Hot Hands
- A Tribute to Throwing Muses & Kristin Hersh |
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Generally, instinct steers me away from tribute albums. Occasionally in life they crop up and draw your interest towards them, with promises of great bands and interesting covers, but rarely do they reward you as you had hoped. In fact, off the top of my head, the only two tribute CDs which did end up meaning a lot to me were both Sweet Relief 1 & 2, although, in those instances I was sold more by the artists appearing rather than the actual artist being paid tribute to. However, both were made so well that they turned me onto the music of Victoria Williams and Vic Chesnutt at the time, so in that sense, those benefits really were successful.
The idea of 18 artists taking on the music of Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses was sending nasty shivers down my spine, though. Do I really want these songs, which I have been living with for years to be twisted and torn by newer, younger artists as they reinterpret and remould them? Well no. Not really to be honest. Despite that, curiosity got the better of me and I dared to face the discomfort just to see what had been put together for this compilation known as Hot Hands.
And just to shift the doom and gloom over to the side for now, it really isn’t as bad as I expected. I’ve decided to approach it like a mix tape really. You remember what it’s like to get a mix tape off your best friend, right? You trust and respect their music taste (at least I do), but they still include things to challenge you, as well as to please you, so you listen fairly, and sometimes things get thrown up that you’d never have listened to otherwise. Well, this is a little like this compilation, except the respect for the compiler has been replaced by a respect and affection for the original songs, creating an instant atmosphere of familiarity. You still have to listen with an open mind, though, because diversity is always waiting around the corner of the next track.
Perhaps it’s due to old age on my part, but the most accessible tracks are those which have been given a “laid back” treatment. ‘Furious’, the opener by Sharashka is the perfect example. It has a dropped tempo, a gentle piano part, an easily-listenable female vocal, and a gentle drum machine backing. It’s Throwing Muses played in the style of Delta Goodrem, which is quite scary, but it sounds perfectly nice. Then the version of ‘Uncle June & Aunt Kiyoti’ is one part Boards of Canada and another part The Postal Service. You’re not likely to catch Kristin Hersh sitting around playing with computers, but the song remains the same, and various other artists on the compilation are happy to also try out electronic angles, and most of them sit fairly well with the songs.
There are some bigger names taking part as well, including Xiu-Xiu (doing ‘Juno’), Rose Polenzani (who does a pretty cool version of ‘Ellen West’), and Mary Lorson (who is taking part on the only Tanya Donelly song of the album. It sounds nice, but sits weirdly because of it.). There is also a couple of off-the-wall style versions of ‘Hate My Way’ (put through a metal grinder, but I kinda like it, even if it will horrify the traditional muses fans), and a pulsing industrial-style rendition of ‘Bright Yellow Gun’.
Unlike the Sweet Relief albums, it’s unlikely to turn too many people back towards Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses, but for fans of the originals, it can be a rare lesson in different musical styles. Overall, it demonstrates some interesting music by fellow musicians who love the songs, so there is much more positive than negative to report back on. I suppose I should be grateful I don’t hate it after all, but in a way I still kinda feel like I’m cheating on the original songs by listening to it. I just never felt like I ever had to dress them up in leather to still be attracted to them.
Steven McCarron
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