I’m Inclined To Just Say "Screw It"

Plush “I’ve Changed My #” – This is a selection from Underfed, the newly released demo version of Plush’s 2002 album Fed. Due to extremely high production costs, no American or European label was willing to pay for the record, so Fed was only released by the After Hours label in Japan. The prohibitive cost of the Fed sessions came as a direct result of Plush leader Liam Hayes’ fondness for highly detailed arrangements and obsession with the minutae of sound recording. Though Underfed can hardly be described as “stripped-down,” the songs are presented in earlier, less fussy incarnations that reveal a greater degree of warmth and spontaneity than the slicker, more dynamic final recordings. The Underfed versions sound much older, bearing a striking resemblence to early 70s AM rock to the point that you could probably fool a layperson into believing that “I’ve Changed My #” is an old Todd Rundgren track. (Click here to buy it from Other Music.)

Scala & Kolacny Brothers “Sexy Boy” – The girls of the Scala Choir are back, this time augmented by a string section as they reinterpret Air’s classic “Sexy Boy” as a mournful dirge. Though this isn’t quite as amazing as their recordings of “I Touch Myself” and “Bittersweet Symphony,” this arrangement brings out a sort of bombastic melancholy which was only hinted at in the original. (Click here to buy it from Amazon France.)