Leona Lewis - Hurt: The EP.

This weekend former X Factor winner Leona Lewis incited the typical knee-jerk reaction of the alternative scene for covering the tragic anthem ‘Hurt’ on live British television. Whether or not you agree with the choice to cover this song at all it’s worth looking at both how people reacted to it, why and if the cover had any merit.
Yes, I did actually say that! In the interest of balanced journalism the execution of this song deserves attention as much as the furore it has incurred. Getting back to the point, fans of the song were disgusted by the very idea that someone would dare touch ‘Hurt’ let alone release it as a pop song. But a body of all this rabble touched on another bone of contention. Many aggrieved fans said the cover dishonoured Jonny Cash as it’s creator, which is utterly inaccurate. While in recent years Mr Cash’s 2002 version from ‘The Man Comes Around’ has established itself as the dirge of choice it goes without saying that it was not only, itself, a cover version, but in the company of many others, published as the forth volume of the “American” series. It feels redundant for me to mention this on an alternative music blog but Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, who are practically a household name already, is the author of ‘Hurt’, it’s original performer and some might say the best.
Cash’s cover gained notoriety for a number of reasons. His death shortly after the release of the single gave the song a reputation as something of a swan song. The video accompanying it shows Cash and clips of his past almost waving good bye to the world, his aged weakened voice and shaking of his hands emphasising a sense of tragedy in the song and suggesting he knew he was going to die immediately after recording this. All of this pretty much spells out the most potent mixture of factors you could get for a successful cover version. Add to this the many years of Cash’s work in the country scene and you get a fat load of respect to accompany the quality of the release. Fans of the original NIN version can perhaps let this cover slide for both its spirit and skilful execution. Both the original and the Cash version open on a slow and solemn piano intro and with the introduction of guitars leads to a slow and cautious build, which often pauses and backs down. With this halted pay off adding to a sense of tension, ‘Hurt’ has always evoked a sense of anguish and empathy with its music as much as its lyrics and at this point I feel its worth looking at the Leona lewis version. While I applaud it for almost emulating the original Trent piano intro and haunting whistle, in its latter half everything seems to go to ‘Pop’ so to speak. Leona builds to her characteristic high vibrato, a common trait in contemporary pop and her instrumental backing follows suit. In execution the admitted strength of her voice is lost to the unnecessary wall of guitars attempting to evoke something more operatic than pained and heartfelt. I’m not saying these pop people can’t hurt but I do get the feeling that this song has been chosen more on the back of its previous successes than any inherent emotional value. As the Cash case proves, all it takes is one solid hit and perhaps a decent tragedy for any sense of authorship and ownership to be lost. Many would agree that the latest tragedy is that the song was touched by her, but I must admit it wasn’t as horrendous as I was expecting. There is a spirit of dismissiveness to any and all who dare trespass on all we hold dear. Many alternative music fans are helped in their darkest moments by music that speaks to their soul and few songs are as soulful as ‘Hurt’. It’s easy to feel as if a great work of art has simply been shat on. Part of this feeling of insult comes from the arrogance of anyone outside the walled garden of rock and respectable music daring to even touch the song, but this particular performance adds to the injury by taking place on the institutionalised karaoke spectacle that is X Factor. If it was not enough to stand as a betrayal simply in its existence, it was unveiled in the most overt part of the corporate mainstream machinery and artifice that is this so called talent show. I don’t intend to condone or condemn Leona and this cover but this is more than a song to many, many people and appropriately enough they feel ‘Hurt’ by the gesture this performance represents.

Puscifer - Man Overboard.

Online pre-orders are currently open for Puscifers new album Conditions Of My Parole giving fans the chance to secure their copy of the new album early freeing up their time to wonder what the hell is up with that cover art. The image features Maynard, dressed as what appears to be a recently released convict, still in his orange prison overalls with one hell of a mullet posing for a portrait with his own personal Dixie Dolly Parton. This glorious portrait of trailer trash has been cleansed from my mind by Puscifer’s latest visual offering in the shape of the Meats Meier animated video for new single Man Overboard. By now the mans work has become synonymous with the band having also produced videos for Momma Said, Dozo, Queen B

Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole.

and The Mission. Man Overboard ties together the aesthetic of its cover art, the songs own unconventional rhythm and an appearance from Queen B herself to make for an experience that couldn’t be more fitting.
If you’re eager for something to distract you from that god awful mullet until the release of Conditions Of My Parole this October you could do far worse than to take a peek at the video, currently streaming via YouTube.

Conditions Of My Parole is released October 18th digitally via Amazon.com or iTunes with a limited number of CDs available to pre-order from the Puscifer webstore.

My Chemical Romance - The Only Hope For Me Is You.

Hot on the heels of a successful Leeds/Reading festival performance and the release of new single “The Only Hope For Me Is You”, My Chemical Romance have fired their touring drummer Michael Pedicone after an incident last Thursday. In a statement posted on the band’s official blog by guitarist and back up vocalist Frank Iero, MCR attempted to set the facts straight.
“Some shit happened last night and before the blogosphere gets all crazy with false statements and ridiculous opinions we want the true story to come from us… But please listen close because this is the only time we are ever going to talk about this. The relationship between My Chemical Romance and Michael Pedicone is over. He was caught red handed stealing from the band and confessed to police after our show last night in Auburn, Washington. We are heartbroken and sick to our stomachs over this entire situation. The band has no intention of pressing charges or taking this matter any further than we have to. We just want him out of our lives. The people who play in this band are a family, and family should not take advantage of each other like he did. We are currently moving forward, and hope to have a new drummer in place for our show in Salt Lake City, Utah. The show must go on. XOMCR”
While a seemingly straightforward dismissal of a touring member, albeit for improper conduct, this tale becomes all the more interesting when Pedicones own comments of the matter through his @shredicone Twitter account are considered.
Apologetically Pedicone tweeted “What happened is more complicated than it sounds but I did make a mistake. It was never my intention to hurt this band or all of you.” followed shortly after by the further explanation “It was an error in judgement based on a whole other situation that’s way deeper but this does not define me”.
The whole vagueness of the event was intriguing to say the least. In an interview with Kerrang! Magazine, Pedicone made efforts to set the record straight by detailing how a long running dispute with a member of the MCR crew had led to his dismissal. “Almost as soon as I began touring with MCR I ran into problems with a member of the band’s crew who I’ll not name. The problems were many, big and small, but some of them were large enough that they began to greatly impact me and, by extension, my family. I’d reached my wits’ end, and I made what was certainly the poorest decision of my life. Rather than address the issues that I had with the crew member in an open and honest manner, I tried to make them look irresponsible. My intention was to make this person look incompetent. I had no intention of profiting whatsoever. Again, I cannot overstate how poor my judgment was in this situation; it was a tremendous mistake, and it’s one I’ll regret for years to come”.
The band are continuing their US tour in support of Blink 182 with Former Suicide File drummer Jarrod Alexander filling in on drumming duties.

Outside of this conflict, My Chemical Romance have released their new single “The Only Hope For Me Is You”. The EP includes the bands cover of Pulp’s ‘Common People’, recorded at the BBC Radio 1 Studios, and a remix of ‘The Kids From Yesterday’ by the Radio 1 rock show host, Daniel P Carter. Currently available to download on itunes the optimistic near ballad is the fourth single from the album “Danger Days…” which I personally feel is polished by the chunkier Daniel P. Carter mix of The Kids From Yesterday which shows shades of early Smashing Pumpkins in its riffage while the undoubtedly most popular track of the package is their closing cover of Common People which unfortunately sounds like every other cover of Common People, a song choice whose novelty has been effectively ground out of existence. The whole package seems fairly solid for a single, but a little light for an EP.