Another Form of Relief

now
Well crafted yet turgidly dull radio friendly pop songs.

then
A masterclass in songcraft. The drum drives the song forward bleakly yet relentlessly with a hollow beat. A surprisingly morose tale of meaningless sex brought to life via some of Gibbard’s finest lines (”I think I’m drunk enough to drive you home now“). Throw in some fantastic wordplay (”Sad sorry state, stutter step to those slammin’ groves“), and you end up with more emotion in a couple of minutes than they manage on an album these days.

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!

When I first came down with a cold about a month ago, I didn’t expect to still be getting over it this long after. While the cold part itself has subsided, it did spawn a wonderful ear infection that was very painful for some time, and has left me almost deaf in one ear even longer. That said, I am feeling a fair bit better now, some lingering “unpleasantness” aside. As such, it’s time to get back on board the blog bus as the last month has brought a ton of fantastic music that I want to share, but that I haven’t been able to listen to for more than five minutes without any pain. Proper updates will resume in the next post, but as a way to kickstart things once again, Another Form of Relief proudly presents “Ear Infection Minimix 2007″:

MP3 Modest Mouse - Shit Luck (expired)
MP3 Fountains of Wayne - Sick Day (expired)
MP3 Mobius Band - The Loving Sounds of Static (expired)
MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - The Sound of Settling (expired)
MP3 Tegan & Sara - I Hear Noises (expired)
MP3 The New Pornographers - Ballad of a Comeback Kid (expired)

Christ, I can spin a post out of anything.

It’s quite surprising that I haven’t done a covers post since last November. When I first started this thing I was doing them every couple of weeks as a handy fall back mechanism that saved me having to write about anything more substantial. I’m only doing one today because I’m tired and need something quick and easy to post, and covers are pretty good for fitting that description.

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I’ve never been a big fan of Tori Amos other than a handful of songs. I’ve never been a big fan of Nirvana either, but I probably like a few more of their songs. So I wasn’t overly excited about this particular cover given that ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is one of the ones I do like. Surprisingly though, I ended up enjoying this version. It’s the polar opposite of the Nirvana original: it’s slow, it only has a piano behind the vocal, and you can clearly make out the lyrics. I don’t even think it’s all that fair to compare it to the original given it shares very little with it beyond the words.

MP3 Tori Amos - Smells Like Teen Spirit (expired) (Nirvana)

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I seem to be one of the few people who will admit to wholeheartedly liking Saves The Day. Sure, they aren’t perfect, but albums like ‘Through Being Cool’ and most of ‘Stay What You Are’ are uniformly enjoyable. It’s a shame though that their most interesting release is the one most often overlooked: 1998’s ‘I’m Sorry I’m Leaving’ EP. Five songs, all stripped down to basic acoustic arrangements. While four of these are Saves The Day originals, the collection ends with a cover of Modern English’s ‘I Melt With You’. Their cover doesn’t change the formula all that much, aside from simplifying it a little, but it’s very enjoyable nonetheless. Even if I didn’t even know it was a cover for the first couple of years that I had it.

MP3 Saves The Day - I Melt With You (expired) (Modern English)

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As usual, we end with the obligatory cover of a song I’m not familiar with. I have never heard the original version of ‘Bad Reputation’. Actually, I don’t even know who Freedy Johnson is. All of which means there isn’t a great deal of commentary I can offer you on this song, beyond some basic facts. The song was released as an exclusive on iTunes late in 2005, around the time that ‘Plans’ was released. It’s also a rather good song, and if I didn’t know it was a cover, I’d probably assume it was a Death Cab song as it certainly sounds like something that could come from them.

MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - Bad Reputation (expired) (Freedy Johnson)

Wow, who would have thought this little feature would have been so popular? Don’t know whether I should be crying about the fact these are getting way more hits than when I write about regular music.

Today we have a cover behind our virtual calender door. Apparently it’s a “classic” by Phil Spector, but as part of my musical illiteracy, I don’t actually know it. I really like this though, but then it’s Death Cab, and I like nearly everything they do. Even ‘Plans’. There, I said it. Anyway, it’s another somewhat downbeat Christmas ditty with Gibbard singing his little heart out to the girl who left him. Despite the sour content, it all sounds jolly enough though, thanks to a suitably elaborate drum and guitar arrangement and a piano at the forefront.

They’re singing deck the hall, but it’s not like Christmas at all
I remember when you were here, and all the fun we had last year.

MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (expired)

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.

Welcome to just about the strangest Five for Friday that I’ve put together so far. I don’t think I could have put together a more diverse collection of songs if I’d tried. Which obviously I didn’t.

MP3 Death From Above 1979 - Romantic Rights (expired) (You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, 2004)
I don’t really like Death From Above 1979 very much, no matter how much I try. I really like this song, and I enjoy ‘You’re Lovely (But You’ve Got Lots Of Problems)’, but that’s about where it ends for me. Despite this general dislike though, ‘Romantic Rights’ has somehow managed to become one of my favourite songs. I think it’s just the sound of it that works for me. There is so much energy (all from the bass) in this song that it runs the risk of becoming a little too much at times. Look beyond that, and it’s actually quite a sweet song in a roundabout kind of way.

