Thanks to Claire for pointing me in the direction of this cover of Love?s ?Alone Again Or? (I posted the original the day before yesterday).
Calexico moves ?Alone Again Or? from urban California to rural Arizona, from Spanish classical to drunken mariachi. Love?s sunny folk-pop is subtly reconceived as a down and out Ennio Morricone epic. The loneliness dealt with in this version is deeper and more desolate, deriving not from social alienation but from physical isolation. The song is a brief respite from a long desert travel.
Clap your hands for hand claps (i.e. every time you hear a hand clap, clap your hands. That way we?ll keep it going forever.)
***
From soft static emerges the Microphones? signature panning guitars and very careful closed mouth singing. Elvrum sings like a curious kid, his eyes fixed and incredulous, his mouth twisted down. ?Solar System? is an investigation, a reflection on the infinite possibilities of the infinite universe, of our relative insignificance, of divinity and mortality.
Celebrate the drum at 1:03.
Embrace the phasing that plays the role of the ?solar wind.?
And the snare chains that represent water.
Posted by Jordan at November 26, 2004 10:17 PMalone again or is one of my top songs and this is a great cover...thanks
what album is it from?
Posted by: guanoboy at November 26, 2004 11:17 PMWow, I just heard 'Alone Again Or' on the radio on Wednesday and was absolutely fascinated -- imagine seeing it pop up here! Thanks, this is fantastic.
Posted by: Alia at November 26, 2004 11:19 PMThanks for making a young boy's Christmas wish come true, Claire (and Jordan). :)
Posted by: rodii at November 27, 2004 1:40 AMBelle & Sebastian also used to cover "Alone Again Or" live, but I never found a version they played correctly ...
Posted by: garrincha at November 27, 2004 11:04 AMThe Damned's version is the best though.
Posted by: james and the blue cat at November 27, 2004 5:23 PMit's from the Convict Pool EP 2004
Posted by: claire at November 28, 2004 12:33 AMwhere are you now?
Posted by: daadada at November 28, 2004 3:56 PMThere's a version by UFO too. Kinda crappy, as you might expect.
Posted by: rodii at November 28, 2004 4:04 PMoh snap!! this song is in bottlerocket!!!! does anyone know which version? i feel like such a fool/ bad wes anderson fan for not realizing this sooner....
Posted by: a.p. at November 29, 2004 10:04 AMjordan, i don't want to tell you how to do your job, but it's common blog etiquette to post a link to where you can purchase the music you post.
Posted by: george at November 29, 2004 10:06 AMsince no one's mentioned the microphones track, yet..
they rule. this song is great. love the lo-fi simplicity of the whole song. especially when the drums come in the first time. great stuff. he can make any little moment seem so grand...
-cb
Posted by: cb at November 29, 2004 3:37 PMYeah, i agree. It's progressively going down hill. I rarely go anymore. Plus I heard from a good friend that you "buy" a good review from them by doing one of their big ad packages. lame.
Posted by: Niles at November 29, 2004 3:52 PMThen it must be true!
Pitchfork is the same as it ever was. Self-important and not very impressive. By ignoring it, you'll help make it go away.
Posted by: Paul at November 29, 2004 6:22 PMa few years ago I heard a tune on WUNH which I swear the DJ said was Calexico playing a song about something to do with the "Burning Heart of the Sun" , burning hear tof the something or other, in any case. Yet I've never been able to find the song ...
any guesses (aside from the fact that all UNH djs sound like Adam Sandler)
Posted by: suileabháin at November 29, 2004 8:12 PM"Black Heart" from Feast of Wire? That wouldn't have been a few years ago, though.
Posted by: rodii at November 29, 2004 9:46 PMI don't understand why Calexico did a cover of this song and barely changed anything. It's like No Doubt's cover of "It's My Life." If you're going to cover something give it some of your own spice.
Posted by: No Frontin at November 30, 2004 5:20 AMRe buy links: I keep forgetting. For instance, I just made a post and forgot to include buy links (will fix (hopefully before you wake up). As long as I keep forgetting, keep reminding me. Thanks.
No Frontin - Listen again. Though there are many surface similarities between the two versions, there are certainly deep enough differences to justify the cover. I can imagine Calexico listening to Love's "Alone Again Or" and saying "As much as we love this song, wouldn't it be great if, instead of the song being a muted sunny day in the park or in a hard-wood floored apartment, it was a drunken walk in the face of a sandstorm." The sounds of the guitars and the immediacy and insistence of the drums, as well as the tempo alteration and the mariachi flavour recast the song as something more desperate and, I think, make it a worthwhile cover.
Posted by: Jordan at November 30, 2004 6:37 AM