2013 isn't over yet...

If you think that my last post, and the ensuing hiatus, signalled the end of my blogging in 2013 then think again:

The casual chemistry between Amy LaVere and John Paul Keith makes it seem like this happens all the time - boy meets girl, boy plays girl some songs, boy and girl form band.

“It’s not that we really decided to have a band” as Keith tells it.  

“It’s just that by the time we got done having coffee she’d decided we were a band and was already booking shows for us. By the time I got home, we were exchanging ideas for band names.”
   

If you want a cover version then try this. Eddie Berman, from southern California, and Laura Marling take a shot at Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark'.

   

To be fair that is only just a part of it, even as regards cover versions, but this is one I love.

I'm particularly interested to hear about your own favourite covered-songs this year, be they recorded, live or whatever. You are welcome to comment here or via Twitter @thoughtsonmusic.

You Have No Idea What You're Getting In To.

True enough, but neither did I and it is largely why I started this blog in the first place. It has from the start however been, as I made clear quite early on, a matter of policy not to acquire music simply to give it a bad review. This is for the very practical reason that I have plenty of other albums and singles seeking a slice of the budget but there obviously will be the odd accidental exception - balancing a policy of exploring new sounds and not ending up with some things I don't much care for is bound to result in a few mishaps - but this isn't one of them.

I also said then that (reading) negative reviews is fine with me and this one I just had to share because it really made me take notice. The album under the spotlight is this...

You Have No Idea What You're Getting In To.
Does It Offend You, Yeah?

The reviewer is Harriet Gibsone in The Fly (March 2008, Issue 102) and I quote:

"No, it doesn't. It doesn't tickle the aural senses enough to spark any kind of reaction other than a slight gag reflex. DIOYY? are a diluted Daft Punk without the beats, or the lyrics - maybe just the same brand of keyboard."

After reviewing some of the assorted tracks thereon it finishes with this withering salvo.

"Come on, stick to your guns. You are either Shit Indie or Shit Electro, Yeah?"

I haven't heard more than two songs from it, and they didn't inspire me either, but any thoughts that I might wish to hear more are now much diminished. I have bought plenty of albums completely unheard and solely on the basis of reviews by many writers in The Fly; they haven't let me down yet so I'm going to trust this one too.
Priceless? Well not exactly but it just has to be said, from my selfish point of view, it was far better than wasting £8.97 (or something like that) to discover it for myself!