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| 1. | 69 Année Érotique
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| 2. | Ballade de Melody Nelson
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| 3. | Bonnie and Clyde
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| 4. | Initials B.B.
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| 5. | Cannabis
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| 6. | New York, U.S.A.
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| 7. | Valse de Melody
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| 8. | Le Poinçonneur des Lilas
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| 9. | Le Talkie-Walkie
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| 10. | Intoxicated Man
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| 11. | Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus
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Jazz
Recorded: May 23 & September 5-6, 2008, Mouse Recording (Seattle, WA)
Richard Cole woodwinds
Steve Moore keyboards
Geoff Harper bass
Todd Bishop drums
with
Casey Scott vocals (4,11)
Dan Duval guitar (4,5,11)
Blake Thomas cuica (6)
Portland, Oregon drummer & visual artist Todd Bishop takes on a new series of projects with his "Pop Art 4" group, beginning with a modern, cinematic reading of music from the French composer, singer, actor and pop icon Serge Gainsbourg. With keyboardist Steve Moore (Bill Frisell, Skerik), saxophonist Rich Cole, and bassist Geoff Harper, Bishop brings the group aesthetic he explored with his groups Lower Monumental and Flatland ("sculpting ambient soundscapes of apprehension and tremulous anticipation..." All About Jazz), to Gainsbourg's alternately dark and jubilant pop hits, including Cannabis, Valse de Melody, and 69 Annee Erotique.
Produced by Todd Bishop
Recorded by P.J. Newman
Mixed by Bob Stark at Kung Fu Bakery
Mastered by Mark Guenther
Cover design and photos by Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop has taken groups Lower Monumental and Flatland through somewhat revolutionary jazz territory before, exploring what modern free jazz could sound like while still putting together entirely listenable albums. On 69 Annee Erotique, Bishop takes his Pop Art 4 through some surprising new arrangements of old Serge Gainsbourg songs. The songs vary from dark to light, slow to jumpy, but they're all given a strong touch of the new in Bishop's arrangements. There's some extra electrofunk quietly placed into the opening title track, and some extended low-end soloing on the sax from Richard Cole in the Ballade de Melody Nelson. A stronger European flavor makes its way in with Initials B.B., a bit of Albert Ayler-style funkiness in Cannabis, and an incredible mix of Brazilian friction drums, saxophones, and Olatunji's Akiwowo in New York, USA. The pace slows down considerably for a more sultry waltz then immediately jumps back up for Le Poinconneur des Lilas. The keyboards, courtesy of Steve Moore, get a chance to shine in Intoxicated Man, and the album finishes off with more of a period piece in Je T'aime…Moi Non Plus, complete with a few sultry vocals thrown in. The album slinks and squirms all the way, keeping a sultry vibe to the proceedings, but at the same time never leaving a vibe to fend for itself. The arrangements and the band hold up each sound with care, giving it just the right bit of timbre to carry it through the piece in an almost destined manner. An excellent bit of reworking from a group that sounds like it has more to offer yet.
---Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
69 Annee Erotique gets extra credit for off-the-beaten-path-ness. It is a work celebrating the music of the late French pop songster Serge Gainsbourg (1928- 1991), by Portland Oregon-based Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4. Gainsbourg, whose name may not be person-on-the-street familiar in the United States, was a pop icon in France from the late-1950s to the 1980s, a musical renaissance man of sorts who delved into jazz, pop, reggae, soundtracks, psychedelia and electronica, all while nurturing a reputation for unseemliness and personal excess in the mode of California poet/writer Charles Bukowski, to whom he has been compared.
The sound that drummer/band leader Bishop has crafted is a curious mix of garage/surf rock and Phil Spector-like wall of sound production, with some gritty saxophone, a dash of Neil Young and Crazy Horse grunge, going with gusto after Gainsbourg's simple and engaging yet ofttimes Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) type of pop song melodies.
The title tune opens the set with a memorable saxophone-blown melody wrapped in some psychedelic keyboard swirls and echoing, and recorded-in-the-basement string washes. "Bonnie and Clyde" features the disc's woodwind master, Richard Cole, on bass clarinet and soprano sax -- weaving low and high around each instrument's lines, in front of a trudging drum beat and sparkling keyboard rhythm. "Cannabis" has a light and loopy marching band feeling, with Cole out front blowing with straightforward muscularity, while "New York, U.S.A" is full of fast, forward bustle, underlain by a squeaky rhythmic squall that sounds like a nest of rutting rats.
"Valse de Melody" injects a spooky atmosphere into the set, like part of a soundtrack to a noir movie, followed by "Le Poinconneur des Lilas," with its saucy, jazzy and stripped-down sax-and-rhythm section approach.
The disc's closer, "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus," in its original version, was once declared offensive by the Vatican. It features guitarist Dab Duval's metallic chords and Casey Scott's breathy, ardently sensual vocals: post-listening cold shower required.
Todd Bishop and his Pop Art 4 have come up with a peculiar yet distinctively compelling sound with 69 Annee Erotique, a strange and excellent musical experience.
---Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz |
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