As it says on the sticker on the front......"Toronto ambient/shoegaze/drone duo NADJA illustrate their diverse roots by covering some of their favorite artists: My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, A-ha, The Swans, Codeine, Slayer, Elliot Smith and Kids In The Hall. This album contains eight carefully-selected covers re-imagined through NADJA's unique sonic blueprint."
Oh How they try....I love this sentence from the promo sticker..."carefully-selected covers re-imagined".Right.
When a musician has lost their Mojo,and are scrambling for ideas,they either steal them from lesser mortals and claim them as products of their undoubted genius, or they stoop to the 'Covers Album' reset mode and claim they are paying a humble tribute to the artists who inspired them in their formative years. David Bowie is one of the few artists who have done both in their lauded career,always being seen around where the action is before releasing another album in the series before the person he stole from,and even having them in the band,which made it easier.He also made "Pin Ups",his covers album,when he was devoid of ideas, and use his star power to cajole any gullible chums to nick the odd riff off;with no credit of course.
They've all done it those genius's, even the magnificent Duran Duran,with their sickeningly disingenuous "Thank You". Voted the worst album of all time by the equally sickening "Q" magazine,which included the famously cloth-eared recording of "911 is a joke" as made by millionaire white guys making a joke out of the rap classic about systemic racism.Don't you just love 'em.....I do and I ain't joking.
Last years bogie man Nick Cave ,when failing to find a way to not sound like every solo album he's ever made, tried to show us ignorants his impeccable taste by predictably recording tastefully selected forgotten country classics and crooning blues dirges;but also joining Duran Duran in fucking over a Velvet Underground number......that at least deserves some respect......not a lot....but some?
Elvis Costello did a drearily dreadful album of Country classics did he not? Another burk in the impeccable good taste club.
An accusation we can not repeat about Metallica whose consummately terrible taste, is responsible for wiping their arses on classics from Killing Joke, Motorhead and Black Sabbath? No clever reconstrustions of non-rock tunes done with a splash of humour like The Melvins' borderline 'good' "Everybody Loves Sausages" from 2013, when Buzz must have hit a creative wall.Notable high spots were a Throbbing Gristle Cover which is not actually a cover but an "interpretation", and a not to be missed version of 1st album Jam's "Art School",where the boys show off their finely honed English 'Oi' accents......I don't remember Dick Van Dyke being in The Jam,but apparently he was? I suppose I should name a cover versions collection that doesn't suck balls in any way whatsoever hadn't I,or you might think me a right cynical ol'Bastard twat Cunt?......The answer is not a musical version of 42, even though it certainly is.....i'm gonna have to say that "For Ladies Only" by the beyond great Killdozer is indeed the best covers album ever made.....go on,change my mind!.
It's all just a bit of fun innit,we all wanna make a covers album don't we?......here's one for the boys.....what would you put on your covers album? 12 tracks limit, answers on a postcard,entries arrive no later than the moment Putin's successor activates the Nuclear codes.
Although I could write about cover albums by narcissists 'til the cows come home, we are being distracted from the subject of this post,about the Covers album by Canadian Dreamsludge duo Nadja.
A duo whose sub-genre definition falls between many stools,but on this occasion, maybe just Shoegaze is appropriate,and cleansing in its simplicity.Especially as it opens with a crawling "My Bloody Valentine" cover dowsed in treacle played at 16rpm (why do these modern record players no longer have 16 or 78 as an option?).In fact if there is one criticism, it's that it's not slow enough.
Underrated Norwegian Pop Trio, A-Ha, get dragged through the sludge to great effect, as,predictably,does Swans.Maybe a Swans cover played in the style of The Wedding Present would have been a better idea methinks.....we know very well they're influenced by Michael Gira's slothful combo,and we know what they sound like too.
I had to look up Elliot Smith(track 6)......a dead bloke,who plays fragile minimal acoustic numbers. I suppose it makes a change from Syd Barratt?.......although one would have loved to hear a Dreamsludge version of "Dark Globe" one must admit.
Alas, as with all these cover albums, one,as the listener, is rapidly titillated at what these crazy katz are gonna do with your favourite songs,that it very quickly fizzles out then fades away,and we return to the original versions with a new vigor,'cus cover version are crap aren't they?
