Caught in the Net: Record Store Day revisited
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Of all the great giveaways arranged for last week's Record Store Day, Peter Gabriel and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver's split 7-inch featuring each covering the other was the cleverest, available to listen to online at bit.ly/9NkjU7 and bit.ly/c9SweE. The majority of the day's special releases have, in fact, made it onto the web; you can download Blur's "Fool's Day" for the minor inconvenience of registering your email address at blur.co.uk, and the haunting "The Night Before The Funeral" is being offered for free by Swedish indie pop band the Mary Onettes at bit.ly/cJr8Tk.
Chip-tuners crank up the metal
Adapting modern classics in the style of early Nineties video-game soundtracks is nothing new (Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon being the latest example), but taking it one step further are those who replicate heavy metal songs to sound like they were programmed on a GameBoy, as Wired blogger Nate Lanxon discovered in a recent post. Pendulum and The Dillinger Escape Plan feature in some brain-melting examples of the more challenging examples of "chip-tuning", alongside the always entertaining Cradle of Filth, at bit.ly/94ddzO.
Antlers prove they have the XX factor
What better way to sum up the symbolic passing of the baton from one set of bright young things heralded as the future of guitar music to another than a cover? The Antlers, a Brooklyn indie outfit whose first albums went down well, are to take up the mantle from last year's indie hopefuls The XX, whose career, thanks to a brace of festival appearances and having produced Rough Trade's Record of the Year, can now be said to be firmly established. To mark the event they've given their colleagues in moody indie pop the cover treatment; their version of The XX's "VCR" can be found at bit.ly/9A4Pdm.
Diamandis is a Gwen's best friend
To cover Gwen Stefani as part of your act and maintain the support of the music industry is not something that just anyone could pull off, but it's a quirk managed effortlessly by Marina Diamandis, better known as frontwoman of British pop outfit Marina and the Diamonds. Her hit track "I Am Not a Robot" has been remixed around a quite literal misinterpretation (the mix features a robot) by Huddersfield-born DJ Doorly. The Fader are offering the song as a free download; give the song a listen at bit.ly/9AMtpN.
Gordon sits while PJ shakes
It seems no field of artistic endeavour is untouched by election fever at the moment. One of the stranger sights of the campaign so far came during last Sunday's Andrew Marr Show, when Gordon Brown was made to sit very politely through a live performance by Mercury Prize-winning PJ Harvey. Her song "Let England Shake", charting the progression of what David Cameron might call "broken Britain", contributed to a moment of political awkwardness par excellence. See the performance at bit.ly/cmRZJG.
www.independent.co.uk/caughtinthenet
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments