Monday, February 27

SERGE GAINSBOURG


Not too long ago I wrote about Jens Lekman-precursor Scott Walker [here]. Well, Mr. Walker was big-time smitten with the French, dirty-old-man composer Serge Gainsbourg. Today - in Europe, at least - a tribute album to Mr. Gainsbourg will be released featuring such artists as Portishead, Tricky, Michael Stipe, and Placebo. Entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, it also sees Franz Ferdinand and Cat Power take a crack at the master - the Monsieurs Ferdinand with Gainsbourg songbird Jane Birkin; Ms. Marshall with White Stripe wife Karen Elson. (The Cat Power track already seems to be drawing an awful lot of vitriol on the web. I don't know; it sounds okay to me. Light. Fluffy. At worst: harmless. And what's up with all these nasty heroin rumors about Cat? I mean, sheesh... I thought the girl just had a grade-A case of stage-fright.)

Regardless, the other three fingers making up today's fistful are originals sung by some of Gainsbourg's too-numerous-to-enumerate female proteges. They are French, and they are fun. No translation required.

[MP3] Franz Ferdinand & Jane Birkin/"A Song for Sorry Angel"

[MP3] Cat Power & Karen Elson/"I Love You (Me Either)"

[MP3] Francoise Hardy/"Comment Te Dire Adieu"

[MP3] France Gall/"Les Sucettes"

[MP3] Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin/"Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus"

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