Various Artists – A Houseguest’s Wish: translations of Wire’s Outdoor Miner
(Words on Words CD, 2004)
As it sounds, this is a compilation of 19 bands each putting in their own cover version of Wire’s seminal hit song, Outdoor Miner. It was released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of the Outdoor Miner single. One would guess from such a presumptuous title that the producer’s knew their audience. But this compilations loses credibility almost immediately on hitting the play button. I am a huge fan of both Wire and of compilations; what many reviewers find to be faults with compilations are especially the features I appreciate most. They tend to collect music from a fairly wide variety of sources, and therefore can often be expected to vary unevenly. It is a true art to be able to program a compilation with a given set of diverging tracks and result in something seamless and intentional. That art is not evident here. That’s not to say there are no moments of brilliance here, because there are. But this compilation overall? Not so much.
So, it’s hard enough to pull together a compilation to begin with. But the concept of having 19 versions of the same song seems like a recipe for disaster. The diversity is not going to come from a variety of songs in this case, so there’d better be a high enough quality of diversity of style to keep your attention piqued. Compound that with the high level of expectation arising from covering such a revered song. Yes, this was a brave project indeed.
The first track features Adam Franklin, of Swervedriver, giving a singer/songwriter approach where he flubs the first line. The lyric is supposed to be ” ‘No blind spot in a leopard’s eye can only help to jeopardize the lives of lambs,’ the shepard cries…” but he sings “No blind spot in a leopard’s eye could ever hope to jeopardize…” Considering that the remaining lyrics were all as written, this is no poetic license, it’s a mistake that had me slapping my hip in frustration. He should have known better, and so should have the producer. What saves this first attempt is the amazing two part harmony he puts in later in the track. Still: FAIL… I’m not quite getting the whole singer/songwriter sensibility on Outdoor Miner, either, as it appears in several incarnations here. But then, I never got the whole Current 93 folk music thing either, so I guess I’m not the right person to ask about this. These versions sort of stick out like paisley on stripes.
The next issue I had with this was the fact that several tracks are available elsewhere. FAIL. A successful compilation presents material that is 100 percent exclusive at the time of release, and, if the producer has any savvy, he will manage to commit it to exclusivity indefinitely. It’s annoying to discover that (what I believe to be) the best tracks are available elsewhere and are still in print. This kind of mistake ensures the fate of the release to end up on the one-cent-CD pile at eBay – where I got mine!
The overall selection of tracks and the sequencing left something to be desired, but here are some highlights from the compilation:
Titania, featuring carlos Forster of For Stars, give the most convincing faithful version:
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/houseguest/titaniar.mp3]
Kick on the Floods give a kraftwerk meets Electric Light Orchestra interpretation that’s amusing and well crafted:
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/houseguest/kickr.mp3]
Our great post-rock love Timonium also give a spectacular version:
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/houseguest/timonium.mp3]
Should, also known as shiFt, longtime shoegazers on the Baltimore scene, do a fantastic instrumental version of Outdoor Miner, thereby taking the biggest risk of the bunch:
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/houseguest/should.mp3]
Flying Saucer Attack put in the best of the bunch here, whereby the give an accurate interpretation without any compromise of the band’s style. It becomes a Flying Saucer Attack song when they do it.
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/houseguest/fsa.mp3]
As previously released:
It would have also been a nice touch to include the original track. Which is just below…
[audio:http://www.paulcollegio.net/juke/juke0412/pivotal.mp3]
Compilations are really my favorite kind of recordings. Admittedly, I’ve sat through far worse than this. But the project itself sets the bar extremely high. And while there were moments of greatness on A Houseguest’s Wish: translations of Wire’s Outdoor Miner, I was hoping for a few more foreign languages.