Someone stole my Common CD, and I am not happy about it
I was going to review Common's new CD "Finding Forever" for ya here, but someone swiped it from my desk. Jerk.
So instead, apropos of yesterday's digression, let's take a listen to "Guilt by Association." I've mentioned it before, but if you've forgotten, its a compilation of terrible songs guilty pleasures recorded by indie artists who are ostensibly above that sort of thing.
It's a fun effort, albeit a little uneven. One man's guilty pleasure is another man's aural torture, and some of the originals are so terrible that they just can't be saved. These are songs that are ingrained in our cultural consciousness — "Don't Stop Believin' " (Journey), "Back For Good" (Take That), "Say My Name" (Destiny's Child); we all know 'em and love 'em, or hate 'em, or hate to love 'em — and some of these songs carry with them such personal baggage that there's no way a dressed up cover can say anything new. Again, one man's guilty pleasure ..., the unlistenable track will be different for everyone. Mark Mulcahy's "From This Moment On" is that for me. Also, as nice as Petra Haden's a cappella version of "Don't Stop Believin' " is, I will just never like that song.
more, after the jump...
Casey Shea's cover of "Chop Suey" (System of a Down) is another weak spot. I'd actually never heard the original I totally didn't recognize this song, but I think it's too recent and not large enough in scope to be considered a "guilty pleasure." This just isn't one of those comes-on-in-the-bar-and-everyone-sings-along type songs; If it came on at a party, no one would notice. As such, the cover is just a boring, slow, folk-rock song with angry hardcore lyrics. And, dare I say it, SOAD didn't really need any improving.
A few tracks transcend their source material. Devendra Banhart's take on Oasis' "Don't Look Back In Anger" is pretty cool. (Although as the track started, I thought, "Why did they put "Imagine" on here?" Which is related to the first thought I had upon hearing Oasis' original.) Banhart strips the song down and gives it kind of a tropicalia beat. He adopts a kind of "foreign" accent, which is mildly annoying, but the song as a whole is pleasant.
The album has a strong middle with Goat's cover of "Sugar, We're Going Down" (Fall Out Boy), Will Oldham's "Can't Take That Away" (Maria Carey) and The Woody Jackson Orchestra's "Love's Theme" (Love Unlimited Orchestra). Here's a triad of covers that make it as songs qua songs.
Superchunk takes a Me First and the Gimme Gimmes-style approach to "Say My Name", and I love those guys so I love this song. Is it hard hitting? No. Is it awesome? Yes.
All in all, good fun. From what I can tell, the album drops Aug. 21, with a listening party at Pianos.
eh, www.amNY.com
