Tuesday 19 April 2011

Significant Covers: The numbers one - Cooler than me

The numbers one have recorded, it has to be said, a truly unique interpretation of Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me", and in the process have answered a question that I don't imagine many people will have yet been forward thinking enough to ask:

What would Cooler Than Me sound like played on jazz guitar, with vocals that are both incompetent and incoherent?

The results are, it's fair to say, incredible.

One of the most notable aspects of the cover (and there are many) is the frontwoman's slight struggles with the lyrics.  Initially I put this down to her unfamiliarity with the English language, but the more I listen to the first guitar-accompanied verse, the more she sounds like a woman in great distress - it could, conceivably, be the sound of a woman having a stroke.

Fortunately she soldiers on and by the time we reach the second verse the guitar has given way to synths.  The production here suggests that the group draw much of their influence from the lo-fi sounds of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, in that it sounds somewhat like a particularly bad Jamster ringtone from 2003.

From thereon, the synths and guitar take it in turns to accompany the vocalist, who steadfastly continues in spite of her frequent mispronunciations (something she cleverly disguises by replacing the more problematic words with a kind of quiet murmuring), mistimings and truly remarkable inability to hold a tune - she sounds like Karin from The Knife on Kerry Katona's 'medication'.  I really hope she hasn't had a stroke.


The numbers one's version of Cooler Than Me is from the album "Ranking now"
(Yes, there really is a whole album of this stuff)

Listen at Myspace or Spotify

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