'Histoire de Melody Nelson' is a bona-fide cult classic, this 1971 masterpiece was Serge Gainsbourg's first conceptually conceived album. The concept involves the middle-aged Gainsbourg who accidentally knocks teenage girl Melody Nelson off her bicycle while out driving in his Silver Ghost Rolls Royce and follows the subsequent infatuation, lust, seduction, blossoming romance and loss experienced by Gainsbourg.
At just under twenty-eight minutes, the album works almost as a singular extended musical piece with various movements carrying the central narrative. Gainsbourg's sleezy, spoken word, whispered delivery a constant throughout, intertwined with a mix of breakbeats, psychadelic guitars, funky bass and lush, deep orchestrated string & choral arrangements (by Jean-Claude Vannier). 'Histoire de Melody Nelson' sounds like nothing before it and nothing since, cinematic in scope this is an album that perhaps would not have worked in anyone else's hands, but under Gainsbourg's command stands as a sophisticated epic, unparalleled in popular music.
After the albums release, a music video was made for each song from the album, each one a rare gem and worthy companion piece to the songs themselves:
Melody
Ballade De Melody Nelson
Valse De Melody
Ah! Melody
L'Hotel Particulier
En Melody
Cargo Culte
MP3:
MP3:
Serge Gainsbourg on Myspace
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1 comment:
Has anyone else seen this:
https://lightintheattic.net/buy/item.php?product_id=521
Looks pretty cool. Just thought I'd let you know.
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