I came to think about cover songs I never get tired of. Some of my favourite covers are listed below, but I do not rank the songs this time. Covers should be fun. Pretensions are saved for future posts.
Eva Cassidy - Over the Rainbow
Introducing this list with anyone else than Eva Cassidy would be like forgetting Dennis Bergkamp while you are talking about great football players. First, you buy the compilation Songbird. Then you play the tenth track Over the Rainbow. 3:19 into the song is heartbreaking. I could fill this entire list with Eva Cassidy, and not a single song would be a filler. After you have dried your tears you may as well continue with Fields of Gold (by Sting) and cry some more. Then Kathy's Song (by Simon and Garfunkel). Eva Cassidy is for us who believe that music can be larger than The Embassy and their laptops that froze just in time for the encore at their so called "concert".
The Maybellines - This and That by Acid House Kings
Say Yes If You Love Me is fantastic, but any band can make one hit. It is therefore ironic that a cover song made me understand the greatness of Acid House Kings. After further listening, I realised I had discovered two good bands at once.
Sambassadeur - La Chanson de Prévert by Serge Gainsbourg
The soundtrack of spring 2005 is still played with pleasure, with "skip track" on the remote within reach. Sambassadeur made half a record to love forever.
Pet Shop Boys - Always on My Mind
If I made you feel second best, I'm so sorry, I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
Satisfied
I do not know the whole story behind Always on My Mind, but I know it was recorded by Elvis and that he never did justice to the song. When I think of Pet Shop Boys I think of two songs, It's a Sin and Always on My Mind. The DJs at the discotheques should play Pet Shop Boys more often.
Saint Etienne - Kiss and Make Up by The Field Mice
Some people have made up their mind in advance and already decided to hate. There is no point in trying to reason with people who call Saint Etienne "worthless, braindead euro which only worked because the girl was hot". It is their loss. Saint Etienne is the only British band from the mid-nineties I still listen to a lot today and that is hardly a coincidence. Kiss and Make Up is a brilliant cover of the sleepy original by The Field Mice.
The Arrogants - Shellshock by New Order
It is unusal that good covers do not sound more or less just like the original. Shellshock in this version sounds so much The Arrogants that not even the most hardcore New Order fans would recognize it. That is good for me as I adore The Arrogants while I rate New Order as a good band only.
Kathryn Williams - Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
You don't really care for music, do you?
Laura Watling - Sunday Came and Went by The Castaway Stones
Laura Watling is perhaps the new Amelia Fletcher of the 2000s. This comparison may sound stupid to most people, but to me it is ingenious here and now.
The Shermans - Plastic Bouquet by Tara Emely Needham
I really need to find the original. The Shermans' version sounds like music to grow up to in a nursery. That is of course a compliment.
Belle and Bebastian - Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son by France Gall
Sorry ... Sorry if my French was bad.
Ohh lovely Isobel, you have nothing to apologize for. Unlike France Gall, you can sing this song.
The Lucksmiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
Everyone will sooner or later come to a time in life when one discovers The Smiths. The Smiths have not been and will never become the most important band in my life. In the same way I stopped listen to The Cure, I have also left The Smiths behind me.
The Lucksmiths cover reminds me though about what I saw in The Smiths. No other band can describe a miserable night out better. And this version brings a new meaning to the lyrics. I have always wondered if they were about a very good friend or love.
Honorable mention for their good effect on a dance floor:
Blondie - Hanging on the Telephone by The Nerves
Supergrass - Some Girls Are Bigger than Others by The Smiths
Showing posts with label Arrogants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arrogants. Show all posts
Monday, September 25, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
About being judged on something real
I have written very little about other things than music on this blog. That is a deliberate choice. There are already too many pointless "a day in the life" blogs. Today I make an exception.
For most people life is all about pretending. Some do not know, but that is how it is. Socialisation begins when a child expectantly goes to the first day of school. Many children understand the rules of the game this early. Others pay for naivism much later in life.
The culture sets limits. People are rarely allowed to grow. It is easier to kick than hold out a hand. The indie pop culture is sometimes nice (like when Friday I'm in Love is played at the pop club on a Friday night as the first song after a concert) but just as often disgusting. I remember when I was new in Lund and visited Club Indigo at Blekingska for the first time. A stranger came up to me and asked me a lot of things. After I said what I studied, he replied "you know, you do not belong here". Few are as socially stupid as this guy, but the idea of excluding people is very widespread among many sub-cultures in society. A genuine music interest does not suffice to be welcomed by the pop culture. You get judged on what bands you listen to, what clothes you wear, which friends you hang out with and God knows if you are not judged on what you drink as well. This may come out as bitterness, but far too many people you meet are idiots, like people who are completely serious when they state that a blond girl can not be really interested in music because of her hair colour. That is one example among many.
