While she might have left our collective mind over the course of the last nine months (mostly due to her tragic SNL performance), it’s hard to forget that period between October to December 2011, when the New Jersey youtube singer was the hottest ticket in town. Patrick Wolf sure didn’t, and as such, has released a cover of “Born to Die.” You might recall this song from the tigers that are in the music video.
Simplifying the original song, Patrick augments his vocals with a simple string section and this track sounds good. Check it out.
Patrick Wolf is touring North America next week, get your tickets.
9/18/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
9/20/12 – New York, NY @ Joe’s Pub
9/21/12 – New York, NY @ Joe’s Pub
9/22/12 – Boston, MA @ Royale Nightclub
9/23/12 – Montreal, PQ @ L’Astral
9/25/12 – Toronto, ON @ The Music Gallery
9/28/12 – Seattle, WA @ The Triple Door
9/29/12 – Vancouver, BC @ Rio Theatre
9/30/12 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
10/2/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
There are some bands, that despite being on my radar at the time, completely managed to pass me by. Dead Can Dance was one of those bands, who along with the Cocteau Twins managed to build the iconic, sepia-toned aesthetic of 4AD Records. The politics of record labels, domestic and foreign distribution rights, and other seemingly antiquated notions in this digital internet age, but are ultimately what shaped 4AD’s forage into the North American market through a distribution deal co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell inked with Warner Bros.
I was vaguely aware of this at the time, because of a program called mIRC (“Internet Relay Chat”)–a chat program that seems crude by today’s standard. It was there that I met many of the people I would trade mix tapes with…one in particular was cataloguing every aspect of 4AD, which is how I came to learn of Dead Can Dance. I would soon grow to love bands like the Red House Painters and Mojave 3, but mostly how cohesive their catalogue seemed to be. Little did I know Dead Can Dance would come to be categorized as “world music”.
Anastasis, DCD’s first release since 1996 definitely has elements of that, but I find it interesting to note that over the past few decades, it has attracted a mostly industrial/goth audience. Listening to their earlier material there is more of that feel to it–Anastasis is sadder, slower, and accompanied by a chamber orchestra. But it also manages to create what most good albums strive for: rich atmosphere.
There’s no question that the pace of this album is a plodding one–Perry carries the duty of most of the heavy lifting with the vocals, and the usual gongs, sitars, trumpets, sitars, and strings. In short, there’s no shortage of an audio sensory overload here with lots to keep you occupied.
At least no one can accuse them of going small or under-ambitious.
The album starts off with Children of the Sun, with a cinematic beginning and some great drumming–clocking in at over 7 minutes of Perry’s deep vocals and a whole lot of gongs and horns. It then moves into the Indian-tinged section with the plucky Anabasis and Agape, which took me back to my schoolyard days. The melody very much reminded me of the following chant:
“In the land of Oz, where the ladies wear no bras And the boys don’t care, they don’t wear no underwear“
Amnesia is one of the stronger tracks off the album, reminiscent of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Power of Love (I mean this in the best way possible), only carrying bone-crushing weight. The meaty middle portion of the album continues with the Middle-Eastern-y Gerard-voiced Kiko…but it’s really Opium that stands out to me as having the best arrangements off Anastasis. Strings and percussion play nicely together here. The album finishes with the Isle-influenced Return of the She-King that might appropriately score an epic Irish Springs commercial and All In Good Time. I think the important thing to note is that DCD has stayed committed to achieving a flavor with this work, and they have managed to do so, with some epic song-writing arrangement-wise.
In thinking about Dead Can Dance, Perry and Gerrard’s former relationship, trans-oceanic break-up, and 16 year hiatus, I’d be hard-pressed to think of any better build-up to tonight”s concert at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (the Hummingbird to the rest of us). If you need any confirmation of the way their music will play out in a theatre’s acoustics, you need only look at the long string of sold out dates on this world tour.
It all begins with PNAU, an Australian electropop band that first gained attention in 2007 with their self titled album PNAU. The track, which spawned a few catchy singles ( Wild Strawberries, Baby and With You Forever) caught the attention of one Sir Elton John. Elton John signed the group and quickly took them under his wing, offering the group his musical knowledge and bubble baths.
PNAU got a bit sidetracked in the late 00’s, as side project Empire of the Sun exploded onto the internet and made Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele stars for a brief moment in time.
With EOTS on hiatus, PNAU went back to the recording studio, probably did a ton of drugs and decided to reimagine Elton John’s records. The result is Good Morning to the Night, a mad scientist of an album that turns parts of Elton John’s 1970-1976 discography into a cohesive summer album that is perfect for backyard patio parties.
The album is only eight tracks long but features a host of an ideas. The title track incorporates eight Elton John tracks and transforms it into a rocking dance floor anthem and is definitely one of the highlights of this summer. The next track Sad is equally good, incorporating horns and other elements from five EJ tracks to turn it into once of those chilled but not too chilled tracks you want to play at sunset. The rest of the album twist and dives into the discography (most people say it was Elton John’s best work), each track sounding slightly different but all be it consistent with the PNAU’s dance party in the desert type of sound. Basically, it’s a great summer album and one worthy of your time.
If Ellie Goulding was a character in Dungeons and Dragons, her ‘cover another artist’ ability would probably +100 or something. I don’t actually know if that’s a correct comparison since I don’t know anything about Dungeons and Dragons, but that is what I am assuming is on the cards. As we all know, Ellie Goulding can cover songs well, whether it be a club track like Rhianna’s Only Girl in the World or a classic ballad like Elton John’s Your Song. This time around she takes on a track by Active Child, of all people.
Hanging On was one of the standout tracks off Active Child’s debut record You Are All I See and one that focuses on Pat Grossi’s voice featuring minimal arrangements. The Ellie Goulding cover takes the track and makes it less depressing and more poppy (as you would expect) and also features a cameo by Tiny Tempah for some reason. I really don’t know why he’s in there, maybe he was chilling in Ellie’s studio, smoking some weed and decided to add his two cents. Why did I just assume he smokes weed? Weird. Anyway, it’s an ambitious reworking of one of the more unique tracks from last year. Does it work? I’m not sure, but it’s an interesting take regardless. Check it out.
