It has been described as the lost soundtrack, due to the belief that the master tapes were burned in a fire, but alas, not the case. Just misplaced. Finders Keepers, the great reissue label, have just put out this great gem of the Serge Gainsbourg world. I suspect that the album is more Jean-Claude Vannier than Gainsbourg, but nevertheless, it has the traces of Serge's greatness and sleaziness as well since this is a soundtrack to a grade-Z film about French youth in Katmandou, and all the fun that goes with that journey.
The album is very much in the same mode as the Gainsbourg/Vannier soundtracks of this period. Funky workouts with traces of exotic percussion and of course, the sitar here and there. The listener can hear the sounds that made up "Melody Nelson" as well as Vannier's great solo work "L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches." The beauty of the album is very much under the arrangement skills of Vannier, who is superb. One is never sure what is going to be around the corner with respect to his arrangements. He and Gainsbourg were a fantastic team, and this lost (but now found) soundtrack is essential to both fans of Serge's soundtrack work as well as with those who love Vannier's experimentation and sense of aural adventure. Vannier to me is the French Jack Nitzsche. Both were in tuned to their subject matter, whatever it was a film soundtrack, or arranging the instrumentation behind a singer - it's a classic mode of music-making, and one that I personally miss in contemporary music in 2017.
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