French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose acting talent, no-frills sex appeal, and overall European sense of cool in foreign films suited to subtitlephobes (eg, My Wife Is an Actress and The Science of Sleep) should already have been enough to gain your attention, has released a new album, IRM. In case you’re not already hip to this woman’s charms, the album is getting heavy coverage as something more substantial than the typical actor’s vanity record release. Understandably, this may be in equal parts because the album was produced and written by Beck and because Gainsbourg is the offspring of kitsch appeal-gone-horribly hipster worshipped pervert/Svengali Serge Gainsbourg and his actress/model wife Jane Birkin.
I could live with those reasons, but the slew of reviews, interviews, and concert reviews I’ve seen on this release go way over the top and tell a story that’s really not that interesting. Meanwhile the publicity machine for Gainsbourg’s new release fails to examine two important details:
- I’ve had a crush on this woman for some time – and it’s cool with my wife.
- Her parents – and their kitsch counterparts Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, for that matter – are not significant musical figures from the ’60s!
In case you’ve had the good fortune to not yet read any of the cookie-cutter articles on Charlotte’s new album, let me spare you the torture of publicist-fed repetition and fill you in on the key points:
- In a recording career that “spans 25 years,” as writers have the nerve to write, this is only her third release, the first of which was a recording she made with her father when she was 13 years old.
- Gainsbourg is the daughter of famed ’60s French talk-singer Serge Gainsbourg and his beautiful British wife and fellow talk-singer, Jane Birkin. Blah blah blah.
- Beck, whose least-successful albums owe a great debt to the works of Charlotte’s father, produced and wrote all the songs for this album.
- The album title IRM is the French abbreviation for MRI. The title refers to a life-threatening head trauma and Gainsbourg’s voluntary, multiple trips to the MRI to ease her worries following her scheduled MRI.
- This music and lyrics of this highly personal album were composed by Beck before he knew of Gainsbourg’s travails. “It was as if he was inside my brain,” laughs Gainsbourg. Ha ha ha.
Listen, I don’t need all these pointless details to maintain my crush on Gainsbourg. In fact, I’d prefer not to think about any of this. I don’t buy the Genius of Serge Gainsbourg. Yes, the man had great taste in his actress/model collaborators – Birkin and Brigit Bardot were super hot and surely helped him sell lots of albums. In the America of my youth, the America that was comfortable knowing that Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra were a nepotist’s response to Sonny & Cher, it could be argued that Pere Gainsbourg had exquisite taste in women and a knack for a catchy, kitschy tune or two. Nothing more. That’s not what it’s come to today. How many years did music-loving mankind have to whack off to yellowed ’60s issues of French Vogue before reaching the conclusion that any one of those French pop singers was anything more than Sonny & Cher?
You guys are going to ruin it for me and Charlotte! I’m content with maintaining my wholesome crush on her for her work in films and her resemblance to our best friend from the year we spent living in Hungary. I’ve only listened to this new single in the video that kicks off this post once before writing this, but I still can’t shake the memory of hearing her terrible version of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman” from the I’m Not There soundtrack. In his Insta-Review, my close personal friend Townsman KingEd put it succintly:
Oh my god, this is worse than I’d imagined. Can’t sensitive, intellectual guys be satisfied dreaming they’re screwing beautiful French actresses without sticking a mic in front of their mouths or thinking they have to appreciate the results of their recordings? Godawful.
After seeing another one of my current-day movie crushes, Zooey Deschanel, in way over her head as a “musician” being interviewed on Elvis Costello‘s Spectacle show, it’s more important than ever that I manage the vibes I’m receiving from these imaginary love interests. I’m too old to go any younger than Deschanel, so can we please put a halt on promoting these women in ways that demean their true talents? The kids are all right!
If you’re wondering, I have yet to see the Lars Von Trier film Antichrist. In fact I have yet to see any film by this guy beside the disappointing Breaking the Waves. Although Charlotte and Willem Dafoe would be welcomed with a six-pack at my back door, I don’t feel compelled to see them fictionally engaging in rough satanic sex, or whatever the big selling point is supposed to be to that movie. My imaginary French movie girlfriend is an actress, and that’s enough for me.
