It’s not innovative (even within the context of his own work), but it’s still by far my favourite record of this year. James Murphy still has it. What this says about the state of music in 2010, I’m not sure.
Possibly my most surprising musical discovery of this year (with the likely exception of Wavves), Free Energy play pretty standard ’70s-style power pop of the Big Star variety. Nothing at all original, but so much fun. ‘Bang Pop’ gets stuck in my head like little else.
I guess I’m a little surprised that James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem, of course) produced this - it doesn’t really seem like his kind of thing. But his super crisp, detailed production suits the band perfectly. The first track even features a very prominent cowbell, like it’s 2003 all over again.
John Cale “All My Friends” (LCD Soundsystem cover)
There are days, though they are few and far-between, when I think that this is the best version of this song that currently exists. That may well be because of the crackle of age, wisdom and regret that Cale’s voice brings to the song (on a tangential note, imagine Leonard Cohen tackling this!), the gorgeous countermelody he chucks in at the end (“Where are your friends tooo-niiiight?”), or just fact that I’ve been listening to a fucktonne of John Cale lately. I don’t know.
Of course, then I remember that the original is probably my song of the decade.
Either way, listen and enjoy, especially if you’ve never heard Cale’s version before. Franz Ferdinand’s cover ain’t got nothin’ on this…
John Cale possesses one of the best singing voices in rock music.
