Another Form of Relief

now
Tepid power ballads and rehashes of past glories.

then
One of the most enjoyable things about Counting Crows was that they were one of the few really agreeable radio friendly bands. All of their songs could quite happily be played on daytime radio, even on bland-o-rama stations and not bother anyone. Even then though, they were never a band to talk down. Just because they were easy to listen to didn’t mean everything was simple. The songs always retained more depth than they appeared to. It’s this that keeps their debut August and Everything After as one of my favourites even now.

I don’t even know what changed. Something did though, and little after their first few albums interest me. The music seems far more by the numbers now. Understandable I suppose for a band once it finds a formula that works. But it takes away any excitement for new material. Nothing is really all that bad now, but nothing grabs either. Before you even start listening to a new record, you know exactly what you’re going to get. I’ll just stick to those early releases if it’s all the same.

I know, I know, I’ve been incredibly slack in updating this place of late. When I started this thing, I always swore to myself that I wouldn’t be one of those bloggers who often disappears for big gaps and then suddenly pops up again with some lame excuse for not posting stuff. Unfortunately, that’s where we are though. I’d like to think these are somewhat reasonable excuses though. Partly I’ve been working an absolute ton lately, which eats into my time. Secondly, the host I use for the majority of my mp3s has been having no end of problems over the past week (and there’s more to come, yay). Finally, I’ve been putting together the first ‘Another Form of Relief presents..’ live music event. It’ll feature It Hugs Back, 4 or 5 Magicians and Favours for Sailors, and will be held on December 6 in Tunbridge Wells. A little more detail can be found on our new ‘Live Events‘ page. If you’re going to be in the south of England on that date, I implore you to attend. An awesome night of fantastic music is assured.

MP3 The Polyphonic Spree – Lithium (expired) (Nirvana)
I should probably declare now that I hate The Polyphonic Spree. I don’t particularly like their songs, I find the lead singer’s voice largely annoying and as a whole, I find the whole group to be a little on the creepy side. Despite all that though, I really like this. ‘Lithium’ is one of the few Nirvana songs that I really like (not a big fan there either), and somehow, it suits the Polyphonic Spree to a tee. I have absolutely no idea how this happened. The two bands are pretty much as far opposed from each other as possible, yet it works. Having a whole choir for large sections of the song works. The instrumentation works. Hell, even the lead singer’s voice seems to suit it. Very, very weird, but very, very good.

MP3 Counting Crows – Rain King / Thunder Road (live) (expired) (Bruce Springsteen)
In something of a contrast from the previous song, I love both parties involved in this one. I’m not the world’s biggest Springsteen fan (always try to explore more, never get very far), but the songs I do like are great. I also have a very soft spot for Counting Crows. I know over recent years they have ventured further and further into middle of the road territory, but their first few albums are still stunningly good. The first thing to note about this cover is that it isn’t just the cover. It’s taken from a live recording where Counting Crows suddenly broke into ‘Thunder Road’ part way through one of their own songs called ‘Rain King’. This in itself is a great song, and the most striking thing about this performance is how easily the band are able to segue from ‘Rain’ to ‘Thunder’ and then back to ‘Rain’ again. If you’re only really interested in the cover part, you’ll need to jump to around the three minute mark of the song, but I assure you the medley as a whole is far better.

MP3 Rilo Kiley – After Hours (expired) (The Velvet Underground)
Now I can’t stand the sound of The Velvet Underground, so this is the one song where I’m not familiar with the original. This obviously makes it difficult to write about a song, particularly in the context of a cover. As such, I can’t tell you whether this is a good cover or a bad cover. All I can really tell you is that I quite like it as a song. Granted I have a weakness for all things Rilo, and I’m not claiming that this is among their best, but it’s a pleasant enough three minutes. I don’t know when this was recorded, only that it appeared on The Execution of All Things single. It sounds kind of old, particularly when judged by Jenny’s voice, but if anyone has any idea when this was recorded, leave a comment to let me know.

That’s it cover wise. I have a whole list of things I want to write about here, so hosting willing, I’ll be back with another update or two over the course of today.