It’s wholly discouraging to learn that, as I flail and fail dismally learning French, the kids in the ‘burbs are starting speaking in a secret language called Verlan, an argo where words are inverted. Initially this was done presumably to confuse old folk, but now even Carla Bruni probably speaks in it, when she’s not having her face pumped with Clostridium botulinum (according to The Guardian, which was clearly short of stories last week). I, like the guardians of the French language think this sort bastardisation should be stamped out now, and like King Canute I say “plus qu’assez!” Stop it now, and instead speak very slowly in a pitiful version of Franglais and we’ll all get along fine.

I had a wonderful time hanging out in Paris, though quite often I retreated to bed and read Brian Wilson’s biography Wouldn’t it be Nice, because it seemed appropriate somehow. Brian’s bitterness is breathtaking, though it’s also a story of redemption and triumph over adversity which makes one feel a little fuzzy. Sebastien Tellier also regaled me with wonderful tales of escaping from psychiatric wards while brusseleir and über producer Benjamin Schoos told me great stories about Morrissey and Vladimir Putin. Benjamin also sent me ‘Brigitte Fontaine est folle?’, a record she recorded with Jean Claude Vannier that I’ve been trying desperately to get hold of for months. What a guy!

Speaking of which, my favourite new record shop in the whole world is Boulinier on the Boulevard Saint Michel, a jumble of CDs, records and DVDs with no discernible order whatsoever. Your likelihood of finding something worth buying depends on how long you stay in the store. They’ve abandoned boring classification systems like alphabetical order, with everything thrown in randomly together under ill-defined genres. CDs are generally EUR3.50 a pop, and there are some belters to be had with just a little patience. Thanks to Boulinier and the great people at Record Makers and IVOX, I have a suitcase full of new sounds to get my ears around, dragged back via Eurostar, surely the greatest invention since the hairdryer.

So, anyway, what does the Gallic living-legend want? “We’ll do photos outside,” he writes. “I have a scaffold in front of my window.”

It’s less poetic than I was expecting.

We find Jean-Claude’s house located in a well-to-do district in central Paris not far from the Seine. It has stood there since it was built just after the French Revolution. The one that was there before was a hangout for royalty and was burnt to the ground.

He answers the door with a bewildered expression on his face — one he retains throughout the interview. The interior is compact with books and pictures, nice wood and a grand piano as the centrepiece of the flat. While slightly cluttered, little gives away the eccentricities of its owner, though on closer inspection I notice miniature pianos tucked in every available nook, cranny and orifice.

“Yes, I like surprising instruments,” he offers. “I like cheap instruments to make some music mixed with fire engines. I like toy pianos. You can see them around here. I like toys.”

He’s just returned from Los Angeles where he had been invited to conduct the orchestra for a full rendition of Gainsbourg’s finest work at the Hollywood Bowl.

“We played …Melody Nelson with American artists — Patton, Beck, Zola Jesus… it was very nice; 18,000 people.” His mind’s clearly still boggling. “Incredible. I don’t understand very well how this happens. I was just on stage conducting the orchestra.”

Such misplaced humility punctuates our meeting. How did the ensemble approach ‘En Melody’, the album’s wholly instrumental track, but for a ticklish Jane Birkin grunting and squealing and making sex noise?

“Each artist takes a song. And on stage Zola Jesus was laughing, you know, in dialogue with an electric violin. Very nice.”

A similar concert at the Barbican in 2006 featured Jarvis Cocker, Gruff Rhys and Mick Harvey.

“Yes, at the Barbican, a Japanese girl, Seaming To, was laughing!”

Vannier’s lost classic L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches was also played at the Barbican, and re-released the same year by Andy Votel’s Finders Keepers label. It soundtracks a tale written by Gainsbourg about the journey of a young child traversing through a nightmarish kingdom of flies. Esoteric and bizarre though it is, it’s certainly an enrapturing listen, full of wah wahs, songs that sound like cop shows, cowbells and fire-engines.

“The man who paid for the recording was not happy with my music. He said, ‘Really, I don’t understand your music,’ so he didn’t release it.”

Vannier has no idea why one record he makes is universally embraced and another is shunned. “I don’t know what is success, I only write music.”

Modest as ever, he was amazed when he got the call from Votel some 24 years later.

“I must tell you, when Andy sent me his first email he said to me, ‘Oh, I love your music,’ and at the time I was so surprised that I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a young man who wanted to laugh at me.”

The new album, Roses Rouge Sang — his first solo album proper since 1990 — which he sings on, was played by some of the original musicians from the Melody Nelson sessions — Vick Flick, Dougie Wright and Herbie Flowers, as well as the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. Translated as ‘blood red roses’, Vannier says it is “a metaphor for women… with thorns, you know?” He looks mournful. “They have beauty and they hurt.”

It seems in stark contrast to his old mate shagger Serge.

‘Au Désespoir Des Singes’ uses a monkey puzzle tree as another metaphor for the difficulties of navigating relationships (“I love this tree because it has a funny shape, and thorns so the monkey can’t climb the tree”), while on ‘Dans Mes Rêves’ he fantasises about women who spurn him. “In my dreams I do with you what I want,” he sings. “The girl doesn’t love me, but in my dreams she’s with me.”

It sounds sad.

“Yes, of course. I live in the city and I look out onto the street and it’s a sort of grey life. Despair and introspection…”

He shrugs as if to say, “So what?” C’est la vie.

There’s one thing he can’t abide, though.

“I’m not a string arranger. I arrange for the whole orchestra. I met a girl in America, she was a string arranger. I could not understand why just the strings.”

Would he describe himself as an avant-garde composer, then?

“Me? No.”

A musician?

“Yes,” he says, and a smile settles on his face.

This article originally appeared in The Stool Pigeon in 2011

At lunchtime I like to run on a treadmill watching Neighbours. As Neighbours isn’t on over the Christmas I contented myself with catching a chunk of 60′s espionage thriller The Ipcress File, and what a treat that movie is. The lines are eminently quotable, and Michael Caine is indefatigably cool. And he says things like: “I’m going… to cook you… the best meal you’ve ever tasted”, and you just think, you’re brilliant. It almost makes you forget about Michael Caine ranting about gypsies or whatever. It’s the same with Brigitte Bardot in France (you may notice I’ve put this ‘fact’ in to tenuously link it with the next paragraph and I’m not entirely sure it works).

I’ve also been listening to le cinema de Serge Gainsbourg today, a compendium of his soundtrack work. It stetches right back to 1959, when he was more hip jazz than hot jizz, and my favourite titled movie is 1963′s Comment Trouvez-Vous ma Soeur? (or ‘how did you find my sister?’). Having played through all 72 tracks there are some real stunners on there, many of which I’ve never heard before, and others I have heard like ‘La Horse’ (with Jean Claude Vannier) and ‘Cannabis’ and ‘Requiem Pour Un Con’ (‘Requiem for a Jerk’) that still have that certain something to astonish on repeat listen. It’s rather useful to fall in love with an artist whose back catalogue stretches over three decades because there’s always something new you can find that will surprise you. It’s like they’re not actually dead, they’re beavering away somewhere like the old fellas from Dad’s Army.

In the old days, musicians wouldn’t have to work too hard to come up with something entirely new, and if a song became popular people would do crazy shit! Irving Berlin’s first hit song ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ became world-famous and the song sparked an international dance craze in places as far-flung as Russia, which apparently took to the ragtime beat “with an abandon bordering on mania.” Even in the 60s, people were surprised by music, and I remember reading a story about Allen Ginsberg becoming so overwhelmed when he heard ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ by the Beatles that he threw his drink in the air and started dancing around a room full of people out of control. Dude was elated! And overcome. And maybe a little scared by this new-fangled, zany beat music.

