It would be so easy to hate Kad Achouri. With his purple velvet outfit and his louche facial hair, he looks like some kind of dissolute Parisian version of Prince. He covers Cole Porter. He sings with the kind of breathy intimacy that manages to make a Kurt Cobain song sound like a bedroom come-on. But ultimately, you can't hate him because he seems to be genuine -- when he speaks the opening verse of "I Love Paris" in a sober, deadpan voice as if it were the Gettysburg Address, just before swinging into a funky acoustic trip-hop rendition of the chorus, and when he drawls "Come as You Are" like a laid-back and dubbed-up seduction anthem, and when he sings, with a straight face, that "je ne suis pas sur la terre pour tuer les pauvres gens" ("I'm not here on Earth to kill poor people" -- good to know, mon frère), you're able to keep from giggling not so much because he's serious but rather because he's managed to keep those awkward lyrical and musical gestures from becoming ridiculous by virtue of his graceful and careful arrangements. Everywhere jazz, funk, and Mediterranean grooves bump up gently against subtle turntablism and electronica, while lounge flavors mix nicely with dub and reggae inflections. His voice is attractive enough when he sings, and it would be nice if he'd sing more and whisper less. Overall, though, this album exerts a weird but very real charm.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo