Brigitte Fontaine, is a singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereolab, Michel Colombier, Jean-Claude Vannier, Areski Belkacem, Gotan Project, Sonic Youth, Antoine Duhamel, Grace Jones, Noir Désir, Archie Shepp, Arno, and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.
She is also a novelist, playwright, poet, and actress.
Brigitte Fontaine in 2010
Brigitte Fontaine and Areski Belkacem perform together in 1974
Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound features influences from krautrock and 1960s French pop music, often incorporating a repetitive motorik beat with the use of vintage electronic keyboards and female vocals sung in English and French. Their lyrics have political and philosophical themes influenced by the Surrealist and Situationist art movements. While performing, they play in a more feedback-driven and guitar-oriented style. From the mid-1990s, the band began to draw from funk, jazz and Brazilian music.
Stereolab performing at the London Pitchfork Festival in 2021
Stereolab performing in London in 1994
Stereolab performing in Pomona, California in 2008
Stereolab were credited for reviving the use of vintage analogue instruments.