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Tributes to bands are common, and I've even heard of tributes to particular albums, but this is the first tribute disc to an individual song that I've heard of. Fortunately they could hardly have chosen a better song: Wire's classic "Outdoor Miner", originally released as an album track in 1978 and a single in 1979. Musically it's a fairly simple pop song, which puts it within the reach of a wide range of artists, and it features surreal and rather inscrutable lyrics, which opens it up to a variety of interpretations. It's also a fitting tribute since Wire themselves once put out a release with 9 versions of the same song ("The Drill").
This disc includes 19 covers of "Outdoor Miner" from 19 different artists. The tracks here fall into two different categories: straightforward versions and more stylized interpretations. Here are the standout tracks in the first category: Adam Franklin (Swervedriver) gives a nice acoustic reading with a great vocal harmony; Titania does it as twinkly shoegazer pop; Lush's classic 1991 version is included; Flying Saucer Attack's noise-drenched 1995 recording is also included; The Meeting Places bring a more rocking shoegazer sound; and Laura Watling gives a delightfully sparkly twee-pop version. For the second category, there are hits and misses. Standouts include: Fiel Garvie, whose version is menacing, with a dollop of crazy noise and creepy vocals; above the orange trees, who transform it into a slowcore ballad and change up the melody nicely; and Should, surprisingly with the only instrumental take, driven by a Peter Hook-meets-Simon Raymonde bassline. Some are interesting but I won't necessarily be revisiting them: Kick on the Floods sounds like Phillip Glass with ELO vocals; Christian Kiefer transforms it into slide-guitar swamp blues; Boy Division does a bratty punk version; and Sharron Kraus gives a delicate banjo folk reading. For me only one artist really murders the song, and that's Timonium, whose insufferable slowcore version drags on and on, and they completely change the chorus so it's twice as long.
It might not have really been feasible, but a nice addition to this disc might have been to include the original versions. Apparently there's also a cover by Luna, which I'd like to hear. So what's it like to listen to 19 versions of the same song in a row? The first couple of listens I actually found myself looking forward to each track to see what the next version would be like. As far as long-term value you'll probably find yourself just going back to certain tracks, but that's true of most compilations. What sets this apart is the ambition and novelty of the concept, and the quality of the execution is overall very good. (mike.03.05)
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