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seedarklyxeroWelcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
When last we presented a cover of the original artist featured today, a female vocalist was inspired by the dark! This time, the heavy-pop industrial female artist covering him tempers his metal!:
Kanga - Metal (Gary Numan)
Gary Numan released his debut solo album, The Pleasure Principle, in September 1979. Metal is the second track on the album and was never released as a single. According to Numan's autobiography, the track is, "pure science fiction." He further explains, "One of the images in it actually came from an advert for Castrol Oil. Their slogan used to be 'Liquid Engineering,' so I stole that and out of it into a song about a robot’s desire to be human." He also says the lyric "if I could make the change I'd love to pull the wires from the wall" was "a play on the sex change wishes of some human beings in relation to" that robot's pursuit of humanity. (No explanation was given as to why the robot would want to be an American though.) The album was remastered and released in 2009. Numan collaborated on a remake of Metal with Afrika Bambaataa, who cites Numan's early work with Tubeway Army as inspiration for some of their sound.
Kanga, arguably one of the brightest new talents in the industrial scene (despite her insistence that her work is "pop"), released her cover of Metal in July 2016. Shortly after the release she posted a snapshot of a response she received from Numan about the cover, in which he told her, "I like what you've done. In fact, this is my favorite cover of Metal since Trent did the Nine Inch Nails version." She went on to say "I do what I do because it feels good to be good at something. But sometimes this makes it feel even better."
While her version did not end up on her debut full length album, it was included on Defcon 3.5: War In Heaven, a digital only supplement made available only to those who pre-ordered the various artists compilation, Defcon Three: Dirty World, released in September 2016. Proceeds of that release went to the Campaign Against Living Miserably, an organization in the UK devoted to preventing male suicides, providing support for those bereaved by suicide, and working to affect relevant changes in public policy and perception. Kanga has intimated that this was something with which she was "familiar" and encouraged fans to support.
Numan is in his earliest raw form with this track, an example of the first of his works using no guitars. Kanga's version is a tighter and cleaner rendition with a modern industrial edge, wherein she restructures the lyrical arrangement. The song has also been covered by UK industrialists Global Citizen and the French bosse nova new wavers Nouvelle Vague, but Kanga's adaptation offers a uniquely harsh sweetness that might well humanize the machine about whom she sings!:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Second Sunday Slowly brings us a downtempo synthwave cover of an early 21st century alternative rock track by some Paleolithic queens! It comes from the mind that you may know best for all those badgers, but is nothing like you might expect!
♪┌(◉‿◉)┘♪
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
My next gig is in a couple weeks! Check my schedule for details and the RSVP link on Facebook. News of other upcoming events soon to be posted as well!
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jun 24 - Sopor Æternus & the Ensemble of Shadows - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)(Cher)
Jun 17 - Die Warzau - S & M (Thin Lizzy)
Jun 10 - The xx - Teardrops (Womack & Womack)
Jun 03 - And One - Smalltown Boy (Bronski Beat)
May 27 - MGT - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Soft Cell)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
When last we presented a cover of the original artist featured today, a female vocalist was inspired by the dark! This time, the heavy-pop industrial female artist covering him tempers his metal!:
Kanga - Metal (Gary Numan)
Gary Numan released his debut solo album, The Pleasure Principle, in September 1979. Metal is the second track on the album and was never released as a single. According to Numan's autobiography, the track is, "pure science fiction." He further explains, "One of the images in it actually came from an advert for Castrol Oil. Their slogan used to be 'Liquid Engineering,' so I stole that and out of it into a song about a robot’s desire to be human." He also says the lyric "if I could make the change I'd love to pull the wires from the wall" was "a play on the sex change wishes of some human beings in relation to" that robot's pursuit of humanity. (No explanation was given as to why the robot would want to be an American though.) The album was remastered and released in 2009. Numan collaborated on a remake of Metal with Afrika Bambaataa, who cites Numan's early work with Tubeway Army as inspiration for some of their sound.
Kanga, arguably one of the brightest new talents in the industrial scene (despite her insistence that her work is "pop"), released her cover of Metal in July 2016. Shortly after the release she posted a snapshot of a response she received from Numan about the cover, in which he told her, "I like what you've done. In fact, this is my favorite cover of Metal since Trent did the Nine Inch Nails version." She went on to say "I do what I do because it feels good to be good at something. But sometimes this makes it feel even better."
While her version did not end up on her debut full length album, it was included on Defcon 3.5: War In Heaven, a digital only supplement made available only to those who pre-ordered the various artists compilation, Defcon Three: Dirty World, released in September 2016. Proceeds of that release went to the Campaign Against Living Miserably, an organization in the UK devoted to preventing male suicides, providing support for those bereaved by suicide, and working to affect relevant changes in public policy and perception. Kanga has intimated that this was something with which she was "familiar" and encouraged fans to support.
Numan is in his earliest raw form with this track, an example of the first of his works using no guitars. Kanga's version is a tighter and cleaner rendition with a modern industrial edge, wherein she restructures the lyrical arrangement. The song has also been covered by UK industrialists Global Citizen and the French bosse nova new wavers Nouvelle Vague, but Kanga's adaptation offers a uniquely harsh sweetness that might well humanize the machine about whom she sings!:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Second Sunday Slowly brings us a downtempo synthwave cover of an early 21st century alternative rock track by some Paleolithic queens! It comes from the mind that you may know best for all those badgers, but is nothing like you might expect!
♪┌(◉‿◉)┘♪
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
My next gig is in a couple weeks! Check my schedule for details and the RSVP link on Facebook. News of other upcoming events soon to be posted as well!
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jun 24 - Sopor Æternus & the Ensemble of Shadows - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)(Cher)
Jun 17 - Die Warzau - S & M (Thin Lizzy)
Jun 10 - The xx - Teardrops (Womack & Womack)
Jun 03 - And One - Smalltown Boy (Bronski Beat)
May 27 - MGT - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Soft Cell)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies