Sunday, May 20, 2007

Loving the modern covers

Another discovery from the Very Short List:
On her new album, Wire Waltz, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Megan Hickey (front woman of The Last Town Chorus) strips the Thin White Duke’s 1983 hit “Modern Love” bare, transforming a catchy pop tune into a sad, yearning country ballad. Where Bowie’s version was all manic energy, Hickey’s slowed-down cover finds a startling poignancy in timeworn lyrics.




VSL adds: "A great example of an underrated art: the cover version that allows you to look again at the familiar." Here's a couple more examples I'm loving right now: