Dump
That Skinny Motherfucker With The High Voice?
1998, Shrimper
There's no hiding the fact that I'm a big fan of the cover album. So when I heard that James from Yo La Tengo had just dropped a collection of Prince covers, I figured it'd be an awesome novelty. I figured it'd be super tongue-in-cheek. I mean Yo La Tengo was so hip. And Prince was so not. Right?
What I never figured was that a collection of 4-track re-imaginings of the Pastel One would make me realize that Prince was NOT lame-ass soccer-mom funk. No way. The joke was on me. Thank God.
See it's only 30 seconds or so into the first track -- a droning piece of perfection known as "1999" that it becomes obvious that there was never anything ironic about this collection of covers. James McNew was aware of the brilliance of Prince's songwriting. And he wanted the (hipster) world to be aware as well.
The important thing to say about this record is that it's a fucking great listening experience. Each of its tracks has made onto many many mixtapes I've made over the years, and often led to someone asking "OMG... Who IS this???" It's all that good. Trust me. Trust me.
It's lo-fi. And it rocks. And it chills. And it's sexy. And it's a wonderful tribute (and if needbe, a great introduction to one of America's greatest songbooks).