MP3 Weezer - El Scorcho (expired) (Pinkerton, 1996)
‘El Scorcho’ is my favourite Weezer song and one of my overall favourite songs. This to me is an example of the perfect love song. It’s not sentimental, nor is it overly morbid. Covering the usual Rivers ground of meeting an awesome girl but not having the guts to do anything about it, the appeal in ‘El Scorcho’ comes from the little details. With lyrics like “I asked you to go to the Green Day concert / You said you’d never heard of them / How cool is that?” and an aside on wrestling, it allows the characters in the song to become more real than the usual cardboard cutouts fold in this kind of song. This is also about as open as Rivers ever got on record (”How stupid is it? I can’t talk about / I’ve got to sing about it and make a record of my heart”), and in the context of ‘Pinkerton’ as a whole, it all comes together wonderfully.

MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - Steadier Footing (expired) (The Photo Album, 2001)
‘The Photo Album’ remains Death Cab’s finest work to me, and this song is pretty much the best thing on it. All the more impressively, it’s less than two minutes in length, yet has as much impact as any other song on the album. A mournful story about a guy talking to the girl he has a crush on before they all go their separate ways. They spend the time being nostalgic (”We just talk about the people we’ve met in the past five years / and will we remember them in ten more?”) before reaching the final, brutal realisation.: “I let you bum a smoke / You quit this winter past / I’ve tried twice before / But like this, it just will not last”. Absolutely perfect. Oh how I wish Gibbard would still write them like this.

MP3 The Streets - The Irony Of It All (expired) (Original Pirate Material, 2002)
It took me a long time to accept that I like a fair number of songs by The Streets. I previously dismissed them as a band for, well, the kind of people who are currently outside waving England flags. The problem in this is that the demographic of The Streets has changed. Those flag waving morons are fans of The Streets now, whereas on 2002’s ‘Original Pirate Material’, they were largely the target of Skinner’s songs. Much of that album is far more intelligent than their current material, and it’s sad that they have gone down the lowest common denominator route. Particularly when they had intelligent things to say, like on ‘The Irony Of It All’. The entire song is a debate between “Terry”, a larger lout, a “Tim”, a stoner. Each of them puts across their case about drinking the legalisation of cannabis. Obviously Tim is the more sensible, putting across a far more sensible argument than Terry. Would The Streets make a song these days that is essentially four minutes of mocking the loaded up on beer idiots that now make up their audience? Probably not, and that’s unforunate.

MP3 Hamell On Trial - Inquiring Minds (expired) (Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs, 2006)
I can’t seem to get into Hamell On Trial, as I find the “funny” elements of the music wears thin pretty quickly, particularly given the puerile nature of much of it. I like ‘Inquiring Minds’ a lot though, a fun story of a father deciding what he is going to tell his son when he starts asking awkward questions about drugs, sex and crime. His basic conclusion is that “I’m gonna lie, I’m gonna lie, I’m gonna lie”. Which is probably best, as some of the stuff he talks about in this song would probably traumatise the poor kid if he decided to tell him the truth. It’s all good fun anyway, the whimsical guitar sound adding to the effect.

I got my tickets for the Electric Gardens Festival today, so over the coming weeks I’m going to preview some of the bands that will be playing there, largely because I want to learn about a number of them myself. There’s some other good stuff coming up over the weekend, to the point where I’m actually getting a little backlogged in my posts here. It doesn’t really help that my thumb feels like it’s going to fall off after a little bit of typing, but I’m keeping up the best I can.

Well it’s that time again folks. The post that crops up every couple of weeks or so and doesn’t see me shilling whatever new band I’ve discovered this week. It’s time for a bunch of weird and wacky cover songs!

MP3 Belaire - Through The Wire (expired) (Kanye West)
I originally posted this one when I first wrote about Belaire. Originally I had absolutely no idea that it was a cover, much less that it was a rap cover. I think I’m one of the few people that the Kanye West bus (other than Gold Digger and Jesus Walks) hasn’t rolled over just yet. Anyways, after I found out I went and listened to the Kanye version, and I’m all the more impressed by it now. This sounds absolutely nothing like that version, turning it into a driving guitar song, and I love those borderline aggressive female vocals.

MP3 Teenage Fanclub - Here Comes Your Man (expired) (Pixies)
I always find Pixies covers to be interesting if only for the way that they put bands into an awkward spot. They have such a unique sound that it’s pretty hard to cover them without either copying it exactly or changing the sound a hell of a lot. Teenage Fanclub elect the copy scenario, which is reasonable enough. It’s harldy the world’s greatest cover version or anything, but it’s a solid version of a solid song. It seems to have something of a cleaner sound than the original too, actually making it easier to make out the words. Granted they still don’t make a lot of sense, but it’s a help nonetheless.

