You never know what you’re going to find at Music Man Murray’s. The place is known among collectors and connoisseurs as a haven for rare, obscure and just plain odd finds among the thousands, literally thousands, of 78s, LPs, the occasional 8-track and no, I repeat no, compact discs. It’s a unique store nestled in a dangerous alley and one of L.A.’s best kept secrets.
The space usually trades in fairly mainstream, even conservative, records: jazz, opera, instrumental, classic rock etc. But every once in a while, among the shelfs of discarded Genesis and Animals LPs you’ll come across something you weren’t expecting. Case in point: Les Rita Mitsouko presents The No Comprendo.
The thing that first drew my attention to the album was the cover. It’s a strange one, almost looking like an illegal copy of a commercial album, but my past experience in dealing with knock offs lead me to believe this was no bootleg. Murray has a turntable and amplifier setup for customers that want to try before they buy. The second I dropped the needle on the disc I knew I had to buy it.
As soon as I got home I played both sides immediately. I was taken with the sound: bouncy and irresistible. Sure it was nothing that original, I mean the album is basically your run of the mill pop record. But I couldn’t deny that its sheer obscurity made this artifact so compelling to me. I felt I had to learn more about its making.
The album credits Tony Visconti as co-producer on the album along with Cathrine Ringer and Fred Chichin. Visconti you’ll recall is perhaps best known for his work with David Bowie. The album’s sound is rich with the now cliched synths and drum machines that permeated the music of the 80′s. Combine that with a lush vocal that is more Siouxsie Sioux than Serge Gainsbourg and you have an album that would sit well in any retro party mix.
A little digging on the internet yielded surprising results. Apparently Les Rita Mitsouko was the brainchild of Ringer and Chichin. The pair released several albums, mostly in France, The No Comprendo actually being the second according to Wikipedia. Most interesting were the videos I found on YouTube, some of which had well over half a million views. Judging by my ignorance of the group, I’m guessing not many Americans have heard of the band yet it maintains quite the swell in popularity in its homeland. Unfortunately Chichin, the guitarist for the group, passed away in December of 2007. Ringer, now in her fifties, continues on with the group. Les Rita Mitsouko’s latest release was in 2008 with Rendez-vous chez Nino Rota.
- By JOE CORTEZ
Tags: Les Rita Mitsouko
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