Album Review: Pink Martini - A Retrospective

Welcome to the sepia-toned world of Pink Martini, a nostalgic universe of refined, central European glamour and Oregon artiness. Its multi-lingual soundtrack has a pre-Boomer charm and naughtiness. All of a sudden it's wooden rackets and white slacks, a stiff gin never out of reach.

To pull off retro pastiche is always tricky. So easy to be awful. Thankfully, Pink Martini are largely fabulous, as A Retrospective duly notes. Comprising the big kahunas from their nigh on 20-year jaunt through jazz/pop/ethno/retro, it's the obvious aperitif to a splendid evening. However, that's not to say there's anything aristocratic about them. Pink Martini just love getting down with the peasants. Very European. Of course, their French language 'smash', Sympathique, is here, still oozing Gallic sass after all these years. But we get much more than Piaf parody with China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale. The Calabrian swoon of Una Notte A Napoli and the rambunctious Iberian town square stomp of Anna are also just part of the, er, cocktail. (There, I said it.) If you haven't already heard it over dinner, you surely will. However, you do have to wonder what drove such inexplicably bad examples as Auld Lang Syne and a botched Que Sera Sera. Sometimes the strains don't quite come together and yet with Pink Martini that's okay. It's the sheer flamboyance and untrammelled joy of it that makes it all so 'drinkable'.

Pink Martini might not sound like a regular Portland band but their 'indie' spirit is obvious. They are respectful but they have fun with it all, and whilst it is unashamedly rose-tinted it is also just decadent enough to stay interesting. A Retrospective is like a boozy evening in or a raucous night out. Either way, it's certainly not introspective.