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September 6th, 2006 1:18pm

Ten Days Of Perfect Tunes

Scala and Kolacny Brothers "Heartbeats" - It's not much of a secret that I believe The Knife's "Heartbeats" to be the single greatest song of this decade to date, and so it genuinely warms my heart to hear new versions of it if just because it just brings the song that much closer to becoming the standard that it ought to be, and that even the least competent covers and remixes cannot drown out its essential beauty. Long term readers may remember the Scala choir for their gorgeous, heart-melting choral rendition of the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself," and they apply the same basic arrangement to this song. The piano parts more closely echo the hushed guitar of José González's version, but the vocals err on the side of The Knife's complicated and ethereal blend of melancholy and joy rather than González's less nuanced sad sackery. It's still not quite as sublime as The Knife's original, but this is nevertheless an astonishing and incredibly beautiful recording. (Click here to buy it directly from the group.)

RSS Feed for this post20 Responses.
  1. 9/6/06 5:17 pm
     george says:

    i agree that “heartbeats” is a very beautiful song. i don’t think i’ve heard a version other than the orginal that i’ve liked much though. maybe that onemusic version, but that was the knife themselves. this recording may be even more tasteless than the jose gonzalez one. nobody seems to be able to think of anything to do with the song other than jerry bruckheimerize it.

  2. 9/6/06 5:47 pm
     Matthew Perpetua says:

    See, I can totally see why a person might not like this version, but I cannot fathom comparing this in any way to the work of Jerry Bruckheimer, of all the artists in the history of the world! Are you very familiar with the man’s work?

  3. 9/6/06 6:02 pm
     lockedintheattic says:

    That’s great. Have you heard Scala’s version of Mia’s “Hungriges Herz”? (That’s the German Mia, by the way obviously, not the English M.I.A.). It’s really beautiful (the whole choir whispering “Du bis eiskalt” together before launching into the chorus being particularly effective)

  4. 9/6/06 7:39 pm
     Eppy says:

    I wish someone would Bruckheimerize “Heartbeats,” it would be awesome with lots and lots of explosions and car chases. I’m serious.

  5. 9/6/06 7:50 pm
     Matthew Perpetua says:

    HEARTBLASTS?

  6. 9/6/06 8:46 pm
     george says:

    well, i guess jerry bruckheimer brings to mind something different for me. i don’t think of explosions and action but cloying sentimentality and lack of subtlety. both this and the jose gonzalez versions just seem very obvious. it’s like they’re trying to say “HEY DID YOU NOTICE THAT THIS WEIRD SONG IS ACTUALLY REALLY PRETTY!!!!!????”

  7. 9/6/06 9:18 pm
     k8 says:

    i kinda agree with george. it’s definitely beautiful, sure… but i can’t help mentally going immediately to a visual of, say, a hacky affleckian hero doing clean up work after some blatantly ethnic evil has bombed, say, a children’s shelter where, say, his starlet-of-the-week has been working as a mysterious but good-hearted regime insider. it’s sunset over the rubble, it’s children’s smiles through tears, it’s a shared glance over the head of a patched-up orphan or the inevitable moment where he reaches out to brush a wisp of carefully mussed hair away from her strategically smudged yet still dewy face, etc. i can definitely hear the bruckheimer. damn him.
    ;)

  8. 9/6/06 9:23 pm
     Matthew Perpetua says:

    Yeah, I think I essentially agree with you about that George - I’d really rather go with the “did you notice that this beautiful song is actually pretty weird” side, but I don’t think it’s exactly a bad thing to have a really nice sentimental pretty version of it, I think that just adds to the overall greatness of the song rather than detracts from the perfection of the Deep Cuts version.

  9. 9/7/06 12:27 am
     Mikey D. says:

    What a beautiful cover! Thanks for sharing it.

  10. 9/7/06 4:07 am
     James says:

    No love for the OneMusic version of “Heartbeats”? I don’t think any of the others really strike the balance between the prettiness and the profound need for the song to sound idiosyncratic as fuck in order for there to be any poignancy. I actually really liked the Scala version, but as drop-dead gorgeous as it is, it’s completely missing any hint of OH FUCK IT, I LOVE YOU AND YOU LOVE ME AND WE’RE IN LOVE.

  11. 9/7/06 4:26 am
     James says:

    also, while “Heartbeats” is a fine choice for the best song of the decade, there’s also this little song called “La Ritournelle”.

  12. 9/7/06 2:29 pm
     mrs. jenner mellberg says:

    100% agree “best song of the decade”
    Coincidentally I’m listening to it now. I’ve listened to it daily for months and months and months, and I’ve yet to get sick of it - that’s rare ;)
    As for the covers - meh, not bad, but they could never come close to the real thing.

    The Knife is also def. one of the best bands to come out in the last however many years IMO. The Knife & Super Furry Animals - 2 of the most creative bands anyway.

  13. 9/7/06 9:29 pm
     ho says:

    I agree with James…the OneMusic version is the one I swear by. Why they didn’t use this for the Bravia commercial instead of Jose is beyond me.

  14. 9/7/06 9:55 pm
     Daniel says:

    Just wanted to say that in Europe that choir called Scala is considered really bad trash. At least by people who have half a musical taste. They are not more than a novelty act. But one of these which leave a bad taste in your mouth. brrrrrrrr! I am upset that the choir leaders (two ego-maniac idiots who act like they are classic choir directors) even found out about that song. That they covered it must be considered a sacrilege.

  15. 9/9/06 11:20 pm
     Blooper says:

    The OneMusic version is my preference too. As for this cover, it’s another cute joke. Made me smile, but I don’t need to hear it a second time. However, it did make me think that a serious choir (with deeper, more mature voices) could do something great with the song: start out slow and sweet, then build into one dark, manic crescendo, a la Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

  16. 9/12/06 12:22 am
     Giulia says:

    wow. this gave me creepy-crawly shiveries (in a good way) all up and down my neck and cheeks.

    i’m not sure if i only love it because i used to be in a chorus all through high school that very often did stuff like this and i wish we had had this song to toy around with, but wow. just…wow.

  17. 9/12/06 12:50 am
     noiseboy says:

    i agree, one of the best songs to come out in years. i recently gave this to dubfire of deep dish and he’s been playing the onemusic session version as an encore at the end of his sets. beautiful stuff.

  18. 9/12/06 12:18 pm
     hermitdruid says:

    This is beautiful. Thanks so much.

  19. 9/15/06 9:54 pm
     Joz says:

    cheers for posting it. its a lovely version :)

  20. 9/21/06 9:31 pm
     k says:

    so good its scary. thanks for this.

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