Lady and Bird CD

I've only just discovered this 2003 CD, a collaboration between French chanteuse Keren Ann Zeidel and Icelandic pop star Bardi Johannsson, and it's simply extraordinary. It's incredibly French by virtue of Keren Ann's breathy vocal stylings and subtly strange also (no doubt) due to the Icelandic input. I feel already like I've known and loved this album all my life. It's mixture of oddness and accessibility is really interesting, and it's also a pretty outre artefact to have issued forth on a major label (EMI France) and I wish the majors were this adventurous in other territories. Many reviewers have noted the cover versions (altered images of Lou Reed's "Stephanie Says" and the MASH theme song "Suicide is Painless"), but these are not the main game - in fact the album would have been even stronger without them, ie focussing on the lady and bird dialogue concept running through the disc and culminating at the unforgettable final track "The Ballad of Lady and Bird".

Highly recommended, and obtainable from Amazon UK, USA and elsewhere, though best priced on Amazon UK, I think, especially with the rebate of VAT.