Misplaced Pages

IRM
Studio album by Charlotte Gainsbourg
Released	7 December 2009 (2009-12-07)
Studio	Anonyme (Los Angeles) Blue Mountain (London) Capitol (Hollywood) The Library (North Hollywood) Ocean Way (Los Angeles) Wack Formula (London)
Genre	Alternative rock indie pop
Length	41:27
Label	Because Elektra
Producer	Beck Hansen
Charlotte Gainsbourg chronology
5:55 (2006) IRM (2009) Stage Whisper (2011)
Singles from IRM
"Heaven Can Wait" Released: 17 November 2009 "Time of the Assassins" Released: 12 April 2010

IRM is the third studio album by French electropop singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, with all songs written and produced by Beck except "Le Chat Du Café Des Artistes" (written by Jean-Pierre Ferland). The album title was inspired by the French initialism for an MRI scanner. The title track was released as a free download on 9 October 2009. The album was mostly recorded at Beck's home studio in Los Angeles, California. The lead single is "Heaven Can Wait", a duet with Beck, and was released on 2 November. The music video for "Heaven Can Wait" was directed by Keith Schofield and was released on 19 November 2009. The video for "Heaven Can Wait" was named one of the Top 20 best music videos of 2009 by Spin Magazine. "Trick Pony" is featured in the football video game by EA Sports, FIFA 11.

According to Gainsbourg, IRM "was Beck's view of what I had gone through, and not mine."

In 2012 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.2/10
Metacritic	80/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	B+
The Daily Telegraph
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
The Independent
Los Angeles Times
Pitchfork	8.4/10
Rolling Stone
Spin	7/10

The album currently has a Metacritic score of 80/100 based on 21 professional reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Beck Hansen, except where noted

Note

• "La Collectionneuse" contains extracts from Guillaume Apollinaire's Alcools and Le Guetteur mélancolique poem collections.

Personnel

Musicians

• Charlotte Gainsbourg – vocals (all tracks), flute (track 10), piano (13)
• Beck Hansen – guitar (1, 3, 5–7, 9–11), drum programming (1, 2), vocals (2, 3, 5, 6, 8–10, 13), bass guitar (2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12), synthesizer (2, 3), percussion (3, 5, 6, 9, 10), piano (3, 5, 10), acoustic guitar (4, 8, 12); marimba, recorder (6); keyboards (12), keyboard bass (13)
• David Campbell – string arrangements, conductor (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11–13)
• Drew Brown – drum programming (1, 2), bass guitar (1), string arrangements (2), effects (12, 13); keyboards, strings (13)
• Matt Mahaffey – banjo (1)
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen – percussion (1)
• Joey Waronker – drums (2, 3, 6, 8, 10–12), percussion (2, 3, 6, 10, 12)
• Brian LeBarton – drums (2), celeste (4, 10), bass guitar (5, 10), percussion (5, 6, 12, 13), tambourine (5), marimba (6), synthesizer (8), drum machine (10), piano (11)
• James Gadson – drums (2, 3, 13)
• Matt Sherrod – drums (2, 5)
• Alex Acuña – percussion (2, 12)
• Bram Inscore – bass guitar (4, 7, 8, 11), celeste (4)
• Jason Falkner – acoustic guitar (4), guitar (8)
• David Ralicke – saxophone (5, 11)
• Matt Demeritt – tenor saxophone (5, 11)
• Chris Bautista – trumpet (5, 11)
• Monique McGuffin – harp (7)
• Alice Attal – voice (10)

Technical

• Beck Hansen – production
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Drew Brown – mixing, engineering
• Darrell Thorp – mixing, engineering
• Rouble Kappor – engineering assistance
• Wesley Seidman – engineering assistance

Artwork

• Nathalie Canguilhem – art direction
• Audrey Prudhomme – design
• Fouad Allaoui – design
• Raphaël Garnier – design
• Autumn de Wilde – photography
• Jean-Baptiste Mondino – photography
• Nick Knight – photography
• Paul Jasmin – photography

Charts

Release history

Sunset Sound EP

On 13 April 2010, Gainsbourg released a five-track EP called Sunset Sound EP, which contains four songs from IRM recorded live at Sunset Sound Recorders with Beck Hansen.

Promotional tour

To promote IRM, Gainsbourg embarked on her first live tour by performing at several venues, music festivals and television shows in North America, Europe and Asia.

