Nouvelle Vague

With this set of cover songs by new wave artists and the film music covers collection Coming Home, Nouvelle Vague's Marc Collin and DJ Gilles LeGuen move beyond the bossa nova-meets-post-punk concept of Nouvelle Vague's first two albums. Nouvelle Vague's ability to find just the right songs shines through on all of their releases -- even when their interpretations of the songs falls a bit short -- so it makes sense that the simply named New Wave is worth hearing. That these tracks are also reinterpretations is a clever nod to the group's origins, but it never feels too contrived. The mix of popular and obscure artists on New Wave shows how good Nouvelle Vague have become at being curators: mixing Devo's famously mechanical take on "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," Gary Numan's icy "On Broadway," and Nico's imperious version of "Heroes" with Polyphonic Size's "Mother's Little Helper" -- which rivals the Normal's "Warm Leatherette" for the title of new wave's frostiest song -- and Karel Fialka's almost comically doomy "People Are Strange" makes for just the right mix of familiarity and discovery. Telex's vocoder-riffic "Dance to the Music" and the Slits' breathless, intense "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" are some of the other standouts from a collection that manages to put a fresh twist on new wave compilations. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide