Axelle Red – La claque
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Coeur de Peter
Peter Peter is a Montreal-based singer-songwriter who just released his first album, Homonyme. An interesting album, with some post-rock elements (he worked with a producer who also worked with Godspeed You! Black Emperor), nice ballads, subtle electronica and, more importantly, a duet with Coeur de Pirate. In French, yay! There’s another song with female backing-vocals, but my guess is this isn’t our Béatrice.
Peter Peter & Coeur de Pirate – Tergiverse
Gainsbourg, Intégrale?
The interesting part about the anniversary edition of Gainsbourg’s Intégrale box, is that it the title Intégrale is nowhere to be found. Only if you want to order it, you see the title. And then you can read the quite unfavourable reviews. The critique focusses on the omittance of songs like La Noyée and Le sable & le soldat, and the umpteenth rehashing of old material that every SG-fan already has on their treasured albums and earlier compilations. Understandable. How many SG-novices will buy a 160 euro box with 20 cds? Why omit songs that were on earlier compilations? Why is the personnel of later albums mentioned, but not the players on Serge’s first EPs? I got my box yesterday and I have to say I’m quite pleased with it. I think it looks good, I like the pictures and it has several songs I’d never heard: like the Les Papillons Noirs-duet with Bijou, some instrumentals and full version of Je suis venu te dire. Now, just who is that at the very end of the song? (It’s Jane Birkin, saying ‘Ah bien là, je peux pas faire plus que ça’, or ‘Hold it, I can’t go on anymore’) (Thanks Pierre)
There’s no obligation to buy. The stuff that you don’t have, will no doubt turn up on the internet. But the feeling to open up this box, see 20 cd’s, see the photos, flip through the booklet (all text in French, another mistake), I like how that makes me feel.
Serge Gainsbourg – Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais (full version)
Serge Gainsbourg – Je ne t’aime plus moi aussi (instrumental) (Is it me, or does this one sound more like Je suis venu te dire?)
In other news, I made a podcast for KX Radio with all kinds of Serge-tracks. Go HERE
Sophie Galet
Ma place is the very pretty, elegant new single by Liege-based singer Sophie Galet. Her new (second) album Stella Polaris will be released in October. Download for free in exchange of your email-adress. HERE.
Requiem pour un Twisteur 1
Exactly 20 years ago, Serge Gainsbourg bought the farm, as the Americans like to say. In 1962, he had written Requiem pour un twisteur, la danse du Twist being “the greatest ritual since circumcision” (Leonard Cohen) in those early Sixties. The song was, in Serge’s own words, “about a guy who twists himself to death”, but certainly it was also a song about life. A Gainsbourg one. Only the dance fashions had changed a bit through the years.
Requiem pour un Twisteur 2
Another recapturing of the un-twistable by Aurèle Salmon and Ludovic Hellet, also known as Vocalcordes. Like clockwork.
Requiem pour un Twisteur 3
Nice, if maybe a little too fast bar-jazz-trio version of the maybe coolest composition of the Gainsbourg repertoire by Sao-Paulo-based Les Serges. Wow bassman!
Victoires de la musique (2)
Yesterday, the remaining Victoires de la musique were presented. Among the winners were ZAZ (see video), who was celebrated on this blog many times, and Yael Naim. Full list of winners here.
Jenifer
Because I like girls who look a bit like Alyssa Milano. And because it’s a very catchy song. That’s why I post this video, and this track by Jenifer.
Jenifer – Je danse