I'll forgive and forget if you say you'll never go

[venta]

It's Friday, it's about 3 o'clock. It's time to go underneath the covers (with the lights out).

I always recommend listening to a cover version without knowing what or who it is, so click on the link before reading ahead...

Today's cover version [link to mp3 expired]

That was The Flaming Lips covering Can't Get You Out Of My Head, originally by Kylie Minogue

Anyone who isn't familiar with the Flaming Lips... what are you playing at? Get on the case right now. Go on.

Are we all up to speed now? Good.

Just wanted to be clear.

The Flaming Lips are a band I like, but would probably never pay the exorbitant amount required to see live. So, at Glastonbury this year I took the chance to see them when they sort of exorbitantly pre-paid. Live, they're absolutely amazing, and the all-senses assault of colour, noise, inflatable balls, confetti and weird is very hard to describe. Ironically, having seen them, I think I now would pay the sort of exorbitant price required to see them live.

Their music is, similarly, a giant, multi-faceted, multi-coloured thing which might go in any direction without warning. It's strangely joyful in its inimical, sprawling way. It doesn't care if you don't like it. Which doesn't matter, because you won't be able to help liking it anyway.

This cover version comes from the Yoshimi-era Fight Test EP, which is worth owning in its own right. How could you not want to hear a song called Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)?

Comments

[zotz]

The title being from Better the Devil You Know, a song much beloved of Nick "Laughing-boy" Cave, of course.

It's odd, sitting back and thinking about the Flaming Lips, because when I first started listening to them - thanks to a random EP purchase by my then girlfriend in the early nineties - they were a bizarre noise-rock band. I still have a soft spot for Lucifer Rising, and their version of Wonderful World.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Funny you should say that. When I went to university in '94, I have a vague idea that the Flaming Lips sounded very different and were the sort of thing you might occasionally hear in a goth club. Everyone poured scorn on this the other when I suggested it, though.

Certainly when Yoshimi... was released I was quite confused by it, and wasn't entirely sure this "new" band was the same as the one I remembered.

[zotz]

Ahem.

It's a bit tinny. In fact, you can't hear the bass at all, really, and hardly any of the drums. Just take their existence as read.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Quite a far-cry from Do You Realize?, I'll grant you. Not exactly a floor-filler, though :)

[zotz]

It could be. More Death Valley '69 than Pleasant Valley Sunday, I'll grant you.

I do like the new stuff as well. I want to stress that. Just in a different way.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that I heard She Don't Use Jelly in clubs, but not sure that they were specifically goth clubs. Hmmm, I want to play that again, now ...

[venta.livejournal.com]

She uses TAAAA-AAAA-AAAAA-AA-AA-ANGERINES!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh, and technically you get a kudo for spotting the title, but I think you've already got enough :)

I can never heard BTDYK (not that I hear it, much) without thinking of The Secret Life of the Love Song. He's right, of course.

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I would only say that I 'quite like' the Flaming Lips (although looking at my iTunes library, I mysteriously own four of their albums), yet I'd love to see them live based on descriptions of the stuff they get up to.

Seen this? http://www.atpfestival.com/events/flaminglipsbulletin.php

[venta.livejournal.com]

Seen this?

I have, but I threw my toys out of the pram because they're doing it wrong :)

Flaming Lips performing Yoshimi... and Dinosaur Jr performing Where You Been and I'd have been sprinting to the ticket office :)

[paste.livejournal.com]

Flaming Lips performing Yoshimi... and Dinosaur Jr performing Where You Been
i almost thought that was for real, then i re-read your sentence. wahhhh! that would've been my perfect atp too. damn them and their terrible choice of albums!

i've already got this version of can't get your out of my head... in fact, i have THREE covers of that song. might i direct you to the monsieur blumenberg cover of it? a marvellous carnivalesque lounge version of a brilliant song. (a quick google gives me only a sample, if you like i can send it you some other way)

[venta.livejournal.com]

This youtube clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HNp3_MrUz8) fro Glastonbury gives you a good idea what the opening of a set is like - you can probably skip the first minute or two of Wayne Coyne standing about, but I think it catches the sheer overwhelming oddity of it quite well.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

This cover was funny, because I didn't recognise it at all until the lyric and then sat there thinking "I know this, I definitely know this, but what on earth is it" all the way to the end despite the fact the title is pretty clearly in the lyrics. The reason being I was thinking it must be something by a band I actually listen to, since it sounded pretty good!

I and my prejudices will slink away now (probably to a dictionary to look up the word "inimical", which evidently doesn't mean what I thought it did).

[mrlloyd.livejournal.com]

Not convinced by the cover I'm afraid. Sounds like a great idea, but somehow, for me, just doesn't quite work.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Don't like the cover, and in a way that doesn't inspire me to seek out more of their stuff. It's a little too slow handwavy for me, although in another mood I might be more grabbed by it. What I love about the original version is its energy, and this version seemed tired. (Saw Inner City Unit play it once, that was oddly faithful to the original)

[zotz]

Wow. I'd no idea Inner City Unit had been around that recently.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Good stuff, I like them and like this (but hadn't heard it before).

It is a bit strange how they seemed to transform into a completely different band about 10 years ago, without afaicr changing personnel or anything.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

(Maybe more bands should do that.)

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Nope no idea who they are....though a quick flick through some of those on the Amazon link sound way better than the cover version....Impressive for the fact that it makes kylie sound resonable and i'm not particularl a kylie fan.

ZOTZ's link sounds far darker and dirgier and even reminisant of 45 Grave !!