Cours Lapin

Cours Lapin (Fake Diamond)

By Jonathan Shipley
Published: September 24th, 2010 | 7:00pm

It’s no wonder that when one hears Cours Lapin, a French musical calliope by way of Denmark, one thinks of a movie soundtrack. No wonder one pictures scenes in their minds, real or imaginary. No wonder one listens to a track and thinks of a “scene,” or hears a melody and thinks upon an imagined string of dialogue. It’s because Cours Lapin is made up of Danish film composers. With Asger Baden (keyboards), Peder (keyboards, producer), Jonas Struck (guitar), and Louise Alenius behind the mic, it’s a warm little album that delivers musical theatrics, some large, but most small set pieces. All in all, it’s full of charming chansons, as the French might say.

“Cache Cache” is an up-tempo cat-and-mouse number featuring Alenius’ childlike, delicate, almost fragile voice, while “Homme Contre Femme” is a slow-churning and smoldering tune perfect for a speakeasy as people get their drinks refilled. “1,2,3” sounds like the quiet change scene music of a Cirque du Soleil show as the limber contortionists strut out onstage. The whole record is filled with intimacy, immediacy, and a dash of the unknown underbelly of city living. It’s not at all threatening—I imagine the Smurfs would listen to Cours Lapin if they could—but there is the sense that, behind Alenius’ lyrics, something is lurking in that fantasy world, that the bull is in the china shop, but he’s happily slumbering.

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Cours Lapin MySpace page

Fake Diamond Records