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Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was known as a pop music "dirtymouth" in France and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known internationally for "Je t'aime...moi non plus" which consisted of a bit of dialogue, a little singing and a lot of panting between 40 year old Serge and a 21 year-old tenderoni named Jane Berkin. The song created a bit of a scandal, being banned on a number of U.S. and European stations, which fueled sales like crazy. Even notoriety, however, could not help his subsequent releases. One of these, recorded with the daughter he had later had with Berkin, was titled "Lemon Incest." Whatever his other strengths, ol' Serge may not have been the guy you'd want to retain as a babysitter to watch the kiddies while you and the little lady go away for a weekend. His music, however, was inarguably groundbreaking, and his minimalist approach, which usually involved narration with a simplistic keyboard beat running underneath it, undoubtedly influenced the electronica you could hear at this very minute at a club near you.

I LOVE SERGE is a tribute to Gainsbourg, with various electronica artists, such as Dax Riders, Readymade, OGM, and the Orb taking a turn at interpreting his known and obscure compositions with, for the most part, successful results. A word of warning, here. Some of this is a little, well, disturbing. "Love on The Beat" by Krikor & W.A.R.R.I.O. features a dance beat counterbalanced by a track of a woman either administering or taking a beating (maybe both), and enjoying it immensely. I mention this only to illustrate that this is not the type of thing you want to play as background music on a first date, unless it includes tickets to a WWF event and it was her idea. The project as a whole, nonetheless, is quite interesting, kind of an electronica equivalent to a tribute to Muddy Waters by modern day bluesmen. "Bonnie & Clyde" by Herbert is a particular standout, with things kept interesting throughout by vocal interplay though I haven't a clue as to what anyone is saying. This is true throughout the entire CD, perhaps another reason that one might want to use caution in playing this for others. If the refrain is "I want to hump your leg" and your companion majored in French the night might come to an abrupt end. Or maybe not, if she went to Kent State. What is ultimately, cool, however, is that Gainsbourg himself is sampled here, on electronica versions of his own compositions, so that the whole thing kind of loops around on itself. The aforementioned "Je t'aime" is rendered almost unrecognizable by Dzihan & Kamien but is nonetheless kind of cool, more ambient than not, and while it is not the song that Gainsbourg wrote his ghost permeates it. I think, on balance, he would have loved it, and the entire project.

Even if you're totally unfamiliar with Gainsbourg and his work, I LOVE SERGE is accessible enough as a collection of electronica music. The appeal of this collection is probably wider than the audience which will ultimately find it, but that, in fact, may be part of it's appeal. Certainly it stands as a well-done curiosity piece and tribute to a controversial, and ultimately groundbreaking, artist.