Another Form of Relief

My familiarity with Styrofoam, as I suspect is the case with many people, started and ended with his collaboration with Ben Gibbard on the really quite beautiful Couches in Alleys. For some reason, I never explored any further, presumably thinking that Gibbard was the creative force behind the song, so the electronica based Styrofoam didn’t appeal. Jump forward four years and I receive a copy of Styrofoam’s newest EP, which I skeptically listen to. Some of it misses with me, but half of the songs grab me right away. Title track Bright Red Helmet is one of them, it’s lyrical cynicism betraying the real tone under the cheerful beats.

It’s probably a song everybody knows at this point, but I’m on something of a Postal Service kick for the first time in over a year. On the off chance that you have been living under a rock for the past few years, enjoy!

London was a lot of fun, even if I’m exhausted and blistered today. Because of this, and the fact ezarchive hasn’t let me put up any songs until now, it’s going to be a quick and simple covers post this evening.

MP3 Cassettes Won’t Listen – Cut Your Hair (expired) (Pavement)
I only found Cassettes Won’t Listen a while back, but was impressed by ‘Cutting Balloons’ a lot. Now it may seem a little risky for a new band to take an established indie classic like ‘Cut Your Hair’ and completely change it, but somehow they manage to pull it off. Turning Pavement’s freewheeling rocker into a controlled electronic piece may seem doomed from the outset, but it works. I’m sure I could assign some deep meaning about the manufactured sound of the song matching the song’s commentary on the state of the music industry, but then I’d be bordering on the pretentious.

MP3 Ben Gibbard – They Don’t Know (expired) (Kirsty MacColl)
So we come to the standard feature of these posts: a cover where I’m not familiar with the original. If I’m entirely honest, I didn’t even know or think this was a cover for quite some time. I just thought it was a Gibbard song, which is probably blasphemy to some. To me it just says that he’s picked a cover that suits him perfectly more than anything else though. Properly recorded, this would have fitted in just right with the Gibbard songs on his Home EP with Andrew Kenny. Anyway, cover or not, it’s a good song, and Gibbard has a voice that can seemingly switch on melancoly at will.

MP3 Fountains Of Wayne – …Baby One More Time (expired) (Britney Spears)
I’m actually surprised that this song isn’t more covered than it is. I know that Travis have given it a go, and there’s this version, but I’m not aware of any others. All of which is quite surprising given that, like it or loathe it (loathe myself), it is one of the defining pop songs of the 90s. This version makes it a far more restrained affair, always feeling like it’s going to kick into a higher gear at some point, but it never seems to come. Which is a shame, as other than that criticism, it really isn’t too bad. I know a lot of people have a disliking for FoW, but to me they are a great power-pop band. ‘Stacy’s Mom’ aside, which may be as big of a musical crime as the original version of this song.

For more free mp3s, don’t forget that eMusic are offering 25 free mp3s and Audiolunchbox are offering 50 free mp3s. Both of these are great deals, neither requiring any kind of commitment to get the free music.

That’s me done for now. I’ve been getting the urge again lately to start writing a regular (ie. non-music) blog again, so I might start one up again later on. Not sure why I feel the need to tell you that, I guess this is just turning into my little rambling area now. Either that or I’m extremely tired and need to go to sleep. That one seems more likely actually.