Another Form of Relief

Are there any better ways to start a week than with some covers? Well, probably there are, yes, but it’s still pretty damn good.

MP3 Colin Meloy - Charlie (expired) (Shirley Collins)
Apparently Shirley Collins had a big impact on folk music, particularly in the UK, but I’m afraid that I hadn’t heard of her before getting hold of this Colin Meloy cover. She obviously holds a great deal of importance to Meloy as he released an entire album of him covering her songs. ‘Charlie’ is the kind of song that sounds instantly familiar, even if you’ve never heard the song before. It just has a kind of catchiness to it that makes it easily recognised. All upbeat, jangly guitars and words that are straight out of the 60s, and yet it all suits Meloy’s style perfectly. Now I’m not the world’s biggest Decemberists fan, mostly because I haven’t really explored them beyond Picaresque rather than an actual dislike. I like Meloy’s delivery an awful lot in everything I hear yet I rarely seem to explore more. Kind of strange, but no matter. This is the kind of deep insight you get when I have no idea what the original version of a song sounds like.

MP3 Graham Coxon - Time For Heroes (expired) (The Libertines)
I don’t like The Libertines much. I do however think that ‘Time For Heroes’ is a far better song than they deserved to create, and one of the best of recent years from a British band. There’s something not quite right about Graham Coxon covering it, and it’s hard to describe why. It’s the kind of angry song that needs to be sung by someone aggressive. It doesn’t have to be someone who particularly sounds it, but there needs to be an element where you think the singer will randomly snap and start beating the people he’s taking aim at with the words. That, or I’m overthinking this way too much. My point though is that Pete Doherty has that element, and Graham Coxon doesn’t. He’s far too weedly observing guy in the background than the one making a stand. Nonetheless, he gives this a good go, all loud guitars and crashing drums while soaked in distortion, and while not entirely convincing, it’s still pretty good. I also like to hear covers of modern songs I’m already familiar with, so it gains extra points for that too.
Edit: Thanks to Iain Baker over at XFM, I’ve now learnt that this was recorded live for a Jo Whiley session on Radio 1, which probably explains some of the roughness to the sound.

MP3 Gary Jules - Mad World (expired) (Tears For Fears)
Yes, I, like nearly every other person in the world, first heard the Gary Jules version of ‘Mad World’ while watching Donnie Darko. I know some people take issue with music being discovered in this manner, I’m a big fan of it, and have found a lot of great music simply by watching films with good soundtracks. This song was also the Christmas number one in the UK in 2003. Quite how it ended up doing so well is still slightly baffling to me, as when I was telling people how great it was back then and how it should get to number one, I was generally mocked, and didn’t think it had much of a chance myself. Somehow it did it though, despite it’s none too cheerful nature. Gary Jules turns the song into a slow burning, haunting piano song that isn’t quite as depressing as it should be.

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