Sunday 4 November 2007

Now I'm in love...

So, I thought I knew a thing or two about music, right? Wrong, very wrong... Beacause it took me 7 months, since it was first released in April, to get Mark Ronson. And man, have I been missing all this time... For whoever does not know him, check him out on youtube and his site (http://www.markronson.co.uk/frontpage) and tell me what you think.

I won't write much now as I just bought the album on amazon, so I'll wait to be professional and hear it all closely before I write my bloggie. But there is one thing that amazed me: his newness. His album 'version' is obviously a re-working of old tracks. The burning question with such things is how to be able to make the song sound both 'utterly modern and comfortably familiar' as guardian put it. For me, song re-working needs to have another aspect as well: it needs to bring out a new aspect of the song that was not present in the first version. You need to hear it and say: oh I didn't think this song could be done/heard like that. And this is exactly what he does. Compare his recent single 'Valerie' featuring Amy Winehouse to the original version by the Zutons. It is not a case of a better vs. a worse version. It's just so different, so fresh (and exciting) so ... cool.

I shall definately return on the issue, but only after I stop singing: 'Oh Wont You Come On Over, Stop Making A Fool Out Of Me, Why Dont You Come On Over, Valerie, Valeriiiieeeeee'

1 comment:

Youkali said...

You're right - Valerie is a great version and very funny video as well. I knew the original song after all and I do think this version is much better than the original. Amy makes everything great, though!
I have to say, however, that the version I really like is Oh My God with Lilly Allen - sooooo much better than the Kaiser Chiefs! I've been listening to it all day on YouTube and it is really great. Lilly Allen's british, bored accent fits the version perfectly.