Punishing Kiss
Ute Lemper
2000
Album Summary
Punishing Kiss is a studio album by German singer Ute Lemper, released in 2000 by Decca Records. It is the product of a collaboration between Lemper and the Divine Comedy and includes songs by the latter artist, as well as Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Philip Glass, Tom Waits, Scott Walker and Ute Lemper's signature artist, Kurt Weill. Most of the songs feature the Divine Comedy as Lemper's backing band. Neil Hannon and Joby Talbot also contributed two original songs and an arrangement of Brecht and Weill's "Tango Ballad", while Hannon sang two songs ("Tango Ballad", "Split") as duets with Lemper. The French version of the album includes a bonus CD with three songs in French. Arthur H sings with Lemper on "Maison Close", the translation of "Tango Ballad". The Japanese version of the album includes an additional track: "Lullaby", written by Scott Walker.
WikipediaThis kind of cabaret-muzak tripe owes 99% of its sales to business entities. The "corporate communications" departments at outfits like the Marriott Group approve it as album of the month, and this moves a few hundred thousand units. It spends its 30 days of patronage on repeat in hotel lobbies and art gallery gift shops, and afterwards it ends up in op-shops. The corporate world then forgets about Ute Lemper because Norah Jones has a new album out, it's lounge jazz covers of Soundgarden songs and for some reason, hotel chain executives think that is a good idea. Meanwhile, the wider public remains mostly unaware of this album's existence. Maybe Ute will have another album in a few years that's picked up in the same fashion, but for the moment she goes back to whatever artsy-fartsy theatrical bubble she came from. Soon enough the op-shops, inundated with copies of an album no one's ever heard of - let alone care enough about to pay $2 for - give up on trying to sell copies of it as individual units, and include them in bulk lots that are offloaded to Chinese ebay merchants. The CDs remain in warehouses just outside Shenzhen, the ebay listings untouched. This repeats as bulk lots are shifted from reseller to reseller. But the CDs never sell, and after a while they end up in landfill. The booklets disintegrate and the plastic begins to slowly decompose. Climate change eradicates humanity long before the CD cases are broken down into their base elements. Eventually, as the universe expands beyond its ability to maintain thermodynamic energy, everything comes to a slow, frozen, irreversible halt. 2/5.
You know when you were a kid, and your parents dragged you along to some event? And you sat there, quietly and politely, all the while withering away inside and wishing it was over so you could do literally anything else? I have never heard that feeling captured so impeccably into music as I did here.
Awful in ways difficult to describe. A performance hammier than a telenovela set on a pig farm, wrapped in spun-sugar arrangements so saccharine they made my teeth melt. This has been, easily, my least favourite offering on this app so far. Punishing Kiss is ridiculous, but not in any kind of fun way - it feels like a horribly calculated misstep. I imagine this is in 1001 albums one must listen to, so that every now and again were are consoled that the sweet embrace of the tomb is not so far away.
I listened to this while playing the Lord of The Rings game on my psp and eating mint aero so I think maybe it was situation that I'm giving a 4.
If James Bond theme music was just about real life shit. This would be the theme music and I dig it
Ute is new to me. Such a powerful voice, and I loved the orchestration. They kind of feel like Bond tunes, with how dark and grand many of them are. Pleased to hear a couple Tom Waits tunes on the album.
This was an interesting album. A bit slow for my taste but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A cool thing about this is how you can clearly hear the influences of the "guest" artists for each song
Music beds were awesome. Cool, jazzy, emotional, experimental. Vocals and lyrics were over dramatic. This seems like what theater kids listen to.
I feel like I *should* like this... I like Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Elvis Costello quite a bit, I like this style of cinematic 60s belter... it just doesn't connect for me. Maybe it's the darker modern production and the heavy leaning on strings over brass in the arrangements... this needs some big ol' Henry Mancini swells or something. This style of music is self-aware enough to wink at the audience but it's being blended with songwriting so self-serious that it keeps its winking behind closed doors. However, I could see this album being a grower worth revisiting.
this is the sort of album that makes you feel small until you realise it's Vegas cabaret schmaltz, not decadent chaise-longue sophistication
I fully believe the lyrics were written by a teenager making their first attempt at erotic fan-fiction and you cannot convince me otherwise.
