Description
(Drag City)
The left-field giants are full of surprises on an electrifying set of covers of everyone from Steely Dan to Silver Jews. During lockdown, these two titans of left-field US songcraft collaborated remotely with a vast roll call of other musicians, recording cover versions by fellow masters (Leonard Cohen, Yusuf Islam) as well as their labelmates. A smattering of reworked originals includes electrifying takes on Callahan’s Our Anniversary and Oldham’s Arise, Therefore; the talents involved range from Cretan lute player George Xylouris to Australian guitarist Mick Turner (Dirty Three). The majority of these 19 tracks are loose online; Blind Date Party corrals them for we music fans who value the physical & lasting format! The release functions less like a singles collection and more like a slightly overstuffed double album (it comes in at just under an hour & a half!): discursive, playful, and full of imagination. While a few selections hew close to the country, hushed-folk balladry deep cuts one might expect — songwriters include Leonard Cohen, John Prine, Lowell George, and Robert Wyatt — they often veer into new territory, bouncing from hard rock to fluttering electronic pop, from meditative groovers to gospel, from the avant-garde to raucous sing-a-longs.
