The high quality of Thom Yorke’s song writing for Radiohead tempts many artists to try their own versions but more often than not these fail to capture the magic of the original.
Peter Gabriel’s orchestral guitar-free revamp of Street Spirit (Fade Out) on his Scratch My Back album last year is practically unrecognisable from the stirring anthem-esque version on The Bends. It’s as if he is acknowledging the impossibility of the task and a few plaintive moans don’t carry the emotional weight he strives for. A brave attempt but a failure in my book.
Two covers that do work are both interpretations that translate the indie-rock into the genre of acoustic folk.
The stripped back makeover of Black Star performed live in 2005 by Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings does what any great cover song should and makes you rethink the original completely. I hadn’t really fully appreciated the lyrics to this song about a relationship hitting crisis point before I heard this, but Gillian Welch delivers “the troubled words of a troubled mind” with a precision that captures the mood of quiet desperation perfectly.
Not quite in the same league, but impressive in its own way is Patrick Joseph and Lucas Martinez’ bold beats-free remodelling of Idioteque, one of the standout tracks from Kid A. Joseph is a young singer songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania now based in LA, who has just self-released his debut album Antiques. Martinez is a guitarist from Pasadena, California. The track has not yet been released but according to Martinez’ Life Tracked In Sound blog, it will be out on an EP called Stranger’s Shoes this summer.
