A Propos De...

by François Couture There is very little Ange in À Propos De..., a collection of interpretations from the French songwriter songbook, going from Jacques Brel to Michel Polnareff through Aznavour, Brassens, Nougaro, and Dutronc. Of Ange's creative mid-'70s period, only Christian and Francis Decamps remain. The arrangements are typical of early 1980s: dry, cold synthesizers and drums with sparse guitar solos. Christian Decamps goes through the motions, but the heart is not there. His rendition of Brassens' "Les Copains D'Abord" is lamentable at best, his voice clearly unsuited for Brassens' low and limited register -- he can't decide whether he'll try to sing it low or take it an octave higher. Brel's "À Jeun" is given interesting colors, but nothing comparable to Ange's shockingly beautiful rewriting of "Ces Gens-Là" in 1973 (on Le Cimetière Des Arlequins). Decamps, against all odds, does come to life on Polnareff's "Le Bal Des Laze," and the whole band follows in a 10-minute extravaganza, but it's too little too late. For devoted fans only.