Gainsbourg, Reassessed

It’s been now 15 years since pop music’s greatest Gallic decadent passed from this mortal coil, and it appears that it might be time for Serge Gainsbourg to receive some much-needed due on this side of the Atlantic. July will see the release on Verve Forecast of the tribute compilation Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, with the troubling inclusion of English-translated lyrics. Troubling, but definitely not surprising—no doubt a commercial concession to those resistant to listen to music in another language.

The point of these things is to make the music accessible to a younger, unschooled audience, though, and the lineup is sure to draw some attention.  Michael Stipe, Cat Power and (Mrs. Jack White) Karen Elson, Portishead, Tricky, Placebo, and for those who remember Gainsbourg’s actual releases, the wonderful Jane Birkin, who duets with Franz Ferdinand, they’re all here.

Here you go: Portishead’s “Requiem for Anna” (mp3), a retitled version of “Un Jour Comme un Autre” (mp3) from Gainsbourg’s record with Brigitte Bardot, Bonnie & Clyde. Beth Gibbons’ sultry drawl works well as a slinky update of Bardot’s husky croon, and, well, Portishead just can’t really do any wrong in my book. There’s also Michael Stipe’s “L’hotel” (mp3) a rendition of “L’hotel Particulier” (mp3) from Gainsbourg’s most well-known (and my personal favorite) work Histoire de Melody Nelson. Again, Stipe’s weather-beaten but still alluring voice works well with the material, but obviously lacks even a milliliter of Gainsbourg’s charming insouciance.

Here, I feel the need to mention a much better Gainsbourg tribute compilation from 1997, and part of the wonderfully titled series Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg (others have included Burt Bacharach and Marc Bolan). The choice of artists don’t overlap with the newer one, and are equally as great (and actually sing in French!): Mike Patton, Cibo Matto, John Zorn and Blonde Redhead, the latter of which offers up “Le Chanson de Slogan” (mp3), originally from the Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg record. Compare Kazu Makino’s vocals with Birkin’s on the original (mp3). That same record featured “69 Annee Erotique” (mp3), which here is redone by Mark Kramer, who’s made his name more behind the boards (King Missile, Galaxie 500, Jad Fair) than in front of the microphone. His version is nonetheless great–dig it (mp3).

Filed under: Blonde Redhead  covers  Mark Kramer  Michael Stipe  Portishead  Serge Gainsbourg