I think you’re showing your Americacentric bias. I have never been inclined to explore Serge’s back catalogue, but in Europe I think he was not just significant but a major musical figure from the 60s/70s. (In the 80s he seems to have been more a succès de scandale.)
And Hazlewood may be an acquired taste on his own, but Nancy, while maybe not an auteur, was certainly not insignificant.
I agree about the I’m Not There recording of Just Like a Woman, which Charlotte sang just about as well as any random non-professional singer might. That soundtrack album goes back and forth between pointless and revelatory from track to track.
Perhaps I’m guilty as charged, BigSteve, but isn’t undervaluing Continental European rock ‘n roll about as understandable as undervaluing the chefs of Ireland?
I had the best scrambled eggs of my life in Adare, Ireland.
I withhold judgment on the rest of this post.
All right, then, mockcarr. I’ll withhold judgment on judgments made on the relative quality of scrambled eggs.
I know I’m gonna hear it from my man, diskojoe. Sorry, man, but this is more about me protecting what I’ve got going with Charlotte than issues of French rock ‘n roll and Irish cooking.
If The Great 48 still checked in he’d probably just cut to the chase and insult me. Where have you gone, The Great 48? The Hall misses your wit and wisdom.
Monsieur Le Moderateur, you have crystallized my thoughts so perfectly I could air-kiss you on both cheeks. Seriously, “it was as if you were inside my brain,” ha ha ha.
But really, Charlotte is lovely and as far as I can tell a pretty fair actress. She was good in I’m Not There; too bad, indeed, about the cover of Just Like a Woman. But, then again, too bad about 90% of that soundtrack, starting with the “cover” of the title track by criminally overrated Sonic Youth. But I digress.
The retroactive elevation of Serge et Jane and Francopop in general from occasionally entertaining objet d’kitsch into something else altogether seems to me entirely the product of a wish to justify gazing longingly at sexy lp covers and videos on youtube of yeh yeh girls and their successors. Which, really, needs no justification.
As for your–I presume–faux shock that you are being fed pablum by the pr machine every time you read an article or review about Charlotte’s album, I don’t know what to say. Next thing you are going to tell me is that you are still reeling from the discovery that Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville is not, in fact, “a song by song feminist deconstruction of Exile on Main Street,” as every freaking review told us at the time.
misterioso, please take back what you said about Exile in Guyville! I’m still clinging onto hope that photos of ZZ Top boogie-ing among a herd of longhorn steer will surface. If we can’t believe in rock mythology, what mythology is left to believe in?
You’re probably just baiting me, but I don’t care. Here’s the facebook page of a photographer/graphic designer who worked with the Top during the early- mid-70s. You’ll see a number of “World Wide Texas Tour” images here.
http://www.facebook.com/narumstudios#/album.php?aid=100833&id=45167864770
I’ll check out these photos later, HVB. Thanks! I actually wasn’t baiting you. I looked for 20 minutes with no luck.
Maybe I see a set of horns in the back left corner of that first photo on this guy’s page, but maybe I’m not. Does anyone else spot the legendary cattle ranch that they supposedly dragged on tour with them? Sticking that stuff in the parking lot, like a 4H fair, isn’t the same thing.
I think it’s very weird that there’s no easily googlable photographic evidence of the World Wide Texas Tour. Something is up here.
Only on Rock Town Hall can an ode to a French actress devolve into a community-wide search for an image of livestock onstage with the members of ZZ Top!
I have her previous album, and it’s it’s enjoyable, I think it’s produced by the guys from “Air.” The new single was disappointing to me, from a songwriting perspective, it seemed to go right down the most obvious paths at every turn.
The only one of her father’s albums that I have is “Melody Nelson.” Which other ones are the ones to have?
I got lost reading this post and am not sure what you’re asking for? Maybe nothing. Here’s my comment:
1. The song is pretty lame. The video is way more interesting than the song. Her voice is pretty low in the mix…
2. I suppose she may be cute in real life but the video doesn’t send me scrambling to Google for an image search…
3. I actually thought “Breaking the Waves” was a good movie so what do I know. (I do know that I won’t bother to see the Antichrist movie…)
I looked on google for evidence too and could find nothing. Then I checked out HVB’s link, and again, nothing. This was the stuff of legends and a massive tour. So why is there not one single picture of a cow on stage with the band?
Something fishy is going on here…
As someone whose recent Chrimble booty included a CD by Sylvie Vartan & a box set of Francoise Hardy’s 1962-1966 Vogue albums, of course you’re going to hear from me, Mr. Mod. It just boggles my mind that you think that Francoise Hardy is no better than Sonny & Cher. Also, her husband Jacques Dutronc put out stuff around that time that compares very favorably w/English freakbeat & US garage. You’re very much entitled to Charlotte Gainsborough & I do agree that one should run & hide when an actor/actress attempts a singing career (the Bruce Willis/Bruno syndrome), but jeez, don’t knock Francoise.
animal rights law suites possibly. The ASPCA hounded them on the tour but they constantly made the grade at the time. It’s also a fact that the animals were hoisted on to the sides of the Texas shaped stage for no more than seconds at a time. I swear though that I have seen a photo somewhere of the vulture with it’s wing’s spread wide before.
mrclean, the main thing I was asking for was that the music press back off from pretending that Charlotte Gainsbourg has much to offer as a musician. Hey, I’m all for anyone making music and doing their best to get it out there – and more power to Gainsbourg and her PR peeps for making it happen – but I wish the media who write up this stuff would focus more on what really matters, such as how cute she is in the movies I’ve seen, and not go overboard trying to make a case for the woman’s music based on stuff like the highly personal nature of an album composed entirely by a guy who supposedly didn’t even know what had happened to her and some inflated familial legacy. If someone really digs her music, great, let’s hear about it. If someone’s just happy to be in a room with her or interviewing her, thinking about how much he or she digs her from her movie roles, then that’s another matter.
As for her looks, I can’t recommend her to everyone, which is fine by me. I wouldn’t think she’s one of those actresses who stun people in still photos. In a film she’s a certain type that I like.
I didn’t dislike Breaking the Waves, but for some reason I thought I was going to love it.
diskojoe, what can I say? I find the English freakbeat and US garage scenes about as deep as Sonny & Cher. I like all that stuff in small doses, including an album of ’60s Francopop that I own, but I don’t get why so much effort goes into elevating it to anything higher than the critical respect that, say, Tommy James and the Shondells gets.
Mod, not much I can disagree with except: this “music press” you speak of that is supposed to see beyond the pr hype–que est-ce que?
I know “they” rely on the PR hype, misterioso, but some of “them” visit the Halls of Rock, some of us have been a part of the music press. As much as I kid around here, I honestly believe that, critically, we could take better care of our music. Some people complain that blogs are stupid because anyone can get online and write whatever they want to write. Well, there’s much merit to that argument, but if we’re not writing about what’s not getting written elsewhere then there’s no chance that the standard rock media will ever wake up to perspectives that may be in their own PR inundated hearts.
Idealistic? Totally! A hopeless quest? Perhaps, but I am confident that, if nothing else, we will live to see some of the points of view we kick around in some more validated form of print.
Another set of pix proving the tour actually happened:
http://geezbox.multiply.com/photos/album/29#photo=4
Mod, keep on chasin’ that dream, Big Guy.
Thanks for continuing to search, Hrrundi, but once again, this is not LIVEstock but the skull of a dead steer. I could do that at the next Nixon’s Head show!
I don’t doubt that this TOUR happened, but I’m seriously considering calling BULLSHIT ON (officially, that is) the notion that they wheeled livestock on stage.
