This has been a very good year for covers albums. First, there were the guys from Supergrass forming a band called Hotrats to do covers of various rock songs, like The Kinks, The Doors, and Elvis Costello. Then there was the exceptional Hall & Oates tribute album from The Bird and the Bee.
Now comes Crushes, from keyboard-and-drums duo / married couple Mates of State. The songs they cover are definitely more obscure (I don't know the original versions of half of them) but they all sound good. Of course, Mates of State definitely put their stamp on them all, though it's a more refined sound than their usual retro-keyboards and wailing-vocals. They even throw in guitars and horns on one or two songs.
In any case, here's yet another example of good musicians taking a great song and "making it their own". This time, it's a Tom Waits (& Kathleen Brennan) folk song (awesome lyrics and I absolutely love that chord change on the 4th line of the verse) called "Long Way Home". Enjoy the Mates of State version and the original:
I don't get either version. Not my taste. Which makes me think of Julian's comment upon hearing your father and me disagree about a Stravinsky piece. He said it was "the cilantro of the music world." Because it's known that some people like cilantro and others get a soapy taste when they eat it. Sorry, but listening to those two audios made my mouth get all sudsy.
Posted by: Betsy | 06/21/2010 at 07:45 AM
I'm with Mom. I can't believe that any group made me prefer Tom Waits, but still, I think I'll give a pass to both. Sorry! Any more Ray Lamontagne to share?
Posted by: Lauri Hornik | 06/21/2010 at 07:21 PM