reviews
No guilt, all glory
Various Artists - Guilt By Association Volume 2Alternative Press - Editorial Intern on 7/2/09 @ 5:52 PM - altpress.com
The first volume of Guilt By Association, which featured the likes of Superchunk and Devendra Banhart covering cheesy hit songs, was a boring, bloodless disappointment. Thankfully, Association's sequel is more engaging, mainly because its tunes highlight pop music's melancholic side. Robbers On High Street interpret New Edition's bubblegum-rap classic "Cool It Now" as a horn-peppered lounge tune, while Scottish popster Frightened Rabbit turns N-Trance's Eurodance hit "Set You Free" into a wistful, Smiths-like jam. Other highlights include Kaki King's echo-drenched Justin Timberlake re-do, My Brightest Diamond sprinkling keyboard fairy dust and glassy guitars over "Tainted Love" and the Bloodsugars imagining Laura Branigan's "Self Control" as a hushed synthfunk brood. Add in Lowry's chirpy, twee version of Toto's "Africa" and the Forms' mad-scientist-gone-haywire take on Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," and the second volume of Association is a rousing success. (ENGINE ROOM; engineroomrecordings.com) Annie Zaleski
Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/guiltbyassociation
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