Tag: Psychedelic Furs

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Tunes

100 best covers: #37 The National “Pretty in pink”

<< #38    |    #36 >>

I don’t know how the compilation, “Reprises Inrocks”, ever ended up in my Apple music library*, which song it was that led me to track down the two disc compilation, but it did. And I did. And though, I don’t listen to it all the way through all that often, there are some great tunes on there that are not available anywhere else.

It was released in 2007 by French music and culture magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, whose pages upon whom I have admittedly never glanced, though I have admired a few of their other compilations in the past, most notably the wicked Leonard Cohen and The Smiths tribute albums, “I’m your fan” and “The Smiths is dead”. The twenty five tracks on this one are all covers, some by bands I love and others not, and many are ones that may not seem like they could work on paper, but somehow do nonetheless. Examples include: Ray Lamontagne’s stripped down take on Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”, Jose Gonzalez’s unplugged version of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”, Nina Gordon channelling Frente but doing NWA’s “Straight outta Compton”, and Calexico’s spanish guitar folk rendition of The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton”.

One of the few tracks that I knew would work from the very beginning was Cincinnati, Ohio’s The National taking a crack at The Psychedelic Fur’s classic, “Pretty in pink”. I was still relative new to The National at this point, having just delved into their fourth studio album, “The boxer”, but I was already hooked on their dark and atmospheric sound and completely sold on the rich vocals of frontman Matt Berninger. Even though his voice is quite different from that of Richard Butler, more lounge and laconic than rough and punk, it still feels exactly right for the song.

Originally written and released in 1981, “Pretty in pink” gained a greater following and notoriety when it was re-recorded a few years later for inclusion on the soundtrack for the John Hughes teen 80s film of the same name. Both Furs’ versions are hard to argue with, raw and more guitar heavy, and more upbeat than The National’s cover. The song is a post punk classic and likely a huge inspiration for a band who have long since penned a bunch of post punk revival classics of their own.

I think both of these recordings are incredible and full of life, one sunny and one rainy, but I have to go with the original here, mostly for the nostalgia factor for me.

Cover:

Original:

*It would’ve been iTunes way back then.

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

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 2020: #27 The Psychedelic Furs “Wrong train”

<< #28    |    #26 >>

The Psychedelic Furs have been around forever. The British post-punk band formed in the late 70s and had a string of hits throughout the 80s. I first picked up on them in the latter part of that decade when I first saw the John Hughes film, “Pretty in pink”, whose title was inspired by one of the band’s early hits and of course, that track was re-recorded for the now iconic soundtrack. When I went through a retro 80s kick in the 90s, I picked up on even more of their tunes and ended up getting a copy of one of their best of compilations on CD but that was as far as I ever delved.

Still, I remember thinking it cool and a little bit funny when my friend Eileen was telling me and my wife a story over beers about how she met up with them at a tiny bar in New York when she was younger. She also laughed because she didn’t know who they were then and still didn’t really know how big they were but clearly remembered their name and that they were a ‘great bunch of kids’.

I also didn’t hesitate to ensure to catch their set when they played my favourite local music festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, a couple of years ago, even though the reformed group hadn’t released any new material since 1991’s “World outside”. I was absolutely rewarded by them playing pretty much all the songs that I knew by them but I was also super impressed by how they really rocked the stage, frontman Richard Butler especially tearing it up with those inimitable lungs of his.

So when I heard a couple of years later that the group had released its first album of new material in nearly thirty years, I was leery and almost gave it a by. As it was, I pressed play on Spotify, fully expecting to skip a few songs and give up the ghost in short order. How wrong I was! “Made of rain” was fresh and raw, full of killer hooks and Butler’s rock and roll vocals.

“I took the wrong train
Ate all the wrong pills
I took a cell phone
To call my voice mail”

Track four on the album is a tune called “Wrong train”, a banger that was actually written by the band way back in 2001, near the beginning of their reunion run. Butler wrote it about his experiences living in the suburbs, a bad time in his life tainted further by his break up with his wife, the domestic life gone awry. It’s the roar and rumble of a commuter train, lost in sleep and dazed in the humdrum of the day, Butler’s voice roaring and soaring above it all, looking down at this daily drudgery like an out of body experience.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2020 list, click here.

Categories
Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2020, part three

Well, well, well. Here we are, three quarters of the way through the year and with the end of each quarter brings a new instalment in my playlist project.

