Track Listing

1. Night Nurse
2. Ginger Snaps
3. I Deserve It
4. Out Walking
5. Moonshot
6. Hear the Wind Blow
7. Your Baby
8. Threw It Away
9. Knives from Bavaria
10. Random Rules
11. Indian Summer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56728 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-03
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
In the tradition of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, L'Avventura is a sly, silky, sexy, and romantic record. Singing together and apart, Dean and Britta have created a distinctive collection of originals and classic songs that evoke the warm breeze of spring and amour. 'Bohemian antiheroes' - Elle. Produced by the legendary Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T Rex, Moody Blues). Jetset. 2003.

Amazon.com
With time marching relentlessly on and a gaggle of teen stars crowding you at every turn, what are maturing alt-rock cult heroes to do? If you're the nouveau team of Luna's Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham, you recruit veteran producer Tony Visconti and cut an album of originals and idiosyncratic, if nigh-perfect cover choices both familiar (Madonna's "I Deserve It," Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Moonshot," the Doors' "Indian Summer") and obscure (Angel Corpus Christi's regretful "Threw it Away," Silver Jews' "Random Rules") that evoke a couple decade's worth of artful sophistication, infused with a beautifully understated, ironic sense of Euro-detachment that evokes Edith Piaf as much as it does the Velvet Underground. Those smart sensibilities--be it the gorgeous, dreamy vocal somnambulism of Phillips's "Out Walking" or the deadpan Wareham brings to the droll wordplay of "Ginger Snaps" or harmonizing with his partner on the lush, string-backed "Night Nurse"--are crucially abetted by producer Visconti, who wraps their airy, detached voices in spare, sparkling settings that invoke everything from Parisian cabaret to Warhol's glory days and beyond, weaving a sophisticated tapestry of art-rock that's as deceptively laconic as it is day-dreamy evocative. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Some really beautiful stuff here
There's not a bad song on here. That said, there are definitely some highlights. My favorites, after about 10 listens, are the Buffy St. Marie cover, "Moonshot," and the Opal cover "Hear the Wind Blow." These two really stand out and are just really beautiful. "Moonshot" is downright inspiring to me. I also really enjoy the mystery of "Knives from Bavaria," and "Night Nurse" is a great opener.

When I read the pre-press about what Dean and Britta would be covering, I could not believe they'd chosen "Indian Summer" to be included--it may be the most beautiful of any songs the Doors ever recorded. I can remember listening to that song repeatedly as a junior in high school and feeling that I was in love for the first time. Here, it's obviously not the same, 'cause Dean just doesn't have the depth of Morrison's voice, or the sort of drug and alcohol-induced detachment, I'd say, but it's still good. In keeping with the Doors' original, it still sounds ceremonial with the maracas and the subtle wall of sound at the chorus.

"Random Rules" is one of my favorite songs off American Water by the Silver Jews, and this song was another reason I had to pick up this album. Just to hear how Dean would do it. At first, I missed the trumpet from the original, but I got over it. This version's a bit more laid back than Dave Berman's, and Dean's definitely put his own spin on it in that way. There's just not the same desperation as in the original. Or the dryness.

Luna fans will probably like this album. Although some people are saying it's a progression from Romantica, it is definitely not a Luna album. Tony Visconti's strings are prominent on several tracks, there's not the level of guitar involvement Dean would normally enlist from himself and Sean Eden, and Britta's role is enlarged here. She sings on several of the tracks and contributes original compositions for "Out Walking" and "Your Baby." I have to admit, at first, these songs disturbed me slightly, and I don't know why. Maybe because of the layers of production? I don't know. They're not bad songs. Just kind of reminded me of a sweeter version of Hope Sandoval's latest work. It's probably just that candy syrup sweetness that got me and turned me on my ear.

A Must Have
I highly recommend this effort by Dean and Britta. It is very good. I'm not much for describing music, so I suggest you take a listen to the audio clips on this site. If you are not familiar with Luna, where Dean and Britta are current members, may I suggest Luna's offical website. There are tour dates there for L'Avventura. I bring a biased opionion to this review since I am a huge Luna fan. I have roamed around looking for new Luna music since I first found this band years ago when they opened for Lou Reed. We'll, all I can say is buy this CD and enjoy!

hoorah for dean and britta
I've been anticipating this album for quite a long time, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. I mean, we all know that Luna is a great band, so a collaboration between Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips was sure to be quite a treat. And with Tony Visconti as the producer, there was no way that "l'avventura" could be anyththing short of great. "Ginger Snaps," and "Night Nurse are pop perfection. Whenver i listen to them, no matter how i am feeling, they cheer me up. There is just something about the airy softness of Britta's voice next to Dean's deeper voice that makes this duet irresistable. If that hasn't peaked your interest enough, then I'll leave you with this: dean sings vocals on the Madonna cover "I Deserve it."