I’m not sure people fling themselves around anymore in reaction to a new piece of music, more’s the pity. Or maybe they do, it’s not like I’m watching them all.

Overstimulation and eventual fatigue; Happy Thanksgiving

From this past week’s Viva episode:

1. “Tryouts For The Human Race” – Sparks
2. “Slippery Rock 70′s” – Stavely Makepeace
3. “All The Sun That Shines” – Peaking Lights
4. “Tell Her You Love Her (Instrumental” – Stanley Myers
5. “Surf’s Up” – The Beach Boys
6. “Bombay Talkie (Title Music)” – Shankar
7. “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” – Status Quo
8. “Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)” – Focus
9. “Hey Jude” – The Overton Berry Trio
10. “Melody” – Serge Gainsbourg
11. “Ballade De Melody Nelson” – Serge Gainsbourg
12. “Ah! Melody” – Serge Gainsbourg
13. “Dance Des Mouches Noires Gardes Du Roi” – Jean-Claude Vannier
14. “Valse De Melody” – Serge Gainsbourg
15. “Petite Agonie De L’Enfant Assassin” – Jean-Claude Vannier
16. “Cargo Culte” – Serge Gainsbourg

Listen exclusively at Viva Radio.

The next post on this page will be the alternate Thanksgiving episode that I wanted to post. It’s entitled “Thanksgiving with the Maels”, and will be posted by the end of this week.

- JDJ

Histoire de Melody Nelson es un disco de Serge Gainsbourg publicado en 1971 por la discográfica Phillips. Si bien cuando salió al mercado no fue un superventas, sí es el título con el que la obra musical de Serge Gainbourg toca techo, es su mejor disco, el que mejor capta su esencia. Surgió en un momento en el que la vida personal del llegó también a lo más alto. Cuando Gainsbourg confirmó su reputación como provocador y se configuró como uno de los cantantes mejor vendidos en Francia a finales de los 70, Melody Nelson fue recuperado por el público, consiguió el disco de oro e hizo crecer entre el público la buena recepción que el álbum ya había tenido por parte de la crítica.

Gainsbourg, que había empezado escribiendo tan solo chanson française, viendo que eso no le daría de comer (por mucho que Boris Vian le hubiera apadrinado en sus inicios y hubiera ganado el premio Charles Gros a mejor álbum en 1959), apostó hacia finales de los 60 por el pop y empezó a configurarse como una gran figura mediática. En 1965 compuso la canción ganadora del Festival de Eurovisión Poupée de cire, poupée de son que lanzó a la fama a France Gall. Más tarde tuvo como amante a la mujer más deseada de Francia, Brigitte Bardot: fruto de esa relación ella obtuvo sus más grandes éxitos como cantante, él sacó uno de sus mejores albums (abiertamente pop, sí) Initials BB y nació la canción Je t’aime moi non plus, grabada por ambos, pero “secuestrada” por Bardot, que veía en su publicación la humillación definitiva a su marido de entonces, pues era de sobra conocida su relación con Gainsbourg. Tras Bardot, Serge conoció a Jane Birkin, la que sería la mujer de su vida, aunque se llevaran veinte años de edad. Con Birkin lanzaría por fin Je t’aime moi non plus, que tendría difusión en todo el mundo y sigue vigente hasta hoy como un símbolo de la cultura pop. Descubrieron el escándalo y el éxito más rotundo con este tema, universalmente conocido. Tras él, grabaron su primer álbum juntos, rodaron películas como actores (él como compositor, también) y, dado que parecía tener garantizada cierta reputación y una situación acomodada, Gainsbourg apostó por sus dos mejores proyectos vitales: su mejor disco, Melody Nelson, y la que sería su hija predilecta, Charlotte.

Histoire de Melody Nelson llevaba en mente de Gainsbourg años, surgiendo tras el sueño frustrado de hacer un musical de Lolita, de Nabokov. Con la ayuda de Jean Claude Vannier como arreglista y co-autor de algunos títulos, decidió sacar adelante este álbum conceptual. Es conceptual pues responde a un concepto, en este caso, contar una historia, como otros grupos ya habían empezado a hacer (véase Tommy, de The Who). Melody Nelson surge así en un momento de cambio en la música.

La historia del disco es la de un hombre adulto que una noche, transitando con su Rolls Royce por un barrio marginal choca con una chica pelirroja, inglesa, de 15 años que va en bicicleta. Su aspecto inocente como de muñeca y su innegable atractivo hacen surgir la chispa. Nace así una relación idílica en la que no importan la edad ni las condiciones de cada uno.  Ambos acaban en la cama de un hotel de cuidada estética (espejo en el techo incluido). Al éxtasis del sexo le sucede la nostalgia: Melody toma un avión para regresar a su Inglaterra natal pero nunca llega a su destino. Destrozado, el protagonista acaba delirando, invocando a los aviones que ve pasar por el cielo (como ciertas tribus africanas durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial) para ver si alguno cae y le trae de vuelta al objeto de sus pasiones.

En tan solo 27 minutos Gainsbourg, pegado al micrófono, narra y canta, aborda la pasión más que con palabras, con música (lo cual es un verdadero mérito creativo teniendo en cuenta lo buen letrista que era), y también revela las claves de su estética, presente en el resto de su obra. En términos musicales, al francés gutural de Gainsbourg le acompañan intervenciones de Jane Birkin, y los arreglos de Jean Claude Vannier, magistrales, que determinan por completo el espíritu del disco: a la presencia constante del bajo en primer término (incesante, sórdido) se le suman batería, guitarras eléctricas (algo totalmente inusual en la discografía gainsbourgiana), sección de cuerda (una de las claves del sonido tan particular del disco: suntuosas, arrastran al mundo de los sentidos y pasiones que propone el autor), entre otros elementos, como el memorable coro final de 70 componentes.

En cuanto a la estética, es un compendio de muchos elementos recurrentes en los discos posteriores de Serge. En primer lugar, está esa lolita protagonista corrompida por un hombre mayor (que aparecerá deformada y peor dibujada en la Samantha de You’re under arrest, o se aprecia también en los duetos con su hija Charlotte que sembraron la polémica en la Francia de los ochenta como Lemon incest y Charlotte for ever); están también el lujo y la alta cultura, las referencias al arte de categoría (véase el Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, el hôtel particulier de influencias barrocas); así como una historia de pasión extrema –nada de amor convencional- que la violencia o el destino frustran (esto se verá de nuevo en la relación del periodista y la peluquera negra del disco L’homme à tête de chou o la relación entre el camionero homosexual Joe Dallesandro y el andrógino Johnny-Jane Jane Birkin de su primera película Je t’aime moi non plus) que se narra con particular énfasis en los detalles más inesperados (las braguitas de la niña, el pelo rojo “natural”). Asimismo está presente la idea de que el mejor medio para conservar la belleza con el paso de los años y hacer surgir el mito es la muerte (véanse los casos de Marilyn Monroe o James Dean): al morir en plenitud física y mental no hay sitio para la decadencia, el protagonista siempre recordará a Melody como un ser vivo perfecto.

