![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seedarklyxeroWelcome to a Valentine's Day edition of SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
If one of the predictions in Ghostbusters II has any legitimacy, today could also be the End Of The World! It was already Second Sunday Slowly, where we focus on a dark downtempo goth/industrial cover song, so if this IS our last day on earth, let's get sexy and strange!
In some scenes, the trip-hop genre has been considered an acceptable addition to the libraries of goth enthusiasts. It certainly falls within the allowance of the fringe area loosely defined as "dark alternative" that I wrote a little about last week. Bands like Switchblade Symphony, Portishead, and Massive Attack get regular play in goth clubs and for fair reason. They, without doubt, embody a quality of darkness and mystery easy for any goth to embrace. As a musical style, trip-hop has even influenced Trent Reznor, who experiments with that sound in his side-project, How To Destroy Angels.
In that spirit, this gem could be quite welcome (or at least very interesting):
Lovage - Sex (I'm A...)
Berlin, a new-wave/synthpop band from L.A., released their second album, Pleasure Victim, in 1982 on their independent label, Enigma Records. They were quickly picked up by Geffen Records and the album was immediately re-released in late January 1983 with an extended version of Sex (I'm A...), just before the February release of that single.
Lyrics for the song are said to be based on a conversation had by singer Terri Nunn with her lover at the time, with whom she was discussing "roleplaying" as a way to liven up their dulling sex-life. Nunn has said the song was "a kind of slap in his face" because he wasn't willing to try and was as imaginative as the lyrics suggest.
Sex (I'm A...), a galloping locomotive of a dance track in both sound and rhythm, proved to be one of Berlin's biggest hits, helping to propel its album to platinum status. Despite that success the band parted ways for nearly a decade during the early nineties, during which time Nunn served as a back up singer for Sisters of Mercy.
Some artists who have covered the song include Peaches, Zombie Girl, and Rorschach Test. However, where those covers remain faithful to the overall tempo and high energy dance quality, this one takes a decidedly different turn.
Lovage was a project put together by Dan the Automator, a hip-hop producer who has crossed genres multiple times in his career, working with the likes of Gorillaz, Kasabian, & Cornershop, just to name a few. Under the fictional pseudonym, "Nathaniel Merriweather," he brought together vocalists Jennifer Charles (of Elysian Fields) and Mike Patton (of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, etc.), along with a diverse array of musicians, to produce the trip-hop album, Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By in 2001 on his independent label, 75 Ark. On the album, their "sexpert" approach to Berlin's hit was one of a sultry, yet somewhat tongue-in-cheek-creepy, lounge vibe. They take Nunn's original condemnation of boring sex partners a step further with additional dialog narrated by a French prostitute character. She recounts her experiences with male clients who complain about their sex lives but bear no responsibility for under-performing in the bedroom. With acoustic guitar, a rain-stick, some minimal horns, smooth percussion, and the counterbalancing duet between Charles & Patton, this down-tempo rendition stands starkly and seductively apart from the original:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
For Third Sunday Throwback we're going to pick up the pace quite a bit with an industrial cover from the 20th Century!
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I spin tonight in Cambridge Mass. for a dark downtempo "anti-valentine" affair. For info on that, and a couple of other events on my schedule this month, click through to my website where you'll find links, playlists, mixes, and stuff. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Feb 07 - Daniela Andrade x Dabin - Heartbeats (The Knife)
Jan 31 - Halovox - Fly on the Windscreen (Depeche Mode)
Jan 24 - XP8 - Nightlife (IAMX)
Jan 17 - David Bowie - Sorrow (The McCoys)
Jan 10 - Unwoman - Careless Whisper (WHAM!)
Directory of All DisCOVERies
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
If one of the predictions in Ghostbusters II has any legitimacy, today could also be the End Of The World! It was already Second Sunday Slowly, where we focus on a dark downtempo goth/industrial cover song, so if this IS our last day on earth, let's get sexy and strange!
In some scenes, the trip-hop genre has been considered an acceptable addition to the libraries of goth enthusiasts. It certainly falls within the allowance of the fringe area loosely defined as "dark alternative" that I wrote a little about last week. Bands like Switchblade Symphony, Portishead, and Massive Attack get regular play in goth clubs and for fair reason. They, without doubt, embody a quality of darkness and mystery easy for any goth to embrace. As a musical style, trip-hop has even influenced Trent Reznor, who experiments with that sound in his side-project, How To Destroy Angels.
In that spirit, this gem could be quite welcome (or at least very interesting):
Lovage - Sex (I'm A...)
Berlin, a new-wave/synthpop band from L.A., released their second album, Pleasure Victim, in 1982 on their independent label, Enigma Records. They were quickly picked up by Geffen Records and the album was immediately re-released in late January 1983 with an extended version of Sex (I'm A...), just before the February release of that single.
Lyrics for the song are said to be based on a conversation had by singer Terri Nunn with her lover at the time, with whom she was discussing "roleplaying" as a way to liven up their dulling sex-life. Nunn has said the song was "a kind of slap in his face" because he wasn't willing to try and was as imaginative as the lyrics suggest.
Sex (I'm A...), a galloping locomotive of a dance track in both sound and rhythm, proved to be one of Berlin's biggest hits, helping to propel its album to platinum status. Despite that success the band parted ways for nearly a decade during the early nineties, during which time Nunn served as a back up singer for Sisters of Mercy.
Some artists who have covered the song include Peaches, Zombie Girl, and Rorschach Test. However, where those covers remain faithful to the overall tempo and high energy dance quality, this one takes a decidedly different turn.
Lovage was a project put together by Dan the Automator, a hip-hop producer who has crossed genres multiple times in his career, working with the likes of Gorillaz, Kasabian, & Cornershop, just to name a few. Under the fictional pseudonym, "Nathaniel Merriweather," he brought together vocalists Jennifer Charles (of Elysian Fields) and Mike Patton (of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, etc.), along with a diverse array of musicians, to produce the trip-hop album, Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By in 2001 on his independent label, 75 Ark. On the album, their "sexpert" approach to Berlin's hit was one of a sultry, yet somewhat tongue-in-cheek-creepy, lounge vibe. They take Nunn's original condemnation of boring sex partners a step further with additional dialog narrated by a French prostitute character. She recounts her experiences with male clients who complain about their sex lives but bear no responsibility for under-performing in the bedroom. With acoustic guitar, a rain-stick, some minimal horns, smooth percussion, and the counterbalancing duet between Charles & Patton, this down-tempo rendition stands starkly and seductively apart from the original:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
For Third Sunday Throwback we're going to pick up the pace quite a bit with an industrial cover from the 20th Century!
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I spin tonight in Cambridge Mass. for a dark downtempo "anti-valentine" affair. For info on that, and a couple of other events on my schedule this month, click through to my website where you'll find links, playlists, mixes, and stuff. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Feb 07 - Daniela Andrade x Dabin - Heartbeats (The Knife)
Jan 31 - Halovox - Fly on the Windscreen (Depeche Mode)
Jan 24 - XP8 - Nightlife (IAMX)
Jan 17 - David Bowie - Sorrow (The McCoys)
Jan 10 - Unwoman - Careless Whisper (WHAM!)
Directory of All DisCOVERies