Monday, February 1, 2010

Scratch My Back and I Might Scratch Yours...



Stephin Merritt and Peter Gabriel, yes that's right - Peter Gabriel, have collaborated as part of Gabriel's new album coming out in just 14 days, Scratch My Back. The idea is that participating musicians swap songs with Gabriel, they reinterpret his for this album, he covers theirs for the follow-up I'll Scratch Yours.

Details on the tracklists are hazy, at least from what I've been able to find, but supposedly some of the artists include Brian Eno, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Elbow, the Kinks, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, and Neil Young.

There are a few lengthy podcasts and one with snippets of Merritt's contribution - one that he describes as needing more "evil dwarf choir" sounds. I'm more likely to enjoy the other artist's interpretations of Gabriel's songs rather than his own, but am willing to at least give it a shot. [So was one of my favorite albums growing up. Who ever says they didn't get a little choked up listening to Red Rain and In Your Eyes is a liar.]

Gabriel covers Merritt's The Book of Love, which has always been a Magnetic Field's favorite of mine and even ended up on a Mother's Day mix tape I made for my grandmother, so Peter you certainly have your work cut out for you!

If the album features an evil dwarf choir, it can't be all bad, right?

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