Gainsbourg Percussions

AMG Review of Gainsbourg Percussions

Skip Jansen
All Music Guide

The late French pop legend created one of the first ethno pop albums with this 1964 record, which employed heavy North African and Caribbean rhythms in the pop and jazz structures of his songs. Extraordinarily inventive in the canon of '60s Europop, Serge Gainsbourg remains the godfather of exotica and French pop decadence. Among his mid-'60s recordings, Gainsbourg Percussions is essential Gainsbourg, enhanced by Alain Goraguer's arrangements. The album contains the hit song "New York-USA" and nine of the tracks from this album appear on the compilation Couleur Café, which is a blessing considering the original version of this fantastic LP could be a little hard to track down.