Robyn performed this glistening cover of fellow mononymous songstress Bjork’s “Hyperballad” at this year’s Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. The sort-of-great, sort-of-awkward bit is that Björk was present and watched the whole thing. While there’s no doubt that Robyn did a great job with the song, it’s hard to decipher what Bjork’s reaction was. I think I see a tear in here eye, was she moved or insulted? Watch below:
Below is the latest edition of our weekly feature, Stuck On Repeat. The premise is simple, we’ve asked all our contributors to submit one track and a brief write-up. The track can be new or it can be old, just whatever we could not stop listening to this week. These are the songs we’ve had Stuck On Repeat.
:: selected by: V :: Bran Van 3000 – Drinking In LA (320 kbps)
The “summer jam” has been a constant topic of discussion in my life lately, which has spurred me to look back and reflect on some of the best summer jams of years past. There’s a tendency to gravitate towards hip-hop when one thinks of the summer jam and while my memories full of smooth flows and head-nodding beats, above all others sticks out Bran Van 3000’s “Drinking in LA”. This track hit prominence the summer of my high school graduation. I didn’t drink back then, nor had I ever even been to LA. Even in 1998 I found it a hard track to define. It’s definitely quirky, and littered with references to other songs (many of which are summer jams themselves), the laidback funk carries with it every adjective you could throw out on the topic of summertime.
:: selected by: BryanB :: Matthew Dear – Gem (192 kbps)
Since I am visual by nature and tend to create narratives and stories for songs I listen to, I will describe my Stuck On Repeat, Matthew Dear’s sorrowful “Gem” via the music video I have constructed for it in my head. It’s far off in the future, a dark, damp, flickering city on the brink of extinction, where humans wander the urban canyons searching for some kind of connection to their happier past. Matthew slumps down near a dumpster, completely exhausted and takes a look at his nearly broken communication device and realizes he has precious few minutes left of battery power left. With it’s last remaining moments of power, he accesses the only memory-file left, a couple of minutes of video he recorded of his children on a sun drenched beach. The file starts to play as we see Matthew’s face, the warm glow of the memory he’s watching shedding enough light on his face to see tears welling up. As the video starts to disintegrate he reaches his hand out, the glitches in the memory file moving sequences out of time, he tries to touch his long lost child as she approaches a breaking wave with trepidation. Matthew’s mouth attempts to utter the words “it’s OK” as the memory slowly falls apart, and entire video fades to black. Happy friday everyone.
:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Architecture – Pregnant (R. Kelly Cover) (192 kbps)
Architecture is the name of the side project from Chicago band Panda Riot. Bandmates Melissa and Rebecca have been doing extra homework on the side, and most excitingly, made this R Kelly cover. I usually am not a fan of covers, but this one works by taking the sound into a whole other territory. The lyrics take on a different level of meaning when being sung by the opposite gender. Architecture slows down the tempo, brings in far away space drums, and sings what could be interpreted as either mockery or response to R Kelly. It’s hard to tell which, and that’s why I think it’s good.
:: selected by: Moneyworth :: Flo Rida feat. David Guetta – Club Can’t Handle Me (256 kbps)
I’m not going to frame this post in typical blogger-experiencing-Top40 fashion like, “Sometimes I like to mingle among the common folk and check out the radio, because it’s super funny to ironically listen to whatever the fucking plebes are being force-fed these days.” Fuck that. Bloggers love claiming how much they love mainstream pop hooks but with a little insufferably elitist giggle, like when celebrities talk about how much they just love eating ice cream. This song is just dope and I don’t even care that it features David Guetta. Flo Rida has that power of making a song that annoyed you the first time get stuck in your head for days (“Low”? Come on.) and this is no exception. The obvious best part of this song, though, is the thought of bros in the club taking Jaegerbombs to the dome like, “Dude… bro… the club can’t even HANDLE me right now!” Listen, whatever, this is literally the song that’s been stuck on repeat and I don’t care if you make fun of me.
:: selected by: Danosaur :: Sylvio Cesar & BossaCucaNova – Consolação (267 kbps)
One thing I’ve been re-learning lately is that, even when there is a ’stereotypical’ sound for a region, or culture, there are ALWAYS very beautiful, and staggering, exceptions to the rule. “Consolação” is, most definitely, one of those outstandingly hidden treasures. Ripped straight from the heart of the Brazilian underground, this excellent track sways around in almost too many different genres to count. Treading in the realms of Lounge Jazz, Samba, Filter Disco and Deep House – Sylvio Cesar & BossaCucaNova have crafted an incredibly blended mix of sounds that flows and crashes like the waves on the beaches in Rio. “Consolação” brings you deep into the heart of Brazilian culture, and doesn’t let you leave without a new melody stuck in your head.
Taylor Momsen, who plays lovable, annoying bitch-twat Jenny Humphrey in The Great Show Of Our Time, Gossip Girl, took the time to record this acoustic cover/mash of the xx’s “Islands” and Rihanna’s hook on Eminem’s ridiculous “I Love The Way You Lie” — which is actually conceptually cool. And to be honest, it sounds great too. I didn’t expect this gigantic, smokey 90s alt-rock chick voice to come from Little J. Listen to the cover below:
Oh and by the way, her band’s name is The Pretty Reckless. I’m guess Paramore but blonde, running mascara and possibly carrying Chuck Bass’ bastard?
*Apologies for the numerous Gossip Girl references.
New Fever Ray? Sure why not. Fever Ray’s cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street” will be released on a seven inch slab of wax next month on Mute. Karin Dreijer Andersson left her mark on Gabriel’s 1986 So album-track, making it “more intense and faster” to fit her “eccentric percussionists and energetic live musicians”, according to her blog post. Listen to the cover on the embedded video below:
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Passion Pit performed a cover of the Cranberries’ 90s stable, “Dreams” when I saw them live, and as it turns out, they seem to do it a lot. So much, in fact, that the band decided to record a cover and include it in the recent reissue of Manners. Personally, I didn’t touch the reissue (since when do albums 12 months old need to be reissued?), so big thanks to the Mike to sent the track over this morning.
As a fan of the original, I’m glad to say that the cover is pretty loyal to the original, while still carrying itself with that air of falsetto/synth overkill we’ve grown to expect and love from Passion Pit. You can now buy the Manners “Deluxe” Edition at Insound for a few bucks. Or if you’d prefer, you can buy Passion Pit’s cover of “Dreams” on iTunes for one buck, just make sure to listen to it below first:
Passion Pit’s cover of the Smashing Pumpkin’s estimable 1996 single, “Tonight, Tonight” comes as the latest (and possibly greatest?) installment of Levi’s Pioneer Sessions Revival Recordings series. If you recall, covers of classic songs recorded by She & Him, Dirty Projectors and the Shins have also been released for public consumption.
Passion Pit have always shined a little bit brighter with their ballads. Songs from their debut album, Manners, like “Moth’s Wings” attest to that. You can listen to and download “Tonight, Tonight” below: