Simply beautiful music. Fontaine and Higelin take turns singing verses, accompanied by a jazz band that delivers spare, but beautifully affecting melodic touches. The chemistry of the two voices is great, and everytime I hear this song, I can't wait to hear the next reply in the flow of their odd, sad conversation about influenza, love, and death. "Ma grippe vous va tr�s bien... La mort vous ira tr�s bien." (My flu suits you very well... death will suit you very well.)

This is a children's song, giving instructions to a game, the catch is that the rhyme is spilled over a great drum backing. Yes, it's a bit corny and high on kitsch-value, but the pairing of such funky, stiff drumming with a children's rhyme makes it a real gem. The brevity of this track insures that it won't grate on anyone too heavily. It's a 7-inch Stones Throw release, with three other songs. Of other note is her husband's Pease Porridge Hot rhyme, sampled by De La Soul.

This song has been getting a lot of well-deserved attention lately as a re-issue. This is a pants-wetting monster, with a tough, stunning, and powerful sound that really defies description. It's richly soulful funk, slow, psychedelic, pensive, viscous, and extremely affecting. A great variety of sounds in the instrumentation, rhodes, flute, baritone sax, sax, congas, bass, guitar, drums, with no single instrument dominating the track. All the instruments shine together however, in a very spare and sensible arrangement. We should all be thankful that this was found and once again given some proper spotlight.

This song is stone-cold, ultra-serious, odd, and mesmerizing. It's James Brown recounting a strange, anecdotal poem about a dream, in which he experiences the personification of heroin delivering a sermon. He rhymes accompanied by a subdued and melancholy backing band, playing lingering horn drags, and slow, lazy bass and drums. This is not your typical James Brown material, but it has an powerfully surreal and painful effect.

I'm really blown away by this song (and this entire album), it's simply a masterpiece to my ears. A possible comparison might be to Oba, La Vem Ela by Jorge Ben (who Verocai arranged for), as the guitar chords and lush, cool tones are quite similar. This song however moves with a much greater sense of urgency, and right from the start, it a spills out like a mournful plea. As a listener, the attention to detail in the arrangement and instrumentation is obvious. The song is packed densely with sound and great short soloing, all played skillfully by a large band of famous contemporaries, whom Verocai personally recruited. There's something very magical about how the vocals and instruments combine, and how the song plays out. It feels as though you are witness to a uniquely perfect and possessed performance that would be impossible to reproduce. A beautifully moving and perfect song that leaves you craving more.