Charlotte Gainsbourg
Call it a collection of leftovers, a cash-in for Christmas, fact of the matter is that Charlotte’s bric-a-brac of live-tracks and inédits makes a bigger impression than Lulu Gainsbourgs covers of their dad’s work. Sure, there are flaws. None of Serge’s songs among the live-tracks, I’d have loved her version of Hôtel Particulier, which she played on the tour. Charlotte is a limited singer, and at times has trouble getting heard over the loud band. But her version of Dylan’s Just Like a Woman is great, and so is In the End. We’ve heard a lot of the studio-songs already, the astounding White Telephone, the clunky Terrible Angels and Memoir, written with Conor from Villagers. Paradisco is in the vein of Beck’s more danceable tracks, All the Rain sounds like a demo of Trick Pony and Out of Touch (with Noah & the Whale) is pure fragile gold. Stand out track is Anna, with it’s ploppin’ bass and the Je suis venue te dire-like melody you can tell the title isn’t just a reference to the movie with Serge. Left overs usually don’t taste this good.
