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March 29, 2007

The Shins Cover Pink Floyd

Wincing's tunes have swayed more than a few of you to give the Mercer crew another shot live, though we doubt you'd argue that the studio is where the Shins shine. Still, if you've been on the road with the band this tour, you've probably seen their take on Pink Floyd's "Breathe," which they unleashed to NME's delight during last night's show at the Kentish Town Forum. Unless it's a spectacularly Ashlee moment (Aguilera moment?), the clip has poor sync (check out the "look ma no mic!" vocals at 1:53), but it's a reverent -- and, given the band's aesthetic and live rep, impressively lush -- take on the Dark Side classic. Don't think they morphed into "On The Run"'s space-invaders synth line, though it's nearly impossible not to. Has there ever been an album with better segues?

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15 Comments

You guys don't seem so into it, but Cassadaga leaked. Haven't listened to it yet, here's hoping Bright Eyes didn't peak at I'm wide awake it's morning.

Posted by: Kevin at 03/29/07 9:27 AM | Reply
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No, there has never NEVER been an album with better segues. There almost hasn't been a better album, period. I was starting to fade on the Shins, but this makes me appreciate them more, hopefully they will release some version of that song sometime.

Posted by: bp at 03/29/07 12:05 PM | Reply
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I just saw these guys on tour a few weeks ago and: a)they didn't play this song
b)I wish they had played this song
c)they sounded absolutely amazing live
Go Shins.

Posted by: kevin at 03/29/07 12:23 PM | Reply
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Thanks for this! I'll admit 'Wincing' had started to fade from my cd player but this cover is top-notch.

Posted by: sean at 03/29/07 12:38 PM | Reply
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Wait... they have a reputation for sucking live? So it wasn't just me? Thank Christ. And they didn't play this at their last New York show, either.

Posted by: the management at 03/29/07 12:44 PM | Reply
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It's true.. at 1:53 there is no one singing.. how odd..

Posted by: Claire at 03/29/07 12:45 PM | Reply
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If you pay attention you'll see that the sound and video aren't in sync. that's why it appears that no one is singing at 1:53...

This sounds effing amazing. Woot

Posted by: I-Get-Stabby at 03/29/07 1:04 PM | Reply
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I'm impressed. I've never heard good things about the Shins live, but they were pretty dead-on with this one. Still not paying that price to see them play the Warfield.

No better segues (or perhaps all-around production) than Dark Side of the Moon.

Any links to the Cassadaga leak would be much appreciated!

Posted by: KP at 03/29/07 1:15 PM | Reply
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Yeah, don't watch it, just listen. It's relatively common to find synching errors on YouTube videos. Beautiful cover, though.

Posted by: Matthew at 03/29/07 2:48 PM | Reply
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They were great live when I saw them 2 weeks ago.

Posted by: Josh at 03/29/07 4:28 PM | Reply
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I was at this gig.

They were awsome.

Though they raced through the songs at supersonic speed (even causing an otherwise lackluster audience to attempt a mosh pit at one point!)

But yeah, great gig.

Great band.

and after months of being on the fence about it... great album.

Posted by: Paul Plant at 03/30/07 12:30 PM | Reply
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I was at the gig. Actually, I'm the author of the clip...
I apologize for the bad sync, I thought it was my crappy laptop but if it plays the same way for everybody then it's my crappy brand new camera instead.
By the way, they were pretty boring, and that cover was the highlight of the show.

Posted by: valido at 03/30/07 6:31 PM | Reply
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well, one big difference i can see from when i saw them (and they were bad) is they picked up a utility 5th person. their sound was so thin when i saw them, i imagine the 5th person goes a long way in filling out the sound.

Posted by: brokelyn at 03/31/07 4:08 PM | Reply
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Sound was perfect. But, as a friend pointed out, James Mercer delivers the entire show with the passion of a call centre assistant...

Posted by: valido at 04/01/07 2:15 PM | Reply
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what the fuck is this?crappy,imho

Posted by: StEvE at 04/04/07 5:31 PM | Reply
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