Stage Whisper
Elektra
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Charlotte Gainsbourg may be renowned for her beautifully nuanced acting in independent and European art-house films, but it was her singing voice at the tender age of 13 that marked her first real appearance on the artistic stage.
That was in 1984, when she did a duet with her father, the musical chameleon Serge Gainsbourg, on the disco-driven Lemon Incest.
Two years later, she released her debut album, Charlotte For Ever. While the record remains a delicate pleasure, it was a Charlotte Gainsbourg album virtually in name only, as her father's fingerprints were all over the record - from his production skills to his penning all but one song.
Perhaps it was partly this - and, of course, a burgeoning film career - that saw Gainsbourg junior disappear from the musical landscape, only to re-emerge two decades later with 5:55, for which she once again enlisted some outside help: the French electronic duo Air, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and the Irish singer-songwriter Neil Hannon all pitched in with songwriting duties.
But unlike her debut, 5:55 found Gainsbourg consciously going out of her way to distance herself musically from her father, going so far as to sing most of the album in English. The approach yielded mixed results: while retaining some of her father's lyrical mannerisms in terms of sensual subject matter, she managed - courtesy of Air - to create a more luscious, dreamlike sound, heavy on imagery, with Gainsbourg's accented voice only adding to the ethereal vibe of the project.
It was in her third album that she truly found her own voice, after a water-skiing accident in 2007 caused a near-fatal brain haemorrhage. She survived the surgery and returned to the studio to release the stunning IRM, named after the French acronym for the MRI medical scanner. On the album, she teamed up with the eclectic Beck to produce her most confident record yet, full of her trademark whispery sass but backed up with rockier and more rugged arrangements.
Her latest offering, the double CD release Stage Whisper, is a pleasant holding pattern rather than another leap forward.
Stage Whisper offers only a scant seven tracks - leftovers from the IRM sessions - alongside a live CD of performances taken from her 2010 European summer tour.
However, before crying foul, it takes a few listens to understand the omissions from IRM. Happily for the listener, it was not because of any perceived lack of quality - none of the tracks feels tossed off - but because they did not fit lyrically or musically with the tightly coiled atmosphere of IRM.
The lead single and opener Terrible Angels also confirms that the songwriting collaboration between Beck and Gainsbourg had plenty of gas left in the tank.
Beginning with Gainsbourg's detached a cappella vocals, the track escalates to encompass buzz-saw synth-lines before locking on to a stomping groove the likes of which made Goldfrapp famous.
The acoustic-driven White Telephone sounds dispassionately personal, with Gainsbourg's vocals taking a back seat to the baroque arrangement, which includes a tender violin and double bass.
The funky Paradisco shows Gainsbourg can also have fun as she coos over a darkly pulsating bass line, while in the folk-tinged Memoir, co-written with the Villagers' Conor O'Brien, she recalls the intimacy of early Belle and Sebastian.
There is also something to say about the live portion of Stage Whisper, demonstrating Gainsbourg's growing confidence as a live performer in not only delivering her own songs, but in her interpretations as well: her warm and intimate take on Bob Dylan's Just Like a Woman being a real treat.
Instead of giving us an insight into Gainsbourg's future musical direction, Stage Whisper is content to encompass her past influences, as well as celebrating her present musical growth.
It is an inviting pit stop on a musical path yet to reach its peak.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18
Romarinho, Brazil
Lassana Diarra, France
Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan
Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
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Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019
December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'
JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.
“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”
November 26: ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’
SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue.
SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."
October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'
MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.
“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December."