Life is not a game, we should have left high school behind and I do not care about where you buy your fucking clothes. Raymond and Maria said it best in their summer hit two years ago. Two Fridays ago, I met one or two people (depending on how you count) who made me believe in humanity again. It is the small things that matter.
This wall of text is a long introduction (it may not be an entirely logical one) to what I really wanted to tell. Tonight, I played football with my amateur hobby team (do not get fooled by the term "hobby team", the football is better than you think although it may not be attractive to watch from the side). We lost 4-1 but I still remember an incident from the match with joy. It will be hard to keep up for those of you who never played football yourself. Well, I was the goalkeeper of my team. Being keeper in football is one of the few things in life I can admit I am very good at, without lying and without having to humble myself. If it were not for the fact that I am only 166 cm, I probably would have been capable to be a keeper at a professional level. Now I can go only reach the bar of the goals for teams with seven players. Luckily we played seven against seven on gravel with goals of appropriate size for me.
Anyway, as seen from my perspective the opposite team plays a high cross from my right side directed to my left side. The ball goes in the air in a perfect line to an unmarked player who is approximately six meters in front of the goal line, positioned as wide as my left goal post. I move from the middle of the goal toward my left post while the ball is in the air. The highest priority is the area of the goal near the first post because the ball is likely to get there in the end, and because that is the corner I have to block. The player in the opposite team meets the ball with perfect timing and instead perfectly heads the ball toward my right corner. It is a given goal. I stand on the wrong foot, and as I said I am moving left. I see the ball fly past me high on my right side and then desperately throw myself after it (do not ask how that movement is possible when I stand on the wrong foot). I get a hand on the ball at the height of the bar in the middle of goal and see the ball go out for a corner kick. A sick and impossible save. You see them very rarely. I get praised by all teammates. Sincer praise and nothing they say just to be kind. Life is perfect for a few seconds. In the second half I hear a frustrated player in the opposite team say "it's impossible" after another good save of mine and he obviously means it is impossible to score. Very flattering.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I wish life were as uncomplicated as a perfect sequence in a football game, or as football in general. We are all equal on the pitch and we get judged on what we are doing. Elitism does not exist as long as everyone are fighting for the same goal. You win together and you lose together. The only thing that matters is what really matters. Not what clothes you wear or what bands you listen to.
I can not find a song which captures the feeling perfectly. The Arrogants - Nobody's Cool will do.
For most people life is all about pretending. Some do not know, but that is how it is. Socialisation begins when a child expectantly goes to the first day of school. Many children understand the rules of the game this early. Others pay for naivism much later in life.
The culture sets limits. People are rarely allowed to grow. It is easier to kick than hold out a hand. The indie pop culture is sometimes nice (like when Friday I'm in Love is played at the pop club on a Friday night as the first song after a concert) but just as often disgusting. I remember when I was new in Lund and visited Club Indigo at Blekingska for the first time. A stranger came up to me and asked me a lot of things. After I said what I studied, he replied "you know, you do not belong here". Few are as socially stupid as this guy, but the idea of excluding people is very widespread among many sub-cultures in society. A genuine music interest does not suffice to be welcomed by the pop culture. You get judged on what bands you listen to, what clothes you wear, which friends you hang out with and God knows if you are not judged on what you drink as well. This may come out as bitterness, but far too many people you meet are idiots, like people who are completely serious when they state that a blond girl can not be really interested in music because of her hair colour. That is one example among many.
Life is not a game, we should have left high school behind and I do not care about where you buy your fucking clothes. Raymond and Maria said it best in their summer hit two years ago. Two Fridays ago, I met one or two people (depending on how you count) who made me believe in humanity again. It is the small things that matter.
This wall of text is a long introduction (it may not be an entirely logical one) to what I really wanted to tell. Tonight, I played football with my amateur hobby team (do not get fooled by the term "hobby team", the football is better than you think although it may not be attractive to watch from the side). We lost 4-1 but I still remember an incident from the match with joy. It will be hard to keep up for those of you who never played football yourself. Well, I was the goalkeeper of my team. Being keeper in football is one of the few things in life I can admit I am very good at, without lying and without having to humble myself. If it were not for the fact that I am only 166 cm, I probably would have been capable to be a keeper at a professional level. Now I can go only reach the bar of the goals for teams with seven players. Luckily we played seven against seven on gravel with goals of appropriate size for me.
