Lament.

I have just realised, tonight, that I often play a game. The game is - I play the Blackout Beach version of Claxxon's Lament, and then I play Wolf Parade's version (cover) of the same song, and then I repeat this cycle, constantly trying to discern which is better.

I start by just playing them back to back - maybe I will play one, and then think, do I prefer this one? and consequentley play the other - almost in the background, not really listening. I think it will be an easy decision to make. Like covers of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' - it's kind of a no-brainer. You can tell a good cover almost within the first thirty seconds, and go from there. Same with Pixie songs. Ever hear that Nada Surf cover? What the fuck. Nada Surf have, in turns, made me cry and made me cringe. But: that's beside the point.

The second time I listen, i'm listening more attentively, realising that there isn't a straight-cut winner. And, I mean, I'm listening properly, but still...I guess I miss the moment. I miss the moment that sets them apart, and so I listen again.

This time, I'm kind of annoyed with myself. I pride myself on being able to digest multiple listenings with one listening; what I mean is, I can detect longevity. On one level, this sounds like bullshit. But, on another level, I can tell you a specific fact about a specific song from only hearing it once, and I can probably tell you where it occured in the career or the singer/band - I can definitely present you with a narrative of whatever band you are listening to. Basically, I don't really like football. The kind of osmosis (I was going to write 'osmotic knowledge', which I may try to invent in some essay or other) that I am capable of with music is the same that a lot of people I know are capable of with football. People think my osmosis is unusual for the simple fact that is it unusual - not exceptional. What's that? You can remember every player on every team in the fluctuating premiership and champion's leagues among loads of other leagues and world cups and tournaments and where each player has recently transfered from and where they have gone after this team and who from each team has scored this week and the specific place they are in multiple leagues of twenty or more teams?

I'm sorry. I can't help you. In the world of football, that's a kind of knowledge that is available in the same way as musical knowledge...but, the difference is, most of the actual performance of this conversation is conducted away from the computer (unlike, e.g., music blogs), and not only that, but is a replacement for small talk and, even further, a replacement for conversation that would indicate that you are not sober in a pub...this a kind of statistical database that I could never hope to possess.

Anyway.

I listen to them again, and then again, and I'm thinking, why am I not concentrating? So, finally, after a good ten listens of each, I sit down on the floor and I close my eyes and I play them back to back, and I wait and see. I wait to see what happens. What happens is - I have no idea which is the best.

When it starts, the Wolf Parade version is the best. In this case, Wolf Parade is mainly Spencer, with these beautiful little eccentricities of a ghostly choir (a ghostly choir for a cover song? That's dedication) and a small horn section for a discharged coda.

When the Blackout Beach track starts again, it's intentionally muggy, and the guitar doesn't cut as cleanly through that mug as the Wolf Parade one, so I think, OK, the Wolf Parade version is better. The voice is great, the guitar is great, the production is great. But then Carey's voice kicks in, and it's a voice that is made for songs. It's a voice that is made for his songs, and it is a testament to an incredible creative mind that he has managed to realise what it is that he does best. It finishes quickly, and the chords aren't as well defined as the Wolf Parade version - and the chords play an important backbone for this song in particular - but the voice carries the song above the instrumentation in the most extra-ordinary way; it's almost as if the guitar is clean, the guitar is a perfectly focused picture - but the voice is high above the earth, and it's like seeing a picture of a canopy, with all the individual leaves and birds flying between, and then rising up into the near atmosphere to see it all from above. Sure, the tree's look all green and stuff, but it's the near atmosphere you're concentrating on. How can it be green and blue at once? Wait, how can it be blue and black, and have more stars than you have ever seen, all the colours and the lights at once? And, sure, the earth looks great, slowly fading into the distance so we can see the entire population of the world between the gaps in our toes - but look at the fucking sky! Mercer's voice is the fucking sky, and his guitar is the tree tops.

And then, the Wolf Parade song starts again...and I can't help but stare at the birds and the leaves among leaves among beautifully perfectly defined leaves. I didn't realise it was possible to sustain two versions of a song where they are not only of the same quality, but better than each other at the same time. We have a winner(s).

(I'll post the actual songs later...now off out to meet someone who has 'washed their body'...)

(edit: here they are)

Blackout Beach - Claxxon's Lament
Wolf Parade - Claxxon's Lament (cover)

--mx.