Covering Sylvian

[missouriman]

I need to vent about the number of BAD cover versions and remixes of Sylvian all over Youtube. Yesterday I saw Modesto's remix of "Small Metal Gods". At first listen it sounded great. On second listen it sounded good. Then it sounded far from good. It simply does not go anywhere. The tension and dynamism of the original is lost completely. The original is super slow, but the melody and pace belongs to the voice. Why smother it with syrupy somewhat banal synths that just gurgle, but never build? I kept waiting for that "Aha!' moment when you say to yourself, "God, this is good stuff!". It was a pleasant sound, but I have read people saying they prefer it to the original. Oh, come on people! Are they serious??

All these average singers trying to cover Sylvian songs simply prove to me that nobody but the best should try. Trying to sound LIKE Sylvian does not mean you are as good as Sylvian. Those pipes of his are unique; his throat width, his lung capacity, his mouth shape, tongue size and jaw movement (Is this turning Neonico on by any chance??? ) all make the sound of the voice we love. People on You Tube also need to know that speaking English is probably a good start too. You cannot sing in English if you cannot speak the lingo. I did see one cover of Ghosts by two brothers that was half decent becaue they tried to do their version not some deep voiced impression. Dante covered Ghosts years ago and failed. Hue and Cry covered it in live sets and failed. Jack Jones/Fake Sinatra impression of Sylvian?.... Dry heaving sounds...

Anybody care to comment?

[proggrl]

Somethings just shouldn't be done. Period. Covering Sylvo would be at the very, very top of that list!

[Drake]

In a way I agree. Covers are a delicate thing, definitely.

But, if these guys love to sing Sylvian songs, feel good when they do it, and if it can help improving their own songwriting, they should.

But yes, nothing beats the original...

[Chet]

was there ever a cover better than the original?
don't tell me all tomorrow's parties...

[neonico]

I need to vent about the number of BAD cover versions and remixes of Sylvian all over Youtube. Yesterday I saw Modesto's remix of "Small Metal Gods". At first listen it sounded great. On second listen it sounded good. Then it sounded far from good. It simply does not go anywhere. The tension and dynamism of the original is lost completely. The original is super slow, but the melody and pace belongs to the voice. Why smother it with syrupy somewhat banal synths that just gurgle, but never build? I kept waiting for that "Aha!' moment when you say to yourself, "God, this is good stuff!". It was a pleasant sound, but I have read people saying they prefer it to the original. Oh, come on people! Are they serious??

All these average singers trying to cover Sylvian songs simply prove to me that nobody but the best should try. Trying to sound LIKE Sylvian does not mean you are as good as Sylvian. Those pipes of his are unique; his throat width, his lung capacity, his mouth shape, tongue size and jaw movement (Is this turning Neonico on by any chance??? ) all make the sound of the voice we love. People on You Tube also need to know that speaking English is probably a good start too. You cannot sing in English if you cannot speak the lingo. I did see one cover of Ghosts by two brothers that was half decent becaue they tried to do their version not some deep voiced impression. Dante covered Ghosts years ago and failed. Hue and Cry covered it in live sets and failed. Jack Jones/Fake Sinatra impression of Sylvian?.... Dry heaving sounds...

Anybody care to comment?

sorry guys but i find modesto very talented try mixing the thing yourself.

The orginal and the remix you cant compare they are special in there own way.

and yes the other remixes english would be a good start.

and yes you turned me on you seductive thing.....

are you always like this wow.....

just jokeing for the consertive people on the forum...

[Tin Bird]

Gotta be honest, I'm not much of a "remix" fan myself. 99.9% are crud. I don't like dance music or the thump thump thump bass drum...Rare to hear a remix that I can sit through...Only one I can think of off the top of my head is the remix of A Fire in the Forest on the Only Daughter album with the music box sample. pretty cool...

[missouriman]

was there ever a cover better than the original?
don't tell me all tomorrow's parties...

How about Japan's cover of "Ain't that Peculiar'? I cannot even bear to hear the original. Japan's cover is absolutely one of the best things they ever did..


And yes, Neonico, I am always like this. It is what it is and you know you like it. Now crawl for it.

[Adrian]

how about Bomb the Bass (feat. Maureen)'s version of Say A Little Prayer. Way better than the original. I think the rule applies that when the original is less good the cover stands more of a change of being good... So Sylvian covers (the only one that was any good and not even that good was released on 4ad about 10, 12 years ago - forgot the band name... and the song too to be honest...