Concerts of the year

My top 5 of the year:

1-The Swell Season @ Bataclan. Magical moment with Glen Hansard and little Marketa of Once fame. Glen's voice gave me the goosebumps like no-one had in a long time. And the songs... Man...

2-Fleet Foxes @ Point Ephémère. THE discovery of the year. Just followed Robby with eyes closed and was wowed with the harmonies of those guys and the weird sort of "I'm-shy-but-I-don't-give-a-fuck-so-I'll-just-sing-my-songs" attitude of Robin, the singer.

3-Patti Smith @ Fondation Cartier. An incredible and surreal moment. About 400 privileged people managed to get in the gardens of Fondation Cartier in Paris for that surprise gig and man were we happy to be in. Patti came on stage with her daughter and son and played a whole improvised gig for us in this fantastic place outdoors. What a woman, seriously!

4-Moriarty @ Centre Musical Fleury Goutte d'Or. I guess you either love or hate them. You either enter their world of old leather smells, crammy wallpaper, old-fashioned clothes and vintage instruments or you just find them weird... The Moriarty family takes you on this beautiful journey through acoustic bluegrass and folk music and leaves you with an incredible sense of energy and togetherness.

5-Ane Brun @ Sunset Sunside. Deep down in a low-ceiling cellar of a parisian café-concert. Ane Brun was playing solo this time and was soooo beautiful. Felt like she was playing in our living-room and still, she seemed to be having a good time, too.*

The best festival gig has to be Yael Naïm @ Solidays and the fantastic moment where the whole crowd started singing New Soul. She was so cute between her smile and her tears...

The weirdest gig might have been The Animals @ New Morning. Real cool gig, but without Eric Burdon, it's really really just... weird...

The classiest act of the year was definitely Richie Havens @ Solidays who told us hilarious stories of how the world was about to change (in July, Obama was definitely not elected yet) and how his two ears don't hear the same thing and that's why it takes him some time to tune his guitar.

I could also have added Joseph Arthur @ Café de la danse, Jamie Cullum @ Théâtre du Chatelet, The Hotel Café Tour @ Nouveau Casino, REM @ Rock En Seine but somehow there was always a tiny little detail that didn't make them enter my top 5...

Now, what about you?

Yules

I met these two brothers three or four years ago far away from home. Became instant friends with Guillaume, the lead singer. Travelled to London with him. And well, followed the evolution of their music.

Was completely overwhelmed by the professionalism of their self-produced first album called The Release. It's just made of real good pop-folk songs that work and haunt your head for hours.

They're also sweet guys who struggled for years and deserve the recognition. Everything is starting to shape up for them at the moment and they're touring on a regular basis so be sure to catch them if they play near you. Second album is being written as we speak and from what I've heard so far, it sounds really promising.

Check out their universe at: www.yuleslesite.com or http://www.myspace.com/yulesband and watch their videos to get an idea.