January 20th, 2004 1:44pm

Michael Dracula “Destroy Yourself (Twitch&#...

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Michael Dracula “Destroy Yourself (Twitch’s Optimo Mix)” - This woman’s voice is very interesting. This is the first that I’ve heard of this new Scottish band, and it’s a remix by DJ Twitch from the Glasgow club Optimo. I’m very excited to hear their forthcoming EP on Ze Records, because I’m curious to know how much of this song is Twitch, and how much of it is them. As it is, I’m quite fond of how clipped her voice sounds, and the dynamics of the rumbling bass, synths, and beats. That one part where she’s singing the chorus of Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes” is a bit unsettling, and sounds sort of like Cat Power possessed by demons.

José Gonzales “Heartbeats” - Thanks to Emil Arvidson, one of this blog’s Swedish readers, I was alerted to the existence of this lovely acoustic folk ballad cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats.” Though his name is very misleading, Gonzales is apparently a very hyped Swedish singer-songwriter. He’s got a beautiful voice, and this version of the song is quite nice - it kinda sounds like James Taylor gone indie.

1/20/04 5:42 pm

Jack Fear says:

Son of a bitch. I’m putting together a final set list for a solo acoustic gig I’m playing this Friday, and now I desperately want to play that version of “Heartbeats.”

That’s just magnificent. If anything it shows what a perfectly constructed song “Heartbeats” is, that it can be so effective in two such radically different arrangements. And it’s funny that you call Gonzales’s cover a ballad–it’s actually taken at a faster tempo than The Knife’s original, but it gives the impression of being slower, because it’s so spacious.

Thanks, Matthew. Wonderful stuff.

1/20/04 5:47 pm

Matthew says:

Hey Jack, here are chords and lyrics for Gonzales’ arrangement, to make things a little easier on you.

1/20/04 5:50 pm

Suede says:

I just need to echo what Jack said. It’s just a beautiful song, however you look at it.

1/20/04 7:30 pm

cozen says:

i saw michael drac live an am now disappointed i left early. the singer is john yummy fur’s wife i thk. and the girl they have on the keyboards (leary) (!!!) is really beautiful and insane. um good insane.

1/20/04 9:21 pm

reeto says:

only found this blog just a couple of days ago, via your weekend music post on the trashboard.
shame i didn’t come here earlier: every single song a keeper, some of them just vaguely familiar, all of them - and especially the accurate descriptions - proof of a very musical and interesting listener.
really pleased to meet you!

1/20/04 9:49 pm

this sounds nothing like michael dracula on that night btw. bt maybe i didn’t hang around fr long enough.

1/21/04 2:26 pm

damo says:

hearbeat is fantastic.
thankyou, for everything you keep putting up here.
perfect start to every day.

1/21/04 3:06 pm

Matthew: I don’t know which is more laughably inaccurate about that transciption you linked to, the lyrics (”You knew you had to fight different” for “You knew the hand of the Devil”) or the chords: the guy completely misses the shift to the V chord at the bridge, and even a cursory listening makes it plain that no way is Gonzales playing in D# with all barre chords–it’s open chords, in an open tuning, with capo 1.

After futzing around with this for an hour or so in dropped-D tuning (D A D G B E), I’m pretty sure he’s tuned to an open D (D A D F# A D).

I may do it, I may not. Part of me thinks that the fact that it’s hopelessly obscure is reason enough not to do it, but part of me thinks that that’s the whole point…

In other news: there’s a frustratingly near-total lack of information about The Knife on the Web, and no trustworthy version of the lyrics to be found.