I’ve been obsessed with Midnight Lion’s “Sleeping in the Woods” since Ally McCrae featured it on BBC’s Scotland Introducing podcast last June. The band’s Sleeping In The Woods EP is out 13 February.
Tag Archives: BBC
Got Adele Covered
Adele is holding steady at the top of charts in the US and UK. So not surprisingly, her top singles “Rolling In The Deep” and “Someone Like You” are receiving a lot of attention from fellow musicians. I’ve already shared a few remixes of “Rolling In The Deep” with you, but today I have two covers for you.
I can’t embed the video here so watch it on Pretty Much Amazing.
UK singer Jamie Woon covered “Someone Like You” on Jo Whiley’s Radio 1 Live Lounge over the weekend. He plays it a little faster than Adele’s version with fewer dramatic pauses which may seem to lessen the emotionality of the song but strings the lyrics together so that they are still as potent — just in a more conscientious sense. His guitar also gives a more driving backdrop that emphasizes a sad and hopeless urgency.
I also have John Legend’s cover of “Rolling In The Deep”. It’s a brilliant acoustic version of the song. The harmonies are tight and the voices are strong. The one thing I feel is missing is some kind of percussion to keep it moving. Especially at the chorus with “We could have had it all…”, without a constant beat in the back, it becomes choppy and disconcerting. It looses my attention a bit until the choir’s hmmm’s return.
Sound Snack: Birdy
Just heard this beautiful cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” by Birdy on BBC Radio 1. Is it sad that I had no idea what the song was until I heard “My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my”?
Here’s the original in case you want to compare:
Rolling In The Remixes
I’ve loved Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” since I first heard it back in November. But in the last week, I’ve heard several remixes of the song that I also enjoy.
The first one I heard was the Villa remix. I heard it last Wednesday on Radio 1 during the Chris Moyles marathon show. I listened to most of that show and heard this version enough times that when the I heard the original on the radio over the weekend, I wondered what was wrong with it! The funny thing about this remix is that it sounds like its sampling from other songs. I’m probably just imagining it but the opening piano sound like the opening riff for Arcade Fire’s “We Used To Wait” and the drums/cymbals at 2:05 sound like they come from Daft Punk’s “Harder Better Faster Stronger” … well “Cola Bottle Baby” by Edwin Birdsong if you want to get specific since that’s who Daft Punk sampled.
The next remix I heard was the Jamie xx Shuffle — again on Radio 1. I liked it … sort of. I like stripping back to the vocals and layering handclaps and drums underneath but some of the other voice manipulations were a bit off-putting to me — the deepening in pitch and echoes in the middle. I liked the instrumentation for the most part but the cowbell-like sound took a while to grow on me. So overall, not my favorite but still worth a listen.
The DJ MegaMix remix does change the original as much, just speeding it up and adding some effects. It feels a wee bit too fast for me and in terms of dancing to, I’d prefer the Downtown London remix at a party or in a club.
It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what I like about this mix but if I had to describe it in a pinch, I’d have to say the piano — not just the changes in its riffs but its timbre. It’s brighter and keeps the song on its toes.
There are a lot more remixes of “Rolling In The Deep” that you can easily find searching YouTube.
Sound Snack: Two Inch Punch
I’ve been listening to a lot of BBC Radio 1 in the last couple weeks and between Grimmy and last night’s Review Show, I’ve heard a lot of Two Inch Punch’s “Love You Up”. I admit that the first time I heard it, I was a little put off. It’s not the sort of thing I usually go for because I haven’t been very interested in electronica in the past. But ever since my musicology class on popular music and sound technology (and listening to a lot more Robyn), I’ve come to appreciate it more and more. “Love You Up” has a cut-up-and-rearranged sound that feels smooth and sexy at the same time. I love this song the way I love the manipulation of one note from Robyn’s voice at 2:30 of “Call Your Girlfriend“.
Sound Snack: Other Lives
Today, I have “Black Tables” by Other Lives for you to much on. I know it’s a bit of a downer but it’s still so beautiful.
The piano bit in this song does remind me of a theme from Persuasion (around 7:55 here).
For the Love of Emma
My current fancy is the new Masterpiece Theater/BBC production of Jane Austen’s Emma. It’s just lovely and the best interpretation of the book I’ve ever seen. I very strongly recommend seeing it if you haven’t already.
But, Lydia? What does this have to do with music?
Well, I bought the soundtrack for Emma last night on iTunes and it’s currently my background music in everything I do. It’s just so lush and rich with emotion and full of interesting themes and beautiful strings.
Here is my very favorite track from the album:
And as a side-note, YouTube doesn’t have any of the Emma soundtrack online yet (except for in clips from the series itself, obviously) but in searching “soundtrack for Emma 2009” I came across Bon Iver’s a capella version of “For Emma, Forever Ago”. So it’s not exactly related to this topic but it’s such a great version of the song that I just HAD to share it! 🙂
As always, keep good music in your life!
The Sound Snack 