Yoni Wolf (WHY?) Covers Pavement
WHY? founding member and lead man Yoni Wolf pays tribute to another adept phrase turner with this cover of Pavement's "Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse)," from that band's 1992 EP Watery, Domestic. Wolf is sitting alone at the piano here, so it's a rearrangement bathed more in the sort of bathos we heard on the first single from WHY?'s forthcoming LP, "This Blackest Purse." In his own words:
I heard ["Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse)" recently and I just always have liked that song. I like that EP a lot, but that song specifically, I took to it. So today and yesterday, I just thought, "well, let me try to learn it." I learned it on the piano and just like everything, I always make everything slow and dark. But their version is, I don't want to say danceable, but it's a little more driving.
Now, in his own voice:
Yoni Wolf - "Shoot the Singer (1 Sick Verse)" (MP3)
Compare with the Malkmus:
Yoni's cover comes from a session recorded for thebaybridged.com, who also had him do similarly toned interpretations of Alopecia's "Brook & Waxing" along with "Against Me" and the title track from their forthcoming full-length Eskimo Snow. Grab MP3s of all of them here.
Eskimo Snow is out 9/22 in the US via anticon and 10/5 in the UK via Tomlab.
Posted at 4:29 PM by amrit in MP3
Tags: Pavement | WHY
Thx for ruining a classic, omg. This is just horrible, EVEN worse than when Cat Power covered We Dance.
Score = -1
Awesome...weirdly enough was just listening to Watery, Domestic before I stumbled upon this, the guy does a good job of imbuing the song with the emotion Pavement always tucked deep within their songs. Even though both Malkmus and Wolf don't have particularly emotional voices.
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There's a great cover of Shoot the Singer by Saloon on the compilation 'Everything Is Ending Here – a Tribute to Pavement'. Looks like someone's put it up on YouTube (it's crackly in parts, unfortunately):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu23bg7gfo8
Score = 0
WHY do this guy and his band bother existing? What an awful cover.
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Screw off, WHY? is awesome. If he just sat down and learned a song I don't expect perfection, and it's very much his style. If you had actually listened to Alopecia you wouldn't be saying nay about WHY?, they're phenomenal.
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Why? definitely has some good stuff but let's be honest- this is a bad cover of an amazing song. it just doesn't translate well to a piano ballad.
"I learned it on the piano and just like everything, I always make everything slow and dark."...slow? yes. dark? not really. annoying? pretty much.
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This is ridiculous. The slowed down melody did not work out. This guy has a more nasal vocal than even Conor Oberst. Is he faking it or what, his whole persona sucks and is so irritating. If only he had the ability to write half as good and witty lyrics as Malkmus.
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This is pretty terrible.
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The real question on everyone's mind, is when will Yoni Wolf get around to doing that album of early K Records covers he promised.
WHY? Covering the likes of Tiger Trap, Lois, Kicking Giant, Cub, Six Cents & Natalie.
Eventually, he and Bend Folds can tour together; opening for the dynamic touring duo of Billy Joel & Elton John. A show that kids can enjoy with their parents and grandparents.
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Fantastic! The Wig Master is still my favorite cover he did.
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i dont usually comment but, wow, someone force this dude into retirement
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Apparently "Amazing!" or "Horrible!" are the only opinions we have to choose from today.
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no, there's also "dingle berry yogurt gag slime" to choose from. I'm gonna go with that to describe this cover.
Score = -2
I love Pavement and I'm a fan of Why?, but this is superfluous. To me, Pavement is a band you don't cover. Yoni and Malkmus don't have great voices, and that's what makes them unique and recognizable. I'd like to hear a Pavement cover of "A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under". I give points to Why? for trying, but he should stick to his fucked up folk rock rap.
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Sorry, got my threads crossed. That last comment was for This Blackest Purse. All I can say is if this was a 'great' Pavement song, it doesn't sound great the way Yoni does it, (on first listen),,,,,and I'm a huge Why? fan. signed, Al of Yahoo! Group: Beat_Happening.
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