The ‘various artists’ bins of megastores are clogged with pointless tribute albums which only serve to remind you how good the originals are. Much of this LP has that function – it’s difficult to see the point of Cat Power and Karen Elson trying to lez up ‘Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus’, or Michael Stipe mumbling through ‘L’Hotel Particulier’, or Placebo’s hamfisted take on ‘La Ballade De Melody Nelson’.
Where it works is where the artists radically recontextualise Serge’s original melodies while retaining his bleak, misanthropic lyrics. The Rakes transform the uptempo chanson of ‘Les Poinçonneur des Lilas’ into ‘Just A Man With A Job’, retaining the shit-job/shit-life sentiment of the original but steering it into thrilling ‘Eton Rifles’ territory. Ditto Franz Ferdinand’s version of ‘Sorry Angel’. And Brian Molko redeems himself by transforming Serge’s scabrous ‘Requiem For A Cunt’ into a clanking slice of industrial gamelan (the same song’s central riff is also the basis for Portishead’s ace version of ‘Anna’).
There are plenty of pearls among the poo here: Jarvis Cocker transforms Serge’s cheesy ‘Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais’ into a sly piece of downtempo funk, while Marianne Faithfull provides a Grace Jones-ish dominatrix take on ‘Lola Rastoquere’. And nearly all shed new light on the originals.
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