Cheesemasters: White Lies vs. Boys Noize + Erol Alkan + Jarvis Cocker
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Some critics are stiff, too joyless to put their neck out for anything outside the narrow range of tasteful. It comes from a need to differentiate—who am I if not the guy against the big corporate rock consumed by thirtysomething video game producers? Me, I enjoy venturing out of my comfort zone. I’ll entertain a Big Arena Sound rock band now and then in the same way that I’ll leave the channel on for a while when I catch Liam Neeson chewing the scenery in Taken. It’s no personal affront, no skin off my teeth that White Lies are trying to throw their arms around world. It’s fun to hear these guys turning U2, Catherine Wheel, and Comsat Angels into a muddy frappe for dark-clad rock club kids (with the help of Alan Moulder, of course).
What’s more unexpected is the new single from Boys Noize and Erol Alkan. They’ve enlisted none other than Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, he of the rock-star-denuding pranks, for a bizarrely serious electro-house cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Avalanche.” His spoken word comes from the back of the throat, producing a crackle perfect for lines like “When I am on a pedestal, you did not raise me there.” The whole thing plays like a camp homage to various bad Faithless numbers, and even if they intended to give Cohen’s lyricism a proper tribute, they can excuse it away with glam tongue planted firmly in cheek.
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White Lies – Holy Ghost (Single Mix) [download] [buy]
Boys Noize & Erol Alkan – Avalanche (Terminal Velocity) feat. Jarvis Cocker [download] [buy]
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