Desde su publicación en 1971, el álbum tuvo una gran acogida por parte de los especialistas. Fue considerado por la crítica “el primer poema sinfónico de la era pop”. Multitud de grupos actuales reconocen su influencia tanto por el sonido como por su estética y aparece siempre en los ránkings, listas y libros de los mejores álbumes de los 70, así como de la historia (por delante de discos de Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan y otros nombres más conocidos que el de Serge). El disco sirvió también para configurar la imagen de poeta maldito que quiso dar Gainsbourg durante sus últimos veinte años de vida (diseñado por Jane Birkin, este modelo incluye el pelo largo, la barba, el eterno cigarro Gitanes,…): aparece por primera vez en las páginas interiores de la edición en vinilo. En la portada aparece Jane Birkin personificando a Melody, con el botón del vaquero abierto pues ya estaba embarazada de Charlotte Gainsbourg, tapándose el pecho con un mono de peluche (con el que, por cierto, fue sepultado el cantante en 1991, propiedad de Birkin).

A pesar de las limitaciones fronterizas con que se topó Gainsbourg tanto vital como creativamente por cuestiones como el idioma, durante los últimos años es un valor musical en alza en Europa. Aquí en España, donde hace unos años apenas se podía encontrar el CD de Melody Nelson, ahora está publicada toda su discografía en distintos formatos, se editan biografías sobre él e incluso distribuyen su fallido y decepcionante biopic con buenos resultados comerciales. Si bien sus elepés no entraron en España durante el franquismo, la discográfica Phillips permite ahora que gente como yo se haga con los vinilos de sus discos. La experiencia de Melody Nelson en LP con dos altavoces es inmejorable, es el éxtasis, escuchar al mismo nivel el bajo, las cuerdas, el francés. Para los que no aspiren a tanto, aquí dejo los enlaces a youtube del especial que el Jean Cristophe Averty dirigió para la televisión francesa y que fue emitido en la Navidad de 1971 en el que se ponen imágenes a la música del disco empleando técnicas de vídeo pioneras en la época:

http://www.youtube.com/user/qwertyqwertyatbehigh#p/search/3/AznHU0cWvz0

1-. Melody.

2-. Ballade de Melody Nelson.

3-. Valse de Melody.

4-. Ah! Melody.

5-. L’hôtel particulier.

6-. En Melody.

7-. Cargo Culte.

02. Lalo Schifrin – Main Title – 3’29
From the film ‘Dirty Harry’
(Don Siegel, US, 1971)
Source: CD – Aleph – (030)

03. Riz Ortolani – L’Altalena – 2’12
From the film ‘Mondo Candido’
(Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi, Italy, 1975)
Source: LP – CBS – (CBS 80652)

04. Roy Ayers – Coffy is the Color – 2’58
From the film ‘Coffy’
(Jack Hill, US, 1973)
Source: LP – Polydor – (PD 5048)

05. Paul de Senneville (Vocals by Ginette Garcin) – Par ici la Monnaie – 2’19
From the film ‘Par ici la Monnaie’
(Richard Balducci, France, 1974)
Source: 7″ – Delphine – (64 005)

Request: Laura – Form deepest East London.

06. Buena Vista Social Club – De Camino a La Vereda – 5’01
From the film ‘Buena Vista Social Club’
(Wim Wenders, GER/US/UK/FRA/CUBA, 1999)
Source: CD – World Circuit – (WCD 050)

07. Lalo Schifrin – Scorpio’s View – 2’37
From the film ‘Dirty Harry’
(Don Siegel, US, 1971)
Source: CD – Aleph – (030)

Cover Version Corner.

08. Alan Parker – Baby Elephant Walk – 2’09
From the LP: Guitar Fantasy – 1970
Source: LP – Aristocrat Records – (AR1022)

09. The Jimmy Crawford Blend – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 3’03
From the LP: The Best of Jimmy Crawford
Source: CD – Pegasus –

10. Henry Mancini – Pick up the Pieces – 3’39
From the LP: Symphonic Soul – 1975
Source: LP – RCA -(APL1-1025)

11. Ennio Morricone – Spasmpdicamente – 2’07
From the film ‘Spasmo’
(Umberto Lenzi, Italy, 1974)
Source: CD – BMG – (82876511362)

12. Riz Ortolani – Cani E Gatti – 2’01
From the film ‘Mondo Candido’
(Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi, Italy, 1975)
Source: LP – CBS – (CBS 80652)

13. Guido & Maurizio De Angelis (Vocals by I Charango) – Hombres Del Mar – 3’42
From the film ‘Il Corsaro Nero’
(Sergio Sollima, Italy, 1976)
Source: 7″ – Cinevox – (MDF 105)

14. Lalo Schifrin – The School Bus – 2’04
From the film ‘Dirty Harry’
(Don Siegel, US, 1971)
Source: CD – Aleph – (030)

15. Kalyanji Anandji – O Saathi Re – 5’35
From the film ‘Muqaddar ka Sikandar’
(Prakash Mehra, India, 1978)
Source: LP – EMI – (PEALP 2016)

Simon’s Library Choice.

16. Budapest Radio Orchestra – February – 3’09
From the LP Colours in Rhythm Volume 5 -1976
Source: LP – Apollo Sound – (APP 5026)

17. Budapest Radio Orchestra – Fire Wheel – 2’31
From the LP Colours in Rhythm Volume 5 -1976
Source: LP – Apollo Sound – (APP 5026)

18. Budapest Radio Orchestra – Never Ask – 3’05
From the LP Colours in Rhythm Volume 5 -1976
Source: LP – Apollo Sound – (APP 5026)

19. Sonny Rollins – Alfie’s Theme Differently – 3’44
From the film ‘Alfie’
(Lewis Gilbert, UK, 1966)
Source: LP – Impulse – (A-9111)

20. Riz Ortolani – L Soldatesse – 2’11
From the film ‘Mondo Candido’
(Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi, Italy, 1975)
Source: LP – CBS – (CBS 80652)

21. Ennio Morricone – Liricamente – 1’54
From the film ‘Spasmo’
(Umberto Lenzi, Italy, 1974)
Source: CD – BMG – (82876511362)

22. Lalo Schifrin – Liquor Store Holdup – 1’21
From the film ‘Dirty Harry’
(Don Siegel, US, 1971)
Source: CD – Aleph – (030)

23. Paul de Sennaeville – Theme Romantique – 1’03
From the film ‘Par ici la Monnaie’
(Richard Balducci, France, 1974)
Source: 7″ – Delphine – (64 005)

24. Francesco De Masi – New York… One Night – 2’44
From the film ‘Lo Squartatore Di New York (New York Ripper)
(Lucio Fulci, Italy, 1982)
Source: LP – Beat – (LPF 055)

25. Serge Gainsbourg & Michel Colombier – No No Yes Yes – 2’44
From the film ‘Mister Freedom’
(William Klein, France, 1968)
Source: 7″ – Barclay – (BLY 71 322-

