Still pondering the thread over here, I came across this. Doesn't sound to me like they're making fun, despite all the cues to the contrary ("flak-toom, flak-toom, bsssh"? A Foundations quote?!).
Somehow The Bobs (for my money, one of the best acapella groups in history) manage to serve up the whole enchilada of musical expression: love, comedy, drama, social commentary, musical sophistication, etc. They do bitchen covers like this, but they also write and perform their own stuff (which is usually fantastic). And critics and fans seem to love them for it.
Why can't a (probably much better-known) jazz group can't get the same kind of break?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Cover-ama
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4 comments:
Let's not bemoan TBP's situation too much (not that they're complaining). For every critic who hates them or has misgivings, there is probably at least another who loves them.
The point is well-taken. I guess I feared it would sound different coming from someone who is more or less "competing" (in a sense) for the same (very scarce) audience, for the same (very scarce) festival slots, etc. The irony is that I'm not even a huge fan (though I do like them well enough). It's just the principle of the thing... this question of purism effects a whole lot of "neo-jazzers."
Having just watched the video, I'm not sure what to think (I don't know the original song), but the transitions to the guy in the red shirt were great.
Yeah, it's actually not such a departure from the original song in terms of the arrangement (unlike some of their other covers). But in a sense, the move from classic rock (the original tune is by Cream) to acapella is a pretty drastic shift (at least for the rock authenticists).
If the band interests you at all, I highly recommend their first album, which aside from their quirky songwriting, features pretty rad versions of "Helter Skelter" and "Psycho Killer."
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