La Chanson de Jacky
In 1965 Jacques Brel wrote and recorded a fiery three verse chanson exploding with the anxiety, bravado and panic faced by someone stretched to a midpoint across the abyss — to find oneself suspended between mediocrity and genius, villainy and heroism, doom and eternity, etc. In 1967 the nearly equally inimitable Scott Walker brilliantly re-interpreted Brel’s Chanson in English, to equal parts controversy and acclaim in the Anglosphere. In 2012, both versions of the tune have collided in an Anglo-Franco alliance, revealing perhaps an ever-implicit third dimension. It’s a stunt simultaneously ill-advised and absolutely necessary for a band like Secret Chiefs 3: Traditionalists to undertake — and one that could only be pulled off with someone uniquely qualified to take command of the vocals. Who other than the maestro Mike Patton, in this day and age, to do justice (and then some) without insult to such a preposterously Spartan legacy?
The Western Exile
One of the main themes from Secret Chiefs 3’s 2004 album “Book of Horizons” receives a more spaghetti-seasoned marination in the crimson blood-soaked cemeteries of occidental exile. Not a chump re-mix, this is an entirely new thunderhead-evoking arrangement and recording, back-dated with a few more horsemen of the Apocalypse casting shadows over the Cowboys and Indians for cinematic effect. Already a well-proportioned auditory and philosophical compliment to its flipside, this recording is also one of the precious few Secret Chiefs 3 recordings graced with the voice and viola of Anonymous 13.
for the ones who doesn’t know the original song:
23 January 2012
You read that right: Secret Chiefs 3 satellite outfit Traditionalists have roped in none other than Mike Patton on vocals for their latest release.
‘La Chanson de Jacky’, a cover of Scott Walker’s reinterpretation of Jacques Brel’s chanson sees the former Mr. Bungle partners in crime Patton and Trey Spruance reunite on record directly for the first time in over a decade, following their recent respective appearances on Rock-A-Rolla’s favourite album of 2011, The Book Of Knots’ Garden Of Fainting Stars.
The 7” comes with the flipside ‘The Western Exile’, a reworking of the theme from Secret Chiefs 3′s 2004 album Book Of Horizons, with voice and viola courtesy of Anonymous 13. The single is currently available to order through Web Of Mimicry’s website.
Spruance recently performed with Faith No More in Chile, where the band played 1995’s King For A Day… album in its entirety.
