''Ça Va'' (; French for "okay", literally "that goes") is a studio album by German/British
avant-pop
Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener. The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing elements from popular ...
trio
Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy was a German/English avant-pop group, formed in Germany in 1972. Their lineup consisted of Anthony Moore (keyboards), Peter Blegvad (guitar) and Dagmar Krause (vocals). The band members moved to England in 1974 where they merg ...
, featuring
Anthony Moore
Anthony Moore (also known as Anthony More) (born 13 August 1948) is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, i ...
,
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad (born August 14, 1951) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, writer, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of German/English avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many sol ...
and
Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause (born 4 June 1950) is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups including Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. Her ...
. It was recorded in London in 1997 and released by
V2 Records
V2 Records (or V2 Music and V2 Benelux; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007, sold to PIAS in 2013 and partially acquired by Universal in 2022 (as part of larger PIAS 49% ...
in April 1998. The Japanese release of the album included a bonus track, "Hello Dagi". It was Slapp Happy's first album in 23 years.
Background
Blegvad said
Geoff Travis
Geoff Travis (born 2 February 1952) is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1976.
Biography
Travis wa ...
of
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...
had been trying to pursued Slapp Happy to reform. He asked Blegvad what it would cost to make another album, and Blegvad gave him a figure of £20,000. When Travis produced the money, work on the album began. Unlike the trio's previous albums, which were recorded with backing groups
Faust
Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
and
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...
, on ''Ça Va'' they played all the instruments themselves, and used a digital studio to produce a layered sound on many of the tracks.
Blegvad remarked that making ''Ça Va'' "was a great experience". He said that unlike their previous albums, here "we emphasized the pop element of the music". But Blegvad added that, as on their earlier albums, the songs still have "some kind of twist in the tail" – " at's always been our way".
Reception
In a review at ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
'', Dave Lynch wrote that in contrast to Slapp Happy's 1970s "twisted" British folk-pop, avant cabaret and art rock (with
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...
), on ''Ça Va'' they play "a more commercial blend of pop music sounds". But he added that this "does not detract from the album's artistry", and the trio "has rarely sounded better". Lynch stated that the album "is a fine example of pop songcraft – intelligent, literate, and wry", with hints of psychedelic pop, but "always employed as a bit of sonic flavor and never overindulgent".
British music journalist
Chris Nickson
Chris Nickson (born 1954) is a British writer, novelist, music journalist, and biographer.
Biography
Nickson was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, but lived in the United States from the age of 21, returning to the UK in 2005. As a music journalist ...
wrote in ''
CMJ New Music Monthly
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...
'' that ''Ça Va'' is "sweet subversion". He said it is deceptively "lush and friendly", but underneath "the lyrics are little razor blades, just waiting to cut you". Nickson described the album as "pure, sophisticated pop for intelligent people." Reviewing the album in ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'', American film and music critic
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny (born August 8, 1959) is an American film critic and journalist. He writes for ''The New York Times'' and '' RogerEbert.com''.
Biography
Kenny attended William Paterson University, where he majored in English literature. He remarked that while the songs are not quite the "eccentric" Moore/Blegvad compositions from their earlier work, and Blegvad and Moore are not collaborating as much as they used to, "the way they play together makes this a 'real' Slapp Happy record". Kenny said the sound is "deceptively slick", and "it's the 'subdued' Krause who defines, or scars, these varied pop songs".
Track listing
Personnel
*
Anthony Moore
Anthony Moore (also known as Anthony More) (born 13 August 1948) is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, i ...
– keyboards, programming, guitars, saz (
baÄŸlama
The baÄŸlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...
), toy
theremin
The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...
, percussion,
melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...
, vocals (lead on "Coralie")
*
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad (born August 14, 1951) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, writer, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of German/English avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many sol ...
– guitars, bass, percussion, vocals (lead on "Powerful Stuff")
*
Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause (born 4 June 1950) is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups including Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. Her ...
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad (born August 14, 1951) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, writer, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of German/English avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many sol ...