Half killer and half filler (Nouvelle Vague Vol.1 - Nouvelle Vague)

Member Name: paulie1975

Product:	Nouvelle Vague Vol.1 - Nouvelle Vague
Date:	25/10/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: When its good its really good

Disadvantages: When its not good its pretty bland

Nouvelle Vague - Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague are a French collective who covered New Wave songs on this album, their singers are generally silky voiced latin women, who bring an entirely new element to the song, along with the easy listening brass and strings accompaniment.

This is a great backing track for dinner parties or social gatherings and has a real charm and style to it bringing together a cool genre with an interesting style variant, its available on Amazon.co.uk for £14.98.

Tracks

The tracks on the album are all covers of other bands, they are as follows:

JOY DIVISION : Love will tear us apart (feat. Eloisia)

In many ways this is one of the highlights of the album for me, hearing a seminal song being covered in an 'easy listening' style can be excruciating as you pretend to like it, but this actually does something entirely new with the song and makes it the bands own. The breathy French vocals of Eloisa give this a sexy edge which adds something different to an amazing song, it moves it in a new direction, obviously its not as good as the original but it does bring something new to the party.

DEPECHE MODE : Just can't get enough (feat. Eloisia)

Another triumph for the band, this bossa nova beat over a moody electro song is a real triumph, it sounds different but similar, using the wonderfully catchy chorus as the songs base, this is a dancey, jaunty number that loses the edge of the original song and makes this a happy, fun party song, again Eloisia's beautiful vocals lend themselves to this song perfectly.

TUXEDOMOON : In a manner of speaking (feat. Camille)

I have to admit I didn't know this song at all prior to hearing this album, but absolutely love it, Camille's silky smooth vocals entwine with gorgeous lyrics to create a really luxurious treat of a song, I have no idea what the original sounds like but don't care as this is perfect!


THE CLASH : Guns of Brixton (feat. Camille)


Nice attempt at a classic Clash song, you can hear the anger and angst in the tune, but the smooth music and beautiful voice of Camille give this song a different point of reference to the original, here your enjoying the rhythym and voice whereas in the original the lyrics anger and politicisation are the key elements.

P.I.L. : (This is not a) love song (feat. Melanie Pain)

Decent song, but very much filler in my view.

DEAD KENNEDYS : Too drunk to f**k (feat. Camille)

I love this song, it really does sound naughty but in different terms to the original, this is a naughty song to put on at parties, its very sexy and very decadent in a classy way, taking away the trashy feel of the original, again this song is made entirely different and benefits a great deal from its originality.

THE SISTERS OF MERCY : Marian (feat. Alex)

This song is ok, but lacks the substance of the original in any sense, disappointing.

XTC : Making plans for Nigel (feat. Camille)

I like this song simply from the perspective that this eloquent latin Chanteur singing about 'Nigel' sounds very odd and ethereal and adds an element of fantasy to this fantastic song, this works and is another of the albums good points.

THE CURE : A forest (feat. Marina)

A nice idea, but doesn't translate a decent (if not one of their best) Cure songs to this new environment at all.

MODERN ENGLISH : I melt with you (feat. Silja)

Ok, nothing more, not sure there is much to add, its a track to pass by to get to the next song!

THE UNDERTONES : Teenage Kicks (feat. Melanie Pain)

Brilliant recreation of the Undertones classic putting strings in where ferocious guitars were originally this is classy and still gets a real grip of the lyrics while having a more polished edge than the original, obviously its not as good as the Undertones version but sits alongside it perfectly as a companion piece.

KILLING JOKE : Psyche (feat. Sir Alice)


This is not a song i've got much time for, i'm not sure why but I didn't really get it, but I like the fact they try to cover songs so far out of their own arena of musical influence.

THE SPECIALS : Friday night, saturday morning (feat. Daniella D'Ambrosio)

Not the best Specials song to cover and not the best song on the album, this is a bit of a let down after some splendid versions of other bands songs.

I found the album interesting at first, but now only listen to it for 5 or 6 songs, the rest are filler, the first two set the tone of the album perfectly and whilst hugely ambitious work, but i'd say half the songs are purely worth listening to for novelty whilst the rest bring something new and interesting to the table. I'd give it 3 out of 5 as there is some stand out stuff but you have to forward too many songs.

Summary: Half killer and half filler