MP3 Dan Wilson - Everything I Own (expired) (Bread)
I guess I’m about the only person excited by the upcoming Dan Wilson solo album. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of his projects, be it Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare or solo material. I know most people are going to cry ‘middle of the road’ at it and the such, but I don’t really care. I’ve yet to be let down with any release he’s been involved with so I’m very curious about this. Anyway, this is a cover version of a Bread song recorded as part of a live radio performance several months ago. I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t really know the Bread version, but I like this a lot, and it’s the perfect song for Dan’s vocal style.

MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - This Charming Man (expired) (The Smiths)
Oh boy, where do I start with this one? This has to be one of the most shambolic, disastorous covers that I have ever heard. Oddly though, I still like it a hell of a lot. If you’re a big fan of The Smiths oriignal though, you’re probably going to consider this to be akin to rape. I wasn’t when I first heard so it’s not a massive deal for me that the lyrics are completely wrong. It’s all good though as the band apparently feel really bad about getting them wrong. You’d think if you were covering a song you’d check your lyrics were correct first, but apparently not Gibbard and his merry men. Thankfully this doesn’t do any major damage though, other than changing the entire meaning of the song. It’s still a lot of fun in a car crash kind of way though.

If I could just do a quick bit of pimping before I go, don’t forget that this is the last couple of weeks for eMusic’s 50 free mp3 offer. If you haven’t taken advantage of this awesome deal yet, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so. If you already have and want a new fix of mp3s (or are just greedy!), don’t forget that Audiolunchbox are also offering 50 free mp3s. Both of this sites have a lot of great stuff available, so be sure to grab what you can, while you can.

Well that’s your lot for today. I’ll hopefully be having my second interview type thingy coming up soon, which should be pretty damn cool. Once again I’m not going to say who it is, just that it’s someone I’ve written about previously. And like last time, it’s not William Shatner. Although that would be aweosme in itself.

Seeing as we’re not just here to hype artists in themselves, I thought I’d try something a little different today. We have a collection of song ‘reimaginings’ (if it’s good enough for Planet Of The Apes..) for your enjoyment. These aren’t covers in the strictest sense. While I suppose they technically are, I wouldn’t tend to count an artist covering their own material as a cover. Instead, these are songs where artists have taken an original song of theirs and changed it completely, whether in a lyrical sense or a musical one.

First up we have Belle & Sebastian, who first gave me the idea to do a post like this with their double bill across two EPs, A Century Of Elvis and A Century Of Fakers. Both songs are massively different from each other. A Century Of Elvis is a spoken word surrealist story, while A Century Of Fakers is a more traditional B&S song using the same backing track. Both songs are excellent in their own right, and you get to play the fun game of trying to work out who ‘Elvis’ is. The actual singer or just a cat?

MP3 Belle & Sebastian - A Century Of Elvis (expired) (from Lazy Line Painter Jane EP, 1997)
MP3 Belle & Sebastian - A Century Of Fakers (expired) (from 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light EP, 1997)

I have to confess that despite having Stability for years, I didn’t even notice that Stable Song on Death Cab’s 2005 Plans album was exactly the same song, just reduced considerably in length and with a re-recorded vocal track. Personally I prefer the Plans version all round as I find that at over twelve minutes, Stability just starts to grate with me, whereas Stable Song is far more concise and to the point.

MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - Stability (expired) (from Stability EP, 2002)
MP3 Death Cab For Cutie - Stable Song (expired) (from Plans, 2005)

Pavement took their epic, relaxed Type Slowly and turned it into an upbeat country ditty called Slowly Typed. Their new version isn’t entirely serious, the lyrics are mangled and it sounds pretty rough, but it’s entertaining nonetheless.

MP3 Pavement - Type Slowly (expired) (from Brighten The Corners, 1997)
MP3 Pavement - Slowly Typed (expired) (from Shady Lane EP, 1997)

Finally, we have The Rakes, who took their excellent cold war espionage number Strasbourg and turned it into a much simpler, but no less brilliant, song about meeting a girl in a kebab shop in Watford. The music remains the same, the lyrics give an entirely different story. Both are certainly worth your time.

MP3 The Rakes - Strasbourg (expired) (from Capture/Release, 2005)
MP3 The Rakes - Watford (expired) (from All Too Human single, 2006)

I had trouble coming up with examples of this kind of thing for this post, and I think these are the only four that I have. I’m sure other bands must have done a similar thing in the past, I just have no idea who they are. A ton more will probably come to me five minutes after I post this, but no matter.

“With this show, I wanted people to laugh and cry… and shit themselves all at the same time.” - Garth Marenghi

Lastly, I bring news that we finally have proof that there is a god. At least one of DVD releases anyway. After having given up all hope of it ever seeing the light of day, the awesomeness that was Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is finally being released on DVD on June 12. If you never caught the masterwork when it first aired on Channel 4 in 2004, you’ve really been missing out, but now there really is no excuse. Darkplace is essentially a spoof of Stephen King, poorly made horror films and anything else that gets in it’s way. It’s also one of the funniest things that I have ever seen. Do yourself a favour and get hold of a copy of it. You won’t be disappointed. Unless you have no sense of humour.