ad00absurdum | So don't forget the songs etc.

Various Artists - Please, Please, Please, a Tribute to The Smiths

I've recently found that album online and took the opportunity to torture myself with it. Managed to get through to the end, though not in one go. The album consists of two CDs and even I'm not that patient/determined/prone to fits of self-abuse.

CD 1

1. Kitten - Panic
A not entirely bad Panic/Death of a Disco Dancer combo. Would probably be better if the band did a cover of Death... rather than Panic, because the bits of the former that we hear sound much more interesting than what the band did eventually, but what can you do? *he asks rhetorically*.
The singer is a girl with a really nice voice and I've always rather liked to hear the contrast of a female voice in Smiths songs. Also, the lyrics were changed slightly to accomodate American setting (so there's e.g. Los Angeles instead of London).
The band's got a stupid name, but let's not hold it against them because this song is one of the better ones on the album.

2. The Rest - Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Wow, at first they sound like they're playing in a hangar next door. Pity the walls are so thin. There's also no bass (or if there is, you can't hear it), which annoys me especially ~~because I've got an unhealthy and, let's face it, rather kinky fascination with Rourke's bass lines~~ because the song was originally driven solely by a bass line and it seemed so important part of it that to remove it would be to destroy the song. You just wait for it to crash like a car that's got no driver behind the wheel.
Well, enough bad metaphors. The song actually sounds a bit psychodelic - or noisy, if you prefer - except the singer sounds a lot hysterical (and by that I don't mean funny). I guess he thought with lyrics like that he had to be. The question 'why?' remains a mystery.

3. Joy Zipper - What Difference Does It Make?
And we're suddenly transported into the 80's when New Romantic was the latest fad and Visage ruled the airwaves and the charts.
And that's really all I can say about this cover. The lyrics were changed and one of the lines became And your prejudice won't keep me warm tonight, which seems awfully presumptious.

4. Tanya Donelly / Dylan In the Movies - Shoplifters of the World Unite
Aw, folk slash country song. How... inappropriate. Sort of a waste of time unless someone likes girls with guitars, violins and sleep-inducing voices.

5. William Fitzsimmons - Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want
A guy with a voice like a dying flower (oh so quiet and sensitive) and a banjo. Marr's many many guitar layers are of course gone. Hard to say if it's good or bad. Maybe it's not bad at all because attempting that would probably lead to somewhat of an embarrassment on the attempting guitarist part.

6. Sixpence None the Richer - I Won't Share You
Hey, I think I actually know them. They had this one song which I really liked. I don't remember how cute the singer was in the video so the song must have been good.
This cover - meh, not the worst one. The sound of a tin bucket being hit repeatedly in lieu of a snare drum is somewhat annoying, but I've heard worse.

7. Sara Lov - Well I Wonder
Not bad, but then again this is one of my favourite songs. The two bass lines of the original are, naturally, absent, but this girl has a nice singing voice and there's a nice piano in there and even the dreadfully regular drum pattern doesn't bother me.
On the other hand there's this terrible clapping: e.g on please keep me in mind line and this is the final stand of all I am. Why oh why would someone do something like that?

8. Greg Laswell - Half a Person
Another sensitive guy with a piano this time. In short - an acoustic ballad and that's really all that can be said about it. Entirely forgettable.

9. Dala - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Yet another acoustic ballad: a girl with a guitar and I'm slowly starting to fall asleep. Nice that the end is near.
But seriously, this could be a lullaby - so delicate and so putting to sleep. Drama and heartbreak? whatcha talking about?

10. Chikita Violenta - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
The beginning sounds especially unpleasant, but it gets better (oh thank Lord). Not too much and not for long, but just slightly better. Until the vocalist starts singing. Well now, that's annoying, though one probably shouldn't expect much from the band/performer? with a name like this.
Overall, the song resembles something fit for a really really bad indie disco. And the outro is even worse than the beginning, but yessss, we've finally reached THE END.

I'll review Part 2 in another post at another time. I need to recuperate from Part 1 first. A good cup of tea and Hatful of Hollow on a loop for about a week should do the trick.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You know, I have exactly the same impression every time I make a mistake and watch/listen to the singers performing covers on Opole, Sopot, music shows (Idol, Must be music something like that) etc. Especially when they cover Grechuta or Niemen or Republika.

Chaosie, jedno "przedstawienie" oparte na piosenkach Grechuty pamiętam, w teatrze normalnie, to straszne było; wszystko zaaranżowali na jedno kopyto i jeszcze zrobili te aranżacje strasznie kiczowate [drogi polski aranżerze, zastanów się, czy na pewno twój talent jest większy niż Jana Kantego-Pawluśkiewicza. myślisz, że tak? zastanów się raz jeszcze]. Strasznie. Znieść się tego nie dało. A widownia się i tak wzruszyła i wstawała. Czemu Polacy muszą wstawać na wszystkim dosłownie? Republika z kolei wychodzi zwykle lepiej aktorom, pewnie dlatego, że Ciechowski tez nie miał głosu, więc ekspresja tekstu dużo znaczy - jak jakieś dzieciaki krzyczą "Gdzie oni są? Gdzie wszyscy moi przyjaciele" to widać, że one nijak nic nie kumają z tekstu.

Pokazy w "Idolu" czy "Must be Music" to ja jeszcze jestem w stanie strawić i nawet się nie będę czepiał bo to po prostu zwykli ludzie, którzy próbują śpiewać - lepiej lub gorzej lecz najczęściej z pasji. I jakby mi tam ktoś skoverował The Smiths, szczególnie na eliminacjach, to bym się chyba rozpłakał ze szczęścia. No dobra, może niezupełnie, ale taka jest ogólna idea.

Natomiast przy różnego rodzaju Opolach czy przedstawieniach, to mam to samo, co Ty. Dżizas, nie wiadomo czy śmiać się czy płakać. Z drugiej jednakże strony pisanie marudnych/obraźliwych recenzji z takich eventów jest nad wyraz satysfakcjonujące :)

Satysfakcjonujące to to by było, gdybym nie musiała tego wcześniej zdzierżyć. ; )

W sumie, co do wszelakich Must be the Music masz rację. Niech sobie śpiewają, oni w końcu przyznają, że się uczą.

Jak po festynach już jakieś młode grupy przerabiają (za pieniądze chyba jednak)Grechutę na rocka - to ostatnio u mnie było (Jak Kanty Pawluśkiewicz na pewno zrobiłby genialną rockową balladę ze swoich dzieł; ale ci młodzi ludzie nie byli JKP i zarżnęli piosenkę jak rezun wioskę) - to chyba jednak pod godny pretensji brak pokory jest.

So don't forget the songs etc.

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