In a semi-regular feature Duck & Cover, When The Gramophone Rings will be introducing you to an array of cover versions from around this hear globe.

First up is Mumford & Sons tackling one of the greatest movie songs of all time. Not only is 1973’s  Robin Hood a much underated arrow in Disney’s quiver, but in Not In Nottingham they penned a genuine folk classic. Don’t believe me? Just listen to Marcus Mumford et al below.

Mumford & Sons – Not In Nottingham (Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios)

Secondly we have Taken By Trees‘ rather beautiful rendition of Sweet Child of Mine.  It’s a tune that has been covered many, many times before but if there is a version quite as stop-you-in-your-tracks as this one, then I certainly haven’t heard it.  It’s also currently the soundtrack to John Lewis’s festive ads.

Taken By Trees – Sweet Child of Mine (Clip)

Watching the latest John Lewis advert on 4. Nice ad, nice idea, beautiful photography, but most of all perfect music. Searched for who sings the beautiful rendition of “Sweet Child of Mine” and found it to be a girl/band called Taken by Trees. My lack of music knowledge has meant they haven’t blipped on my radar yet but after looking at their attractive (ignoring the bad spelling) website, seeing they seem to be skint and in need of donations, I see they are playing at The Garage in London on the 14th of December. Maybe I will take the trip to go see them. I’m sure it won’t be long before they cost £40 not £11 to see them play.

On of TBT's press photos.

Good luck to them, with that kind of sound they deserve success, especially in an industry that allows positions to ‘talent’ like Jedward or the Cheeky Girls.

Bueno dicen que para saber si una canción es buena, la única forma de demostrarlo es escucharla en diferentes estilos musicales, bueno pues aquí cotorreando encontré este cover de la canción “My Boys” de Animal Collective, esta versión corre por parte de Taken By Trees el proyecto como solista de Victoria Bergsman, vocalista y fundadora de The Concretes, chequenla es tipo Folk pero la verdad tiene su onda y pues lo interesante es ver como una canción suena tan bien en otro estilo tan diferente .

I am currently trying to get seekmagic on the radio, up here in the north east of England. I guess if I did manage that, then this is what the show would probably sound like. 73 minutes of mostly new music, lovingly selected for your listening pleasure by yours truly. You can now stream the podcast, if you don’t wish to download it. So plug your laptop into your speakers, turn the first bar of your fire on, pour yourself a Southern Comfort and lemo, sit back and enjoy the music. Your comments, as ever, are always welcome.

1.  Richard Hawley – ‘As The Dawn Breaks’

2.  One Man Band – ‘Love You’

3.  The Clientele – ‘Bonfires On The Heath’

4.  Taken By Trees – ‘Watch The Waves’

5.  Bibio – ‘Ambivalence Avenue’

6.  Mayer Hawthorne – ‘Prelude’

7.  The High Llamas – ‘Ribbons and Hi-hats’

8.  Richard Swift – ‘Sadsong Street’

9.  The Young Republic – ‘Napoleon Roses’

10. Girls – ‘Headache’

11. The Magic Numbers – ‘Hurt So Good’

12. Wild Honey – ‘Hal Blaine’s Beat’

13. Summer Camp – ‘Ghost Train’

14. Kings Of Convenience – ‘Boat Behind’

15. Josh Rouse – ‘Valencia’

16. Monsters Of Folk – ‘Dear God’

17. Jonny Trunk – ‘Spag Bol’

18. Joe Pernice – ‘Used To Like That Song (excerpt)

19. Joe Pernice – ‘Found A Little Baby’

20. Liam Hayes and Plush – ‘I Sing Silence’

21. God Help The Girl – ‘Stills’

Download mp3 or stream the podcast here

A really good song first tripped out in Animal Collective experimentation and then stripped down in Taken By Trees’ more elemental (but barely less buoyant) version.  For cover lovers, this is a wonderful contrast worth exploring:

You can get Animal Collective’s album here and Taken By Trees’ here.

Your Thoughts?

Last night we played two hours of our favourite cover versions. Here’s the playlist + a few mp3s . . .

