Jacno

Thursday, June 30, 2022

My first impression of the French pop singer/composer/producer Jacno is a photograph of him and his partner-in-crime at the time, Elli Medeiros looking in a mirror with matching striped shirts. How can it even be possible that they can make bad music? The first recording I heard by Jacno is his six-song EP Jacno. The low-fi techno-pop sound came with a mixture of a drum machine/genuine drum kit, electric guitar, and various synths that bounce, sway, and bend, with beautiful, catchy melodies. His duet album with Elli, she the singer/lyricist, and him doing everything else is commercial, catchy, and wonderful. But overall, I prefer his solo recordings because I’m swept in by his magnificent approach to pop music, which is very French.

Denis Quilliard was born in 1957 and died in 2009. He took up the name “Jacno” from the artist who drew the Gallic helmet logo for the tobacco company Gauloises, the brand for the smoking connoisseur, and known fans of that brand such as Serge Gainsbourg, David Bowie, and of course, Jacno. We know the ending of that story. Nevertheless, Jacno and Elli formed the French rock punk band Stinky Toys, which started in 1976 and was history in 1979, where Jacno focused on his solo recordings and making hits with his partner at the time. Elli & Jacno were a techno-pop duo that had hits in France and Europe.

Jacno had a Bowie Low-era vibe due to his use of electronics, but also, his beauty was a mirror image of the great David. Bowie’s Speed of Life and Sound & Vision are the foundation for Jacno to flow into his world. It’s impossible to escape from the shadow of Serge Gainsbourg, so one has to throw that in the mix as well. Jacno’s music is cool and sexy, as if one was making love somewhere in the South of France. It’s the music of the sunlight reflected in Jacno’s sunglasses. The best aspect of French pop is that there is no reference to American music. Jacno, Gainsbourg, and others use the Chanson Française as the foundation, which makes sense because they’re like the Blues. Jazz plays a big part, especially in the early songs by Gainsbourg, but Jacno is very much 100% French pop with the chanson touch.

Jacno’s French Paradoxe (2002) is the current obsession, on which he covers the great Boris Vian song J'Suis Snob. Part of the album is the soundtrack to Jean-Henry Roger's film "Lulu.” But this album sounds like a whole work by Jacno that stands alone. It’s gorgeous in parts that one is almost in the land of the composers Pierre Bachelet and Hervé Roy, who did the soundtrack to the original score for Emmanuelle. Specifically Lulu 1 and 2. Thomas (the son of Jacques) Dutronc does a beautiful guitar solo over the melody.

Music always needs to be associated with Dandyism. A picture is a picture, but when you have a melody behind it, the image and sound become something important, even life-like, as if they are reaching out for the sun. Perhaps Gauloises killed Jacno, but my love for him will never die or fade.

For the consumer not introduced to Jacno (and Elli), I recommend these albums: