Would you do it?

Today's post sees a collision between two of alt rock's biggest bands.

Not to mention longest surviving.

Specifically, The Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth. Two bands with so much in common on one hand and yet so little in the other. Two bands who are seen as elder statemen of their scenes. Both command respect amongst fellow musicians. With great reputations that have pretty much remained intact despite their longevity. Both have flirted with the mainstream yet neither has compromised their vision purely for success. Both have daunting back catalogues. Not to mention fanatical fans. Each is as unconventional as the other. Focused on their art. And pretty much able to do as they please. Yet neither sounds anything like the other. A fact highlighted by this cover. For, rather than merely covering Sonic Youth in any kind of conventional manner, Wayne Coyne and co completely reinvent them. 'Unmade Bed' goes from being a dual duelling guitars behemoth into some kind of psychedelic, space rock ballad. While the base melody can still be picked out, it is pretty much unrecognisable from it's original incarnation.

And it's not just Sonic Youth that they reinvent. For today's second track sees a complete reworking of 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song'. Where the studio version is a jaunty, upbeat, almost mocking attack on the nature of power, this version strips away the instrumentation to a bare piano and vocal. Instantly transformed, the song is not only slower, it's more sombre, sober and introspective. The lyric's questions seem far more powerful delivered this way. Less throwaway. Far more powerful and poignant.

The remaining tracks are far more faithful acoustic adaptations of tracks from the album 'At War With The Mystics'. While neither is as startling as the either 'Unmade Bed' or 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song', they both feel more approachable than on the record. Part of the appeal of The Flaming Lips is their sonic experimentation, yet wityh their records sounding ever more epic with each release, these tracks leave me wondering what the band would be capable of producing were they to deliberately try to rein themselves in. On this evidence, it might be something very special indeed.

The Flaming Lips - unmade bed [Sonic Youth cover] (live acoustic session version)

The Flaming Lips - the yeah yeah yeah song (live piano session version)

The Flaming Lips - goin on (live piano session version)

The Flaming Lips - veing of stars (live piano session version)

mp3 / music / the flaming lips