Anyway, as seen from my perspective the opposite team plays a high cross from my right side directed to my left side. The ball goes in the air in a perfect line to an unmarked player who is approximately six meters in front of the goal line, positioned as wide as my left goal post. I move from the middle of the goal toward my left post while the ball is in the air. The highest priority is the area of the goal near the first post because the ball is likely to get there in the end, and because that is the corner I have to block. The player in the opposite team meets the ball with perfect timing and instead perfectly heads the ball toward my right corner. It is a given goal. I stand on the wrong foot, and as I said I am moving left. I see the ball fly past me high on my right side and then desperately throw myself after it (do not ask how that movement is possible when I stand on the wrong foot). I get a hand on the ball at the height of the bar in the middle of goal and see the ball go out for a corner kick. A sick and impossible save. You see them very rarely. I get praised by all teammates. Sincer praise and nothing they say just to be kind. Life is perfect for a few seconds. In the second half I hear a frustrated player in the opposite team say "it's impossible" after another good save of mine and he obviously means it is impossible to score. Very flattering.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I wish life were as uncomplicated as a perfect sequence in a football game, or as football in general. We are all equal on the pitch and we get judged on what we are doing. Elitism does not exist as long as everyone are fighting for the same goal. You win together and you lose together. The only thing that matters is what really matters. Not what clothes you wear or what bands you listen to.
I can not find a song which captures the feeling perfectly. The Arrogants - Nobody's Cool will do.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Myspace will tear us apart
I do not like Myspace. The people at the Swedish independent record label Service probably felt the same way when they described Myspace's deficits in an eloquent post one week ago.
I can understand that artists may appreciate Myspace as an online community which offers them direct contact to some of their fans. But I do not play in a band, I will not play in a band in the future, and I find Myspace just awful.
I looked through the websites of my favourite bands. The Essex Green are perfect to illustrate my point. The Essex Green gave up their website and moved to Myspace instead. Gone is the The Late Great Cassiopia mp3 link. Gone is the option to view the album covers side by side. Sure, The Essex Green have pimped their Myspace page nicely, but it is not enough. There are too many things that I hate with Myspace:
1. I go to Myspace to get some news updates by my favourite bands (most of them refer to their Myspace pages as they no longer update their websites). Myspace greets me with a song that automatically is played in horrible sound quality. The feeling of the song that simultaneously is played in my media player is ruined. I do not want political propaganda in my mailbox. I do not want a program/script (or whatever it is called) to randomly select a song that is forced upon me. I would like to choose to listen myself, when I feel like it. I should not have to mute my media player just because I want to read some news updates on a band page at Myspace.
2. Myspace allows only four songs on each profile. The mp3 links at the band websites have often ceased to exist and it is no longer possible to listen to the songs the way they should sound. I listened to Katie Goes to Tokyo's Unbelievable at her Myspace page. I felt that the song had potential, but it really sounded dull compared to Until She Breaks. Then I heard Unbelievable on Katie's website and fell in love with the song. It may seem like a case of double standards to complain about the automatic playback at Myspace and then praise the same thing on Katie's website. In the latter case, however, the sound quality is as good as on cd and then you just say thank you and take a bow. Moreover, Katie's website allows me to navigate freely without having the music turned on or off suddenly. That is exemplary.
3. Myspace is ugly. The Essex Green have made an effort to get their page nice, but most bands stick to a standard template. Let us compare the website and the Myspace page of one of my absolute favourite bands, The Arrogants. Their website is true pop music love. The Arrogants allow us to download their first two EPs for free, they put up lyrics, and they upload several exclusive recordings plus cover songs by their friends. Their Myspace page on the other hand seems to exist more as a necessary evil. Admittely, I soften considerably when I hear Jana's voice when she says Nobody's Cool take five though.
4. Everything looks the same. I understand the concept, but it also makes everything aesthetically standardised. The Snow Fairies have really tried to make their Myspace page look fine but it still falls short. The Snow Fairies' website on the other hand feels truly special. To welcome the visitor with a big cover of the album Get Married makes a big difference. The Snow Fairies make one thing to separate themselves from everything that look similar on myspace...
5. Influences and sounds like make it all seem like a questionnaire. The Snow Fairies clearly give the best answers. But all the home, browser, search, invite, movies, email, blog, etc at Myspace disturb me.
Now you may wonder why I even care about Myspace if I hate the site that much. Would it not be better to avoid Myspace? Unfortunately, there are too many bands that have stopped caring about their websites while referring us to Myspace instead. I understand it when a band does not bother to update their website, but I become sad when they spend time on Myspace instead. Take a look at the websites of Belle and Sebastian, Language of Flowers, Looker, Lucky Soul, and Stars. They all show that Myspace can never replace a good band website.