Louis Vial

Brigitte Fontaine Discographie

Chansons décadentes et fantasmagoriques, LP, Disques Jacques Canetti – 48 815, 1965, (arrangements de Jimmy Walter).
Maman, j’ai peur (avec Jacques Higelin), EP, Disques Jacques Canetti – 27 271, 1966 (arrangements de Michel Colombier).
Les encerclés (avec Jacques Higelin), EP, Disc’AZ – 1190, puis Saravah – SHB 516X, 1968 (arrangements de Jean-Claude Vannier).
Brigitte Fontaine est… folle !, LP, Saravah – SH 10 001, 1968 (arrangements de Jean-Claude Vannier)
Le goudron / Les beaux animaux, S, Saravah – SH 40 008, 1969
Comme à la radio, LP, Saravah – SH 10006, 1969 (avec l’Art Ensemble of Chicago).
Brigitte Fontaine (3) (avec Julie Dassin et Areski Belkacem), LP, Saravah – SH 10034, 1972
Je ne connais pas cet homme (avec Areski Belkacem et Antoine Duhamel), LP, Saravah – SH 100 41, 1973
Quand tous les ghettos brûleront, ça va faire un hit, S, Byg Records – 129052, 1974 (avec Areski Belkacem, arrangements de Jean-Claude Vannier)
L’Incendie (avec Areski Belkacem), LP, Byg Records – 529026, 1974
Le Bonheur (avec Areski Belkacem), LP, Saravah – SH 10 059, 1975
Vous et nous (avec Areski Belkacem et Antoine Duhamel), LP, Saravah / RCA – RSL 1071, 1977
Les églantines sont peut-être formidables avec Areski Belkacem, LP, Saravah / RCA – RSL 1081, 1979
L’inconciliabule, S, Saravah / RCA – RSB 499, 1980
Les filles d’aujourd’hui, S, Carrère-Celluloïd – CA171, 1984
French corazon, LP, Midi inc., 1988
Genre humain, CD, Virgin – 724384050023, 1995 (avec la collaboration des Valentins et d’Étienne Daho pour quatre titres)
Supermarket, S, (Virgin Visa 3537)
Les Palaces, CD, Virgin – 724384510626, 1997 (avec la collaboration d’Alain Bashung)
Dressing, S, Virgin, 1999
Kékéland, CD, Virgin – 724381066119, 2001 (avec la collaboration de Sonic Youth, Jean-Claude Vannier, Georges Moustaki, des Valentins, de -M- et de Noir Désir)
Vintage de choix, CDS 3 titres, Virgin SA 6839, 2001 (incluant 2 versions anglaises: Comme à la radio, J’ai 26 ans)
Rue Saint Louis en l’île, CD, Virgin – 72434732362, 2004 (avec la participation de -M-, Mouss et Hakim de Zebda et Gotan Project)
Libido, CD, Polydor – 984 322 0, 2006 (avec la participation de -M- et Jean-Claude Vannier)
Partir ou rester, S, Polydor, 2007 (en duo avec Olivia Ruiz)
Prohibition, CD, Polydor, 2009 (avec la collaboration d’ Ivor Guest, Grace Jones et de Philippe Katerine)

Brigitte Fontaine Participations

Amore 529 (1992, album collectif « Un Drame Musical Instantané / Opération Blow-up » enregistré avec Jean-Jacques Birgé et Bernard Vitet)
La caravane (1997, album collectif « Jazz à Saint-Germain »)
Calimero (1998, single enregistré avec Stereolab)
Underture (2000, inédit enregistré avec Sonic Youth)
Lady Macbeth (2000, inédit enregistré avec Sonic Youth)
L’Europe (2001, album Des visages des figures de Noir Désir)
Fine mouche (2005, avec Khan, album collectif Disko-Cabine)
Red Light (2005, album Les tremblements s’immobilisent du groupe québécois Karkwa et en concert aux Vieilles Charrues 2006).
La beuglante (2008, album « Femme d’extérieur » de Maya Barsony)
Partir ou Rester en duo avec Olivia Ruiz.
Bamako (2009, album « B » de Turzi)

Brigitte Fontaine Reprises

Le Roi Renaud (1968, en concert uniquement)
On ne tue pas son prochain (1996, album collectif Route Manset)
Je t’aime moi non plus (1997 et 2007, en concert uniquement et en duo avec Arthur H)
Paroles, paroles (1997, en concert uniquement et en duo avec Arthur H)
Les bêtises (1998, sur France Inter)
Les Zazous (2001, album Kekeland)
Les canuts (2001, 2004 et 2007, en concert à Lyon uniquement)
Le Chant des partisans (2002, en duo avec Bertrand Cantat aux Francofolies de la Rochelle)
Âme te souvient-il ? (2003, album hommage à Léo Ferré Avec Léo)
L’Homme à la moto (2003, album hommage à Édith Piaf L’Hymne à la môme, et 2004, album Rue Saint Louis en l’île)
La nuit je mens (2005, en concert uniquement et en duo avec Alain Bashung)
Que je t’aime (2005, en concert uniquement avec la Campagnie des musiques à Ouïr)
Boum (janvier 2006, pour la télévision, en duo avec Doc Gynéco)
Valse de Melody (21 octobre 2006, en concert Histoire de Melody Nelson live, dirigé au Barbican Theatre de Londres par Jean-Claude Vannier) [5]

Chansons écrites pour d’autres interprètes « Toi et ton sax » pour Zizi Jeanmaire
« Les Encerclés » , « Le Roi de la naphtaline » , « Je veux des coupables » et « Rififi » pour Jacques Higelin
« Le brouillard », « Chanson pour sa mère », « À chaque tournant », « Bali », « Le dragon », « Les Borgia », « Les murailles », « La tête bandée », « Un soleil », « Les muzdus »,« La vache », « Pif », « Salomé », « Le triomphe de l’amour » pour Areski Belkacem
« Jungle pulse » et « Toi, Jamais Toujours » pour Étienne Daho
« Barbares attraits » pour Maurane
« Irrésistiblement » pour Vanessa Paradis
« La beuglante » pour Maya Barsony
« Le solitaire » pour Juliette Gréco
« Phébus », « Tanagra », « Destroy », « Lettre à Tanagra », « Brigand », « Crise » et « Je les adore » pour Matthieu Chedid

Précisons pour l’anecdote que la chanson « L’engourdie » (sur l’album « L’incendie ») avait été initialement écrite et composée pour Françoise Hardy, qui ne l’a jamais interprétée. De même, « Pipeau » était originellement destiné à Henri Salvador et « La nacre et le porphyre » à Alain Bashung. Plus récemment, Brigitte Fontaine a également écrit de nouveaux textes encore inédits pour Étienne Daho, Tigerman et Maurane : ces chansons paraîtront sans doute dans le courant de l’année 2010. Elle aimerait également collaborer avec Arno, Mick Jagger, Patti Smith, Tricky, Marianne Faithfull, MC Solaar[2] et quelques autres…

Brigitte Fontaine En studio

« Les dieux sont dingues » par Christine Sèvres (1968, LP « Christine Sèvres », CBS)
« Maman, j’ai peur », « Le beau cancer » et « Comme Rimbaud » par Christine Sèvres (1970, 2nd LP « Christine Sèvres », CBS)
« Comme à la radio » par Aut’Chose (1975, LP « Une nuit comme une autre », CBS)
« Dommage que tu sois mort » par Étienne Daho (1992, LP collectif « Urgence », Virgin)
« La vache enragée » par Philippe Katerine (1997, LP « Morceaux Choisis » de The Recyclers, Rectangle)
« Lettre à Monsieur le chef de gare de la Tour de Carol » et « Encore » par Sasha (1997, LP « Morceaux Choisis » de The Recyclers, Rectangle)
« Comme à la radio » par Jun Togawa (2000, LP « 20th Jun Togawa Good-bye 20th Century », God Mountain)
« Eternal » (adaptation anglaise de « Éternelle ») par Faun Fables (2004, LP « Family Album », Drag City Records)
« La grippe » par Étienne Daho et Jane Birkin (2004, LP « Rendez-vous » de Jane Birkin, EMI Music)
« Cet enfant que je t’avais fait » par Françoise Hardy et Rodolphe Burger (2006, LP « Parenthèses » de Françoise Hardy, EMI Music)
« J’ai 26 ans » par White Hinterland (2008, EP « Luniculaire », Dead Oceans)
« Mister Mystère » par Matthieu Chedid (2009, LP « Mister Mystère » de Matthieu Chedid, Barclay)
« Comme à la radio » par Marc Moulin (2009, LP « Best of », Blue Note)

