Name: Les Chemins de Kathmandou
Brand: Serge Gainsbourg

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

FKR 100LP

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2017-11-24

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Forced Exposure

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

5060099506642

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Serge Gainsbourg

Genre US

Rest of World

Label US

Finders Keepers

Serge Gainsbourg (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) was a multi-talented artist known for his work as a poet, singer-songwriter, painter, actor and director. Born in Paris to Jewish Russian parents, Gainsbourg initially aspired to be a painter but found success as a piano player in bars. He reluctantly took on singing roles and went on to become a renowned composer and producer.

Gainsbourg drew inspiration from Boris Vian and sought to break free from traditional French chanson music by exploring other genres like British and American pop. He also wrote soundtracks for over 40 movies and directed four films himself. Notably, his song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" featuring simulated sounds of female orgasm caused controversy and censorship upon its release.

His songs were often interpreted by British torch singer Petula Clark, while Dionne Warwick's version of "Mamadou" became the first English-language adaptation of one of Gainsbourg's songs. His concept album "Histoire de Melody Nelson," produced by Jean-Claude Vannier, has had a lasting influence on artists such as Air, David Holmes, and Beck.

In 1978, Gainsbourg collaborated with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar, and Rita Marley to create a reggae version of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise." This rendition sparked

After decades in the making, Finders Keepers present the first-ever pressing of Serge Gainsbourg's most elusive and coveted soundtrack studio recordings, co-written, arranged, and orchestrated by the genius Jean-Claude Vannier (the arranger behind 1971's Histoire De Melody Nelson) during what many consider to be the dynamic duo's most definitive creative period. Believed to have been lost in a studio fire by Gainsbourg enthusiasts for over forty years (a myth that also shrouds Morricone's lost Danger Diabolik soundtrack), the misplaced master-tapes for the drug-fueled / Mai 68 cash-in / road-movie Les Chemins De Katmandou (1969) have been widely considered the final audio jigsaw piece in an immaculate discography / filmography, thus earning this soundtrack bona fide holy grail status amongst the most avid disc detectives. Featuring the original crack team of Paris based players now recognized as French library music royalty, this album epitomizes the inimitable musical direction and expert psychedelic pop musicianship that graced classic Gainsbourg / Vannier soundtracks like La Horse (1970), Cannabis (1970), and Sex Shop (1972), the sound that laid the stylistic, future-proof foundations for subsequent decades of forward-thinking Gallic funk mastery. Comprising Vannier's signature recipe of thick plucked bass lines, close-mic'd drums, biting clavinet, and Eastern influenced strings and percussion (and a sprinkling of subtle traditional French instrumentation) the soundtrack to Les Chemins De Katmandou (The Road To Katmandu, or The Pleasure Pit) captures Vannier and Gainsbourg in the first year of their creative partnership capturing their unique embryonic energy. The music on this record contains the full extent of the music found on the newly discovered studio tapes. It has since been preserved through the "baking" process, re-emulsified, transferred, remastered, and recompiled and sequenced in accordance with the original screenplay in close collaboration with Finders Keepers and inaugural artist, Jean-Claude Vannier.

Les Chemins de Kathmandou

Music US