December 16th, 2008 9:52am
These Days Of Ours
Rose Elinor Dougall “May Holiday”
Much like her previous single “Another Version Of Pop Song,” “May Holiday” finds Rose Elinor Dougall attempting to reconcile the happy romance and stability of a relationship in the present tense with the nagging anxiety of wondering where she will be in the future, and what she will think of her life now in retrospect. The emotional tone of the piece is pitched perfectly between affectionate sweetness and melodramatic melancholy, particularly as the arrangement builds to a cinematic peak without getting overly sappy.
Visit Rose Elinor Dougall’s MySpace page.
Zooey “Father To A Sister Of Thought”
On the Zooey site, the duo mention that they’ve been singing this song in the shower for years. Hey, me too! It’s been one of my go-to sing-to-myself-when-I’m-alone songs for most of my life now, and in doing that, I’ve noticed that it’s a wonderfully malleable melody that rewards light improvisation and a variety of readings that bleed into genres. Zooey clearly noticed this as well. The tone of their cover is very faithful to that of the Pavement original, but it is technically transposed to another genre, a sort of mellow, keyboard-driven modern lounge pop. I’m very fond of their added harmonies, but I wish they had not omitted the riff at the end, and the “I know I’ll never know” outro.
Visit Zooey’s official site.
12/16/08 11:04 am
The Zooey cover is good, though I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a Pavement cover I liked better than their original. Have you?
I don’t even know what my fantasy version would be. LCD Soundsystem muscles up “Embassy Row” some more? That only springs to mind due to the reissue though…
12/16/08 11:53 am
Wow, Matthew, “Father To A Sister Of Thought” is one of my favourite Pavement songs too. I remember first discovering, that beautiful melancholy and cowboy-tinged melody, the feeling that whatever the singer is singing about, it’s lost forever. At least that’s the way I always felt it.
12/16/08 12:25 pm
The best a Pavement cover can hope to be is good and interesting and bring out something that was hinted at in the original, but not made explicit. They’re never going to be better.
12/16/08 2:04 pm
“The best a Pavement cover can hope to be is good and interesting and bring out something that was hinted at in the original, but not made explicit.”
Exactly. Not easy to do. As for other covers, Campesinos’ “Frontwards” (which a dangerous one to touch since it’s already perfect) is the only recent one that comes to mind.
12/16/08 3:04 pm
I recommend “Gold Sounds” record that came out a few years ago, the one with a quartet doing jazz versions on Pavement numbers. Very inspired stuff there.
12/16/08 5:24 pm
Matt,
I’ve been reading your site for years. Came across this today and it sounds right up your alley. “Towns Apart” and “Some Start with Something”. Philly/Brooklyn guys.
http://www.myspace.com/alphabetarmy
12/16/08 6:46 pm
Didn’t know what to expect clicking the Father to a Sister link but you know I ended up liking it. But you’re right, it needs the end riff. My one complaint is the way this version just floats off. That said there’s no way any cover of this tune comes within a light year of the original.
12/17/08 10:56 pm
kathryn williams’ version of “spit on a stranger” ist also pretty rad
12/18/08 2:05 pm
I agree with what everyone has mentioned. My first encounter with Pavement evoked a highly textured melancholy that sparkled with gentle melodies. Very good stuff that still has potential to expand in other directions.
Evan
http://www.beyondrace.com
12/18/08 11:00 pm
i liked the cover okay. that said, changing the lyric to make it gender correct was really unnecessary and ruins the whole flow of that verse.