After learning The Divine Comedy produced this, my thought was “of course.” I never heard of The Divine Comedy before this list/site, but they’re headlining my shitlist.
The lyrics on the first song were so literal... Then I saw Nick Cave co-write and that made complete sense. I feel like this album would be a first draft pick in the middle of a manic episode.
Felt like a musical. The features are very noteworthy. Not the biggest fan of the vocals, but I loved the rest
This album is fucking hilarious. Ute Lempter is the female German version of John Mulaney. I feel like this is a in a 57 minute SNL skit of cabaret absurdity. For example... "your head is a big red balloon" "my pretty breasts are piled high with stones ... and tiny little fishes enter me" "if sex were an Olympic sport, we would've won the gold..." and from the whorehouse song... "I got the brain, and she supplied the breast ... " It's all so terrible. If this is supposed to be serious, then it's really sad and ... terrible. But if this is a huge joke (which it seems to be), then it's great. It did get tiresome after the first 30+ mins., but this album was a welcome bit of levity on 1001.
What a mixed bag. I wasn't sure what to expect going in but I saw names like Tom Waits and Nick Cave so I was hopeful. I think this music works better in small doses. I could see myself listening to more of her work and some of the songs on this album again. Ute has a nice voice and the music is generally good but sometimes the songs drag a bit. At about an hour I was ready for it to be over even if it was a mostly pleasant experience.
This album doesn't live up to its billing. If you listened to it cold, you would never guess that the singer is the former star of a major production of Cabaret (playing Sally Bowles!). My friend compared it to a Moira Rose concept album, which is hilarious, if a bit unkind. Not totally inaccurate, though. There were a couple of tracks I really liked, but most were bland and uninspiring. Best track: You Were Meant for Me
What a bonkers album. Didn't sound particularly good, not sure if it gains or loses points for the song about the whorehouse. Either way a 4/10
Ute Lemberg has a fantastic voice and the collaboration with The Divine Comedy is an interesting one but the album doesn’t have enough of a spark to sustain your interest.
Brand new to me. First 2 songs YES! 3rd song not so much. As it goes along I still prefer the opening songs . Reminds me of Holly Cole at times. All in all there are some enjoyable moments, particularly The Case Continues and Split but in the end I'm left wondering as I have from time to time with this list; why this artist? why this album? 2.5 🌟
Started off thinking it could be interesting and quirky but the singing quickly got annoying
Ute Lemper is best known for her interpretations of Kurt Weill, so covering artists influenced by Kurt Weill might turn out to be either inspired or reductive. Looking at the track list, I was like "Oh, yeah, Elvis Costello's later work is influenced by Kurt Weill," which had never occurred to me before. I'll be interested to see if that's true about Philip Glass. Of course, everyone knows that's true of Tom Waits and Nick Cave. But who are Noel Scott Engel and Neil Hannon, both of whom have the lion's share of composing credits? Oh, shit--Noel Scott Engel is Scott Walker, who Americanized the songs of Jacques Brel and who never met a 72 piece orchestra he didn't want to masturbate to. Neil Hannon is the founder of the contemporary group The Divine Comedy, a throwback to the days when melody was paramount and kitchen sink arrangements were the norm. Worse, the members of The Divine Comedy are the backing musicians! I dislike The Divine Comedy and both of the latter composers, so now I'm more than a little apprehensive about Punishing Kiss. Here goes. Predictably, it all falls flat, but it's difficult to accurately apportion blame. Of course, no song would have had a prayer of withstanding the overwrought orchestrations and performances of The Divine Comedy, but the effect is to make all the songs seem slight and jejune, even the Kurt Weill piece, which can't possibly be true. Ute Lemper strikes me here as melodramatic in her readings instead of deadpan, which is more appropriate for a Weill-influenced set, but she really had no choice given the accompaniment. At least she's better than Neil Hannon, who is pure ham in his duets with Lemper. Pretty fucking awful.
