Various Artists - Like A Version Four (Album)
Triple J's Like a Version Four features a bunch of covers taken from the Like A Version segment on the JJJ Morning Show. As with every covers album, there are... issues.
Who likes covers? I mean, really likes them? Sure, they're interesting. Some – a very very select few – are better than the original, and they help to proliferate the idea that covering songs has any value beyond getting to know and settling in with new bandmates. I would contend that this idea – that cover songs have any universal value – is a false one. They have specific value, maybe, but not universal value. They're a strange and select category of art. I'll attempt to cover the concept before reviewing this particular collection.
In my view, there are two ways that covers are valuable. The first is to fans of the artist doing the covering. If you like, say, The White Stripes, you're going to want to hear them perform Jolene by Dolly Parton. You'll be interested to hear how they go (and for this specific example; they go damn well). But they'll only be worth listening to if the original song is in a different style to their own (See: All Along The Watchtower, Hendrix, Dylan). They're usually interesting as one-off songs, perhaps chucked on as a B-Side or released/leaked online.
The second way in which covers can have value is when a band releases an album of covers, such as Rage Against The Machine's last album. It's a big wack of style and innovation, your favourite band's attempt to reinvigorate old (or recent) songs. RATM did it well, Mark Ronson did it better.
But this is a compilation of covers by different artists. It's a whole new kettle of trout. The problem I have is thus: who would buy this? Who is interested enough in the 19 different artists covering 19 other different artists to buy this CD? I have to say, after listening to it from beginning to end – not me. Lowlights include Paul Kelly doing a countrified version of Amy Winehouse's Rehab, Snowman (who?) doing a dull and dreary Strange Fruit, and Katalyst's version of Hang Me Up To Dry. There are a few highlights - Crowded House's Everybody's Talking for one – but this is not something I'd purposefully seek out and buy and therefore not something I could recommend.
I like remixes, and I like mash-ups. Covers are so last century.
P.S. For anyone interested, the CD also features: Regina Spektor doing Real Love, The Panics doing Wide Open Road, CW Stoneking doing Seven Nation Army,British India playing And I Was A Boy From School, Plan B doing Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, Saosin having a go at the 80s classic Time After Time,Lou Rhodes doing Satellite, Dappled Cities playing More Than A Woman, Bit By Bats doing Orinoco Flow, After The Fall playing Only The Good Die Young, The Veils doing State Trooper, Nouvelle Vague doing Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldnt’ve)?, Mister Jamie T covering Hoover Street, Little Barrie doing White Light / White Heat and Emilie Simon trying her hand at I Wanna Be Your Dog.
