Alexandre Vigneault’s list | A diversified grand cru

Rock, Malian blues, Quebec trad, spiritual folk and dark electro, 2023 took me across the boundaries of time, genres and countries.

Northern voices with strings and piano, The North wind

Here, the title says it all: on this album, the guys from the group Le vent du nord simply sing tunes recorded over the last 20 years, but rearranged for piano and string quartet. The connection between classical and traditional music is done here with a stunning and convincing naturalness. On the piano, Philippe Prud’homme is on point even when he flirts with a more modern approach, the strings are poignant and subtly embrace centuries of Western music. Gorgeous.

Neo-trad

Voices of the Wind with strings and piano

The North wind

The Northern Company

Memento MoriDepeche Mode

Powered by song Ghosts Again, Memento Mori is Depeche Mode’s greatest record since Playing the Angel or even Songs Of Faith & Devotion. Reduced to a duo, the pioneering group of electronic music has released a dark album, haunted by death, but with fine and powerful arrangements, which sometimes evoke the past (Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk). Martin Gore, Depeche Mode’s main musical architect, found new inspiration on this record which looks at the dark side of the heart and existence, but with gripping melodies.

Electro

Memento Mori

Depeche Mode

Columbia/Sony

Seven PsalmsPaul Simon

Simon & Garfunkel has been with me my whole life. Paul Simon, less so, even if I know the milestones of his solo career. None of this really prepares you for the beauty of Seven Psalmslong folk poem where the venerable songwriter American contemplates his purpose and questions the limits of his faith. On the one hand there are these recurring, melodically rich themes, then this touching guitar playing and the overall economical arrangements. The greatness of the record lies in its intimacy and frankness. The finale, in a duet with his partner Eddie Brickell, is tear-jerkingly beautiful.

Folk

Seven Psalms

Paul Simon

Owl Records / Sony

London KoFatoumata Diawara

We should not take Fatoumata Diawara at face value when she says that her music is blues. London Ko, like the Malian singer’s other records, sounds neither as if it came from Mississippi nor as if it followed the great Ali Farka Touré. She first talks about a state of mind which, here, telepathizes with Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) to create an album full of collaborations (Yemi Alade, M, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, etc.) full of groove, often joyfully funk and more pop than what Fatoumata Diawara has accustomed us to in the past. Her blues is actually a very warm color.

African pop

London Ko

Fatoumata Diawara

Montuno Productions / Wagram

In the secondKarkwa

Not so long ago, at the turn of December, Karkwa proved on stage all the good things that were already thought of In the second, his first album in ages. His best since… ever. Totally free from his past influences, in perfect mastery of his universe, with a mastery that we have always felt in these five musicians, but which had never been expressed in such a limpid way, without fuss, Karkwa creates a rock rooted that manages to sound new. At the same time, we perceive that the group no longer feels obliged to make rock… This return of Karkwa is not supposed to last. But if In the second is the end point of his story, it will be the climax.

Rock

In the second

Karkwa

Simone Records