I would describe the process of listening to this album as "tortuous". Absolutely. Fucking. Miserable.
Inorganic and stiff, nice execution but with as much soul as elevator or mezzanine music. Was going to give it a 2 for the execution but meh
Proof that not every stage star should record an album. A voice that gyrates between annoying and awful with all of the appeal of fingernails scraping a chalkboard. This has a William Shatner meets William Hung element to it.
Really love the voice, old style cabaret singing on Tom Waits and Elvis Costello is something I never knew I needed. What I didn't need was dude from Divine Comedy singing on here at all and his songs just really dull the whole record. The Kurt Weill written song I get but it isn't for me, I can't knock it for that though so it's a 6.8 for me
Tango Ballad: Quando canta il tizio della Divine Comedy non so perché mi ricorda le colonne sonore di Akira Yamaoka, tipo quella di Silent Hill 4 In conclusione: Sono in difficoltà sulla votazione. I primi due pezzi m'hanno fatto pensare che questo album sarebbe stato un 5, purtroppo però manca di consistenza, che è anche comprensibile considerando la quantità di gente che ha partecipato. Ute Lemper è senza dubbio talentuosa, forse a tratti esce troppo la sua vena musical e diventa un po' patetica, però dall'altra parte il fatto che è anche attrice le dona un'interpretazione che quando funziona fa venire la pelle d'oca. Purtroppo nella maggior parte dei pezzi non fa click però con qualche eccezione tipo Little Water Song, The Case Continues o You Were Meant For Me. Che dire, peccato, nei punti più alti è sicuramente da 5, purtroppo però la media è così così. Mi sento comunque di premiarlo con un 4.
I liked this alot. Zo rustig, zo mooi, een echt verhaal in het album, een beetje musical een beetje niet. Ik ga dat zeker nog eens opzetten. De tango ballad ging gewoon hard
Fantastic singing, poetry and writing. I think Ute gets too much credit here, though. She's got an amazing voice and is unique talent. But the people who wrote the songs, and the guy who re-envisioned them should get at least 50% of the credit, in my opinion. That aside, still a four star album.
Wow, what a voice! Each tune, although I guess very broadly in the "pop" category, is also sort of operatic/Broadway show-tune-y, and her talent is there to pull it off. Sounds like a very interesting person, too.
A strong voice, a style of music you don't hear every day and an armada of famous songwriters.... This album has all the ingredients for a great experience and it doesn't disappoint
WTF is this? Lush, orchestral pop songs about sexual violence? It's certainly a unique concept and the performances are solid. It's exactly what I expect to be included in a list of 1001 Albums. There are a variety of songwriters on the album and Ute's skill as an actress is put to good use. She fits her voice to styles of Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and others. If this album was meant to have a single, "Split" might be it. Ute's voice sounds great and it's upbeat.
This is beautifully arranged. Vocals are very emotive and the storytelling is really nice. Very intimate. VERY caberet. Feels like I'm in a latenight candlelit club filled with smoke. Purely for vibes, I like it. The songwriting just makes it better.
This was great. I liked how eclectic and witchy the sound was. It reminded me of Ys by Joanna Newsom but less consistent.
It says a lot for an artist when some of the greatest songwriters of your era write an album’s worth of songs for you to perform. It’s fun listening to the songs and trying to guess who the songwriter is. I can hear Nick Cave’s voice in the epic first song and I was sure that he must have done his own version, but apparently not. The one Philip glass contribution is easy to pick out as is the first Elvis song. The Case Continues, by Neil Hannon is maybe my favourite on the album - I especially love strings. My co-judge and I saw her perform this live at Massey Hall in 2001 with a bunch of Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel songs thrown in, so I have a slight bias.
