This period was characterized by left-bank songs, tinged with notes of jazz and exotic rhythms. Gainsbourg remains the master of chiaroscuro, double meaning, and is a true poet with caustic irony.
Mon Amie La Rose is her 1964 album: the year she became a major player. Sleek and beautiful recordings full of period flair, fully remastered from the original mono tapes.
Francoise Hardy was an innovator- one of the first to develop the vocal 'cool' used by others like Lou Reed down the road. Her voice is bell-like but never sweet and her strong lower register is a divine combination of authoritative and bored to tears.