Brigitte Fontaine Sur scène

« Je suis décadente (la concierge gamberge) » par Denis d’Arcangelo (alias Madame Raymonde)
« Les étoiles et les cochons » par Dominique A
« Hollywood » par Arthur H
« Hollywood » par Christophe
« Rififi » par Babx
« La symphonie pastorale » par Pierre Lapointe
« Il pleut » par Jérôme Minière
« Veuve Clicquot » par Maya Barsony
« Dommage que tu sois mort » par Florent Marchet et Franck Monnet
« Dévaste-moi », « Il pleut », « Brigitte », « Cher », « La symphonie pastorale », « La Metro » et « Pipeau » par Barbara Carlotti
« C’est normal » par Barbara Carlotti et Benoît Mouchart
« Comme à la radio », instrumental, par la Compagnie des musiques à ouïr

Brigitte Fontaine Livres

Chroniques du bonheur éditions des femmes, 1975

Madelon : Alchimie et prêt-à-porter, récit, éditions Seghers, 1979

L’inconciliabule , éditions Tierce, 1980, et éditions Belles Lettres-Archimbaud, 2009

Paso doble , roman, éditions Flammarion, 1985

Nouvelles de l’exil , éditions Imprimerie nationale, 1988, et éditions Flammarion, 2006

Genre humain , Christian Pirot éditeur, 1996

la limonade bleue , roman, l’Écarlate, 1997

Galerie d’art à Galerie d’art à Kékéland , galerie de portraits, éditions Flammarion, 2002

La Bête curieuse , roman, éditions Flammarion, 2005

Attends-moi sous l’obélisque , textes, éditions Seuil-Archimbaud, 2006

Travellings , roman, éditions Flammarion, 2008

Rien suivi de Colère noire , éditions Belles Lettres-Archimbaud, 2009

Contes de chats , en collaboration avec Jean-Jacques Sempé, éditions Belles Lettres-Archimbaud, 2009

Brigitte Fontaine Théâtre

Maman j’ai peur (coécrit avec Jacques Higelin et Rufus), mise en scène Sotha, Studio des Champs-Elysées, 1966
Niok, spectacle partiellement improvisé (en collaboration avec Jacques Higelin et Areski Belkacem), 1969
Encore, encore et encore, 1969
Les enfants sont tous fous (co-écrit avec Rufus), 1969
Acte 2, adaptation de L’Inconciliabule, 1980
Les marraines de Dieu (co-écrit avec Léïla Derradji), 1983
Antonio, 1989
Coup de sang à Fougère (co-écrit avec Thierry Brout), 1993
Montana-split (co-écrit avec Thierry Brout), 1994

Brigitte Fontaine Œuvre radiophonique

Les Jeux olympiques de l’orgasme (co-écrit avec Léïla Derradji), 1983

Brigitte Fontaine Citations

« Ne voulant pas devenir une productrice de consommateurs, je suis devenue une consommatrice de producteurs. »
« Internet, c’est le monde dans le panier de la ménagère ! » (Interview de 1999)
« Paix en Suisse ! » (L’Europe)
« Si vous ne comprenez plus rien à rien, pensez à autre chose. » (Les églantines sont peut-être formidables)
« Si vous ne trouvez plus rien, cherchez autre chose. » (L’Europe)
« Le jour de l’Occident est la nuit de l’Orient. » (L’Europe)
« Sommes-nous tous ici pour choisir nos prisons ? » (“Les vergers”, dans Le Bonheur)
« Ne prenez pas vos désirs pour des banalités. » (Les églantines sont peut-être formidables)
« Je suis assez âgée pour être ma mère. » (Chroniques du bonheur)
« Les petits patrons font les grandes rivières de diamant. » (L’Europe)
« Personne n’est personne. » (Les églantines sont peut-être formidables)
« Nous sommes des nids de poussière, de lune et d’étoile polaire. Nous sommes les fils du Phénix égarés dans la série X. » (“La Femme à barbe”, dans Genre humain)
« Il n’y a pas d’homme de gauche, quand il s’agit de femmes. » (“Patriarcat”, dans Vous et nous)
« Oublie d’avoir raison et tu comprendras tout… » (“Patriarcat”, dans Vous et nous)
« La contagion, ça n’existe pas : c’est chacun son tour qui existe ! » (Les enfants sont tous fous)
« On ne peut pas enfermer tout le monde, c’est déjà fait. » (Les églantines sont peut-être formidables)
« La splendeur des nuits d’étoiles est dans le cœur de chacun. » (“La nacre et le porphyre”, dans Libido)
« Il pleut. C’est tout ce qu’il sait faire. » (“Il pleut”, dans Brigitte Fontaine est…)
« Si vous pensez avoir trouvé la solution, eh bien, une bonne nuit de sommeil et il n’y paraît plus. » (Les églantines sont peut-être formidables)
« Je suis une petite bourgeoise effrayée par les horreurs du capitalisme et des partis communistes, je suis une maladie infantile, je suis une femme qui ne prend pas l’ascenseur, je suis un enfant qui a peur la nuit, je suis une usine où la vie est broyée, je suis une chienne apprivoisée qui ruse et qui ment, et vous me faites de la peine. » (Chroniques du bonheur)
« Il fait froid dans le monde. Et il y a des incendies qui s’allument à certains endroits, parce qu’il fait trop froid. Traducteurs, traduisez. » (Comme à la Radio)
« L’Enfance de l’Art est un Lever de Soleil. » (L’Europe)
« La douleur des veaux n’intéresse personne : avec un peu de riz, tout s’arrange. » (Chroniques du bonheur)
«Moi, je ne bois jamais : pour les filles, c’est laid.» (Barbe à Papa, album Libido)
« Ils parlent de moi comme si j’étais morte et enterrée et que je ne pouvais plus répondre. Ils viennent cracher sur ma tombe de mon vivant et ça, ça ne va pas. » (Paso doble)
« En fait, je ne peux jamais faire vraiment ce qu’on attend de moi, alors je suis gênée mais, au fond, c’est ça qu’on attend de moi, alors on ne m’en veut pas trop. Seulement, si je cesse d’être gênée, on m’en voudra, alors c’est gênant. » (Madelon)
« Moi, je fais tout avec une certaine imperfection, c’est ce qui me permet de rester modeste. La modestie est une qualité merveilleuse… Vous avez remarqué ? Vous avez remarqué ? » (Les églantines sont peut-être formidables)
« Quand un Algérien épouse une Française, il est kabyle, elle est bretonne. » (interview de 1988)
« Une chanson est un acte artistique où il doit se passer des millions de choses en deux minutes. Les gens la reçoivent de mille façons différentes, comme ça les arrange ! Ils peuvent décider que c’est cela ou non. Écouter les mots les uns derrière les autres n’est pas tellement important pour eux. Ce qui importe, c’est de recevoir un souffle, un parfum… » (interview de 1969)
« Il y a aujourd’hui un conformisme désolant et une imitation de chacun par chacun. Une véritable aliénation. Beaucoup d’artistes se prennent pour quelqu’un d’autre, plutôt que de cultiver ce qui les rend uniques… » (interview de 1985)
« J’ai vingt-mille ans ! » (Télégramme, février 2009 à Morlaix)

Via WikiPedia

Falling hard for the music and visuals in this; all labors should be so provocatively and oddly uplifting (happy long weekend):

Sun Arise

Welcome to Divers Songs, a weekly numbing of your senses via the magic of song. Every week, I will be posting a new episode. Truthfully, I have been wanting to do this for years. I yearn for the days when I had my college radio show. This will be an extension of that, except now I am older and wiser with much more music at my disposal. I am limiting myself to just 10 songs per episode. This way it forces me to focus on the overall mood of the mix, rather than just trying to inundate you, the listener, with sound.

