Another Form of Relief

Did you know that this is post 199 on this blog? No? Well it is you know. Not that that is particularly exciting given my slowdown over recent weeks. It also means that there won’t be anything special for post 200. Not because I can’t be bothered (well, a little of that), but mostly because there’s a lot of fun list type posts coming in December. All of which will be very exciting and have lots of fantastic music contained within them. Hell, there might even be an advent type thing through the month to celebrate the onset of Winterval. Maybe.

MP3 Brakes - Jackson (expired) (Johnny Cash)
A quick guide to how I can be musically ignorant: When I first got hold of the Brakes album, I had no idea that this was a cover. It had a vaguely familiar sound, but that was about it. This story actually gets worse thanks to way I discovered that it was. No, I didn’t suddenly come across the original version of it or even have some nice, musically minded person inform me of the fact. No, I discovered the fact as I was watching ‘Walk The Line’. Which is pretty awful. Both film and reputation wise. As such, I have no idea what the original version sounds like, only how it sounds via Joeaqueeniahiem Pheonix and Reese Witherspoon. Which wasn’t all that different to the version here. The important part is that this Brakes one is very good. Yay Brakes. Even if they do look scarily like Coldplay in that picture.

MP3 Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights (expired) (The Postal Service)
Presenting part 17 of our 435 part series of ‘Such Great Heights’ covers, we have Sam Beam’s attempt at it. You’ll never guess what he does with it either. He slows it down and makes it all acoustic. I bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you? Mocking aside, it’s a fantastic version of an already fantastic song. Much as I love all of these covers that keep surfacing, none of them seem to hold a candle to the original. This one comes across as far more laconic and mournful, probably thanks to it being far slower, allowing the lyrics to smack you round the face far more strongly than the original. I think it was also used to advertise M&Ms. That isn’t so cool, but it’s a fun fact.

MP3 Eric Metronome - Salute My Shorts! (expired) (Rilo Kiley)
Eric Metronome is a guy who just seems to love doing covers. He’s recorded a truckload of Elliott Smith ones, and is currently embarking on a project that sees him covering a different song every week for a year. This includes covers of The Beatles right up to more contemporary fare like Bright Eyes and Sufjan Stevens. This also includes a wonderful little cover of Rilo Kiley’s ‘Salute My Shorts!’. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a lovely, reflective Blake song that has a very silly title. There’s a long story behind that title, but it comes from the song not having an actual name on the album and fans giving it this absurd thing for a reason I forget. Either way, it’s a great song, and Metronome covers it nicely without being too daring with it. It’s a safe cover, but one that his voice seems to suit perfectly. Which isn’t surprising given he covers Elliott Smith, and Blake Sennett sounds always sounds like he’s auditioning for an Elliott Smith tribute band. Not that that’s a bad thing, I’m just saying.