Pre-release CDs, eh? I must admit to not being that aware of the machinations of releasing promotional CDs to those who tend to receive them (press, media, friends etc), but unless a certain amount gets passed out to allow those whose job it is to write and talk about them to do so whilst also ensuring that those that do end up on auction sites various don’t change hands for silly money, then there seems to be a large amount of promo stuff that is made and given out that sadly ends up not being used to promote, merely to sell. For the fans, this is a bit of a bonus (and I say that firmly from a fan’s perspective); for artists and labels alike, it must be a monumental pain in the arse to see gifts being used to make a few quid and the opportunity for airplay or a review diminish with every private sale.
Yes, I bought this off eBay. No, it hardly cost me anything. And it’s only fair for me to use the disc as was intended, and go on about it for a bit in this here tiny corner of the internet.
It has to be said that I have been looking forward to this for some time. I forget how long ago it was that I first heard about it, but to put a vaguely lengthy timeline on it, it was on Myspace when Ed Harcourt first mentioned that he’d done a Ramones cover for a string quartet-based covers album, and that Mark Lanegan was also skulking about on it somewhere. This was enough for me to start rummaging in earnest. I should also admit at this point to have been hitherto unfamiliar with Fiona Brice (not being a huge Placebo fan), although it later transpires that I was familiar with her work as arranger/performer on more than a couple of albums I own, most notably the last efforts from both Midlake and John Grant (the latter of which was my joint-favourite record of last year), so interest levels upped further.
And now it’s finally here, albeit not available to buy just yet (should be sometime this month); 12 tracks of songs (mostly) from the 1980s, arranged by Fiona and performed by the aforementioned quartet with a whole swathe of contemporary vocalists. Which, to those of us who enjoyed them the first time round sounds like a great way to revisit old tunes – and to those lucky enough to be a bit more youthful, like a really posh version of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’s soundtrack.
Ed Harcourt begins with the Ramones’ Something to Believe in, and it’s a stunner. Ed’s plaintive and heartfelt vocal is matched by the warmth of the string accompaniment, sounding as if there are a lot more people backing him than just the four (plus bass). It all gets a bit more idiosyncratic with Anais’s cover of the Buggles’ Video Killed the Radio Star, in turn aping Trevor Horn’s telephonic delivery and wrapping it in a richness and soul that the original lacked. And this is followed by Paul Noonan doing Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime which just soars, and Mark Lanegan’s version of the Cure’s Close to Me as a cinematic, romantic, slightly scary lullaby is simply breathtaking in its beauty. And that’s just the first four tracks.
Elsewhere, we have such eclecticism as U2, OMD, The Smiths, Pixies (Gigantic getting another baroque visit, after The Miserable Rich’s own brilliant version not too long ago) and Thin Lizzy given the orchestral treatment (from, respectively Martha Wainwright, Stephanie Dosen, Joan As Police Woman, Charlotte Hatherley and Patrick Wolf), all given emotionally-charged and captivating new arrangements, retaining the old hooks and given them new ones all their own (the sinister-seductive Tim Burton Tango of Scott Hutchinson’s Ghost Town being a fine example).
Usually with this sort of thing, there are skippable songss – where a dislike for the original, rework or even interpreter can colour a track in a negative shade. Not so here for me; as all the songs selected are recognisable, fun and fondly-remembered for various reasons, the arrangements are bold and bright and each participating vocalist really gets into the swing of things.
As far as I am aware, this will be available soon through the usual digital outlets. With a fair wind and favourable public musical taste in the run-up to Christmas, this should be warming many an ear during the winter. I thought that my expectations for this were ludicrously, impossibly, unfairly high given the amount of time that I’d been anticipating its arrival. Met and exceeded.
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