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For a long time now I've read the occasional word about the Eels cover of Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love With You'. I've not thought much of it so far, imagining the cover to fall more in line with Eels other covers, such as Get Ur Freak On - a Linkin Park rockiness that worked in that context and not really anywhere else. I never allowed for the possibility it could be any other style - not least that style in which Mark Everett works best - the broken-down and simple tones of heartbreak.
Anyway, I finally got round to downloading everything I could by Eels this last weekend, and as such I finally listened to the track today. Somewhere around a minute in I think something inside of me caved. Everett's cover screams of the pain of love that he works so well with, and is so heart-wrenchingly beautiful I can't see myself ever going through another unrequited love without it playing on loop in the background. And yes, that's a little creepy, but it's nice to know I have something to make my creepy beautiful. I'll have some beautiful blues, if you will...
mp3: 'Can't Help Falling In Love' by Eels
Once upon a time, somewhere before I was really sure what I was doing on music blogs, I stumbled upon a small duo going by the name of Giant Drag. They were loved by NME (which was still respectable to me back then) and the female lead singer was renowned for having the dirtiest mouth this side of the Osbourne's estate. They did a fantastic song called 'This Isn't It', and possibly the greatest cover of The Beach Boys' 'God Only Knows' to grace my ears. As soon as I find that on my old homemade cds that are piled around my desk like I'm a character in a film noir movie, as soon as I find it, it's yours.
Until then, well, until then you can enjoy this below cover of 'Wicked Game', also by Giant Drag. There's something special they have, and I haven't yet put my finger on it. They're certainly fluid, willing to slip from genre to genre, style to style. This song, for instance, has a terrific guitar, but compare that to their 'God Only Knows', and you'll not have a clue how they suddenly became so twee. Ultimately, it's refreshing to find a nice indie band with the willingness to move accordingly with the song. Giant Drag are a rare treat.
mp3: 'Wicked Game' by Giant Drag
What better way to spend a Saturday blog than with a Saturday Session from The Shins? The Saturday Sessions is a fantastic compilation from BBC Radio 2 that outshines its more famous counterpart, Live Lounge, by a mile. It's a similar idea - bands pop in to the studio and perform a session featuring a cover. The key is in the bands that are invited to take part. Live Lounge had rubbish Brit soul-singers and such, where The Saturday Sessions invite bands such as this week's choice, The Shins.
They cover Pink Floyd's 'Breathe' a song I had never previously heard by a band I tend to rank as the dullest of all bands, ever. I stick with that, by the way. But The Shins inject an uncharacteristically dark feel to their version, and James Mercer's distinctive voice shines here.
Also, a secondary Shins treat for you - a version of their song 'Gone For Good' recorded on the streets of Montmartre in Paris. The sound quality isn't fantastic, in fact it's far from it, but what it lacks in clarity it more than makes up for in loveliness.
mp3: 'Breathe (Breathe In The Air)' by The Shins
mp3: 'Gone For Good (Montmartre Acoustic Street Version)' by The Shins
For a long time now I've read the occasional word about the Eels cover of Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love With You'. I've not thought much of it so far, imagining the cover to fall more in line with Eels other covers, such as Get Ur Freak On - a Linkin Park rockiness that worked in that context and not really anywhere else. I never allowed for the possibility it could be any other style - not least that style in which Mark Everett works best - the broken-down and simple tones of heartbreak.
