Watch Mercury Rev Cover Galaxie 500’s “Snowstorm”
Galaxie 500’s 1997 live album Copenhagen, recorded on the final date of their last European tour in 1990, is being reissued on vinyl for Record Store Day tomorrow. Which means that today is the last day of the 20-20-20 cover series, in which 20 different artists perform covers of their favorite Galaxie 500 songs in tribute to the dream-pop greats. We’ve heard covers from Circuit Des Yeux, Thurston Moore, Mark Lanegan and Dylan Carlson, Stephin Merritt, Real Estate, and more. And for the final installment, we’re hearing from Mercury Rev, who take on “Snowstorm.”
“I moved to NYC in 1989 and the two CDS that were a soundtrack to my first year on Avenue B were Don Cherry’s Art Deco and Galaxie 500’s On Fire,” Mercury Rev’s Grasshopper explains in a statement. “I ended up seeing both Don Cherry and Galaxie 500 play several times in 1989/1990/1991, pure magic every time. I truly love ‘On Fire’ as a whole, but ’Snowstorm’ has always been my favorite. Growing up outside of Buffalo NY, the lyrics and music have a special childlike resonance for me. Jonathan and I would like to thank special guest John Ashton for joining us on our rendition hermetically documented at the Bearsville Theatre in Woodstock NY.”
This actually isn’t the first time that Mercury Rev have played “Snowstorm.” Grasshopper and Jonathan Donahue performed the song with Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips on the front porch of an antique store in upstate New York back in 2010. Watch below.