This week... COLLABORATIONS
Foo Fighters & Brian May - Have A Cigar
I'm a pretty big Pink Floyd fan, and most of the covers I've heard of their work have been - in my humble opinion - sacrilegious. (Don't even get me started on Korn's version of Another Brick In The Wall...) What the Foo Fighters and Brian May have accomplished here is, though, quite frankly astonishing. While they'll never top Pink Floyd's original version, they succeed in ramping up the power, and including some awesome guitar work. Plus, it's interesting to hear the Foos' drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals. A juggernaut of classic British rock meets American rock titans to cover one of the best bands in the history of music. What could you possibly hate about it?!
I'm a pretty big Pink Floyd fan, and most of the covers I've heard of their work have been - in my humble opinion - sacrilegious. (Don't even get me started on Korn's version of Another Brick In The Wall...) What the Foo Fighters and Brian May have accomplished here is, though, quite frankly astonishing. While they'll never top Pink Floyd's original version, they succeed in ramping up the power, and including some awesome guitar work. Plus, it's interesting to hear the Foos' drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals. A juggernaut of classic British rock meets American rock titans to cover one of the best bands in the history of music. What could you possibly hate about it?!
Eoin Smith
Shakalabbits and 175R - Stand By You
A collaboration between two Japanese punk/ska bands, notably domestic Japanese bands, singing entirely in Japanese - I cannot understand a word of it. I have never let this stop me in the past though (having to have the between song banter translated for you at a foreign gig is an interesting experience) and it is plain to see and hear that this is a track by two bands having fun and doing their thing. As a collaboration I find it fantastically well done in that rather than trading singers or doing small pieces for each other, both full bands play the entire track, trading vocals back and forth and each bringing their own style to the music. As they say, music is a universal language, and I see this track as the perfect example of both that, and how a collaboration should be done.
David Lovie
Jessie Ware & Sampha - Valentine
Back in the days before Jessie Ware was among the Mercury favourites, she knew how to exploit a fragile, airy voice to great effect. Putting this alongside Sampha's silky baritone on Valentine, littered with sounds not unlike the soft plinks of an electric piano, works to great effect in crafting a haunting and gorgeous two minutes of music.
Joe Sutherland
Kanye West & Jay Z - N***as In Paris
Now, people seem to write Kanye West off as a Taylor Swift interrupting, fish stick eating joke. But the fact remains that, by his own accord, he's a genius. And when Watch The Throne was announced, everyone just lost it at the fact that he was collaborating with Jay Z for a full length album. This song is my favourite from one of last years’ greats. Only Kanye West is crazy enough to sample Blades Of Glory and only Jay Z can get away with seriously rapping after it.
Jake Lawson
Feist and Ben Gibbard - Train Song
Two of the loveliest voices singing a lovely cover of a lovely song (originally by Vashti Bunyan) about being miles away from someone you care about. This song is from Dark Was The Night, one of my favourite CDs ever - a compilation packed with brilliant exclusive songs by a variety of artists, which was produced by The National's Dessner brothers, for charity. This song never fails to make me smile.
Siobhan Hewison
Iron & Wine and Calexico - Burn That Broken Bed
This is a song I liked too much not to put in, that I found while sifting through lists of collaborations on the internet. With a folky, Southern-American sound, and smooth jazz sax, Sam Beam's vocals add so much to the track without becoming overpowering or taking over the brilliant array of instruments.
Jareth Wolfe
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