Mr. Tambourine Man  -  The Byrds (Bob Dylan)
Like a Rolling Stone  -  Soup Greens (Bob Dylan)
All Along The Watchtower  -  Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan)
Roll OverBeethoven  -  The Sonics (Chuck Berry)
Baby Please Don’t Go  -  The Amboy Dukes (Big Joe Williams)
Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone  -  Heavy Hills (The Undisputed Truth)
Wild honey pie (May 3, 1988)  -  Pixies (The Beatles)
Within You Without You  -  Sonic Youth (The Beatles)

Si decimos Victoria Bergsman puede que haya muchos que se queden igual que si no decimos nada, pero si añadimos que fue la cantante durante 10 años de The Concretes, quizás ya empieza a ser conocida, y si a eso añadimos que era la voz femenina de la puta canción del silbido, ahí ya ha llegado al público en general. Pues desde que abandonó su antiguo grupo, ha emprendido un nuevo e interesante proyecto en solitario: Taken by Trees.

Hace poco más de un mes ha publicado su segundo trabajo, East of Eden, para el cual se ha ido a inspirarse hasta Pakistán, y se nota. Las influencias orientales y la música étnica son las bases sobre las que Victoria pone su cuidada voz consiguiendo un buen número de canciones muy delicadas, aunque en algún momento pueden llegar a resultar ciertamente anodinas. A destacar grandes temas como To lose someone y Anna.

Mención aparte merece el corte número 7 del disco, My boys, que ya desde el título destaca por su originalidad, y es que se trata de una renovada versión de un clásico moderno, My girls de Animal Collective. A mi me encanta esta versión, aunque para lo más puristas no se trata más que de un destrozo sobre una canción que será un icono. Vean, escuchen y juzguen:

PLAYLIST :

1. Bibio - The Apple And The Tooth ♥
2. The Amplifetes - It’s My Life
3. Peter Broderick - Duchess (Scott Walker) via Automatic. ♥♥
4. Taken By Trees - My Boys (Animal Collective)
5. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
6. Black Eyed Peas - One Tribe ♥
7. Django Django - Storm
8. Florence & The Machine - You’ve Got the Love (XX remix)
9. Crookers - Business Man ♥
10. The Pluto Tapes - Wolf Like Me (TV On The Radio)

Zwei Geschlechter, zwei Bands/Acts,  zwei Highlights, ein Songs. 
Das Original von Animal Collective ist ja schon der Burner, aber die Schwedin Vicotria Bergsman, aka Taken By Trees hat hier eine ganz eigene Intepretation dieses wunderbaren Songs hingezaubert. Eine Freude.

Animal Collective – My Girls (Merriweather Post Pavillon, 2009)

Taken By Trees – My Boys (East of Eden,2009)

Taken by Trees covering “Sweet Child O’ Mine”

Taken by Trees, “My Boys” (covering Animal Collective’s “My Girls”)

Swedens’ Victoria Bergsman of Taken by Trees, former frontwoman of The Concretes, is an amazing interpreter of song. The band’s ethereal, ethnic infused music is something to be explored for sure, but Victoria’s interpretation of cover songs is something to be cherished. These two tracks are some of my favorite covers…ever.  Taken by Trees’ latest album, East of Eden, is out now.

Shonen Knife, Deer Biscuits
Dot Allison, In Winter Still
Anjulie, Boom
The Aislers Set, Catherine Says
The Do, Tammie
A Girl Called Eddy, The Long Goodbye
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson, Relator
A Camp, The Weed Had Got There First
Sarah Fimm, How Does It Feel
Adele, Chasing Pavements
Saskia Crescentia, Free Me
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Date With the Night
Thee Headliners, Double Dutch
Yenn, Belle Gunness
The Dry Spells, The Crow
X-Ray Spex, Germfree Adolescents
Vandaveer, Turpentine
Jen Wood, Recharge
Lhasa, Love Came Here
Elizabeth Willis, Thoughts
Taken by Trees, Watch the Waves
Wire Daisies, Rocket Girl
The Beatings, Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
Winterbrief, Chick Flick
Tiny Animals, Is This the Last Time?
Von Iva, Birds of Prey
Divisible, A Girl You Can’t Love
Martha Wainwright, Far Away
Park Avenue Music, Piet
Anna Waronker, Beautiful
The Watson Twins, Map to Where You Are
The Verbs, Fooled by Rock n Roll
Visqueen, Look Alive
Veruca Salt, Disinherit

Music @ Videos

Gone mental this week with eight… that’s right… EIGHT new videos for you to check out!

It has probably been posted in a few places already, but Animal Collective fans may be interested in Taken By Trees‘ take on their My Girls single below. Big fan of her current East of Eden album!

Enjoy your weekend, me hearties!