Tune in/Drop Out next week for Episode Two.

- JDJ

TRACK DETAILS:

1. “Holy Are You” – David Axelrod
2. “Dark Path” – Cozmic Corridors
3. “Sing – Blur
4. “Remember A Day” – Pink Floyd
5. “Le Roi Des Mouches” – Jean Claude Vannier
6. “Gefahrenzone 1″ – Gerhard Trede
7. “Hair/Aquarius” – Hugo Montenegro
8. “Rocky Mountains” – Wendy Carlos
9. “All Come To Meet Her” – Skip Spence
10. “Ah! Melody” – Serge Gainsbourg

Click for Episode One

Jean-Claude Vannier

Of course, the answer to all the above questions is yes. I bet your music collection is bursting with stuff like that. Well you’re going to have to make room for one more. I’ve been listening to Jean-Claude Vannier’s ‘L’Enfant Assassin Des Mouches’* (which of course translates as ‘The child assassin of the flies’), and it is mental, and I think you’re going to have to buy it.**

It apparently tells the tale of a boy who finds his way into the kingdom of the flies, kills the King Fly (hope I’m not spoiling it for you) and then at the end… I’m not sure what happens at the end, my French is a bit crap. The plot doesn’t really matter, it’s almost all instrumental, with mad sound effects.

If you want an idea of roughly what it sounds like, listen to ‘Melody Nelson‘ by Serge Gainsbourg – Vannier did the bonkers arrangements for that album (and for other Gainsbourg stuff, so I hear). What do you mean you haven’t got ‘Melody Nelson‘? Ok. It sounds like early 70′s orchestral psychedelic funk, with big choirs going ‘ooo’ and frazzled fuzz-tone guitar and the weird French bass sound that goes ‘thunk’. And maybe a bit of jazz in there too. Rather good stuff.

* Probably

** This is yet another wonderful album i have discovered by listening to Stuart Maconie’s ‘Freak Zone’ on BBC 6Music, a radio show I cannot recommend enough)

This week an extended, convoluted morass of a post– so much going on!

So we’ll do the bad news first:

I. SAVE! ANDREW! SOLE!

A week ago, Detholz! beloved drummer, Andrew Sole, had a herniated disk in his back flare up that has taken him completely out of commission for at least a month. We had to cancel a much-anticipated show at Bottom Lounge (Chicago) on 3/28– it was to be the re-premiere of our new/old keyboardist, Rick Franklin, as well as the debut of a lot of new material. (Note: Baby Teeth’s still on, as well as a new incarnation of Redwalls called “Sleeptalkers” — an excellent bill we are sorry to miss, so y’all come!)

Anyway, here’s the skinny from Andrew himself:

“I went to the back center this past Thursday because I was having some left leg pain coming from my lower spine, something I haven’t had in 6 years since they treated me. As I suspected the diagnosis was a disk problem. So they put me on the VAX-D table right away to start treatment. I’ll be going in every day 5 days a week for the next 2 weeks, possibly more if I need it. Then after that is recovery and Physical Therapy time. Not sure for how long.

My restrictions are, I can’t lift more than 10lbs. I should try not to sit or stand for more than 1/2 hour. I’ve not been playing drums for now except for lessons if I have to demonstrate a simple rhythm for a student.

Any prayers are welcomed and appreciated. “

If any of you know Andrew, you know drums are his life– he makes his living teaching drums and playing professionally. This is a crushing blow for him, physically and financially. To boot, the disk decided to act up just in time for taxes!

So, in the spirit of “Save The Awesome Cool Dudes” a few years ago when our friends from Austin had all of their equipment stolen, I’ve set up a “Save! Andrew! Sole!” fund that will be active for the next month or so. Musicians are ALWAYS getting the short end of the stick financially– most of us pay for our own benefits & get paid very little to ply our trade. Andrew’s expenses as a result of his herniated disk are punishing, to say the least.

If you can spare a little or if you can spare a lot, it will help a good-hearted musician in need.  Visit the link below to donate:

SAVE! ANDREW! SOLE!

To be clear: these funds will go to my personal Paypal account, which I will then transfer to Andrew directly. I’m not going through official band channels so the gift won’t be taxed to him as income.

Any amount– no matter how big or small– will help. And your help is appreciated, folks. On behalf of Andrew, thanks.

Now, onto somewhat better news:

2. NEW DETHOLZ! (VICTORIA’S?) SECRET TRACK

Everyone loves a secret, right?

I recorded the first new DH! demo in many months last week. Problem is, owing to the subject matter, I can’t post it on a public forum. If you’d like to hear it, email me at “hallameat at gmail dot com” with the subject “Victor, Victoria” and I will send it to you special.

But after that, shhh!

3. Top 25 Albums

This is the latest viral Facebook fad and since I’m attracted to fads like a moth to flame (+ I spent so much @#$%@in’ time on it), I’m posting it here. Thought it might be interesting for DH! followers to see what went into the sauce:

All right, all right. I’m adopting Peter Beyer’s rules here: Think as much as you want and say as much as you want. More information here than you’ll probably care to read, but this was a fun, productive exercise. “Favorite” here for me = most influential.

Jim’s Top 25 Albums, in no particular order:

1. The Residents – Duck Stab

A jarring, bizarre, sometimes terrifying, sometimes ridiculous collection of music concrete and early electronica by what I’d have to admit at this point is my “favorite” band. Added bonus: the greatest record cover of all time. When my older brother introduced me to The Residents in high school, he unwittingly created a monster—I have been obsessively following them ever since & their albums have completely changed the way I think about music.

2. Nation of Ulysses – 13 Point Program to Destroy America

When I was a teenager, I was captivated by the portentious mythos Ian Svenonius spun around NOU, eagerly devouring all of his silly “manifestos” wherein a pajama’d army of disgruntled kids would rise up against the Boomer Generation that produced them, hypnotizing them with their “anti-parent culture sound.” One of the highlights of my music “career” thus far was meeting the personable and friendly Ian on a tour in Norway in ‘04 (then again later in Chicago) and comparing notes. Also, NOU holds the distinction of playing the loudest show I’ve ever seen/heard. All I could make out was white noise and my ears rung for days after.

3. Circus Lupus – Super Genius

Another school bus staple from the early ’90′s. The angular, jarring meters topped with Chris Thompson’s pissy sneering filtered through very lo-fi and loud production makes this a classic for any frustrated high school music geek. I still return to this record for sustenance regularly – “Cyclone Billy” has what in my opinion is the *perfect* bass tone (and a thrillingly acrobatic bass line!).

