Jean-Claude Vannier, "L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches"

This overlooked album by Serge Gainsbourg collaborator Jean-Claude Vannier is as close as composing gets to stream of consciousness. Seemingly dipolar pieces of music have been sandwiched together with deft skill and grace to make an album so rich in sound that ears everywhere will feel like they’ve just had their last meal care of a Michelin star restaurant. It’s rare that the kitchen sink approach to writing music works but Vannier pulls it off in style.

 

B-Music

Vannier is best known as the man behind the music on Gainsbourg’s classic Histoire de Melody Nelson. That album is rightly regarded as a masterpiece and very little else of what Gainsbourg recorded reached that level of perfection (although his other works are by no means imperfect). As such, I was surprised upon hearing L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches that it was just as good as Histoire…. This Vannier album could very easily have been included with Histoire… as a double album. The only thing missing from L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches is Gainsbourg’s voice; it always feels like the vocals are just about to kick in but they never do. However, the music alone more than stand up to Gainsbourg’s legacy.

A unexpectedly restrained start with what sounds like a field recording in a sleepy French town on “L’Enfant la Mouche et les Allumettes” gives way to a mighty Krautrock groove; so far, so good. The music never stays the same for long; Vannier makes the music of Fantômas sound positively static. It takes a few listens to get into the feeling of the disc as it seems a bit disjointed at first. He blends styles and instrumentation like no one else; funk rhythms sit comfortably with a choir while what sounds like someone jamming on their guitar to King Crimson playing alongside it all. All this can change suddenly to something completely different like pompous French pop, jazz or all out noise (sometimes all at once). The best part is that with repeated listens small patterns and motifs become apparent that were lost in the chaos previously. It is more adventurous than Histoire… as Vannier is free to do what he wants as opposed to create songs.

As the track titles suggest, L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches is a concept album. Each piece depicts a different scene and it seems to me that the different segments of music within the various pieces represent the cast of the story. Gainsbourg’s contribution to this album is a short summary in the sleeve notes of the action as he imagines it. Vannier changes the mood and setting masterfully, the eastern tinged strings and rhythms of “Le Roi des Mouches et la Confiture de Rouse” capture the sights, sounds and smells of a flamboyant regal feast; Vannier makes music for all the senses. Later the action of “Les Garde Volent au Secours du Roi” provides a dramatic, psychedelic contrast to the earlier party atmosphere. The overblown, epic music isn’t the soundtrack I’d imagine for a child killing flies but it certainly works well.

In addition to the album there are also a couple of bonus tracks in the form of two versions of “Je m’appelle Geraldine” which are superfluous but a nice addition nonetheless. Also included is a video of a live performance of the album’s opening piece recorded for a fashion slot for French television. It’s fantastic to see Vannier’s orchestra play this stuff with a model parading down a catwalk in various costumes, it all fits together beautifully.

Albums like L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches just aren’t made anymore. It sounds firmly rooted in its time and place but it has withstood the tests of time remarkably. It is an inspiring listen that gets more interesting each time I hit play, quelle disque!

samples:

• L'Enfant la Mouche et les Allumettes
• Le Roi des Mouches et la Confiture de Rouse
• Je m'appelle Geraldine (Mid-tempo)