How many times can you tell the same joke? A question that popped up while listening to Bande á Part, the new album by Nouvelle Vague (out June 13). Just like on the first album, masterminds Olivier Libeaux and Marc Collin chose a string of new wave covers, re-arranged them as breezy, latin-tinged hammock-swingers and picked a few husky young (mostly French) females to sing the covers. Sounds like a great day job to me, and the bossanova-vibe from the first album has been replaced for a darker, gothic-voodoo-atmosphere, but it's basically still the same idea repackaged. And with copycats like Eldissa (who got bossanova on disco-hits) and the Bossa N' Stones-series (Bossa N' Marley, Jazz N' 80's, etc), it's hard to come up with something original. Sill, some of the repackinging came out nice (Echo's The Killing Moon, Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen in Love, Visage's Fade to Grey, sung by the pictured Marina and described by Collin as "a blind young girl singing in the corridors of the Parisian Metro, ignored by everyone"), but they should stop here. Or do a Smiths N' Bossa-tribute, closing with That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore.The reason I'm posting Fade To Grey is, ofcourse, because the song is partly in French. Japanese twosome Konki Duet also recorded a version of the Visage-hit, with more French lyrics added:
Nouvelle Vague,seems to be going in a different direction with this new one,will have to hear more...
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHope the new one has some surprises - the project does seem to be wearing a bit thin - it was clever three years ago. I did apprecaite theri take on the Clash's Guns of Brixton.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenGotan Project is still up to the same gimmick with the new one as well. Get tired of hearing it in boutiques...
You know I get tricked by these kinds of efforts easily - I always pay huge import prices and go to great lengths to get them and by the time they are released domestically in America - usually 1-3 years later - I'm either sick of them or get turned off by all the crappy mainstream US hype.
lovely covers of a great song. I found you via liza at copy,right
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