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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.
Looking for something previously featured? Click here.
So when I pulled up today's obscure 20th century cover for Third Sunday Throwback, I had a specific EBM industrial band's cover in mind. When I started my research on the track, I found an even better dark ambient industrial version a couple years fresher than the one I originally planned!:
Attrition– Underpass (click, click, drone) (John Foxx)
John Foxx, having left his role as frontman of Ultravox, released Underpass in January 1980, the first single from his debut solo album, Metamatic. It's considered only a minor hit in the UK, but seems to have some long held recognition over the years, marking itself as Foxx's most memorable song. An early press release for the album stated that Foxx left Ultravox because he had "decided it was easier to work alone with synthesisers, than within the context of a group." In an effort to "strip things down to the simplest possible level," Foxx says he recorded Underpass on an 8 track machine but only used six of its eight channels. "It was that kind of minimalism that I wanted to get to. I did that to let each sound have as much aural space as possible- that was influenced a lot by dub reggae, which was new at the time."
There are three known covers the track. One is by Seeland in 2010. Another is by The Psychic Force, first released on a limited live recording split album with Systemfehler in 1993, and later as a studio version released in 1994 on their album, Traces.
The other is by Attrition who provided their version (with the added sub-title, click, click, drone,) to a various artist compilation of covers called To Cut A Long Story Short - A Tribute To The Pioneers Of Electronic Pop released in June 1995 in Sweden. Named after the Spandau Ballet song, the collection features seventeen tracks as "a tribute to some of the bands that pioneered the use of the Synthesizer, not only as a pop instrument but as a shiningly modern source to futurist romance."
Attrition later included the track on their 2001 album, Keepsakes & Reflections : A Collection Of Rarities which also features their covers of Dead Kennedys, Black Tape For A Blue Girl, and Ministry. They describe their version as "totally transposed into the Attrition sound," "an honest and minimal adaptation."
Interestingly, it was shortly after Attrition's cover in 1997 that Foxx released a reworked version of the track called Overpass in which he changed the titular lyric and made the song a little more high energy electro, where his original is raw and eerie, though both maintain his harsh vocals similar in a style to Gary Numan. Attrition may have kept it as minimal as the original but succeeded in smoothing its edges and adding even more of a sense of supernatural mystery.:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Turkey Jerky Pumpkin Pie... giving thanks may make you cry! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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 reply below, but all replies are screened for spam prevention.
The next of my upcoming gigs are in development but a few things on deck for 2020 are announced. Details can be found on my schedule as well as other updates soon!
(And if, after 4+ years and 237 weekly entries, you find this blog of any value, consider leaving me a tip in the form of the gift of music and get me something from my wishlist on Bandcamp if you like. It'll go to good use! Thanks!)
Thanks for reading and keep dancing in darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Nov 10 - Simple Minds – Teardrop (Massive Attack)
Nov 03 - Horrorfall – Juke Joint Jezebel (KMFDM)
Oct 27 - Panic Lift – Every Day Is Halloween (Ministry)
Oct 20 - Missio – Zombie (The Cranberries)
Oct 13 - 29 Died – The Addams Family (Vic Mizzy)
. 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.
Looking for something previously featured? Click here.
So when I pulled up today's obscure 20th century cover for Third Sunday Throwback, I had a specific EBM industrial band's cover in mind. When I started my research on the track, I found an even better dark ambient industrial version a couple years fresher than the one I originally planned!:
Attrition– Underpass (click, click, drone) (John Foxx)
John Foxx, having left his role as frontman of Ultravox, released Underpass in January 1980, the first single from his debut solo album, Metamatic. It's considered only a minor hit in the UK, but seems to have some long held recognition over the years, marking itself as Foxx's most memorable song. An early press release for the album stated that Foxx left Ultravox because he had "decided it was easier to work alone with synthesisers, than within the context of a group." In an effort to "strip things down to the simplest possible level," Foxx says he recorded Underpass on an 8 track machine but only used six of its eight channels. "It was that kind of minimalism that I wanted to get to. I did that to let each sound have as much aural space as possible- that was influenced a lot by dub reggae, which was new at the time."
There are three known covers the track. One is by Seeland in 2010. Another is by The Psychic Force, first released on a limited live recording split album with Systemfehler in 1993, and later as a studio version released in 1994 on their album, Traces.
The other is by Attrition who provided their version (with the added sub-title, click, click, drone,) to a various artist compilation of covers called To Cut A Long Story Short - A Tribute To The Pioneers Of Electronic Pop released in June 1995 in Sweden. Named after the Spandau Ballet song, the collection features seventeen tracks as "a tribute to some of the bands that pioneered the use of the Synthesizer, not only as a pop instrument but as a shiningly modern source to futurist romance."
Attrition later included the track on their 2001 album, Keepsakes & Reflections : A Collection Of Rarities which also features their covers of Dead Kennedys, Black Tape For A Blue Girl, and Ministry. They describe their version as "totally transposed into the Attrition sound," "an honest and minimal adaptation."
Interestingly, it was shortly after Attrition's cover in 1997 that Foxx released a reworked version of the track called Overpass in which he changed the titular lyric and made the song a little more high energy electro, where his original is raw and eerie, though both maintain his harsh vocals similar in a style to Gary Numan. Attrition may have kept it as minimal as the original but succeeded in smoothing its edges and adding even more of a sense of supernatural mystery.:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Turkey Jerky Pumpkin Pie... giving thanks may make you cry! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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 reply below, but all replies are screened for spam prevention.
The next of my upcoming gigs are in development but a few things on deck for 2020 are announced. Details can be found on my schedule as well as other updates soon!
(And if, after 4+ years and 237 weekly entries, you find this blog of any value, consider leaving me a tip in the form of the gift of music and get me something from my wishlist on Bandcamp if you like. It'll go to good use! Thanks!)
Thanks for reading and keep dancing in darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Nov 10 - Simple Minds – Teardrop (Massive Attack)
Nov 03 - Horrorfall – Juke Joint Jezebel (KMFDM)
Oct 27 - Panic Lift – Every Day Is Halloween (Ministry)
Oct 20 - Missio – Zombie (The Cranberries)
Oct 13 - 29 Died – The Addams Family (Vic Mizzy)
. Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies .