Ute

Ute Lemper - City of Strangers (1995) {Decca 444 400-2}
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© 1995 Decca Records | 444 400-2
Vocal / Jazz / Cabaret / Classical / Modern

Although Ute Lemper is best known to her devoted cult following as one of the great cabaret singers of all time, the German-born singer began as a stage actress, and has continued this career in tandem with her cabaret work. 1995's CITY OF STRANGERS combines the two sides of Lemper's musical persona, putting songs by the idiosyncratically brilliant Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim next to chansons by the equally unique French composer Jacques Prevert.

Ute Lemper - Punishing Kiss (2000) {Decca POCF-1025, Japan Edition}
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© 2000 Decca Records Japan | POCF-1025
Vocal / Pop / Art Pop / Baroque Pop / Cabaret / Contemporary Pop

Ute Lemper has developed a reputation as a successor to Lotte Lenya with the looks of Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich, a northern European chanteuse with a taste for the decadent sound of Weimar Germany; she is arguably the definitive interpreter of Kurt Weill for her generation. Punishing Kiss, her first album devoted primarily to songs by contemporary songwriters, extends her reputation by incorporating the work of artists influenced by Weill. Many listeners not previously familiar with her will be drawn in by the presence of previously unrecorded songs by Elvis Costello (who contributed three selections), Tom Waits (two), and Nick Cave (one). But the primary collaborators on the album are the members of the British group the Divine Comedy, who provide the backing tracks on most of the songs, and three compositions by group members Neil Hannon and Joby Talbot, with Hannon singing duet vocals on three tracks.

Ute Lemper - Illusions (1992) {Decca 436 720-2}
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© 1992 Decca | 436 720-2
Vocal / Pop / Art Pop / Baroque Pop / Cabaret

ILLUSIONS is one of Ute Lemper's purest artistic statements. Like the similar UTE LEMPER SINGS KURT WEILL, this album is a tribute, this time to two of her clearest influences, Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf. Though Lemper doesn't actually sound much like either singer (her voice is far more robust than Piaf's, and more expressive than Dietrich's), she finds the emotion at the heart of "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," and similarly has Dietrich's cool delivery down, giving a different twist to songs like "Jonny, Wenn Du Gerburtstag Hast."