Charlotte Gainsbourg - Irm
List Price:
Our Price: $7.75
You Save: $6.23 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.87 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Charlotte GainsbourgEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2010-01-26
Music Label: Elektra/Asylum
Product features:
- GAINSBOURG CHARLOTTE IRM
- Master's Hands
- IRM
- Le Chat du Café des Artistes
- In The End
- Heaven Can Wait
- Me And Jane Doe
- Vanities
- Time Of The Assassins
- Trick Pony
- Greenwich Mean Time
- Dandelion
- Voyage
- La Collectionneuse
Free Music Notes for Irm
Free Music Review: IRM : Epic No. 2 from the Spawn of Genius
Hit: 5 Stars
Anyone with a passing familiarity with Charlotte Gainsbourg's work in the medium of both music and film will know that the woman brings a lot of her fathers' eccentricity to the table. It doesn't take a physicist to figure out that her work in Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist" was one of the most painful (literally) experiences ever captured on film, yet she went on to render it in an almost blank-faced fashion, dead-panning throughout the movie until its' visceral climactic conclusion.
On "5:55", which I rated rather highly a few years ago, Charlotte worked with a production team that understood that the only way to make her light, spoken-word singing voice work, was to complement it with strings, violins, and quiet piano interludes. Add to this a medium dose of musical experimentation, and an epic was born. "5:55" found and captured something that no other album has been able to since, and it is truly a unique work in more ways than one. From the jangly musical perfection that is "Everything I Cannot See" to the ponderous morbidity of "The Operation", its something best appreciated by lovers of the independent French music scene, of which thankfully I am a subscriber.
Post "Antichrist" and her much publicized accident, Gainsbourg returns with an album that could possibly even perplex Serge. The immediate sense of coherency that heralded "5:55" is missing here, with lead (and standout) track "IRM" setting the tone for a curious oddity, an album where the stakes are higher, the experimentation more visible, and the voice showing absolutely no signs of evolution at all. While Gainsbourg is certainly alluding to her time spent with the magnetic equipment that discerned her injuries at the time, the song itself is an ode to the clunky bit of equipment an MRI machine really is. With Beck at the forefront, one would expect no less, but in stark contrast to lead single from "5:55" ("The Songs that we Sing"), "IRM" is not instantly memorable, and nor is it meant to be. In that context I would readily compare it to Bjork Gudmundsdottir's "Cvalda" from "Selmasongs", or indeed, the entire "Drawing Restraint 9" project by Matthew Barney.
Shades of Jane Birkin crop up on the albums' only real duet (though joint production credits abound elsewhere). "Heaven Can Wait", while sporting a now infamous video, is a somber take on a nursery rhyme gone wrong, and instead works as a silent lamentation on all things lost. Serge Gainsbourg's work towards the end of his career focused on topics such as death, loss, grief and in typical fashion he bounced back from these with jolly ditties written to the follies of love and alcohol. This gene seems to have skipped Charlotte, as she seems even more depressed on "IRM" than she ever has (the album makes her '80s debut "Lemon Incest" seem like a fun day at the circus).
Indeed, the sinister and morbid songwriting only elevate the overall tone of the music, as "In The End", a classic piece of French pop if there ever was one. The track combines the best of the 1960s French yeye stylings with a more British Invasion feel that underscores its' simplicity. But the lyrics! How clever these songwriters were, and Charlotte's airy vocals, often conveying almost nothing, do well in such dark surroundings. Consider this a companion piece to the novella "My Life in Rose Red" and you wouldn't be much off the mark.
M.I.A's contribution is as stellar as Becks, especially on 'Greenwich Mean Time', which is infinitely more adventurous than anything on "5:55" or even on anything else on "IRM". Its moments like these when Gainsbourg lets loose, Yoko Ono style, that a true glimmer of her personality shines through, and its every bit as guarded and disturbed as her lead role in "Antichrist" would let us believe. This is not a pretty, happy record. But it is an essential one, and clearly one of the frontrunners for Album of the Year.
Four and a Half Stars. Indispensable.
Irm Poster
January 26th, 2010 marks the Because Music / Elektra release of Charlotte Gainsbourg's third studio album titled IRM. The title is derived from M.R.I, which reflects the medical procedure Charlotte had to go through after suffering a head injury in a water skiing accident in 2007. The album is Charlotte's most personal to date, and is produced by acclaimed Grammy nominated artist/multi-instrumentalist Beck.What started as a brief recording session between Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck ended up to be the body of work that is IRM. Over the course of a year and a half of writing and recording together, Beck's role grew to encompass all aspects of the creative process. He worked seamlessly with Charlotte co writing the lyrics and produced and mixed the recording. (This is the first time he has ever been so involved in another artist's work.)
The title track from IRM was posted online as a free download via her official website on October 9th, and the official album trailer was featured on Pitchfork.com the same day. The official first single off the album is "Heaven Can Wait" featuring Beck. A video featuring the two stars premiered on AOL Music on November 18th.
Sonically, the album is a new direction for Charlotte Gainsbourg and her first in nearly four years. Beck's iconic and spacey production blends flawlessly with Charlotte's unique vocals and delivery. The release will be accompanied by a US promo tour in early 2010. Gainsbourg also recently graced the pages of Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Nylon Magazine, Village Voice (cover), New York Times, Blackbook, Harper's Bazaar and more.
Pop Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Pop Music CDs
Yvette Freeman - Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection)Release date: 2005-04-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.07
Price in other shops:
Twin Sisters Productions - Building Character Music CDTWIN SISTERS PRODUCTIONS; Release date: 2007-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Bernadette Peters in ConcertDVD
Best price: $129.99
Everything Must Go/ Two Against Natureby Steely Dan
Published: 2003; Music CD
Scattered Ashesby Ihsahn / Emperor
Candlelight Records/Emi; Published: 2009-07-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops:
![Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS] Image](/images/Christmas-at-the-Biltmore-Estate-VHS-076700437X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS]A&E Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.83
Price in other shops:
The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems)Release date: 2002-09-01; Published: 2002-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissanceby Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Release date: 2011-09-06; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Francis Durbridge, Paul Temple & The Gilbert Case - Radio ShowRelease date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops:
The Serenaders - My One and Only YouRelease date: 2011-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Dum Dum Girls - Only in DreamsRelease date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $7.37
Price in other shops:
Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lune (CD/ DVD)Release date: 2012-02-07; Music CD
Best price: $14.17
Price in other shops:
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l lRelease date: 2011-04-19; Music CD
Best price: $9.45
Price in other shops:
St. Vincent - Strange MercyRelease date: 2011-09-13; Music CD
Best price: $9.41
Price in other shops:
Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Jane Birkin/ Serge Gainsbourg (Je T'aime...Moi NonRelease date: 2010-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $13.99
Price in other shops:
Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody NelsonRelease date: 2009-03-24; Music CD
Best price: $12.79
Price in other shops:
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials SG: Best ofRelease date: 2003-01-28; Music CD
Best price: $6.80
Price in other shops:
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Stage WhisperRelease date: 2011-12-13; Music CD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un m'a ditRelease date: 2009-07-28; Music CD
Best price: $6.80
Price in other shops:
Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55Release date: 2007-04-24; Music CD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops: