Anik Jean
Le Trashy Saloon
(Tacca)
A Quebec artist who has spent considerable time working up her English act, Jean sings in two languages and touches on umpteen genres, possibly inventing a few, like banshee bop (“Pense a Toi”) and country coo (“Le Trashy Saloon”). Quebec acts usually fail to register in the rest of Canada, due to language and an overdose of drama. Though far from laidback, Jean’s mind-boggling variety of songs deserves the Anglo ear, which has responded recently only to exhibitionism (Mitsou), bombast (Celine Dion) and smarm (Dion again). Anik’s attitude is more Nancy Sinatra or Peter Gabriel. The wildest ride is saved for a 13-minute prog rock bonus track.
—Doug Taylor
categories: Canadian artist
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.