the same experience for us non-francophonies.
It's difficult to equate Malajube's musicianship to anything in particular, considering that every other song brings a new monster of noise and melody, so I refuse to try. But the range is from catchy but entirely novel pop songs (Montréal -40°C, Pâte Filo) ominous and thundering choruses (Casse-Cou, Fille À Plumes) to piano led upbeat saloon sing alongs (Ton Plat Favori) and ridiculous electronic songs (La Russe).
Their lyrics could be god awful and possibly be promoting some of the most vile degrading shit you've ever heard, but I'm entirely ignorant to them. (An online translator told me they were singing about "ejaculate", but you can't trust those things!) The interesting thing about non-anglophone music (for me) is that the experience is more that of instrumental songs. The melodies of Malajube's vocalists come off as complementary innovative instruments. I find myself screaming along in my own French gibberish like a little kid, whose ear is too slow to make out the lyrics to the songs playing on the radio.
The real nail in the coffin for me was listening to Malajube while staying in Paris in January. At this point in time I had developed such an appreciation for the French language I was ecstatic to be able to connect with something that the culture which was blowing my mind at the same time would probably appreciate.
So here's the rub. Malajube. They're playing a FREE show at the Prospect Park Band Shell in Brooklyn on June 30th, my birthday! I would kill to see them. That may mean I have to kill everyone I invited to my party.. we'll see.
Here's their really well done music video for Montréal -40°C
And their website. http://www.malajube.com
Enjoy!
