Tag Archives: covers

The Hold Steady & Malcolm Middleton on Colin Murray

10 Jun

673px-The_Hold_Steady_by_David_ShankboneThe other day when perusing the website of The Hold Steady I came across a link to an archive containing MP3s of gigs and radio appearances. One of the gems I found there was an interview with The Hold Steady and former member of Arab Strap, Malcolm Middleton, on Colin Murray show on BBC Radio1. Although the combination of the Brooklyn rockers and the Scottish singer-songwriter seems an unusual one at first, the interview reveals more similarities than differences between the two.

They initially met through the Full Time Hobby record label who put out their records in the UK. During the interview, Craig from the Hold Steady recalls returning to Brooklyn after meeting Malcolm to discover that the bar tender at his local was a massive fan of the Scottish singer.

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Craig attributes his fondness of Malcolm to his lyrics while the Scot said he enjoys the energy and ‘youthfulness’ of the Hold Steady. Interviewer Colin Murray identifies a combination of dark lyrics and ‘breezy’ music as a common thread between the two while Tad from The Hold Steady mentions that although both Craig and Malcolm have limited vocal range, their voices make their sound unique and identifiable.

They teamed up to record versions of a couple of Malcolm’s songs  including ‘Red Travellin’ Socks’ and ‘Kiss At The Station’ as well as a cover of Zeppelin’s ‘Your Time is Gonna Come’ and The Hold Steady’s ‘Lord, I’m Discouraged’ but my personal favourite would have to be their cover of the Bryan Adams hit ‘Run To You’.

The interview and tracks are available to download here.

On a separate note, I have to say that Malcolm is possibly THE most Scottish looking person I have ever laid eyes. This has more than a little to do with the pasty complexion and orange hair. I can only wonder what his teeth are like…

His fifth album entitled ‘Waxing Gibbous’ was released on the 1st of June on Full Time Hobby. It is available on CD, MP3 and LP here.

I’ll leave you with what may well be one of the cheesiest lines in popular music courtesy of the ‘Groover from Vancouver’- “It’s so damn easy makin’ love to you”.

COVERS

30 May

It is really such a crime to like a cover as much as (if not more than) the original? Although there are  certainly some atrocious covers out there which can leave your perception of the original song in tatters, I am not ashamed to admit that there are a fair few covers which I hold in as high esteem as their originals. Here are a few covers I feel are up to the mark.

drdogAlthough I am quite fond of ‘Heart it Races‘ by Melbourne’s Architecture in Helsinki when I stumbled upon this cover by Dr. Dog I was mesmerised.   They have managed to give the song a certain something (which I can’t quite put my finger on) that it seemed to be missing. The original is a light, fun electro-pop song while the cover version has transformed it into a warm and dreamy tune. The song translates very well into this ever-so-pleasant style of jangly indie pop (or whatever you might like to call it).

theshinsI was pretty much a sure thing that I would love The Shins version of the Magnetic Fields song ‘Strange Powers‘. For one, the lyrics are great. Who could go past a song with the line “when we kiss it feels like a flying saucer landing”. Combining romance AND sci-fi amount to lyrical genius in my book. The film clip for the original song stars a very androgynous chick(?) gallivanting around Coney Island. Even though numerous people have told me it is now a dilapidated tourist-trodden hell hole, I still have a strange and steadfast desire to go there one day. Maybe I should blame songs which reference it such as this one and ‘Coney Island‘ by Death Cab For Cutie. Secondly, I always find the Shins so endearing. This might be because they have a particularly powerful brand of indie-pop which makes you want to dance like a fool or it could be because their lyrics are puzzlingly dark for a band with such a light hearted sound. Enough about the Shins. The cover is great.

scarjoI am well aware that I may get a complete roasting from Tom Waits fans for this one but I actually really dig Scarlett Johansson’s version of ‘Falling Down‘. I have heard a lot of people say ‘she can’t sing’- sure, her voice isn’t to everyone’s taste but isn’t the same true of Waits himself? The cover is actually pretty true to the original in terms of vocal delivery and the banjo is lovely to boot.

Honourable mention goes to:

  • She & Him covering ‘I Should Have Known Better‘ by the Beatles (ORIGINAL,  COVER)
  • My Morning Jacket’s version of ‘Rocket Man‘ by Elton John (ORIGINAL, COVER)
  • Sufjan Stevens covering ‘The One I Love‘ by R.E.M (ORIGINAL, COVER)
  • Bon Iver’s version of ‘The Park‘ by Feist (ORIGINAL, COVER)

SCORE!

1 May

I wish I could remember how I came across this amazing record. Score! is a compilation put together by the folks at Merge Records to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. It was released earlier this year and features non-Merge artists covering the songs of their Merge counterparts. There are only 7,500 copies of this record and all proceeds from its sale will go to charities chosen by curators. If you would like to get your greasy little mitts on a copy you can buy it online (as a download or on CD) through the Merge Records Store.

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HIGHLIGHTS: Bright Eyes covering the Magnetic Field’s ‘Papa Was a Rodeo’ (I love the original AND I am a massive Bright Eyes fan so it was a given that I would pick this) and Ryan Adams doing Superchunk’s ‘Like a Fool’.

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