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Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Sometimes I find a new cover of a track I've already written about. Sometimes I know of several that would be worth sharing. So I've decided that, sometimes, on the Fourth Sunday of a month, I'll feature four other covers in a new segment I'm calling Four by Four! And for its inaugural edition: New Order's Blue Monday!
You can check out my previous blog detailing some of its history and the cover by Orgy by clicking this link!
Four Other Covers of Blue Monday (New Order)
HEALTH:
Health's cover is included on the soundtrack and advertisements of the film, Atomic Blonde, which, probably because it's set during the Cold War, collects a remarkable assortment of 80's favorites by the original artists and an additional cover of Ministry's Stigmata done by Marilyn Manson and Tyler Bates. The soundtrack releases this Friday, July 28, along with the film, but the single has been available digitally since March. Health's electronic noise rock style revs their version up to a gallop, rides it hard, drops to liquid swirling depths, and launches the ride all over again. It's a truly exceptional modernization of the track!
Orkestra Obsolete:
On the day of the 33rd anniversary of New Order's single release, BBC Arts presented an extraordinary tribute. A still-unidentified group of masked musicians calling themselves Orkestra Obsolete reconstructed the song using only instruments that would've been available in the 1930's. Those instruments include a diddley bow, a dulcitone, a hammered dulcimer, a harmonium, a musical saw, singing glasses, a slit drum, a theremin, a zither, and a skipping phonograph record. Even their microphones are antique models! It's possibly one of the single best versions based solely on the ingenuity it took to recreate the original so faithfully with such antiquarian tools. Fans of steampunk should appreciate this, even though it's technically derived from post-Victorian means.
The Stitchlings:
Now for a version that swaps the vocal gender and drops the tempo to something slow and darkly sensual. The Stitchlings are an Australian alternative trio who released their moody downtempo cover of Blue Monday in March 2014. Their full length album was expected later that year, but it would seem it's been delayed to sometime this year. They've teased the possibility that the album could also include a cover of Closer by Nine Inch Nails. Among the few female-voiced versions of the song, I've found this is the most unique of them, similar in style to artists like F/C Kahuna or Hooverphonic.
Bela Goosy:
Ok... with a name like "Bela Goosy" (a far too obvious imitation of "Bela Lugosi") it's easy to imagine something facetious at play here. But as you start to listen to this mildly distorted synth coldwave post-punk version of Blue Monday, (found on his 2015 release, Black Veils Drying in the Rain,) it's a little disarming how sincere the French musician seems in his approach. Once he starts singing in his exaggerated uber-affected and anguished style, it seems fair to wonder if this is a sort of parody of goth or if he's passionately serious in his theatrical presentation! It's genuinely fascinating how this version hangs between the marks of presence and pretension.
Narrowing down to four picks was no easy task. There are dozens of covers of the song in a variety of styles, though most (not all) within the general format of this blog. Some of these artists sound like they've done little more than remixes, and some just aren't great, unique, or all that interesting in any particular way. However... this is the list of "otherable mentions" in alphabetical order:
2 Touch, 3V, 8 Bit Arcade, Absolute Body Control, Ambros Chapel, And One, Anatoli Tsampa, Belching Beet, Benjamin Bates, Biosphere, BlackCycle, The Brythoniaid Male Voice Choir, Buke and Gase, Bullet Proof, Buzz Kull, Cary August, Clan of Xymox, The Cloud Room, Cokehead Hipsters, Cosmosis, Datassette, DJ Pebbles featuring Lick, Doctor Explosion, Dub Kult, EMPUSA, Eurochrome, Flipside Feat. Liva Akselbo, Flunk, Hannah Peel, Ifrom Ramona, Gregorian, Gorilla Rodeo!, JamX & De Leon feat. Bernard Sumner, The Jolly Boys feat. Albert Minott , Katharina Nuttall, Klutæ(Leætherstrip), Låpsley, The Man, Mathilde Santing, Miguel Escueta, Nothing, Nouvelle Vague, Olms, Pastel Vespa, Plastik Funk and Kurd Maverick, ППВК, Rabbit in the Moon, Radio Star, Savoir Faire, So Happy, Star Inc., The String Quartet, Subsonic Fallout, Sue Ellen, Swan Lee. The Times, Unity One, Wave in Head, Zombie Zombie, Zook
Let me know if I missed one!
Next week:
Fifth Sunday A La Mode! Probably shouldn't do it, but this Depeche Mode cover will be a darkwave/pop noir version of a deep album cut from the 80's that hints at the unwanted consequences of decisions made badly.
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I spin this Friday in western Mass. As always my schedule has details and links to more if you want to join! ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jul 16 - Renegade Soundwave - Biting My Nails (Geneviève Waïte)
Jul 09 - You Shriek - Invisible Sun (The Police)
Jul 02 - Urgess - Spider-Man Theme (Paul Francis Webster and Robert "Bob" Harris)
Jun 25 - Sirus - My Own Summer (Deftones)
Jun 18 - Null Device - What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) (Information Society)
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.
