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Pop Sessions by Serge Gainsbourg released in 2001. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
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View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2001 CD release of "Pop Sessions" on Discogs.
- (9)
- France
- 26
- CD, Album, Compilation
- Aux Enfants de La Chance
- Couleur Café
- Requiem Pour Un Twister
- La Chanson de Slogan
- Comme Un Boomerang
- Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus
- Baudelaire
- L’Eau à La Bouche
- Cannabis
- L’Anamour
A man who existed in a state of permanent dissipation and an equally permanent cloud of Gitanes smoke, Serge Gainsbourgwasn’t really in a position to be lecturing anyone on self-destructive habits. But let’s overlook the anti-drug message here, and instead wallow in the sweet sadness of its tune, among the finest of his final years.
Feeling trapped by the confines of French pop, but unwilling to go down the yé-yé route (yet), Gainsbourg released Percussions, its stark, experimental sound, African and Cuban rhythms and Miriam Makeba-inspired backing vocals decades ahead of their time for a European artist. It’s packed with highlights, the airily pretty Couleur Café among them.
Like a lot of artists in France’s chanson tradition, Gainsbourg was initially cagey about rock’n’roll: on 1964’s Chez les Yé-Yé, its clubs are useful merely as a place to pick up young girls; on the appealingly creepy, jazz-influenced Requiem pour un Twister, its subject has literally danced themselves to death.
The theme from the film that first paired Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin minted their duet style: dramatic orchestration, killer melody, a funky swing to the rhythm track, Birkin singing in a cracked, fragile “choirgirl’s voice”, and Gainsbourg mumbling breathily in a way that soundedfilthy, even if you couldn’t understand the words.
Comme un Boomerang was rejected as France’s 1975 Eurovision entry – too aggressive and sexual, apparently – and went unheard until Etienne Daho recorded it in 2001. Gainsbourg’s original was finally released in 2011, a prime example of his early 70s purple patch: brooding but blessed with an amazing cyclical melody.
Gainsbourg’s solitary UK success was more complex than a mere smutty novelty single: the stately churchiness of its music at odds with all the panting, the weird lyrics (“I come and go between your kidneys”), the title borrowed from Salvador Dalí. It made Gainsbourg briefly famous but blinded the anglophone world to his oeuvre’s real richness.
Gainsbourg was never a straightforward chansonnier – his early albums offered a sound blending intelligent, sardonic chanson with jazz that ranged in style from cool school to bop. Baudelaire is a perfect example: melancholy ambience, brass and woodwind over a languid Latin American rhythm, lyrics borrowed from the titular poet’s La Serpent Qui Dan...
Early on, Gainsbourg embarked on a parallel career writing film soundtracks that lasted until his death, with his work on Jacques Donoil-Valcroze’s comedy L’Eau à la Bouche: that the soundtrack sold better than his standard releases as a singer-songwriter might have been linked to the film’s success or the sighing gorgeousness of its title song.
Gainsbourg’s soundtrack work was flatly brilliant in the late 60s and early 70s, the era of Manon 70, La Horse, Les Chemins de Katmandou. Meanwhile, the theme song from the thriller Cannabis – in which he and Birkin also starred – is terrific: a rare excursion into surprisingly heavy guitars, epic and elegiac.
Je T’aime … might have been the hit, but there were better songs on the subsequent album Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin, among them L’Anamour, its irresistibly freewheeling mood and blissful-sounding chorus completely at odds with the lyrics, which appear to reflect Gainsbourg’s concern about the potential failure of his burgeoning relationship with ...
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Mar 2, 2023 · The 10 best songs by Serge Gainsbourg: 10. ‘L’eau à la bouche’. Serge was a master of cool. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the video for his 1960 single ‘L’eau à la bouche’, in which the singer is seen making his best Jean-Luc Godard impression.
Mar 2, 2021 · Serge Gainsbourg’s six definitive songs: ‘Bonnie And Clyde’. Not to dismiss his early jazz work offhand, but if you want to do a deep dive in time, then the old swinging stuff is there for you to enjoy. However, to start with his jazz work in a list that only explores six songs is like visiting Paris and never escaping the catacombs.
The discography of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg consists of 16 studio albums, 4 live albums, 1 compilation album, 80 singles and EPS, and several soundtrack albums. Albums. Studio albums. Live albums.
Mar 6, 2001 · Pop sessions. Hommage à Serge Gainsbourg (Genre) (CD album), import Paru le 6 mars 2001. Pop sessions. Questions et réponses. Écouter tous les titres. État : Neuf. Vendu et livré par Digistore Paris. Vendeur Français 4,8 115 ventes. Pays d'expédition : France métropolitaine. Commentaires du vendeur. Livraison sous 3 à 15 jours ouvrés.