I can understand that artists may appreciate Myspace as an online community which offers them direct contact to some of their fans. But I do not play in a band, I will not play in a band in the future, and I find Myspace just awful.
I looked through the websites of my favourite bands. The Essex Green are perfect to illustrate my point. The Essex Green gave up their website and moved to Myspace instead. Gone is the The Late Great Cassiopia mp3 link. Gone is the option to view the album covers side by side. Sure, The Essex Green have pimped their Myspace page nicely, but it is not enough. There are too many things that I hate with Myspace:
1. I go to Myspace to get some news updates by my favourite bands (most of them refer to their Myspace pages as they no longer update their websites). Myspace greets me with a song that automatically is played in horrible sound quality. The feeling of the song that simultaneously is played in my media player is ruined. I do not want political propaganda in my mailbox. I do not want a program/script (or whatever it is called) to randomly select a song that is forced upon me. I would like to choose to listen myself, when I feel like it. I should not have to mute my media player just because I want to read some news updates on a band page at Myspace.
2. Myspace allows only four songs on each profile. The mp3 links at the band websites have often ceased to exist and it is no longer possible to listen to the songs the way they should sound. I listened to Katie Goes to Tokyo's Unbelievable at her Myspace page. I felt that the song had potential, but it really sounded dull compared to Until She Breaks. Then I heard Unbelievable on Katie's website and fell in love with the song. It may seem like a case of double standards to complain about the automatic playback at Myspace and then praise the same thing on Katie's website. In the latter case, however, the sound quality is as good as on cd and then you just say thank you and take a bow. Moreover, Katie's website allows me to navigate freely without having the music turned on or off suddenly. That is exemplary.
3. Myspace is ugly. The Essex Green have made an effort to get their page nice, but most bands stick to a standard template. Let us compare the website and the Myspace page of one of my absolute favourite bands, The Arrogants. Their website is true pop music love. The Arrogants allow us to download their first two EPs for free, they put up lyrics, and they upload several exclusive recordings plus cover songs by their friends. Their Myspace page on the other hand seems to exist more as a necessary evil. Admittely, I soften considerably when I hear Jana's voice when she says Nobody's Cool take five though.
4. Everything looks the same. I understand the concept, but it also makes everything aesthetically standardised. The Snow Fairies have really tried to make their Myspace page look fine but it still falls short. The Snow Fairies' website on the other hand feels truly special. To welcome the visitor with a big cover of the album Get Married makes a big difference. The Snow Fairies make one thing to separate themselves from everything that look similar on myspace...
5. Influences and sounds like make it all seem like a questionnaire. The Snow Fairies clearly give the best answers. But all the home, browser, search, invite, movies, email, blog, etc at Myspace disturb me.
Now you may wonder why I even care about Myspace if I hate the site that much. Would it not be better to avoid Myspace? Unfortunately, there are too many bands that have stopped caring about their websites while referring us to Myspace instead. I understand it when a band does not bother to update their website, but I become sad when they spend time on Myspace instead. Take a look at the websites of Belle and Sebastian, Language of Flowers, Looker, Lucky Soul, and Stars. They all show that Myspace can never replace a good band website.
Monday, August 28, 2006
The Arrogants - Lovesick
Which band has shaped my taste in music more than any other band?
I thought about that tonight. It would be easy to say Belle and Sebastian, but I would lie to myself then. I could go back further in time and name The Field Mice or Heavenly but that is not true either. I then understood...
THE PRIMITIVES, of course! And more than anything Crash, one of the world's best songs.
I have been asking people for years about bands similar to The Primitives but never received a good answer. Now I know better. I found a fan page of The Primitives in the spring but it feels like years ago. There was a link to a song by The Arrogants in the section "misc mp3".
Lovesick is perhaps the best song of the 2000's. We will see where it ends up the day I make a new list. The trashy live acoustic version of Lovesick is so beautiful that it creates an illusion of happiness even on the darkest of days.
I thought about that tonight. It would be easy to say Belle and Sebastian, but I would lie to myself then. I could go back further in time and name The Field Mice or Heavenly but that is not true either. I then understood...
THE PRIMITIVES, of course! And more than anything Crash, one of the world's best songs.
I have been asking people for years about bands similar to The Primitives but never received a good answer. Now I know better. I found a fan page of The Primitives in the spring but it feels like years ago. There was a link to a song by The Arrogants in the section "misc mp3".
Lovesick is perhaps the best song of the 2000's. We will see where it ends up the day I make a new list. The trashy live acoustic version of Lovesick is so beautiful that it creates an illusion of happiness even on the darkest of days.
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