Sometimes I find a new cover of a track I've already written about. Sometimes I know of several that would be worth sharing. So I've decided that, sometimes, on the Fourth Sunday of a month, I'll feature four other covers in a new segment I'm calling Four by Four! And for its inaugural edition: New Order's Blue Monday!
You can check out my previous blog detailing some of its history and the cover by Orgy by clicking this link!
Four Other Covers of Blue Monday (New Order)
HEALTH:
Health's cover is included on the soundtrack and advertisements of the film, Atomic Blonde, which, probably because it's set during the Cold War, collects a remarkable assortment of 80's favorites by the original artists and an additional cover of Ministry's Stigmata done by Marilyn Manson and Tyler Bates. The soundtrack releases this Friday, July 28, along with the film, but the single has been available digitally since March. Health's electronic noise rock style revs their version up to a gallop, rides it hard, drops to liquid swirling depths, and launches the ride all over again. It's a truly exceptional modernization of the track!
Orkestra Obsolete:
On the day of the 33rd anniversary of New Order's single release, BBC Arts presented an extraordinary tribute. A still-unidentified group of masked musicians calling themselves Orkestra Obsolete reconstructed the song using only instruments that would've been available in the 1930's. Those instruments include a diddley bow, a dulcitone, a hammered dulcimer, a harmonium, a musical saw, singing glasses, a slit drum, a theremin, a zither, and a skipping phonograph record. Even their microphones are antique models! It's possibly one of the single best versions based solely on the ingenuity it took to recreate the original so faithfully with such antiquarian tools. Fans of steampunk should appreciate this, even though it's technically derived from post-Victorian means.
The Stitchlings:
Now for a version that swaps the vocal gender and drops the tempo to something slow and darkly sensual. The Stitchlings are an Australian alternative trio who released their moody downtempo cover of Blue Monday in March 2014. Their full length album was expected later that year, but it would seem it's been delayed to sometime this year. They've teased the possibility that the album could also include a cover of Closer by Nine Inch Nails. Among the few female-voiced versions of the song, I've found this is the most unique of them, similar in style to artists like F/C Kahuna or Hooverphonic.
Bela Goosy:
Ok... with a name like "Bela Goosy" (a far too obvious imitation of "Bela Lugosi") it's easy to imagine something facetious at play here. But as you start to listen to this mildly distorted synth coldwave post-punk version of Blue Monday, (found on his 2015 release, Black Veils Drying in the Rain,) it's a little disarming how sincere the French musician seems in his approach. Once he starts singing in his exaggerated uber-affected and anguished style, it seems fair to wonder if this is a sort of parody of goth or if he's passionately serious in his theatrical presentation! It's genuinely fascinating how this version hangs between the marks of presence and pretension.
Narrowing down to four picks was no easy task. There are dozens of covers of the song in a variety of styles, though most (not all) within the general format of this blog. Some of these artists sound like they've done little more than remixes, and some just aren't great, unique, or all that interesting in any particular way. However... this is the list of "otherable mentions" in alphabetical order:
2 Touch, 3V, 8 Bit Arcade, Absolute Body Control, Ambros Chapel, And One, Anatoli Tsampa, Belching Beet, Benjamin Bates, Biosphere, BlackCycle, The Brythoniaid Male Voice Choir, Buke and Gase, Bullet Proof, Buzz Kull, Cary August, Clan of Xymox, The Cloud Room, Cokehead Hipsters, Cosmosis, Datassette, DJ Pebbles featuring Lick, Doctor Explosion, Dub Kult, EMPUSA, Eurochrome, Flipside Feat. Liva Akselbo, Flunk, Hannah Peel, Ifrom Ramona, Gregorian, Gorilla Rodeo!, JamX & De Leon feat. Bernard Sumner, The Jolly Boys feat. Albert Minott , Katharina Nuttall, Klutæ(Leætherstrip), Låpsley, The Man, Mathilde Santing, Miguel Escueta, Nothing, Nouvelle Vague, Olms, Pastel Vespa, Plastik Funk and Kurd Maverick, ППВК, Rabbit in the Moon, Radio Star, Savoir Faire, So Happy, Star Inc., The String Quartet, Subsonic Fallout, Sue Ellen, Swan Lee. The Times, Unity One, Wave in Head, Zombie Zombie, Zook
Let me know if I missed one!
Next week:
Fifth Sunday A La Mode! Probably shouldn't do it, but this Depeche Mode cover will be a darkwave/pop noir version of a deep album cut from the 80's that hints at the unwanted consequences of decisions made badly.
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I spin this Friday in western Mass. As always my schedule has details and links to more if you want to join! ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jul 16 - Renegade Soundwave - Biting My Nails (Geneviève Waïte)
Jul 09 - You Shriek - Invisible Sun (The Police)
Jul 02 - Urgess - Spider-Man Theme (Paul Francis Webster and Robert "Bob" Harris)
Jun 25 - Sirus - My Own Summer (Deftones)
Jun 18 - Null Device - What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) (Information Society)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies