Thursday 15 December 2011

Rétro: Marc Almond - The town fell asleep


A look back to one of Marc Almond's wonderful interpretations of Jacques Brel.

The version of La Ville s'endormait is simply wonderful. The song was originally from Brel's final album, 1977's Les Marquises, Almond's version surfacing on his 1989 Jacques album,

The album of Brel covers by Almond also included I'm Coming and the Lockman as well as My Death, although not Jacky, possibly his best know Brel interpretation, which became a hit single for Almond.

Almond was influenced by Brel from an early age, from hearing the versions of My Death performed by Bowie and Alex Harvey, and the Scott Walker versions of Brel's work.

The Jacques collection takes a more traditional approach to song and arrangement that some of Almond's more experimental and electronic work, and it really deserves to be better known.

The album appears to be out of print now, so if you find a copy be sure to pick it up while you can.

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