Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Covers, Part 3



1. Back In Time - "The Sound Of Silence" [P. Simon]: this 1978 Cotillion release has some seriously bizarre French disco coverage. Although Simon and Garfunkel is an odd choice to inspire the dance out of people, this rendition has got some interesting emo-soul-dancefloor hybrid action. Despite the fact that the dude sings like Eric Cartman, the song gets pretty synth-tastic towards the end.



2. Merry Clayton - "Southern Man" [N. Young]: aside from this self-titled 1971 release on Ode/A&M, you may recognize Ms. Clayton's voice from The Stones' "Gimme Shelter," or Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." Her rendition of "Southern Man," at times, transcends Neil Young's version - she delivers an honest force of drama, soul, and social relevance.



3. Orpheus - "She's Not There" [R. Argent]: this cover was released in 1968, four years after the Zombies' debut single launched them into the charts. At times, this song takes a Doors-y approach to its sound, but the energy feels angry and less self-pitying than the original.



4. Blue Swede - "Always Something There To Remind Me" [B. Bacharach and H. David]: covered by many, made into an 80's synthpop hit by Naked Eyes, and made awkward by this Swedish outfit - this jam never fails to deliver. These guys seem to have packed all the sounds they could find into this one, and still managed to sound like Tom Jones.



5. Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra - "Light My Fire" [R. Manzarek, J. Morrison, J. Densmore, and R. Krieger]: Ros has been called the "King of Latin American Music," and this African-Venezuelan-Scotsman struts his chops all over the Doors of perception. This sounds exactly like you'd imagine...

Get them HERE.

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