So as 'pop' music becomes the new Classical,and we all run out of tunes and new ideas, and music returns to the art of Interpretation only, as it has been in the Classical music world for the last two hundred or so years. No-one can berate the ol' Ludwig Van for having no new material anymore, except via those in the medium community of rip-off merchants and exploiters,who regularly channel new Beethoven pieces from the spirit world......even though some Pop Stars,musicians and their like, evidently think that they ARE Beethoven reborn.
Still waiting for that 10th Symphony Lud.......if possible an Ambient Doom version please Vielen Danke in advance.
Tracklist:
2. Pea 4:09
3. No Cure For The Lonely 6:56
4. Dead Skin Mask 10:06
5. The Sun Always Shines On TV 6:01
6. Needle In The Hay 4:45
7. Long Dark Twenties 6:35
8. Faith 12:47
10 comments:
Systemic racism? Obama (the Kenyan born US president who's mum's forename is Stanley (as in the peerage family responsible for the royal lines of Britain - John Lennon too is a Stanley - and she also looks like Paul McCartney with a Habsburg jaw, caused by inbreeding) spent billions of US dollars to get black students on the same level as white/asian scholars, and every billion was totally wasted, they still underperform in every exept running quickly, mugging, and gangraping.
People should get to the top by merit not by rich family connections and freemason membership.
@ifor Biggwn....hee hee....you're good.
That's not Simon Lob-on is it? (Well known pall-bearer against 'Systemic racism, and his hit record berating the twin towers conspiracy..."9/11 is a joke"
Why are you bothered anyway? Doesn't affect you does it? Unless you're one of those geezers who think they own the country they live in,certainly has fuck all to do with me.Definitely double Fuck all to do with you.
I like the Gang Raping part,as if they're not interested in ordinary one on one rape. They go large them black chaps called Stanley.If it grabs the Daily Mail headlines especially.
So Obama wasn't born in the USA (except that he was)? Like George Washington(English) and several others.
"People should get to the top by merit not by rich family connections and freemason membership."...straight out of Mein Kampf.Hitlers suing for damages from his cryogenic pod on the dark side of the Moon.
Feel free to contribute more.There's a chap/chapette called "Sandy Hook" who posts from time to time,who you may get on with.
Don't worry i don't mind nutjob racism,so don't feel under attack.Positively encouraged. Freedom of speech an'all.
Popcorn in hand, let the games begin.
Not sure he wants to play Rev.
I didn't think it was possible to detest Simon DaBone more than I already did.
Never listened to it, but I'd venture that Yo La Tengo's Fake Book isn't awful. At the very least, they seldom offend my delicate sensibilities and their new album--This Stupid World--is actually great! They've also got a knack for decent titles.
Ifor's kinda all over the place. First he's going on about Blacks named Stanley, then he jumps to legacy admissions? I guess that's consistent with Q and Trumpworld and whatnots, but usually they leave at least a paragraph between transitions.
My bad. Ifor's going on about _whites_ named Stanley, then the gang raping thing, then legacy admissions.
Hmmm, Yo La Tengo's Fakebook,33 years old and counting. A fine example of a covers album by people who have probably worked in a record shop...either /or are helpless record collectors....which they obviously are. I struggled to recognize the songs as covers.
Know better now....except that there are 5 YLT originals,some remade!?...so this disqualifies it as a 'Covers' album i'm sorry to say!
A Stupid World indeed....did i use the phrase "Collective Human Stupidity" before?...stuff that leads to a person reading stuff that suggests that a non white former president was born in a foreign land and believing it as 'Truth'. Psychological conditioning know as The Big Lie.....tell them they're lying and they think this must be the truth.
We need to shut the internet down for 6 months to reset.
I'm in complete agreement about Killdozer's "For Ladies Only"album being the best covers album ever. I remember my dad coming up the stairs to my bedroom to ask, "Who is massacring these classics?"
Pea is a fantastic song too, the best version was performed by Bitch Magnet and Codeine, though I'm keen to hear these Nadja whippersnappers have a crack at it.
The best covers albums are made by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes...
Happy to see the superb Killdozer mentioned here regarding pointless covers albums. No-one massacres a shit-classic like my all-time faves Killdozer!
Their total massacre of 'Disco Inferno' is the best cover ever, closely followed by the Pistols' taking a shit on top of 'Substitute' by the shithouse 'The Who'.
Best wishes from,
'Fosterslagerstrom'
Haven't commented for quite a while, but your blog is very much appreciated J.Z.
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