4. Shudder To Think – Get Your Goat

This record single-handedly opened all kinds of new doors for me musically. It’s far from perfect — the lyrics get vaunted, pretentious and downright silly in places — but there are some truly gorgeous moments. It shares a lot of qualities with “Super Genius” & other early-90’s DC music with its shifting meters, dissonant chords, angular rhythms, etc. but Craig Wedren’s beautiful voice swooping effortlessly around amongst the musical morass makes this experiment a lot prettier to listen to. Their later album “Pony Express Record” is the pinnacle of Shudder to Think’s output and is a far more coherent & better record but this one remains nearer and dearer. I had a “rock star moment” when I was able to meet Craig outside one of their reunion shows in Chicago last year and express my appreciation to him personally.

3. Igor Stravinsky – Mass for mixed chorus and double wind quintet

I got this record at the same time as “Get Your Goat,” and view them as two parts of the same equation. Stravinsky wrote this piece as a natural act of piety. He reputedly wanted to compose “very cold music, absolutely cold, that will appeal directly to the spirit.” There is no more perfect description of this work – stark, dissonant and unadorned. This restrained devotional music resonates in a deep spiritual cave for me that I am usually uncomfortable accessing.

4. Thelonious Monk – The Thelonious Monk Orchestra At Town Hall (1959)

This was required listening in music history class my freshman year of college. I hadn’t spent any time listening to jazz before I went to music school (unfortunately). At the time, I viewed Monk’s command of dissonance and pointillism in jazz as akin to Stravinsky’s approach to the same in the classical realm. I’m not sure I’d say that now, but I remember listening to this album over and over again with pure astonishment in the listening carrel at the library. Another “I didn’t know music could sound like this!” moment.

5. Ornette Coleman – Live at Town Hall (1962)

I have my friend Ben Miranda to thank for introducing me to this record. It contains perhaps my favorite jazz track of all time, “Sadness,” which, to my mind, is an absolutely breathtaking performance. Ornette’s “melody leads, everything else follows” approach gives his music a primitive wildness at once alien and fascinating. Jumbo yet shrimp.

6. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

I know, I know. It’s an obvious choice. When it comes to rap and hip-hop, I’m afraid I’m a white man’s white man; all thumbs and stuck somewhere in 1990. But this record really helped out during the hot summer afternoons my dad made me mow his large suburban lawn. I felt like a real badass behind the mower with Chuck D barking in my ‘phones: “Welcome to the Terrordome!”

7. The Beatles Anthology – Volume I

This was much-hyped when it was released, owing to the “new” Beatles tracks, which Paul, George and Ringo overdubbed on top of restored Lennon piano demos. Those songs are decidedly Wilbury-esque, owing to Jeff Lynne’s porcelain production style and are the least interesting part of this hodge-podge of outtakes, snippets, live recordings and other rarities. It gives you a glimpse into the Beatles process, which I found fascinating during my music studies. So much so that I listened almost exclusive to the Beatles for an entire year. As one reviewer said, the Anthology “humanizes” the Beatles and brings them back down to earth where they belong, among us mere mortals.

8. Deerhoof – Milk Man

In my opinion, the best rock album of 2004, if you can call this hyper-controlled chaos “rock music.” I had never heard of Deerhoof, then got to meet them by chance when a band in which I played bass at the time opened for them at a show in a dingy warehouse in Oakland (security was run by a bunch of rowdy bikers, so naturally conditions devolved & someone got clocked on the head with a glass bottle). Their performance was totally mind-blowing, even in that tawdry atmosphere, and Milk Man is, for me, the closest thing in indie rock to bona fide chamber music. I tried unsuccessfully to emulate their approach in my own songwriting at that time. It’s harder than it sounds!

9. Fela Kuti – Zombie

“Afrobeat pioneer,” “the Nigerian Bob Marley,” “one of the top 100 most influential musicians of the 20th Century,” etc., etc. I chafe a little at the Bob Marley comparison since Fela is so much more pissed off and, frankly, I find his music to be far more compelling and interesting than ol’ Bob’s. His repetitive, antiphonal “call-and-response” song form is one I borrow from liberally these days. Of all of his many records, this one is my favorite. It’s so devastatingly sardonic, it’s almost a punk record. But far, far better.

10. Bela Bartok – String Quartet #4

This was a piece my composition professor required me to pick apart in school as a prime example of “motivic” composition, where a composer takes a small gesture or “motive” (in this case, 7 notes ascending and descending) & stretches it, turns it upside down, reverses it, pulls panty hose over its head, gives it a swirly, etc. to create an entire piece of music. The result in this case is this tortured, gory quartet, the best recorded performance of which is, in my opinion, the 1988 Deutsche Gramophone release by the Emerson String Quartet. A lot of Bartok’s music is visceral and very violent, which greatly appeals to my inner vampire. Another prime example of this is his pantomime ballet, The Miraculous Mandarin- a grisly and truly savage piece of music.

11. Jean Claude Vannier — L’Enfant Assasin des Mouches (“The Child Killer of the Flies”)

I have my friend Bobby to thank for introducing me to Jean-Claude Vannier, an arranger who collaborated with the “dirty old man of pop music,” Serge Gainsbourg in the 60’s and 70’s. Orchestration is one of the great loves of my life, and this record contains some of the most bizarre couplings of genres and instruments that I’ve ever heard. All Music Guide puts it well: “This [suite] is the terrain where soundtrack music, classical music, gauche pop, hard rock, French café music, Middle Eastern modal music, vanguard musical iconoclasty, and sound effects collide, stroke, and ultimately come into union with one another — often in a single cut.” This record has a truly surreal sound, owing mostly to the massive amount of string overdubs – over 1,000! If you’ve never heard this record and have a taste for the bizarre, it is a classic. Highly rec’d.

12. Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn

This was a college staple, first introduced to me by my older brother, then re-introduced by my good friend and songwriting colleague, Peter Beyer years later. The perfect expression of a fractured, schizoid mind, culminating in the last cut on the record (and my favorite), “Bike.” I have a collection of Syd Barrett solo material as well (Opel), but it’s nowhere nearly as effective and screwy as this album.

13. Frank Black – Frank Black

Though his work with the Pixies will probably stand the test of time, I still have a great love for this admittedly “90’s” sounding record (another argument that I’m stuck somewhere in 1990). The lyrics are less Grand Guignol and more non sequitur than The Pixies, like his oblique tribute to the Ramones, “I Heard Ramona Sing” (“I had so many problems / then I got me a Walkman / I really liked it a lot and / they walked right in and they solved them”) but, as one fan puts it, “he not writing what he knows, he’s writing what he DREAMS.” Musically, his courageous harmonic leaps had a huge impact on me in school. It was rumored he only knew how to play barre chords on a guitar & I borrowed liberally from that approach in the early years of Detholz!. Also, I’ll never forget blasting “Los Angeles” from my battered Chevy hatchback (which contained all of my earthly possessions at the time) as I descended into L.A. after a solitary cross-country drive in 1997.

14. Pete Beyer – Ten Songs

Part of the magic of being a musician is observing and learning from other musicians as they ply their trade. My good friend Pete has always been one of the finest songwriters I’ve ever heard (and was the inspiration behind this note). Playing his songs in college as the bass player in his band was hugely instructive to me – to this day, my bandmates who know him will say, “wow, that sounds a lot like a Pete Beyer song” when I present a demo to them. So let me say here, officially, on the record: thanks Pete! Visit his blog and benefit from his musical wisdom: http://www.peterbeyer.com Pete also has the distinction of writing one of two songs that caused me to spontaneously burst into tears (not something I’m wont to do, as my wife will tell you, unless I’ve had too many glasses of wine), his restrained and poignant song chronicling his reaction to the attacks on 9/11 called “In the Wake.” Hopefully we will finally finish his damned record we’ve been working on for over 8 years this summer. Right, Pete?

