4 out of 5

Label: Decca, Label Panthéon, Universal Music France, EmArcy

Produced by: Stéphane Lerouge (compilation producer); Vincent Malet (remastered by)

A 5-LP set that swoops through all of de Roubaix’s active composing years, covering a full range of styles from the most traditional to the most outre.

The first three LPs in this set are reprints of some older compilations – Les Plus Belles Musiques De Films, volumes 1, 2, and 3. These cover some big hits, especially on volume 1, getting somewhat rarer across the subsequent volumes. That puts 2 as kind of a middle-of-the-road (although considering the quality of de Roubaix output, that’s still pretty great); volume 3 is notable as it never got a reprint after its 70s original – 1 and 2 had CD releases in the 90s. Volume 3 is also awesome, wouldn’t’ya know, as it plucks from the discarded L’Antarctic soundtrack and some short film – it’s comparatively out-there stuff to the more clearly cinematic works on volumes 1 and 2.

LPs 4 and 5 are odds and sods things, pulling singles from across a ton of releases. They lean on a more traditional French pop / jazz sound, especially volume 5, which is given pretty exclusively over to vocal singles from across de Roubaix’s scores, e.g. Brigittie Bardot singing atop Pierre’s compositions. LP 4 definitely has more of a blend of guitar and electronics, and probably slots between LP1 and 2 above – the tracks show off De Roubaix’s blending of organic and electronic instrumentation, and again covers all of the artist’s active years; it’s more experimental than LP2 but less immediately grabbing than LP1. But just the fact that it pulls some singles from lesser referenced scores makes it worth the time, and its sequencing makes it feel more like a standalone album than the compilation-vibes of volumes 1 and 2; the record maybe resonates as a whole more the more you spin it.

Parts of that notion extend to this whole set: De Roubaix’s works are many, despite his short working time, and that “many” has been shuffled across a lot of compilations. Between the first three volumes in this set, you get a super comprehensive Best Of that’s pretty effective at bucketing the subgenres of the artist’s works together; the final two LPs are great bonus tack-ons that again feel themed – lesser-known works; vocal works. For the non-completists out there, this could be all you’d need, and Vincent Malet’s remastering brings all the material up to a beautiful par: warm electronics; crisp guitar work; even levels.

The docked star is thus mainly due to presentation and packaging. Anything over a double LP tends to get tricky with packaging; LPs are – even if you’re a fan of the format – the most unwieldy of the tape / CD / vinyl trio, and once you start going gatefold and above, different considerations come into play that, to me, determine how often I’ll play something. In this case, you have a box with a lid, and the LPs sit inside of that; you cannot slide an individual one out. Want to play LP4? Open the box, use a sewn-in ribbon to pop out all the LPs, find the one you’re after… You might be more determined than me, but this setup really makes it unlikely I’ll listen to this over some of my single LP records. Presentation-wise, the quality of everything is good – the box is thick; the photos are clear – but I think some context is lacking. I don’t read French, but there is an English translation of the main liner notes, and I used an app to translate the rest – which includes quotes from friends / peers / de Roubaix, both in the booklet and on the LP back covers. While there’s some interesting tidbits in there, you only get two sentences explaining that Volumes 1 – 3 are rereleases, and very, very little info on LPs 4 and 5. I had to translate some French sites and cross-reference tracks on Discogs to get the gist.

Do I regret buying the box? I mean, I am a completionist, but even that said – and even despite the ding on packaging – I think having all these bits in one location is lovely, and encourages listening to the whole box in those instances I’m determined to dig it out.