SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies : I Don't Believe You Anymore
Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
This week's Second Sunday Slowly feature comes to us by recommendation of a DJ peer from my scene, (and possibly the most consistent reader of this blog as far as I'm aware,) Sawtooth. It's a cog-worthy take on a 90's era darkwave standard, subtle in its steampunk sensibility:
Vernian Process - The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove (Dead Can Dance)
Dead Can Dance released their sixth album, Into the Labyrinth, in mid-September, 1993. The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove was one of three singles from the album, but by far one of their most resonating and celebrated.
The mysterious name sake of the title is believed to have originated from a 52 year old episode of the same name from the 60's television series, Danger Man. The British spy drama starred Patrick McGoohan as Secret Agent John Blake. In this episode, which was considered unusually disquieting for the series, Blake has a car accident after which he finds himself involved in a scandal and a mystery. Mr. "Happy" Lovegrove, the apparent head of his agency, begins appearing throughout the scenario, briefly and disturbingly replacing other characters established in the story, making him "ubiquitous" in Drake's encounters, at times accompanied by malefic disembodied laughter. Without spoiling the story, suffice to say that the episode quickly takes on a sinister Lynch-like quality more similar to The Outer Limits and very unlike any previous episode in the series.
While the title of the song appears to be relevant to the show, and perhaps some of its eerie atmosphere, it's hard to say how much other influence the show had on the song itself. Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry, himself from London where he could easily have watched the broadcast in his younger years, has occasionally adopted the moniker of "Mr. Lovegrove," assuming it as his alter-ego that he has said represents "the abstract relationship of myself and woman." (What that might actually mean is left to our imagination.)
Vernian Process, a steam-punk goth/industrial band inspired by the works of Jules Vern, released their tribute of The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove in 2011. While the original is built around an arrangement of multicultural instrumentation, (sitar, antara, violin, etc...,) their version relies heavily on synthesizers to attain fairly similar effects. Many differences in their sound are subtle, with the distinct exception of the addition of the haunting saxophone accompaniment in the near final measures of the track, an addition they say was an unplanned experiment on the day of recording because one of their members just happened to have the instrument on hand.
They're both captivating enough to rend you lost in the "slow, but deep," beat of this "old slave drum."
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and (however grudgingly) acceptance. All are stages of something many have experienced lately, perhaps more than usual over the past couple of months. A recent synthpop cover from a tribute compilation released last year might just relate to how that feels.
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome! (You do NOT need a LiveJournal account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I spin this coming weekend at a sci-fi Con in Boston. Not really a "goth" thing, more of a "nerd" thing. So the music will go quite a few directions beyond my norm, though I expect I may play today's feature and some similar stuff during the first night. Later in the month I have my regular gig in Western Mass. As always, you'll find links to more details on my schedule. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jan 01 - Front Line Assembly with Tiffany - New Year's Day (U2)
Dec 25 - Eisenfunk - Jinglefunk [Jingle Bells](Edison Male Quartet)
Dec 18 - Cibo Matto - The Candy Man (Aubrey Woods)
Dec 11 - St. Anthony Jones - Shoulder To The Wheel (:Wumpscut: remix)(Bel Canto)
Dec 04 - Accessory - Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash)
Nov 27 - Crytek- Bullet (Covenant)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
This week's Second Sunday Slowly feature comes to us by recommendation of a DJ peer from my scene, (and possibly the most consistent reader of this blog as far as I'm aware,) Sawtooth. It's a cog-worthy take on a 90's era darkwave standard, subtle in its steampunk sensibility:
Vernian Process - The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove (Dead Can Dance)
Dead Can Dance released their sixth album, Into the Labyrinth, in mid-September, 1993. The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove was one of three singles from the album, but by far one of their most resonating and celebrated.
The mysterious name sake of the title is believed to have originated from a 52 year old episode of the same name from the 60's television series, Danger Man. The British spy drama starred Patrick McGoohan as Secret Agent John Blake. In this episode, which was considered unusually disquieting for the series, Blake has a car accident after which he finds himself involved in a scandal and a mystery. Mr. "Happy" Lovegrove, the apparent head of his agency, begins appearing throughout the scenario, briefly and disturbingly replacing other characters established in the story, making him "ubiquitous" in Drake's encounters, at times accompanied by malefic disembodied laughter. Without spoiling the story, suffice to say that the episode quickly takes on a sinister Lynch-like quality more similar to The Outer Limits and very unlike any previous episode in the series.
While the title of the song appears to be relevant to the show, and perhaps some of its eerie atmosphere, it's hard to say how much other influence the show had on the song itself. Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry, himself from London where he could easily have watched the broadcast in his younger years, has occasionally adopted the moniker of "Mr. Lovegrove," assuming it as his alter-ego that he has said represents "the abstract relationship of myself and woman." (What that might actually mean is left to our imagination.)
Vernian Process, a steam-punk goth/industrial band inspired by the works of Jules Vern, released their tribute of The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove in 2011. While the original is built around an arrangement of multicultural instrumentation, (sitar, antara, violin, etc...,) their version relies heavily on synthesizers to attain fairly similar effects. Many differences in their sound are subtle, with the distinct exception of the addition of the haunting saxophone accompaniment in the near final measures of the track, an addition they say was an unplanned experiment on the day of recording because one of their members just happened to have the instrument on hand.
They're both captivating enough to rend you lost in the "slow, but deep," beat of this "old slave drum."
The Cover:
The Original:
Click to viewNext week:
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and (however grudgingly) acceptance. All are stages of something many have experienced lately, perhaps more than usual over the past couple of months. A recent synthpop cover from a tribute compilation released last year might just relate to how that feels.
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome! (You do NOT need a LiveJournal account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I spin this coming weekend at a sci-fi Con in Boston. Not really a "goth" thing, more of a "nerd" thing. So the music will go quite a few directions beyond my norm, though I expect I may play today's feature and some similar stuff during the first night. Later in the month I have my regular gig in Western Mass. As always, you'll find links to more details on my schedule. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jan 01 - Front Line Assembly with Tiffany - New Year's Day (U2)
Dec 25 - Eisenfunk - Jinglefunk [Jingle Bells](Edison Male Quartet)
Dec 18 - Cibo Matto - The Candy Man (Aubrey Woods)
Dec 11 - St. Anthony Jones - Shoulder To The Wheel (:Wumpscut: remix)(Bel Canto)
Dec 04 - Accessory - Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash)
Nov 27 - Crytek- Bullet (Covenant)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies