Been listening to Jean-Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches over the weekend. Jean-Claude is responsible for the expansive arrangements on Histoire de Melody Nelson, for those not familiar with his name. L'Enfant... is an incredible showcase of his talents. Definitely, Not Crap.

Anyone else know this?

Listen.

Yes, it's a fantastic record...quite mad, but it definitely takes you somewhere. Like Luc Ferrari and Michel Legrand mashed-up together, with drugs on top. Vannier's string and choral arrangements give me crazy goose bumps...in that department he belongs up there with Jack Nitzsche.

NC.

Initially a big difficult to digest musically, but ultimately a pretty damn fine record.

I'd certainly be curious to hear this record... is it still in print?

simmo wrote:I'd certainly be curious to hear this record... is it still in print?

It is available on CD and I believe there is UK re-issue on LP.

Try Amazon UK or here:

http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/shop_001.html

Ah! the wonderful world of Finders Keepers. I have the Yamasuki Singers album they reissued - it's amazing! Ta, Cranius Maximus.

simmo wrote:I have the Yamasuki Singers album they reissued - it's amazing!

I was just listening to the clips of this, it's sounds super! Oddly comtemporary. Selda sounds interesting, too.

Vannier performed this album and Melody Nelson a little while ago at The Barbican in London. It had the original session musicians - Big Jim Sullivan and Vic Flick on guitars, Herbie Flowers on bass, Dougie Wright on the drums - and the big fuck off London choir and BBC symphony orchestra. It was tremendous. Seeing a full choir spraying aerosol cans as percussion is something I'll never forget.

Interestingly, the Melody Nelson performance wasn't as great as the L'enfant one. They also played some of the other Gainsbourg work - Cannabis was maybe the highlight of the whole night.

But Christ, that performance of L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches was incredible. I felt like I could have been watching Stravinski or something.

Cranius wrote:

simmo wrote:I have the Yamasuki Singers album they reissued - it's amazing!

I was just listening to the clips of this, it's sounds super! Oddly comtemporary. Selda sounds interesting, too.

100% recommended. So joyous this record! and full of heavy grooves and psych splashings all over the J-poppiness.

space junk wrote:Herbie Flowers on bass

The bass-playing on L'Histoire de Melody Nelson is just fucking mindblowing - it's so sinewy and sleazy, it sounds like as perverted as Gainsbourg himself was. First time I heard it, it instantly made me think of a lot of later stuff... Sonic Youth and Slint in fact - but groovy at the same time! It's so idiosyncratic and weird but good, very very good...