You may recall that I was a bit late and a bit slow organizing parts one and two in this series, but they were both great mixes so if you haven’t already done so, go ahead and check them out as well. By comparison, though, I was a lot more on the ball with part three. Perhaps I’m finally getting used to this new reality. Or perhaps I’m sensing an end to this year and I’m subconsciously preparing myself to close things out. Indeed, I had already pretty much wrapped this one up before the end of September and ended up having to make room for the track from Fleet Foxes’ surprise album when it was announced last week. Because, well… how could I not?

This third playlist (like the others before it) is very much a retelling of the season by the music from which it came. These particular tunes soundtracked a lost summer. A season of people relaxing things up a little bit (perhaps too much in some cases) but still keeping aware of the risks this pandemic posed. People were trying to get out into the fresh air, to stretch their legs, to meet up with other people (at a safe distance) on patios and such. To catch up, tell stories, to reach out and try to grab on to some normalcy. There wasn’t a lot of options for travel and the weekend trips that my wife and I were used to taking each summer to get away didn’t seem worth the risk. Still, we took the odd day trip, got out on our bikes, and out into the outdoors on hikes. Yeah. It was a weird summer but these twenty five tunes brought the sun and cheer anyway. Damn it all. Thank goodness for music.

On that note, let’s have a look at some of the highlights of this season’s playlist:

      • Dream wife flirts with a bunch of different sounds on their sophomore record and all of it a bit raw but it’s this ear worm single, “Hasta la vista” of which I just can’t get enough
      • I almost took a pass on checking out the first new album in almost thirty years by British new wave rockers Psychedelic Furs and I’m so glad I didn’t, because I would’ve missed out on instant classics like “Wrong train”
      • I honestly never thought I’d have Shania Twain appear in my music collection but thanks to Canadian alternative country outlaw, Orville Peck, she does and I’ve found myself humming “Legends never die” on many an occasion since first hearing it
      • “My own soul’s warning”, the first new track by The Killers that has hooked me since their sophomore album was released back in 2006
      • New tune by Secret Machines, “Everything starts”, marks a welcome return by neo-prog rockers and it feels here like they haven’t missed a beat
      • And speaking of welcome returns, one of my favourite bands ever, Doves are back with new music and “Carousels” is just gorgeous – period, full stop

For those who don’t use Spotify or if the embedded playlist below doesn’t work for you, here is the entire playlist as I’ve created it:

1. “A reason to celebrate” bdrmm (from the album Bedroom)

2. “Hasta la vista” Dream Wife (from the album So when you gonna…)

3. “I’m not getting excited” The Beths (from the album Jump rope gazers)

4. “That’s how rumors get started” Margo Price (from the album That’s how rumors get started)

5. “Run it” My Morning Jacket (from the album The waterfall II)

6. “Must I evolve?” Jarv Is (from the album Beyond the pale)

7. “Haha” Dehd (from the album Flower of devotion)

8. “Wrong train” The Psychedelic Furs (from the album Made of rain)

9. “If I told” Courtney Marie Andrews (from the album Old flowers)

10. “Sunflower” Dizzy (from the album The sun and her scorch)

11. “Televised mind” Fontaines D.C. (from the album A hero’s death)

12. “Legends never die” Orville Peck with Shania Twain (from the EP Show pony)

13. “Hard on everyone” Kathleen Edwards (from the album Total freedom)

14. “Our new day” Levellers (from the album Peace)

15. “Mariana Trench” Bright Eyes (from the album Down in the weeds, where the world once was)

16. “My own soul’s warning” The Killers (from the album Imploding the mirage)

17. “Birthmark” No Joy (from the album Motherhood)

18. “Everything starts” Secret Machines (from the album Awake in the brain chamber)

19. “Dig in” I Like Trains (from the album Kompromat)

20. “This is not the indie rock I signed up for” Girl Friday (from the album Androgynous Mary)

21. “(We are all mirrors)” Angel Olsen (from the album Whole new mess)

22. “That emotion” Hannah Georgas (from the album All that emotion)

23. “Carousels” Doves (from the album The universal want)

24. “Solipsism” Fenne Lily (from the album Breach)

25. “Can I believe you” Fleet Foxes (from the album Shore)

And as I’ve said before, I’ll say again: Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are safe and continue to be well. Until next time, enjoy the tunes.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.