Je ne comprends pas les mauvaises notes, en tout cas c'est tout droit dans mon allée.
Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits ja vielä Neil Hannonkin mukana, what's not to like? Kovin kaunista tämä, eeppista ja oopperallista olemaan kuitenkaan liikaa mitään näistä ollakseen selkeästi pop-musiikkia. Aivan varmasti kuuntelen uudestaan.
Interesting album to rate. Obviously they are covers, but there is artistry in their selection and arrangement. Surprisingly enjoyed it all. It was baroque and a bit goofy at times. But the record is good and the songs stitch together to tell a story.
Hadn't heard of Ute Lemper before, but thoroughly enjoyed this. Sultry, dark, caberet. I appreciate that this list has albums like this on it. Suffers a little from early 00s super shiny production. Favorite tracks: "The Case Continues", "Streets of Berlin", "Tango Ballad"
This lacks a bit of life, which keeps it from being as beautiful a set of songs as it hints at. Lemper has a good voice, but the recordings seem a bit by-the-numbers. Ditto with the instrumentals, though they have nicely sharp bits. It's certainly cozy, though, and I can see myself returning if I become fonder of any of the non-Scott Walker writers or listen to more Lemper or Divine Comedy. The closing song is a great Walker suite, but it speaks to his strengths more than it reinforces the rest of the album.
I would never have heard this without this project, I maynever hear it again, but it was a nice listen while it was here. There are a couple of wonderful songs, and a couple of almost unbearable ones. Those couple of wonderful ones are so wonderful they make up for the rest. The woman has a killer voice too.
Interesting idea for an album but the music just didn’t sit well with me. 5
Eerie and beautiful. I don't think I'll revisit it, but the haunting sound here will stick for a while.
6/10. Weird that there was a duet about missing the good old days when they were living in a whorehouse.
5/10. This was so weird, the vocal performance was great but the songs were so cheesy and I only liked a few of them
Buen disco. Tiene algún tema maravilloso y otros demasiado grandilocuentes y agotadores
Is this a musical? Very wierd, but interesting. A lot of drama. Music was a little... cabaret for me at times, but also quite beautiful. A lot of big names on here...I don't really understand what's going on, but it kept me semi intrigued
Great voice; the lyrics dig into deep narrative and character development. Tho it sometimes falls into too much edgy cynicism for my taste
This has strong musical vibes. Which for me means I sort of hate it. I love to listen to the soundtrack for a musical if I know the songs and can sing along. It’s a chicken/egg situation.
Did listen, and quite liked. If you were into this go see Camille O’Sullivan if ever things open up enough for gigs to be played.
Wow I actually like this album (Apple Music previews), but it's not available here :(
Sounds like it are musical songs All songs are good, but feel like there from a musical 3,5/5
A strong vocal performance from Ute Lemper. My first time listening to any of her work, but I'm very much intrigued to hear more of her music.
So theatrical. A bit surprised to see some Tom Waits covers but it sort of makes sense. I generally do not get into this sort of thing, but she's clearly talented.
Nah I'm skipping this one, who is this person and why should I care lol I'm sorry if this is pretentious but like cmon
Pas trop mon style mais belle voix. Je n'ai pas écouté jusqu'au bout. 3
Esta chido... pero como que le hecha mucha crema a la voz y termina enfadando.
A bit odd, a bit musical, a bit over the top in places. Had never heard of this person but don't mind the album.
A German cabaret singer who I heard in my childhood in Hunchback of Notredam. (see Spotify most listen) Again, I wonder why it's one of the 1001 albums? (6/10) FT: Tango Ballad, The Part You Throw Away
Too theatrical to my liking, but there's no denying the singer's presence.
3 stars. Nothing interesting here to talk about. Just a lengthy pseudo-musical record that doesn’t do much for me
I think it's really fun. The vocals fucking rip honestly. Maybe the writing isn't exactly the best. But it's super fun, feels like dramatic as it gets.