I guess sometimes the best introduction to a cult artist is through the work of his fans. Especially when those paying homage are some of the most recognizable names in alternative and indie rock.<\/p>\n
Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited<\/em> is one of the most peculiar listening experiences I\u2019ve had in a while. Serge Gainsbourg, a womanizing, heavy-smoking and hard-drinking Jew (by most accounts), made French pop music in the 1950s and \u201960s that holds up shockingly well today, at least when delivered in English by Franz Ferdinand, Portishead, Tricky and R.E.M.\u2019s Michael Stipe among others.<\/p>\n I\u2019d never heard of Gainsbourg before now. His song \u201cJe T\u2019aime Moi Non Plus,\u201d featuring an orgasmic female, just barely made it to the U.S. charts in the 1960s, but was a hit in many other parts of the world. Indie singer\/songwriter Cat Power takes the honors here with sexy results.<\/p>\n A cross-referencing the originals reveals Gainsbourg was writing Placebo songs more than 40 years ago. Band frontman Brian Molko makes \u201cRequiem For A Jerk\u201d brood with his trademark ragged nasal whine backed by electro-specialist Faultline. Placebo reappears on \u201cBallad Of Melody Nelson,\u201d another compilation standout.<\/p>\n In many cases the only differences from the originals is the English translation and employing synths instead of strings. Even with traditional instruments, though, this stuff must have sounded pretty strange and dark to any audience in the Motown era.<\/p>\n The Kills nail the bittersweet, down-tempo \u201cI Call It Art,\u201d accented with the duo\u2019s gritty minimalism. \u201cI wonder, I wonder, no wonder \/ The weakest, the cheapest hangover,\u201d singer VV speaks over a downward-spiraling cinematic melody. The lyrics on the disc are often humorous while poetically provoking the oft-painful human condition, particularly the vices of love.<\/p>\n Gainsbourg Revisited<\/em> is a surprisingly good intro for American listeners who weren\u2019t alive or living in Europe four decades ago, but it\u2019s far from essential. Yet despite the impressive roster of contributors, most of the tracks, save \u201cI Call It Art,\u201d fail to leave a lasting impression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":28416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5827],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-39861","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39861"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}