15. John Carpenter – Soundtrack to Escape from New York

…or Halloween or The Fog or Assualt on Precinct 13 , etc. Carpenter’s simple synthesizer scores are forever seared into my brain as the way horror movie music should sound after sneaking in Halloween as a kid at a sleepover. Escape From New York is my personal favorite of the lot & is one of my favorite albums to drive to. I also used to annoy my friends as a kid by incessantly playing the theme song on my mother’s piano.

16. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express

Speaking of music to drive to, Kraftwerk makes for a great driving and/or housecleaning soundtrack. Nothing like dorky German synth-pop to inspire you to dust the corners of your bookcase, bureau and/or rolltop desk. Their choruses are amusingly underwhelming: “Fun, fun, fun on ze Autobahn” und “I’m ze operator mit my pocket calculator.” Great to mop to!

17. Einsturzende Neubauten – Faustmusik

Speaking of crazy Germans, this little-known gem by the storied industrial monoliths, Einsturzende Neubauten, is one that’s gotten a lot of spin over the years when I’ve been in a dark frame of mind. It’s mostly narration with a stripped-down ensemble providing a soundtrack – there are no “songs” per se. The language is too dense for my high-school pidgin German, but this record creates an atmosphere that’s far scarier and menacing than others of their releases I’ve heard. Blixa Bargeld’s syrupy whispering makes for convincing Devil-ese.

18. Dan Deacon – Silly Hat vs. Eagle Hat

A few years ago we played a show with then-unknown Dan Deacon at a tiny hole-in-the-wall in DC & if anyone deserves the full weight of the indie hype machine, it’s Dan. His frenetic mad-science-gizmo acrobatics are incredible to watch in a live setting. I played with him again last year in another outfit and his show had developed to a nearly cultish pitch. At one point, he had a sold-out club full of people climbing all over each other through some sort of weird, frenetic square dance at his command. I’ve never seen crowd control like that.

“Silly Hat” is my favorite of his records—Dan is kind of a genius and the scope of his facility with electronics, pop, jazz and even atonal classical composition are recklessly displayed here. A great album to Photoshop to. Dan said he’d be taking some time off of his solo electronics to focus on classical composition this year. I’m greatly anticipating his next record.

19. Sparks – Kimono My House

I should thank my friend Colby for introducing me to Sparks and especially to “Kimono My House,” by far their best album. It’s an almost irritatingly catchy glam-pop album with a lot of quirky twists and turns, lyrically and musically. I guess if there’s such a thing as “progressive glam,” this is it. I had been told that the Detholz! sound is pretty close to Sparks and after hearing this, I definitely saw the connection. High praise, indeed.

20. Captain Beefheart – Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)

Possibly the least touted of Captain Beefheart’s records, this is by far the most accessible with, in my opinion, some of his best songs. I agree with All Music Guide: “’Tropical Hot Dog Night’ that sounds like what happened when Beefheart encountered a Miami disco and decided to make something of it.” The lyrics are obtuse, sometimes silly, sometimes wistful, other times menacing – the usual growly Beefheart fare: “When I See Mommy, I Feel Like a Mummy,” etc. Another example of tightly controlled chaos, his Magic Band is in top form on this record, delivering some truly mind-bending dissonant hooks.

21. Frank Zappa – Apostrophe

I guess I can’t mention Captain Beefheart without mentioning the music of Frank Zappa which, as my friend James describes it, is like all of the songs of the 70’s crumpled into a ball and injected with acid. “Apostrophe” is his most famous record, and for good reason. The musicianship on this album is flawless, as usual, with a burning white-hot xylophone solo in “St. Alfonso’s Pancake Breakfast” that will make your head spin. This is a usual complaint about Zappa—that he was a genius-level musician who chose to be the clown over the “serious artist,” writing bawdy songs with titles like “G-Spot Tornado” and “Half a Dozen Provocative Squats.” This precisely what makes him so great and so inspiring to me—and to many others, apparently. The number of posthumous awards he receives continues to mount.

22. Louvin Brothers – Satan is Real

Despite the now-infamous cover picturing Charlie and Ira Louvin in a rock quarry littered with burning tires in front of a 12-foot paint-on-plywood Satan, this record remains my favorite country gospel album. I have deep sense of connection to traditional gospel country because of my background, and though I don’t agree with most of what the Louvins are saying, the authenticity of the message and the pure intention for its audience moves me deeply. It also helps that the Louvins were reputedly hard-drinking, violent men. That a couple of hardened country boys could have such beautiful voices singing this fire-and-brimstone stuff, sincere or not, is profoundly poetic, at least to me.

23. Bernard Herrmann – Soundtrack to Psycho

…or The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) or Cape Fear or classic Twilight Zone TV series or any of the other films he scored. Herrmann broke all kinds of new ground in film scoring (and music in general – he was a sort of proto-minimalist) and his undulating, restless music makes full use of various extended performance techniques in the orchestra, almost phrase-by-phrase. Very dense, complex orchestrations here. It’s funny to think how much he resented being a film composer because he was so clearly the best, perhaps ever. Film music rarely makes such an impression on the cultural collective consciousness, but the screeches from “Psycho,” or the tritonal “Twilight Zone” guitar ostinato are unmistakable, even to a nonmusical joe.

24. Fugazi – Repeater

“Repeater” was the first compact disc I bought with my own money as a kid—even saved up for it. I remember opening it and showing it off to a friend who mused with wonder, “Man…. This will never wear out!”

In early 1988, the very first show I attended as a shrimpy pubescent 13-year old was a Fugazi show at a bombed out movie theater in Frederick, MD. This was before their first record so it was up close and personal. Definitely a benchmark moment for a music-smitten teenager. In retrospect, it could have been any band and I probably would have gone goo-goo eyed, but Fugazi was such a live juggernaut— so acrobatic and fun to watch as they played their special brand of fist-pumping slogan-core. I saw them as many times as I possibly could after that. “Repeater” was always my favorite record of theirs. I stopped following them after 1991’s “Steady Diet of Nothing,” but that first show was forever burned onto my brain as the apotheosis of live music.

A few months ago, I experienced a mild thrill when I played through Joe Lally’s old GK bass head at a Baby Teeth show.

25. Bobby Conn – Llovesongs EP

Though I am fortunate to count Bobby as a friend now, I started out as and continue to be a big fan. Playing in his band for a few years was like being a kid in a candy store. It was also a crash-course for me (sometimes literally) in stage- and song-craft. Though I think the most crystalline channelings of the Bobby Conn persona are captured on “Rise Up!” & “The Golden Age,” which even caught the great David Bowie’s attention, “Llovesongs” is my favorite Bobby Conn album because it contains two of my favorite songs of his, “Maria B” and, if you’re lucky enough to have the Japanese import, “Language of Love.”

There’s a lyric in “Language of Love” I had wrong for over a year:

“You want to touch it, man, well…/ Gonna let you down.”

I thought he was singing:

“You want to touch it, Manuel… / Gonna let you down.”

This dawned on me in the car as I was listening to this EP on a road trip. Sorry, Manuel!

Thanks for reading– see you next week!