I bought a full covers album of MBV's Loveless by a band called Japancakes a few weeks back 'cause it seemed like an interesting take, and it's a real grower. All instrumental, the vocal lines are replaced by either violin or lapsteel and the backing is really low key electric piano, guitar and strings with a weird lounge sound at times, others nicely laid back.
As good as it is in places, the whole thing seems a bit unneccesary overall though. What do you make of these kind of covers projects, do they ever really work?
Personally
I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.
It's just that I get very cagey about hearing covers of things which I already deem perfect.
Gawd, I sound like such a puritan.
not heard it yet
but the dirty projectors rise above thing sounds interesting and is sposed to be good. Cover of a Black Flag album from memory which is an interesting idea...
Had a classical versions of beatles' songs album once but it was shite.
what about that piano radiohead covers album?
I remember that being pretty ubiquitous a while ago. Obviously it was used as middle class dinner party music but still there were some interesting versions of songs like 'let down' on there if memory serves.
er
http://drownedinsound.com/articles/3385543
this
*** The ninth single on Sonic Cathedral Recordings, by Japancakes, is released on June 23. Last year, the Athens, Georgia-based post-rockers released their wonderful song-for-song cover of My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’, replacing the vocals with cello and pedal steel. It caused consternation among bloggers the world over, but we’re suckers for pedal steel and commissioned two remixes. On the A-side James Rutledge, who has recently reworked Radiohead and releases records as Pedro, has made ‘Soon’ something that sounds as alien as the time in 1991 when MBV gatecrashed Tommy Vance’s Top 40 rundown. Meanwhile, on the AA-side, Chilean electrogazer Ricardo Tobar has turned ‘Touched’ into six and half minutes of Balearic bliss. What’s more it’s on white vinyl. Pre-order your copy now at… http://www.soniccathedral.co.uk/shop.html
*** To celebrate the release (and the My Bloody Valentine reunion shows) we’re hosting Sunny Sunday Smile at The Social, Little Portland Street, London W1 from 3pm on Sunday June 22. Ricardo Tobar and Winterlight will be playing live, while James Rutledge and James Holden (boss of Ricardo’s label, the brilliant Border Community) will be DJing. If you were lucky enough to bag tickets for the MBV show at The Roundhouse that night, don’t worry – the live stuff will finish early (and we’ll let you in for half-price). If you fancy staying, no problem – the DJs will be on until late. Everyone’s a winner! Tickets are here… http://www.wegottickets.com/event/30978
*** One more bit of My Bloody Valentine-related news is that, from 6pm on Thursday, June 5, we’ll be DJing – alongside James Chapman from Maps – at the launch party for a new exhibition of previously unseen MBV photographs in the brand new Pure Groove shop which is at 6-7 West Smithfield, London EC1. The shots were taken during the band’s 1992 US tour by New York snapper David Fisher and they look great. There’s more information at… http://www.puregroove.co.uk
http://www.soniccathedral.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/soniccathedral
I can't even begin to
contemplate how that could approach anything near the unbridled success of the original. Therefore Japancakes introspective effort is an undercurrent and deemed unworthy my time.
Apologies on sounding downbeat and unnecessarily dismissive.
Sounds interesting
I might have to track this down. A decent cover often reveals aspects of a great song which weren't apparent before. Some of my favourite covers are Colin Meloy singing Morrissey's "Jack the Ripper", Tatu's version of the Smiths' "How Soon is Now" (you'd think from those two I'm a huge Morrissey fan, but I'm not, particularly), Sinead O'Connor covering Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U". And the Helio Sequence did a storming version of Tomorrow Never Knows when I heard them a few weeks ago. (But everyone's had a bash at that).
And Adem's latest album's all covers, and he's some sort of genius.
So yeah. They can work.
I have Isn't Anything and think it's 'just ok'
Do you reckon I'll still find Loveless as good as everyone says it is?
I've got an EP
by Terry Edwards of Jesus and Mary Chain covers, done with sax as the lead instrument, a bit be-bop. It sounds like it would be shit, but in fact it's a very clever take on the tunes. I think he did another EP of tracks by The Fall , but in a ska stylee.
I have a string quartet tribute to Bright Eyes.
It's quite good, though I tend to treat it like karioke (sp?).
does anyone know
why tribute albums normally have one fairly major act on it, but the rest is all bands that you literally have never heard of? im interested to know and have always wondered this.