French chart-toppers, YTD, 2008

These are the new CDs that have hit the number one spot on the charts so far this year in France:

• Francis Cabrel, Des roses et des ortils/Roses and Thorns. New songs by a popular, "Dylanesque" singer. There's no official clip that I can find, but you can hear a song, "Des hommes pareils/Equal Men," on this mash-up.

• Alain Bashung, Bleu Pétrole/Blue Petroleum. A French rocker of a certain age with a gift for experimentation and abstraction. Here's "La nuit je mens/The Night I Lie."

• Raphaël, Je sais que la terre est plate/I Know that the Earth is Flat. A sexy young pop folk artist whose influences are many. You can hear gypsy rhythms in "La vent d'hiver/Winter Wind," a video directed by Olivier Dahan (who is responsible for the movie La Vie en Rose). Shockable viewers may find the video...provocative.
• Les Enfoirés 2008/Les secrets des Enfoirés. This year's edition of the all-star fund-raising effort, benefitting an organization dedicated to feeding the needy. As usual, this clip of "L'Amitié/Friendship," features a "Who's Who" of French celebrities, if you want to test your French pop culture knowledge.
• Bernard Lavilliers/Samedi soir à Beyrouth/Saturday Night at Beyrouth Beirut. A respected vocalist who incorporates "world music" into his songs. This latest CD mixes blues, reggae, and Lebanese sounds. It has been promoted with a series of "webisodes" about the making of the recording. Here's the first, in French, about "Solitude."

• The Do/A Mouthful. Ah, some youth! A Finnish/French pop rock duo. I like.

Lots of other recordings have reached number one this year, but they all are holdovers from 2007. The exception: a release of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Information taken from IFOP.