Times New Viking – No Time, No Hope

oooOOOooo

Lightning Dust – Never Seen

oooOOOooo

Tokyo Police Club – Your English is Good

oooOOOooo

The Dodos – Fables

oooOOOooo

Cursive – Let Me Up

oooOOOooo

The Weakerthans – Sun is an Empty Room

oooOOOooo

Taken By Trees – My Boys

oooOOOooo

Volcano Choir – Island, IS

Bon Iver – “Skinny Love” – This was from a performance last weekend at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary where Bon Iver came onstage at 6am and played until sunrise. Great audio quality on this clip.

The xx – “Islands” – First time I”ve seen this band in a live clip, taken from BBC2’s Jools Holland. Its kind of amazing that they are all 20 (at least according to Stereogum).

Taken By Trees – “My Boys” – You may recognize Victoria from Taken By Trees from her part in the Peter Bjorn and John hit “Young Folks.” Here is her take at Animal Collective’s “My Girls.”

These actually went live a couple days ago, but I forgot to put them here.

16 Horsepower – Secret South
Super 400 – Sweet Fist
Taken by Trees – East of Eden (LP + CD)
Teenage Bottlerocket – They Came From the Shadows
Think About Life – Family (Green)
Thomas Function – In the Valley of Sickness
Thorr’s Hammer – Dommedasgnatt
Valhall – Red Planet (Red)
Vanity Fare – Early in the Morning (180 Gram)
Various Artists – Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records (2xLP, CD, DVD)

Versión retitulada como “My Boys” del tema “My Girls” de Animal Collective por parte de la sueca Victoria Bergsman y su banda Taken By Trees. Victoria es amiga de Peter Moren y colaboró con Peter, Bjorn and John poniendo su voz en la canción “Young Folks”.

* via PlayGround.

This would have gone from an 8.5 to a 9 had they not changed the lyrics. Maybe it’s cause I listened to the Magnetic Fields too much in college, but I’m a sucker for a cover where the gender of the singer changes, but the lyrics remain the same.

From Victoria Bergsman (formerly of The Concretes but here as taken By Trees) comes this gorgeous, understated rendition of the classic bombastic Guns ‘n Roses ballad:

Your Thoughts?

Taken By Trees – East of Eden – released September 8, 2009 on Rough Trade

Clocking in at a short, but sweet thirty-two minutes, Taken By Trees’ new LP, East of Eden, is certainly not something to write off.  But you can’t really expect much less from Swedish singer-songwriter Victoria Bergsman.  Formerly the vocalist of the pop act, The Concretes, she has since been concentrating on her solo Taken By Trees moniker and gained some wide recognition through her guest vocals on Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks”.  East of Eden is her second solo album and this time she draws from cross-cultural influences by recording in Pakistan, hence the title’s biblical reference.

“Anna” could easily be perceived as an automatic fan favorite because anything that falls even near Animal Collective’s unstoppable halo effect of success would be blasphemous to reject.  So this track featuring collaboration between Panda Bear (Animal Collective) and Victoria garners some increased attention.  Deservedly so too, because it seems as their chemistry are unanimously inspired to produce layered, ethereal qualities.  Bergsman seems to take an intermission from her some of her duties in the middle of the album.  In “Tidens Gang”, she sings in her natural Swedish tongue, in an absolute melodic, but downhearted tone.  “Wapas Karnas” follows as what seems to be a field recording of the music that she inhabited with during her time in Pakistan.  After that, you’re in for a surprise – another Animal Collective-related track.  This time it’s a reinterpretation of the hit “My Girls” into the tropical paradox that is “My Boys”.  Surprising that there would be a cover of an AnCo song considering there are only nine tracks on the album, but it’s a somewhat pleasing lighthearted alternative to the original, despite lacking lyrical appropriateness with style.  “Day By Day” plays in a celebratory religious fashion accompanied by repetitive hum-chants and tender vocals.  Bergsman drones off to conclude East of Eden in “Belkannelse”.

The album has a cohesive spiritual sound that will soothe and push listeners toward a lost, but reflective state, conjuring up a feeling of transcendence that is very difficult to achieve for a musician.  However, Bergsman seems to artificially incorporate the cultural influences of her Pakistani surroundings in one dedicated song (“Wapas Karnas”) rather then inject them directly into her own tracks’ rhythms and instrumentation.  Also, the album lacks a lyrical consistency of a specific theme, causing some contradictions with her metaphysical chords.  Overall, East of Eden is well produced by emphasizing its strength in complementary melodic layers in a short, but sweet compilation.

Rating: 7/10