So, here’s the leftfield musical moment of the week I discovered while listening to Kingsmill’s 2007 show to hear the Karnivool cover of Gotye (which is streaming for the next week if you want to hear it)
If you don’t know the track, it was originally played by The Shadows, fronted by the legendary and inimitable guitarist Hank Marvin, who I was first encouraged to respect many many years ago by my guitar teacher. Hank taught me a lot over the years. His stuff is jaw-droppingly good – his precision, definition, clarity, tone: it all makes for compelling stuff.
This one, however, is being done by Muse. Now, it is refreshing to see Matt Bellamy – gifted and multifaceted as he is (despite how his legion of black-shirted teenage fans may perceive him) – losing, for a moment, the histrionic and theatrical nature of hysteric rock that he and his merry men have carved a niche in. Muse are a tight act – don’t get me wrong – and I have respect for them.
The problem is this: Hank’s playing is a hard act to follow, and Matt doesn’t even try to master what made the song work, with a slap-dash guitar tone (muffled, artificially distorted), and no notes played that actually sound like they’re deliberate and bear weight. I have no problem with Matt trying to make the song his own (but I don’t think that’s the cause of these deviations) and sure, it’s a throwaway track on a compilation for a magazine, I realize that, but it’s worth taking a moment to go back to Hank and having a listen to his very remarkable, lyrical guitar playing. If you compare the very first opening note between the two versions, I think you’ll get my point.
Although I’d not previously paid much attention to it, I’m also realizing just now how tight and fluid Tony Meehan’s drumming is on the original, despite its subtlety and relegation to the back of the mix.
If you haven’t yet gone and checked out The Shadows, do so. Don’t be turned off by the often over-saturated analog tape and (to our modern ears) off-kilter mixing – it’s amazing stuff, and despite the deceptively simple-sounding guitar work on there, you begin to realize just how much goes into making one note do its magic.
