Entertainment For Lively Minds
Is nothing sacred?
Posted by andrew on 22 May 2011 - 10:23pm.
If important buildings can be listed to protect them from being altered, so some songs should be granted listed status so that no one else is allowed to cover them. One of the Corrs has had the audacity to cover this Nile classic. How dare she?!
To be fair to the Corrs girl's version, her video is quite nice to look at if the sound is off. Would be nicer if it was the violinist Corr in the video but equally it could have been the Man-Corr (call him by his name) which would have been really terrible.
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I can think of two positives
People may search out the original because of her version. If they have not heard it before they are in for a treat.
The second one is that it should bring in a few deserved shekels to the Blue Nile. I can't see any downside to that.
It is cack version though.
Two very good points
I have discovered quite a few gems myself via cover versions.
I guess my general hypocritical rule is that covers are fine in my book if I like the cover and/or don't really care for the original.
I heard a song on the radio not that long ago that sounded very familiar. It was halfway through before I twigged that some girl singer had covered Bon Iver's Skinny Love song. I actually didn't mind that cover, and it did get me digging our the Bon Iver album for a listen that evening. It also led me to discover that he's got a new album out soon.
So, really, covers are actually fine. Forget I said anything.
Oh God
She's done a version of a Nick Drake song.
It sounds shiny. What's the adjective for "has a sheen" or a veneer?
Just....just.... anodyne. Overproduced.
Matters arising:
1) It is wrong to cover Blue Nile songs.
2) Ooh! Look! Stewart Lee back when he was actually funny!
3) Andrea Corr. You most certainly would.
no
Stewart Lee was never funny
Gawd!
isn't Holland such a cock!
I'm a fan of Christine Collister,
... but her cover version of Nick Drake's "Black-eyed Dog" was ill-advised.
Turning things around a bit,
I've always found Snow Patrol's trademark guitar 'chug' particularly irritating due to its lack of what I'd call any dynamics (short of it gradually getting louder/softer, and the odd change in tempo).
I recently heard Clare Teal perform 'Chasing Cars' here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010xw4x
and her particular brand of jazz treatment liberated the song from that 'chug' by letting a piano work around the original guitar part, and consequently letting the song 'breathe' a bit. Not to all testes perhaps, some might find it cloying in parts, but the cover worked for me on something I'd previously been profoundly irritated by.
P.S. - if anyone wants to profoundly irritate me in turn, find me a gratuitous and unnecessary cover of a Joni Mitchell song. I know of some good ones, and some bad ones, but I'm sure there are more out there.
I too despise the Snow Patrol chug.
Anytime I hear that dreadful song that goes 'You are all that matters..' or the one about 'in the city for yourself tonight' (I try to avoid learning the titles as I can't bear them so much) I break into a smile wondering how people 'dance' to them at indie discos or whatever the young students do these days. They are so appalling it's almost funny. A UK Nickelback of sorts.
best voice in pop?
Yer man from the Nile, I mean.
I like
Christine Collister too. She doen't get many mentions round these parts. Surprising given the RT Connection. Quite liked her Black Etes Dog.
I'm also a fan of Kelly Willis who I think does justice to "Time has Told Me" on her "What I Deserve" album.
In terms of ill-advised covers I had no idea the RHCPs covered Subterranian Homesick Blues until today. I never want to hear it but I think something perverse will make me seek it out.