The Sex, The City, The Music : Paris

Celebrating the nightlife in one of Europe's most famous, beloved, and traveled cities, Sex, the City, the Music: Paris is less sex and seduction than one might think, and more beats and guitars instead. The album switches between mellow indie rock and dark, driving electronica beats, with songs in both English and French. Zdar's "How Do U See Me Now" is trippy and Jamaican-influenced and Playground's "Livin' on a Weak End" sounds something like a Clash- (and trash-) influenced Strokes, but Plaisir de France's "Americaine" is all Euro-house and sultry French words. It's doubtful much of the music here has been heard on this side of the Atlantic before, and since it's probably not the kind of stuff that will be listened to again and again, it's also doubtful that the artists on Sex, the City, the Music: Paris will make much of a name for themselves stateside. Still, for what it's worth, for the hour-plus of guilty Francophile pleasure it brings, it's not totally a bad thing. ~ Marisa Brown