Please note that I’m not trying to shoot the messenger. I truly appreciate your efforts, and Google has informed me that Townspeople are responsible for a spike in
+"ZZ Top" +"livestock"searches.This is amazing because I can actually picture the Top on stage with a Bison or steer at the edge of the photo. Have I just heard this Urban Legend so frequently that I’m now conjuring up images in my mind?
Also, I never realized how fugly those guys are until I saw the early photos that Hrrundi linked to. Not “Mick Mars ugly” but pretty bad. I always assumed that the beards were just a gimmick. I didn’t realize they were a necessity.
^^Absence of evidence does not equate evidence of absence.
Is it possible that this is not about the livestock? Images of the band before they perfected the long bearded Look aren’t easy to come by. Perhaps its a trademark thing — minions of the ZZ Top empire flood the internet with approved images that bolster the brand and/or suppress images (on copyright grounds?) that predate the success of the new brand. This conspiracy could extend all the way to the Vatican.
I’m only half-joking. I can’t think of any other band or artist that has been so successful at using their Look as a branding device. [Insert joke here about branding and cattle.]
And btw did you guys see Conan’s last show where the finale included Will Ferrell singing Free Bird and the band had Billy Gibbons and Beck sitting in? It was cowbelltastic.
I’m beginning to feel like Dr. Evil: “Can’t I just get a frickin’ picture of ZZ Top on stage with a frickin’ cow?!?!”
TB
Indeed, TB!
BigSteve, what you say makes sense, but still…not a single photo of Zz Top on stage with a frickin’ cow?!?!
And yes, that Conan “Freebird” sendoff was a lot of fun.
“Absence of evidence does not equate evidence of absence.”
But it certainly shifts the burden of proof to those claiming it happened since that absence of evidence was during a world wide stadium tour that went on for a year and a half.
I’m beginning to suspect that writehearnow might be affiliated with the band’s management and is trying to thwart out our attempts to unravel this mystery. Think about it: writehearnow is an anagram for “A Whiter Owner”, and what’s whiter than ZZ Top?
I’m convinced that we’re just just not using the right combination of words/phrases in our searches. Maybe I’m better served looking for a new photo of Robert Johnson…
TB
“But it certainly shifts the burden of proof to those claiming it happened since that absence of evidence was during a world wide stadium tour that went on for a year and a half.”
Man, we ain’t talking about the UFO phenomenon here. lol! It’s an easily substantiated fact that they toured with the animals. The trainer/vet that toured with them has a site. I am sure he has some photos. Pictures are certainly not the only form of proof available. I can just imagine as soon as someone posts an actual photo, people will be like:
“Photo Shop!! It’s all been photoshopped man, that not real!”
There is an historical correlation between reported sightings of extrahuman aircraft and missing livestock.
I wonder if the vet/animal trainer from that site would be up for an RTH interview. Do we have any extra Dugout Chatter questions sitting around?
Good point alexmagic. This goes deeper than I thought.
By the wat, I asked the following questions on wiki.answer.com:
“Did ZZ Top’s Worldwide Texas Tour have livestock on stage and if so why are there no pictures of this?”
So far, no one can explain this.
Did anybody post this link yet? (Still no photo).
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09172/978373-388.stm
All that I want to know at this point is: Are our spouses supposed to get mad at us if we have imaginary movie boyfriends/girlfriends???????
Yet another stadium capable of holding 60,000+ in a year and a half of similar stadium shows and not one photo.
Mod, great to see you come out, so to speak, and wave the tricolour for Ms Gainsbourg. I share your UST for CB: it’s a running gag between me and my wife. I have the new disc on order at my local (hello, Basement Discs, Melbourne).
As for Serge, I pray that the biopic Serge Gainbourg: La vie heroique is more than a tongue bath. He was an incredible songwriter, arranger and performer. And don’t forget that he also shared breakfast with Brigit Bardot! Not bad for a short, baggy-eyed, big-eared, chain-smoking alcoholic.
(Sorry I am late to this thread. I have been in New Zealand: they don;t have the internet there.)