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100 best covers: #47 The Decemberists “Human behaviour”

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You can mark this down in the column of cover songs that shouldn’t work on paper but in reality, are quite splendid.

I have written before in these pages about how I discovered Portland, Oregon-based indie folk band, The Decemberists, at some point circa 2004 after reading about them in Under the Radar. I fell hard for them upon first listen and immediately consumed their first two albums in rapid succession. Then, hearing that a third album was still in the works, went on the hunt for anything else I could find, which included a five song EP (called “5 songs”), a close to 20 minute prog-folk interpretation of a Celtic myth (“The Tain”), and then, this, a cover of Björk’s early solo career single, “Human behaviour”.

It was included on a compilation called “Read: Interpreting Björk” that was put together by Portland indie label Hush Records. The idea was floated and most of the recordings happened in 2001 but then they shelved the project because they were worried folks might think they were trying to capitalize on the success of one of their heroes. They ended up releasing it a few years later, after plenty of interest was shown just based on word of mouth. The Decemberists’ cover was one of the late additions to compilation track list and in my own humble opinion, the best of the bunch, though there are some other interesting interpretations worth exploring.

Björk’s original version is actually one of my favourites of her tunes. It appeared at number fourteen on my list of favourite tunes from 1993 and like many of the tunes from “Debut”, it’s an industrial dance party, very “synth, sample, and percussion heavy”. Inspired by wildlife documentaries, Björk explores and exploits the human condition and looks at it from an outsider’s vantage point.

In The Decemberists’ capable hands, it’s a very different sounding beast. Obviously, it’s more organic in feel. With their expansive instrumentation palette, however, they do a great job of replicating the tempo and energy of the original. Of course, Colin Meloy sounds nothing like Björk but he certainly sounds like he’s having fun trying.

Ir’s a great cover of a great tune that only made me love both artists more. Don’t make me choose between them.

Cover:

The original:

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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100 best covers: #48 Sleeper “Atomic”

<< #49    |    #47 >>

“Trainspotting” was a film based on a book of the same name by Irvine Welsh and it was released too much critical acclaim and commercial success at the height of Cool Britannia in 1996. I remember going to see it in the theatres with my friend Tim, when it finally crossed the ocean into the North American market and I absolutely loved it. I later followed many of the actors that made up its young cast as they took full advantage of the film as a stepping stone and went on to great successful careers of their own. I had a copy of the film poster on my residence room wall, duly purchased that year at one of the campus Imaginus fairs, and read the Welsh novel during my next break in studies. And yes, you guessed it, I went out and procured a copy of the film’s soundtrack on CD.

Considered by many* to be one of the best film soundtracks ever, it combines classic alternative tunes from Brian Eno, Lou Reed, New Order, and of course, Iggy Pop, with more contemporary music of the day, which of course meant a smattering Britpop and Techno/Electronica. The mix works surprisingly as well as an album listen as it did match the feel and flow of the film. It ignited a resurgence in popularity for Iggy Pop’s “Lust for life” and made Underworld a household name on dance floors all around the world.

Four tracks in on the soundtrack is this cover of the Blondie track “Atomic”, done by a perhaps lesser-known** Britpop act named Sleeper . Unless I am mistaken, this was the very song that was playing during the scene in which Ewan McGregor’s character, Renton is at a club with his friends and he first catches sight of Kelly Macdonald’s character, Diane***. I won’t go any further lest I ruin part of the story for any of you yet to see the film but I will say that this song was seared into me and became one that I would play over and over again.

I had actually gotten into the band already with their debut album, “Smart”, released the previous year, and with “Atomic” fitting right in with their sound, I didn’t immediately realize it was a cover. When I did and tracked down the Blondie original****, I was somewhat tickled at how faithful a cover it was. It was as if the filmmakers wanted to include the original but somehow couldn’t get the rights and found some other band to replicate it almost to a tee. Admittedly, Louise Wener is not Debbie Harry, nowhere near comparable in the vocal category, but otherwise, I’d have a hell of a time telling the music apart.

Blondie fans might call this one sacrilege but I’d call this comparison even and given my fondness for Britpop, I might even give the Sleeper version the edge.

Cover:

The original:

*Or maybe just me.

**Although at the time, they were quite well-known, scoring a good number of hit UK singles.

***I also had taped to that same residence wall a picture torn from a Select magazine of Sleeper front woman Louise Wener dressed and mimicking the likeness of Diane from the Trainspotting promo shots.

****One of its many versions.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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100 best covers: #49 Rymes With Orange “Itchycoo park”

<< #50    |    #48 >>

This one might be a bit more obscure for those of you outside of Canada. Still, I gotta say: while searching for the YouTube videos to include with this particular post, I was pleasantly taken on a small jaunt through nostalgia with the one posted by the band themselves for the cover version of today’s song. There’s a small clip at the beginning from the old MuchMusic alternative video show, The Wedge, including the musical intro segment and then, Simon Evans, the VJ who hosted the show, introducing the band and music video in that bumbling way he had.

If memory serves, I actually watched that particular episode of The Wedge on one weekday afternoon at some point in 1993 and this very same bumbling intro was how I came upon this group and this cover. I remember thinking at the time that Rymes with Orange was a great band name* (and still do) and I loved their sound because it was so obviously influenced by the baggy Madchester aesthetic, of which I was quite enamoured. I started looking for their debut album (“Peel”) whenever I was out at the music stores but had to settle for a CD single copy of “Marvin”, one of the album’s three singles, that included 6 or 7 mixes of it, plus this very same cover of “Itchycoo park”.

Rymes with Orange was an alternative rock band that formed in 1991 in Vancouver BC by guitarist Rob Lulic, keyboardist Bob D’Eith, and drummer Alex Dias after a number of their previous bands had formed and folded. Various members came and went in the early days but things really started to come together when they settled on UK-born Lyndon Johnson for lead vocals and moved their sound towards the aforementioned Manchester-influenced dance rock. Their 1992 debut garnered them some success and to build upon that they embraced a harder edge for their sophomore album, 1994’s “Trapped in the machine”. They managed a few alternative radio hits here and a couple tracks that I enjoyed but I lost track of the group in the years that followed**. I still love this cover though.

The original “Itchycoo Park” was written and first performed by English Rock band The Small Faces back in 1967. It was released as a standalone single and went on to be one of the group’s biggest hits. I personally don’t know a lot about the group but do love this song and will eventually explore their catalogue further. Theirs is a laidback, psychedelic rendition calling to mind a lazy Sunday or idyllic jaunt in nature. Either way, the sun is shining and everything is perfect. The Rymes with Orange cover builds on the psychedelia of the original but ups the tempo and adds a flash mob dance routine to the equation.

I refuse to pick a preferred version in this case.

Cover:

The original:

*The following year while at a Wonder Stuff concert I saw someone wearing one of Rymes with Orange’s concert Tees and it was just as brilliantly emblazoned with the words “Rhymes with f*ck all”.

**Apparently, the group had been off again, on again through to the late 2000s and had a reunion of sorts back in 2017.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.