MONSIEUR GAINSBOURG REVISITED - VARIOUS ARTISTS
The recordings of French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg ooze world-weary sophistication, but beneath their lounge-music sheen, they’re strikingly difficult to classify. So it’s fitting that a new Gainsbourg tribute, marking the 15th anniversary of his death, contains everything from such slavish reproductions as Cat Power and Karen Elson’s “I Love You Me Neither”) to freewheeling modernizations: Gonzales rapping on “Boomerang 2005,” or Franz Ferdinand’s indie-rock spin on “A Song for Sorry Angel.” Gainsbourg’s lyrics have been translated to English for interpretation by the likes of Portishead and the Kills alongside original singers Francoise Hardy, Dani and Jane Birkin. By the time you get to Marianne Faithfull’s “Lola R. Forever” — with production by Sly & Robbie that sounds like a lost session from their work with Grace Jones — you’ll swear there’s a puff of Gitanes smoke coming from your speakers. Billboard
