1st Album/ No Comprendo/ Conce: Amazon.co.uk: Music

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Product details

Audio CD
Number of Discs: 3
Format: Box set, Import
Label: EMI
ASIN: B0000BXBVC
Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,439,279 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Track Listings

Disc: 1
1. Nuit D'Ivresse
2. Andy
3. Stupid Anyway
4. Marcia Baila
5. Ailleurs
6. Les Histoires D'A
See all 13 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Restez Avec Moi
2. Jalousie
3. Le Futur In No. 4
4. La Fille Venue Du Froid
5. Yaktagan
6. In My Tea
See all 14 tracks on this disc
Disc: 3
1. Les Histoires D'A
2. Andy
3. C'Est Comme Ca
4. Vol De Nuit
5. Someone To Love
6. Stupid Anyway
See all 11 tracks on this disc

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars C'mon Andy say "Yes" 17 Aug 2009

By The Chad Who Loved Me

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would have loved to have been a fan of Les Rita Mitsouko when this album dropped. Let me explain.

'Marcia Bailia' became a surprise hit on the French singles chart in 1985. The single had the complete package, it was an upbeat song with a sad but celebratory theme. The instrumentation was modern and ingenious, and the group were stunning too; Catherine Ringer with her Louise Brooks bob-haircut, and Fred Chichin with his skinny frame and funny charm. This was complemented by one of the eighties most original and extravagant videos. It was brilliant. The debut album from with 'Marcia Bailia' was lifted, was arty and leftfield with a mixture of sparse poppy numbers and longer organ-heavy drones. 'Marcia Bailia' was the obvious standout because it was both brighter and more developed than the rest of the album.

'The No Comprendo' then, must have come as a surprising and frankly slamming follow up. The core change is the tempo and the emphasis on strong rhythms. The music featured works as both a logical follow up to the debut and as a completely new and bold direction. The double a-side and first single 'Andy' / 'Un Soir un Chien' plays like a mission statement. The former takes 'Marcia Bailia's synth-horns and giddy feel but locks it to a brittle Prince-like framework with funky bass flourishes and chanted backing vocals. The song practically pile-drives the listener asking them either to dance or at least say "oiu"! 'Un Soir un Chien' moves along on a loungey groove, happy to take its time to develop. It offers Catherine's sweet but strained and utterly-unique vocal performances, which is would later become de rigueur for the group.... She dominates the arrangement and it's a formula that is repeated on each of their following albums ('Le Petit Train', 'Les Amants', 'La Sorcière et l'Inquisiteur').

In spite of what I've written so far what's so special about this album and the group is the perfect meshing and switching between live band sounds and the ability to utilise synths, drum machines and effects for such alien sounding results. It also helps that the album is expertly structured. The three main singles - which are upbeat and importantly quite different from one another - give way to the centre of the album, which is dominated by slower numbers ('Vol de Nuit', 'Stupid Anyway', and 'Un Soir un Chien'). While none of these conform to the Chanson genre, they do go a way to emphasising its fundamentals. Catherine's voice (on most tracks) is free to establish a mood however contrary the backing track may initially sound. It's unfair to state and restate Catherine's contributions, but if this review manages anything, I hope it gets close to expressing my adoration and respect from her vocal style. She manages to sing like a stylised Kate Bush or a throaty Bjork while being completely unique.

Another new element is a more pronounced Rock direction. On 'C'est Comme Ca', 'Someone to Love' and 'Bad Days', the guitars and bass guitars are full in the mix. Each manages to straddle that distinction between dance music and rock so perfectly in a manner sort of like New Order or Devo. 'C'est Comme Ca' in particular gets to have its cake and eat it with an energetic Catherine vocal, and a rhythm that flirts between a danceable and rocking, topped off with a superb rock 'n' roll guitar solo.

Returning once more to 'Marcia Bailia', the album closes with a cousin of the hit in the shape of 'Nuit d'ivresse'. The song shares the Latin-tinged acoustic guitar and a light and bright feel. It makes a lovely closer, flipping the more downbeat and paranoid leanings of the middle of the album and finishing on a vibe as joyous as that of 'Andy'.

'The No Comprendo' is such a better album than the first one and is such a more immediate album, but it is so different. In defence of the début, it too is original and touches on styles that the group would never or rarely pursue again; 'La Fille Venue du Froid' is particularly good. But 'The No Comprendo' is the sound of a band on the way up, drunk on success, more ambitious but more aware of their new found pop audience. They could have easily become a one hit wonder, yet the album presents all their strengths and complements them with immediate hooks and great rhythms.

If it's a question of "if you buy only one" Les Rita Mitsouko album, then it has to be this, but I doubt you'll stop with this, they are just so fabulous. Read more ›

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1st Album/ No Comprendo/ Conce [Box set, Import]