THE THE, "SHRUNKENMAN INTERPRETATIONS"

What a grand idea. As opposed to the usual, overly done idea of having other bands remix songs, Matt Johnson's clever self has decided to have other bands cover (or "interpret") his songs. Even though it's not much different from a remix (now the interpreting artist sings as well), it's a refreshing idea. This single for ShrunkenMan starts with The The's original version. The first interpretation is by Daau, beginning with strings and some wind instrument playing the familiar tune from the original. In comes a piano, playing the recognizable hip melody. More beautiful piano follows as the song builds. Suddenly the song goes off with a new style. Cool drums and vocals take over, which are amusing. This half of the song hardly resembles anything of the original. I love it. The next interpretation is by John Parish. This version is all acoustic, much simpler and slower than the original. The final version is a dark, spooky interpretation by Foetus. I recognize this version as it was played as a prelude to their live concert I caught last month -- remembering that I didn't even recognize it until noticing some vaguely familiar lyrics. I like this interpretations concept, all the versions are great and very different from each other. If anything, the EP was a wee bit too short. Other than that, it was perfect and I'm very much looking forward to the next set of interpretations, which I believe will be for December Sunlight.
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