Georges Brassens
was a French singer/songwriter, sort of
Jacques Brel
before there was
Brel
,
Serge Gainsbourg
before
Gainsbourg
existed. Anarchic, and blessed with a devastating, deflating wit, his music never traveled like the others.
Pierre de Gaillande
is a former American indie kid, half French, who rediscovered his passion for
Brassens
and has made this labor of love, with new translations and new arrangements of the material. It's delightful stuff, and
de Gaillande
has brought everything perfectly alive, airing
' moral sketches with real joy, and exposing listeners to a remarkable composer. Mixing instruments like guitar, charango, clarinet, and lap steel is inspired, since it doesn't root the music in any special tradition. There are touches of jazz, and it's undoubtedly French chanson at its root. It's all delightfully cynical and world-weary, with plenty of wit. Most of all, it makes you hope that there are more
songs that
can record. ~ Chris Nickson