On the Record
Allan Raible's Take on the New Music Worth a Listen.
Allan Raible writes about music and the music industry. He is based in New York.
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Review: Metric’s “Plug In Plug Out” EP
November 02, 2009 2:01 PM
Metric’s “Plug In Plug Out” digital EP consists of five acoustic versions of songs featured on the band’s album, "Fantasies." As one of the most striking records of the year, it’s fitting that “Fantasies” would spawn such a companion piece. All five tracks work very well with such sparse arrangements. Considering the originals are some of the most glossy-sounding and produced tracks the group has recorded to date, it’s a testament to Emily Haines’ song-craft that these songs hold up just as well stripped down to their essence.
Around the time of the original album’s release, Metric gave away the acoustic version of their hit, “Help I’m Alive” as a free download on their MySpace page. That version is here. Stripping the anthemic, mechanical structure of the album version down to a mere piano, an acoustic guitar and what sounds like a tambourine doesn’t make the song lose any shred of urgency. In fact, when Haines sings the opening lines, “I tremble. / They’re gonna eat me alive. / If I stumble / They're gonna eat me alive,” there’s a tad whiff of heartbroken, crushing desperation which isn’t quite as noticeable on the standard version. The sparse arrangements on this disc are reminiscent of Haines’ two stellar solo releases with the Soft Skeleton.
“Gimme Sympathy” is perhaps the original album’s shiniest chance at crossing over to the pop world in a big way. In this new version, with just an acoustic guitar backing her up, there’s a pleasant tension bubbling beneath the surface. Haines’ sweet delivery accentuates the song’s highly accessible and appealing attributes.
“Gold Guns Girls,” originally a hard-edged, tightly wound rocker, here is a driving, pulsating piano piece. It may be softer in energy but not in impact.
“Satellite Mind” works similarly, but James Shaw’s acoustic guitar, replacing the fuzzy bass and synths on the original gives the song a wonderfully dirty edge. It’s different than the original, yet equal in quality.
In its original form, “Twilight Galaxy” is mainly a very synth-heavy, somber dance track. It gets the biggest overhaul of all, becoming almost a solo piano number, with only slight accompaniment from Shaw’s guitar. Again, without the beat it works quite well and this version of the song has its own special vulnerability.
These songs are well-written, beautiful pieces and these new recordings do them justice. This EP is available as a download. According to a note on the band’s website, until November 27, it can only be purchased through Amazon. After that it should appear elsewhere. Unfortunately, Metric’s Canadian fans will have to wait until 2010 to get these versions.
“Fantasies” is one of the strongest albums of the year so far and “Plug In Plug Out” serves as an effective and thrilling supplement. Metric is a band rightly on the rise.
November 2, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (1)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Whenever i see the post like your's i feel that there are helpful people who share information for the help of others, it must be helpful for other's. thanx and good job.
Posted by: Masters Dissertation | Nov 8, 2009 3:55:38 AM
Post a comment
