Gainsbourg

FS Exclusive: Zaz Meets Serge

  • Posted on 27/09/2010
  • /Under Musique

About two weeks ago, we already posted a live version of Zaz’s splendid Piaf cover Dans la rue here. Since she with the husky voice is a dedicated Gainsbourg aficionado as well, she also played a sparse, and highly intense manouche-style version of Serge’s Ces petits riens during the same gig, backed by bassist Mathieu Verlot and guitarist Guillaume Juhel. You will find this cover neither on her recent no. 1 album nor anywhere on the net. The song was recorded during an intimate live performance at MDR radio station, Halle, Germany, with an audience of ten (!) handpicked and damn lucky guests.

Zaz – Ces petits riens (live)

Ces petits riens, written in 1964, may not be among the most popular Gainsbourg chansons, but has been covered by several high-class artists. Serge’s own version, using a typewriter as rhythm instrument, is surely the coolest; he’s on the Deneuve version as well. Here’s both, along with a bunch of other adaptations, including Carla’s English language version … and Guuz might have a few other ones up his sleeve.

Serge Gainsbourg – Ces petits riens

Catherine Deneuve – Ces petits riens

Christiane Canavese – Ces petits riens

Pierre-Alain Goualch – Ces petits riens

Jane Birkin – Ces petits riens

Stacey Kent – Ces petits riens

Zizi Jeanmaire – Ces petits riens

Angélique Kidjo – Ces petits riens

Francoise Hardy – Ces petits riens

Carla Bruni – Those Little Things

Don Nino – Ces petits riens

Elina Duni – Ces petits riens

Five Years of Filles: Baby Brahms

  • Posted on 13/09/2010
  • /Under Musique

Jane Birkin mashed with Johannes Brahms. With some familiair breaks and orchestral stabs added. ‘Baby Brahms’ is a mash-up of Birkin’s Baby Alone in Babylone and Brahms’ Symphony #3 In F, Opus 90. As you know, Serge Gainsbourg frequently used classical theme’s for his songs, a little Chopin for Lemon Incest, some Dvorak for Initials BB. And Brahms for Babylone. The mash was especially made for the FillesSourires.com birthday by Dutch dj Von Rosenthal de la Vegaz and production-wizard Stefan Schmid (of this band). Dj Von Rosenthal uses aria’s and études instead of house and techno to get the crowd going. Classical purists hate it, I think his mix-cd Nouvelle Classique is a very fine way to spend your Sunday morning with (preferably in bed, and not alone). You can listen to other mash-ups and that Nouvelle Classique mix here.

Birkin vs Brahms – Baby Brahms (Von Rosenthal de la Vegaz mash-up)

Five Years of Filles

  • Posted on 02/09/2010
  • /Under Musique

This month, FillesSourires.com celebrates it’s fifth anniversary, which means that I will post a lot of goodies, we will look back on legendary posts and I asked several musicians and a dj to come up with an extra special present for all ye faithful visitors. To kick off, here are two Gainsbourg-covers that were never issued on cd, and I never saw them posted before.

First off is Antoinette, a YeYe-singer who I know nothing about. It’s not the British singer of the same name, my guess is she’s Belgian, because the vinyl-single that I ripped was given away free with Belgian magazine Panorama. There was also this version, but the girl on the cover looks very different from the cover I have.
Trumpet Boy’s real name was Fernand Verstraete (born in 1925 in Rouen, died in 1992), who made several EP’s and albums with his ‘trompette-succès’. His version of Le claqueur des doigst stems from 1959 or ’60, and as you can hear my vinyl-copy isn’t in the best of shape. Which adds to the jazzy atmosphere, nonetheless.

Antoinette – Baby pop
Trumpet Boy – Le claqueur des doigts

Gainsbourg en Israel

  • Posted on 09/08/2010
  • /Under Video

Several French and Israeli artist paid hommage to Serge on July 28 with a concert in Tel Aviv, with Serge’s son Lulu behind the piano and FS-faves like Rose and Alizee singing (and a gorgeous singer called Shirel, whom I never heard of). Check out a highlights-trailer below. Fan-made video of Alizee’s visit to the promised land here, AFP-reportage about the concert here. (Merci Christophe)

Baudelaire

  • Posted on 18/05/2010
  • /Under Musique

Charles Baudelaire inspired many musicians, from pop to classical. His book of poetry Les fleurs du mal is best known, containing poems touching on lesbianism, sex, death and wine. Gainsbourg was a fan, obviously, and in the past artists like J-L Murat, AS Dragon and The Cure paid tribute. And now Dutch band Kashmir Boots set Tristesse de la lune to music. Guido of KB writes: ‘I recorded this with my ex-girlfriend Sarah, who is French and with whom I had a pretty intense relationship. We broke up, but saw each other recently and recorded this. Sarah loves French poetry, especially Baudelaire and Rimbaud. It’s short, but sweet. We might do this again.’

Kashmir Boots – Tristesse de la lune
Serge Gainsbourg – Baudelaire

FS does the classics: Pull Marine

  • Posted on 26/04/2010
  • /Under Musique

As you know, Serge Gainsbourg was heavily inspired by classical composers. This compilation traces back his sources for several of his strongest songs, if you saw Gainsbourg:Vie Héroique you’ll remember the scene where young Lucien plays the Chopin étude that he borrowed for Jane B.. Though a lot of cheesy ballroom orchestras played Serge’s work and some great jazz musicians reworked his compositions, I knew only a few classicly trained musicians who did the same. There’s Giovianni Mirabassi, and now there is Gaëlle Vandernoot. She recorded a cover of Pull Marine (written for Isabelle Adjani) on her1997-released album Harpe & Divertissements. That also sports a version of Francis Lai lounge-classic Un homme et une femme, plus sonatas and variations by Rosetti and Haendel. On her website you can see that Gaëlle likes to mix high and low culture, she even plays a cover of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You. If you think the harp is only useful for easy listening, try Dutch talent Lavinia Meyer.

Gaëlle Vandernoot – Pull Marine

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