11 Jun 2012

Last week, due to technical difficulties, and my geographical location in the land where summer never ends, on some beach in California, Music Monday didn’t go up as planned. I’ll be making up for it by giving you two songs to fall in love with today.

Jim Jarmusch said “Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to”

Covers are usually a tricky subject for a lot of music minded people. It’s tough sometimes to strike that perfect balance between leaving your own mark on something and keeping enough of an original to recognize the talent and work of someone else. It’s tough: if I love the original, it can be hard to give anything else a fair chance, I’ve done my fair share of accusing a cover of butchering a beloved song. But if I hear a cover first, it can be hard for me to give the original the real listen it deserves, I may not hear the subtleties.

So today, I’m going to give you two versions of a lovely song. I’d be hard pressed to tell you which one I preferred, both are extraordinary. The original is called ‘Endless Summer’ by an amazing band called the Jezabels. If you miss the 80s pop world a little, then you need to listen to this band. The lead singer is ethereal, her vocals lend a light and airy quality to their sound, every song sounds a little like driving down a back road while the sun goes down. If you’re into them, I highly suggest checking out their song ‘Long Highway‘ as well, or seeing them this year when they play at Guelph’s hillside festival.

The cover of this song was sent to me by a dear friend, the kind that frequently sends me songs they think I would like (For all my friends who do that and are reading this, I love you).  It was a video of a man named Josh Pyke covering the aforementioned song and I was blown away. It was so pretty, and lent such a different quality to the version I was used to. It was a perfect cover: it kept everything I loved about the original, but sounded totally like him. He took a pop song, stripped it down to its bare bones, added an accordion and made it something to lay in a hammock to.

Both songs sound like summer, which is appropriate for the title. Summer is here, and for this Canadian, those months have always been the time for creating, for adventures, for midnight swims and rambling conversations. So check out both these songs, let me know which is your favorite, and start putting yourself in the summer state of mind. Whatever you decide to do in the next few warm months, don’t forget to bring some music. And even if it’s just a few new memories, no matter what you decide to create, remember to always take something and make it yours.

“Of my life, you were the deepest lover, stay with me, here in the endless summer, An endless summer in my mind….”