Can you feel it, see it, hear it today?

I rarely listen to music on the radio anymore. Morning Edition, The World and Inside Appalachia on West Virginia public radio are about the only things I switch the iPod out for these days. I left my iPod at the house today, though, so I hit scan on the radio as I was driving around. About two minutes in, I hit the scan button to stop and make sure I was hearing what I was hearing. Sure enough, I was reminded why I don't listen to the radio anymore, and was reminded that I am most definitely getting older.

What stopped my FM scan in its tracks? A cover of Faith No More's Epic. I listened in disbelief. It was terrible. Remember when the American version of The Office premiered, and anyone who was at all familiar with the UK version hated it? And why did people hate it so much? Because at first, it was little more than an ersatz version of the real thing. The script was followed nearly word-for-word with different actors; no original humor or dialog. It was too close to the original to translate properly and just seemed cheap and lazy. Well, that's kind of what happened here. It's easily one of the worst covers I have ever heard, and to be a cover of such an amazing track... well, damn.

I'm a big fan of covers done well. A cover done well, in my opinion, is an artist respecting the original-- leaving it untouched; un-molested-- but taking that original and putting a fresh, unique and personal stamp of ownership on it. Examples of this would be Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt, The Afghan Whigs' cover of TLC's Creep, Sonic Youth's cover of The Carpenters' Superstar (I had this opinion long before seeing Juno, thanks), Swans cover of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart (Gira's version, Jarboe's drives me up a wall) and-- I know I might get flamed for this and will justify it if anyone wants me to-- Mark Ronson's cover of The Smiths' Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before. These are creative interpretations of the original, not lazy rip-offs.

So, yeah, I am listening to this horrible Faith No More cover and the only thing that is different is the noticeable absence of Mike Patton's (one of the most underrated male musicians in recent music history, but that's another post) vocals. Everything else is a direct lift from the original. Oh, wait, they kind of altered the piano outro by a few notes at the end. As luck would have it, the DJ actually said the name of the band after the cringe-inducing aural trespass had ended. Atreyu? I am spelling it like the character from The Neverending Story, since I imagine that's where the band's name originated from. I am so annoyed, I can't be bothered to look it up. Atreyu. Never heard of 'em, which is probably a sign of my age. Furthering the age issue, I don't care who they are. Probably some Hot Topic phenomenon. Definitely lazy. But who knows, I'm just an old music snob/lady curmudgeon and they could be awesome. Correct me if I am wrong.

I guess that's really what is at the root of this rant: My disdain for lazy "art" and how pervasive and readily embraced it is in today's mainstream culture. There are, without a doubt, innovative and creative artists, musicians and filmmakers producing original and captivating work. Many of them do not go unappreciated in the right circles. What I am so turned off by is the pandering to the lowest common denominator. More and more drivel... less and less effort.

C'est ça. End rant.


Mike Patton saw what you did there.