This review first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Life in Québec Magazine.
Life in Quebec Magazine is a lifestyle publication covering Quebec and is published 4 times per year.
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Title: Popdejam
Artist: Various
Price: $ 9.99 (iTunes)
Label: Simone Records
Review by Manu Rangachari
The motto of the 2015 MusiquePlus show Popdejam may not have been precisely “Everything old is new again,” but it could have been “Everything old can be reinvented.”
The show paired legends of Québécois pop with emerging artists, who then covered hit songs from the past. The resulting album presents the best from the show.
In the hands of former Star Académie winner Stéphanie Lapointe, “Animal” is transformed from France D’Amour’s sex-and-rock power ballad to something reminiscent of Duffy, and Claude Bégin gives Mitsou’s “Les chinois” the one-man-band troubadour treatment.
Indeed, a recurring theme of the album is the stripping down and simplification of brash synth-heavy hits from the ’80s. The album could easily have lent itself to self-indulgent nostalgia, but instead creates sounds that are fresh to ears old and new. Popdejam is strong evidence that “Je me souviens” is more than just a licence plate slogan in Québec.
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