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<\/a><\/p>\nIntoxicated Man<\/em> – Serge Gainsbourg<\/strong>\u00a0(El Double) CD ACMEMD2 46CD<\/p>\n Those generous folk at El Records and Cherry Red have got together to put out this excellent, highly affordable double CD of the early, pre-Jane Birkin years of Serge Gainsbourg\u2019s work. If you\u2019re already familiar with the louche Gallic troubadour, it\u2019s a very neat, comprehensive package that would otherwise take much time, expense and aggravation to compile. If your only exposure to Serge\u2019s work is the ever-so-naughty \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2019 which topped music charts all over the place in the late 60\u2019s, you would do well to immerse yourself in this collection.\u00a0 Four LPs, an EP, live tracks and covers by such luminaries as former muse Juliette Greco and bilingual British chanteuse Petula Clark all make this CD a pleasure, if sometimes a dark one.<\/p>\n Coming from a country that preferred Jazz to Rock and Roll, and staunchly held on to its \u2018Chanson\u2019 tradition in the face of the US\/UK pop onslaught of the 50\u2019s and 60\u2019s, Serge was a misfit throughout his career, and his life. Starting out in the smoky Left Bank Jazz clubs, singing his tales of existential angst and forbidden love to an older audience of intellectuals does not seem the background of the pop behemoth he would later become. Pre- \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2019, Serge\u2019s best known song was arguably the urgent, melancholy train ride of \u2018Le Poinconneur des Lilas\u2019 (the ticket-puncher), the opening track on \u2018Du Chant A La Une!\u2019(1958). Basically a showcase of Serge\u2019s clubland versatility, standouts number Charleston Des Demenageurs De Piano\u2019 (Piano-movers Charleston) looking back to the lively 20\u2019s, musically at least, and the feline creep of \u2018Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Serge Gainsbourg No 2\u2019 (1959) opens with another classic of its type, \u2018Le Claqueur De Doigts\u2019 (finger-snapper), Serge muttering \u2019Juke-Box, Juke-Box\u2019 to the \u2018claques\u2019, a sign that he wisely had one eye on the emerging coffee-bar culture of the young, even when hanging out on the Left Bank. As varied as \u2018Du Chant A La Une!\u2019, in amongst the infectious dance rhythm of \u2018Mambo Miam Miam\u2019 and the flippant kiss-off of \u2018Adieu Creature\u2019, \u2018Jeunes Femmes et Vieux Messieurs\u2019 (Young Women and Older Men)\u00a0 appears, disguised in a jolly country-tinged tune. This subject would re-appear throughout Serge\u2019s long career.<\/p>\n The \u2018Romantique 60\u2019 EP (1960) includes the irritatingly catchy \u2018Cha Cha Cha Du Loup\u2019 and the Joe Meek-like production of the declamatory \u2018Judith\u2019, complete with heavenly choir. The disc closes with \u2018L\u2019Etonnant Serge Gainsbourg\u2019\u00a0 (The Astonishing\u2026) LP. The classic lament, \u2018La Chanson De Prevert\u2019 opens, and the LP has more US \u2013style crooning, with \u2018Le Rock de Nerval\u2019 and \u2018Le Sonnet D\u2019Anvers\u2019, and \u2018Viva Villa\u2019s cheerful flutes belying a song of human pursuit and bounty.<\/p>\n Disk 2 opens with \u2018Serge Gainsbourg No 4\u2019, a cooler affair with some wistful Jazz (Black Trombone) to accompany a tale of love and detachment, and Hammond fetishists will have a ball with title track \u2018Intoxicated Man\u2019 and \u2018Requiem Pour un Twisteur\u2019s stylings. Those of us who wish we had a time machine have no need to fantasise, as we are also offered a live recording of Serge at \u2018Theatre Des 3 Baudets\u2019, (1958) sweet melodies accompanying scandalous tales of mad love, the disappointments of serial seduction and the matter of fact treatment of polysexual trysts. This isn\u2019t the Hogmanay Show.<\/p>\n A taste of Serge\u2019s varied film soundtrack work is collected here, including \u2018L\u2019Eau A La Bouche\u2019(Water in the Mouth) and \u2018Les Loups Dans La Bergerie\u2019 (Wolves in the Sheep-Fold) and \u2018Week-end En Mer\u2019 (\u2026by the sea). Proving that Serge had as much a feel for mood music as he had for deft lyrics, they may leave you with a desire to track down the films for the music alone. Juliette Greco\u2019s brandy and granite voice works particularly well on the affecting \u2018Valse de L\u2019au-revoir (Goodbye Waltz)<\/p>\n Covers of Serge\u2019s work make up the rest of this CD, including terrific close harmony and timekeeping by Les Fr\u00e8res Jacques on \u2018Le Poinconneur Des Lilas\u2019 more sepulchral tales interpreted by Juliette Greco, and Petula Clark\u2019s handling of an affectionate romp \u2018Vilaine Fille, Mauvais Garcon\u2019(Naughty Girl, Bad Boy).<\/p>\n Something of a marathon at 66 tracks, this disc is well worth the time investment whether you\u2019re a confirmed Gainsbourgian or just plain curious.
\nWhat language barrier? Buy HERE!<\/a><\/p>\nThe Winkies<\/h1>\n