• 9 December 2009 – Taratata on France 2
• 10 December 2009 – Le Grand Journal on Canal+
• 11 December 2009 – Taratata on France 4
• 19 January 2010 – The Bell House, Gowanus, Brooklyn
• 20 January 2010 – The Bell House
• 22 January 2010 – Theater of Living Arts, Philadelphia
• 22 January 2010 – Late Show with David Letterman
• 23 January 2010 – Exclusive concert and interview for Canal+ (France)
• 23 January 2010 – The Hiro Ballroom, New York City
• 28 January 2010 – Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW
• 11 April 2010 – Vogue Theatre, Vancouver
• 12 April 2010 – Elemental Night Club, Victoria, British Columbia
• 14 April 2010 - Live performance on KEXP-FM
• 14 April 2010 – Crocodile Cafe, Seattle
• 15 April 2010 – Wonder Ballroom, Portland, Oregon
• 17 April 2010 – Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
• 18 April 2010 – Coachella Festival, Indio, California
• 21 April 2010 – Park West, Chicago
• 23 April 2010 – Olympia, Montreal
• 24 April 2010 – Olympia, Montreal
• 25 April 2010 – Webster Hall, New York City
• 14 June 2010 – Le Cargo, Caen
• 15 June 2010 - La Coopé, Clermont-Ferrand
• 16 June 2010 - La Cigale, Paris
• 19 June 2010 - Cirque Royal, Brussels
• 20 June 2010 - Aeronet, Lille
• 22 June 2010 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
• 24 June 2010 -Les Nuits de Fourvière, Lyon
• 27 June 2010 - Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg
• 28 June 2010 - Volksbühne, Berlin
• 29 June 2010 - Malta Festival, Poznań
• 2 July 2010 - Eurockéennes, Belfort
• 3 July 2010 - Den Atelier, Luxembourg City
• 4 July 2010 - Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux
• 8 July 2010 - La Cigale, Paris
• 9 July 2010 - La Cigale, Paris
• 10 July 2010 - Les Ardentes, Liège
• 13 July 2010 - Théâtre J Deschamps, Carcassonne
• 14 July 2010 - Traffic Festival, Turin
• 15 July 2010 - Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, Benicàssim
• 16 July 2010 - Les Francofolies de La Rochelle, La Rochelle
• 18 July 2010 - Latitude Festival, Southwold
• 24 October 2010 - Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo
• 26 October 2010 - IMP Hall, Osaka

References

1. "Heaven Can Wait by Charlotte Gainsbourg on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
2. "Time of the Assassins by Charlotte Gainsbourg on Amazon". Amazon.fr. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
3. Hughes, Josiah (2010-04-15). "Time of the Assassins single release". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
4. "IRM Songfacts". Songfacts.com. 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
5. ""IRM" Charlotte Gainsbourg New Album produced by Beck". 9 October 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
6. "Charlotte Gainsbourg's Skull Sessions". February 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-10-26.
7. "Charlotte Gainsbourg - Heaven can wait". YouTube. 2010-01-22. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
8. "The 20 Best Videos of 2009". SPIN.com. 2009-12-14. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
9. E.W. (12 October 2017). "In "Rest", Charlotte Gainsbourg explores the sharp edges of grief". The Economist.
10. "Aktuelles VUT: VUT - Verband unabhängiger Musikunternehmer*innen e. V."
11. "IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
12. ^ "Reviews for IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
13. Phares, Heather. "IRM – Charlotte Gainsbourg". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
14. Williams, Christian (2 February 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
15. McCormick, Neil (19 January 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM, review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
16. Maerz, Melissa (22 January 2010). "IRM". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
17. Costa, Maddy (21 January 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
18. Gill, Andy (29 January 2010). "Album: Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM (Because)". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
19. Wappler, Margaret (25 January 2010). "Album review: Charlotte Gainsbourg's 'IRM'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
20. Dombal, Ryan (28 January 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
21. Sheffield, Rob (25 January 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
22. Young, Jon (14 January 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'IRM' (Because Music/Elektra)". Spin. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
23. Steffen Hung. "Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
24. "Charlotte Gainsbourg - Irm". Musimundo.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
25. Hughes, Josiah (2010-04-15). "XXXChange, Matthew Dear Remix Charlotte Gainsbourg on New EP". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
26. "Charlotte Gainsbourg Plays Her First-Ever Concert". SPIN.com. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
27. "/ Arts - Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hiro Ballroom, Maritime Hotel, New York". Ft.com. 2010-01-27. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
28. "ゲムカツ".
29. "Charlotte Gainsbourg Conquers Stage and Screen, But Still Gets the Jitters". Spinner. 2010-05-03. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2011-02-28.

External links

• Official site
• Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM (CD, Album) at Discogs

• Charlotte Gainsbourg albums
• 2009 albums
• Because Music albums
• Albums arranged by David Campbell (composer)
• Albums produced by Beck
• Albums recorded in a home studio