Lemonheads & Liv Tyler Cover Leonard Cohen (Stereogum Premiere)
For their forthcoming album, the Lemonheads have embraced the twin peaks of their career by going for a full-on covers album entitled VARSHONS. Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes produces, and Gen X poster girls Liv Tyler and Kate Moss make vocal contributions. Here Liv and Ev take on "Hey, That' No Way To Say Goodbye," verses alternating between Dando's stately tenor and Liv's whispery bits, while Gibby fleshes out the far background with wind wooshes and flangey, didgeridooey guitars.
Leonard's back and doing this song for the people himself these days, so here's the source for comparison's sake:
The Lemonheads' VARSHONS is out 6/23 via The End. Here's the rest of the tracklist:
01 "I Just Can't Take It Anymore" (Gram Parsons)
02 "Fragile" (Wire)
03 "Layin' Up With Linda" (G.G. Allin)
04 "Waiting Around To Die" (Townes Van Zandt)
05 "Green Fuz" (Randy Alvey & Green Fuz)
06 "Yesterlove" (Sam Gopal)
07 "Dirty Robot" v/ Kate Moss (Arling & Cameron)
08 "Dandelion Seeds" (July)
09 "Mexico" (Fuckemos)
10 "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" f/ Liv Tyler (Leonard Cohen)
11 "Beautiful" (Linda Perry)
Yes, that Kate Moss.
[Photo by Piper Ferguson.]
Posted at 11:20 AM by amrit
Tags: Evan Dando | Gibby Haynes | Leonard Cohen | Liv Tyler | The Lemonheads
G.G. Allin? Fucking seriously? That's got me sold.
Score = 6
yes. thats nice. i think i'm on board for this one.
Score = 3
i hate it when i cannot steal your embed codes stereogum!!!! grrrrrrrr
i loveeeeeeeeeeeee thattt! so gooooood!!!
Score = 3
evan and liv!!!!! wow this song is awesome!!!!!
Score = 2
Sounds great, really looking forward to this album.
Score = 1
Was bracing myself for a laugh with this, but I'm actually floored by how good it is.
The whole thing's gorgeous, but Liv's solo verse... man. That is hands down the most beautifully raw vocal I've heard so far this year.
Score = 1
Dando never gets the respect he deserves because of his very public non-musical meltdowns in the '90s. "It's A Shame About Ray" is a modern-day pop classic of all originals (save for the excellent, quircky cover of "Frank Mills" from the musical Hair- ruined by the "Mrs. Robinson" cover the record company tacked-on after it was already released. Truth is, Dando has put out great records since '90: Lovey, 'Ray, Come on Feel..., Car Button Cloth, the "solo" Baby I'm Bored, and the self-titled album from a couple of years ago are all indie-pop gems but all you hear about is that damned Simoon & Garfunkel cover. It would be ironic if this covers lp finally wipes the slate clean for this underrated performer.
Score = 5
Ok--armchair producer talking here, but the cover is unnecessary and
boring until 1:46. But then it's really good! (meaning, it should have
been a collaboration between Liv and Gibby with Evan doing backup
vocals).
Do the experiment. Slide it over to 1:46 and see how good it is. That
guitar lick should right there should have been the intro and should
have been looped through the whole track.
Score = 0
As Chris Morris would say: "You're wrong and you're a grotesque ugly freak." :-)
Score = 2
This is beautiful- lee hazlewood & nancy sinatra, serge gainsbourg & jane birkin come to mind. I love it. cannot wait.
Score = 1
I am incredibly excited for this record...the self titled album was waaaaay overlooked, and I'm glad to see Evan chugging along (WITH GIBBY HAYNES?! NICE!!). If this song is any indication of how good it's gonna be, it'll probably be one of the best things I hear this summer. CAN'T WAIT! Thanks for the clip, Stereogum!!!
Score = 3
Awesome song. I love that Evan has always picked covers that aren't necessarily the most recognizable songs. Hope this comes out on eMusic
Score = 1
Ian McCulloch did a nice (albeit slightly more pace-y) cover of this in the early 90s.
Funny how the Cohen/Lemonheads post gets the most civilized/educated comments of the week!
Score = 1
yeah whatever, your mum or something innit:-)
Score = -1
I'm still waiting to hear how Dando handles 'Beautiful'.
Score = 0
this album will probably own all of you. YES. GIBBY.
Score = 1
I saw Evan solo recently and he covered Beautiful and is amazing, cant wait to hear it on the record
Score = 0
yeah that's sounds great :) liv's voice is good. but it is not better than her beauty :D
Score = 0