Sunday, May 29, 2011

Slaraffenland
"Take on Me"


Slaraffenland
Sunshine
CD EP
(Home Tapes, 2008)


To quote The Damned, I'm "Sick of Being Sick." I've had the flu, or something similar, for the last week, hence the lack of posts. I'm still sick, but feeling up to posting at the moment, so you get one! No kisses, though. I'm not sharing my germs; they're MINE MINE MINE!!!

One of the things I love about covers, is a cover can take a song one absolutely loathes and make it listenable, nay, even enjoyable! Today's example comes courtesy of Denmark's Slaraffenland, from their fourth release, the Sunshine EP. Now, I'm not gonna say who did the original, but I'll link the video after the jump. I just searched it out on YouTube, and, yep, I still hate it. Were it not for the innovative video techniques, including ripping off Altered States, I doubt it would've been the massive hit it was.

I discovered Slaraffenland, btw, via the bargain bin at my favorite local record store. Their second album (and third release, overall), Private Cinema, was in the bin of oddly shapped stuff and it really grabbed my eye and pulled. Hard. See, it was packaged in a little hardback book, rather than a jewelcase or digipak. On top of that, the band name was interesting, the artwork was neat, and IT WAS PINK! Sold!

4 biased opinions:

VirginiaM said...

Sorry you've been sick but I'm glad it led you to a good song.

VirginiaM said...

I noticed what you wrote about the video after posting my comment. I did not have access to TV and certainly not to MTV (cable) in college but still loved this song. It was a huge hit and although I went to with rich kids, I don't think they had universal access to MTV either since it was the late 1980s. In other words, sometimes catchy and possibly crappy songs are popular in their own right. The groovy video is icing on the cake. This is what causes true musicians to weep themselves to sleep.

As an oldster I like this new version because it's less bubblegum and more breathmint.

Biki Honko said...

ok your cover, sounds like a high school band covered it, and poorly at that. i like the second song! Yes, i really do. And no, its not because of the video, which i think is rather odd. for the most part, im not a huge fan of music videos.

Emery Duncan said...

Great post thank yyou