Send "Serge Gainsbourg " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 In English-speaking countries, there is a tendency to put Serge Gainsbourg in a very small box. The box is labeled something like "dirty old Frenchman who liked to drink." We credit or debit him to varying extents for being brave/gross enough to make an album about statutory rape or a song about incest with his very young daughter, for being a lover to both Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin (and using the opportunities to make innovatively raunchy music), for making an ass of himself on European talk shows in the 1980s, for being unapologetic about all of this. He is, in effect, reduced to a whispering, occasionally drunk lothario by people who don't speak French, his often brilliant wordplay and punning sense of humor hidden behind a language barrier. His musical innovation? Often not discussed at all.The simple fact is that most of his work remains obscure outside of France. It's only when you pull back from "Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus" and Melody Nelson and look at his entire career that it becomes apparent how massively influential he was to the body of French song. He started out in the late 1950s making records backed by Alain Goraguer and his orchestra in a style that was little different from the modern chanson that dominated French music in the mid-20th century, but he very quickly began to incorporate elements of American bebop and cool jazz, the first of many such stylistic deviations that helped form the landscape upon which modern French pop and rock grew. In 1964 Gainsbourg was well-known but still not the giant he was to become. His first brush with major controversy-- France Gall's risqué Gainsbourg-penned hit "Les Sucettes"-- was still two years away. The Serge that English speakers tend to know hadn't been invented. Gainsbourg was working then on more purely musical inventions, and Percussions is an invention of sorts. It's not the first album to directly merge Latin American and African music with Western song styles, but it was unique at the time for the way it did it, essentially grafting chanson onto African and Latin drum patterns and choral styles to create one of the earliest ethno-beat records. Think of it as an ancestor of Paul Simon's Graceland, a record whose approach to mixing African music and Western song is quite similar. Gainsbourg didn't take an entirely hard road to this fusion. Three of the album's songs, "Joanna", "New York, U.S.A.", and "Marabout" are built directly on carbon copies of songs from Babatunde Olatunji's 1959 Drums of Passion LP, with the Nigerian chants replaced by French lyrics and Gainsbourg's new melodies and verses laid over the top. This theft is not hidden at all-- it's totally obvious to anyone familiar with Drums of Passion-- though no credit was given to the source. France was just then beginning to close its Colonial chapter, so the idea of a French musician co-opting the music of a Nigerian drummer for his own purposes certainly has an element of ugliness....full text |
| Allmusic |
| The late French pop legend created one of the first ethno pop albums with this 1964 record, which employed heavy North African and Caribbean rhythms in the pop and jazz structures of his songs. Extraordinarily inventive in the canon of '60s Europop, Serge Gainsbourg remains the godfather of exotica and French pop decadence. Among his mid-'60s recordings, Gainsbourg Percussions is essential Gainsbourg, enhanced by Alain Goraguer's arrangements. The album contains the hit song "New York-USA" and nine of the tracks from this album appear on the compilation Couleur Café, which is a blessing considering the original version of this fantastic LP could be a little hard to track down....full text |
| Musicianforums |
| Released in 1964 Gainsbourg Percussions is the sixth album from Serge Gainsbourg, an eccentric French musician/poet/actor/director with a difficult to categorize body of work. Dabbling in jazz, pop, reggae, and electronica throughout his 30 year plus long career and working with such names as Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, & Rita Marley (wife of legendary Reggae artist Bob, who got into a famous tiff with Gainsbourg due to Serge making her sing sexual lyrics one time) Serge left quite a legacy on the musical world. Despite this his work managed to slip under the radar for many which is a shame if the wonderful music on Gainsbourg Percussions is anything to go by. Centered around a old time jazz style that recalls Frank Sinatra but far more manic the majority of tracks here (as you might expect from the title) are led by exotic and obscure percussion instruments. Joanna, La-bas c'est naturel, New York – USA & Marabout are prime examples of where the complex use of these works best, Serge crooning in smooth French tongue over many woven djembes, tabla and god knows what else employing some quirky female backing vocals to compliment the layered arrangements present. Its an odd mix at first, but there is an eccentricity at work here which is quite charming after several listens. A sublime piece of music with a Caribbean tropical island feel, Pauvre Lola is injected with samples of a laughing female that is strangely alluring. Tatoue Jérémie is similar in bizarre and exciting beauty, with some nice flute action weaving itself around percussive elements it promotes images of playing beach volleyball back in 60's with a group of naked French people (come on everybody dreams about this as some point or another). Les Sambassadeurs is much more loud and boisterous, a stomping jazz number featuring some females chanting excitedly in french with crowd noises strewn all throughout simulating the excitement of such a situation. Its fresh, its exciting, and it ends in gunfire! Fantastic....full text |
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