> THE ANTI-HIT LIST: AN ALTERNATIVE TOP 10
10. EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS “I Saw Her Standing There” On which the L.A. collective destined to be forever known for the anthemic “Home” switches gears by turning the Beatles’ rock ‘n’ roll classic into a flat-out country stomp. The result is less Chuck Berry than Buck Owens. Or, to transpose that assessment forward a few generations and into this column’s surroundings, less Strypes than Daniel Romano. (From Beatles Reimagined, bit.ly/17lD3eP) 9. APES AND HORSES “Minuit” There’s a flicker of Bono in the vocals that grace this sweeping track by a rising new band out of Paris. Leading off with the kind of hypnotic, repeating pattern you could once imagine on a Bon Iver album, “Minuit” morphs into something that seems to roll in, like fog across a marsh, an impression heightened by lyrics that appear to be in English but often sound like a simulation of a language rather than language itself. (From Bleu Nuit, out Oct. 21 in Europe, bit.ly/GzKFjW) 8. ELTON JOHN “Rocket Man (New Fuse Remix)” Not the kind of formulaic remix to which most of us long ago became inured, this benefits appreciably for not having any obvious goal in mind. It hasn’t been rhythmically inflated to make it more danceable or tarted up with technology to make it sound current. If anything, it runs the other way: Anything that could possibly tie it to a particular era, other than its own, has been studiously sheared off. (bit.ly/1c1wKRf) 7. SIVU “I Lost Myself” Having escaped a boring office job, 24-year-old British singer-songwriter James (don’t call him Jimmy) Page can already be judged by the company he keeps: His producer is Charlie Andrew, soundman for Mercury Prize-winning Alt-J, and he’ll be spending part of the fall opening for London Grammar, a particular favourite of this List. Like those acts, Page knows how to sneak up on you. It’s an attribute that makes the song’s subdued chorus seem bigger than it actually is. (bit.ly/18jxsFv) 6. @SEINFELD 2000 “The Seinfeld Theme Slowed Down by 1200 Per Cent” Yes, we realize it’s a dim-witted waste of eight minutes, but there’s something irresistible about the chance to experience a peppy, bassslapping, 54-second theme song being transformed into something that could pass as the soundtrack for a slasher flick starring a homicidal Yeti. (bit.ly/19eo1qE) 5. LINDA THOMPSON “Never the Bride” This, apparently, is Thompson’s idea of a ballad: “He swore he loved me dearly/I swore, I know it upset him/ But he said he couldn’t marry me/His wife would never let him.” The music accompanying that cutting stanza will be too morose for some, but by using one to undercut the other, Thompson has proven one thing: It’s possible to wallow and crack up at the same time. (From Won’t Be Long Now, out Oct. 15, bit.ly/1dWIzX4) 4. GWAR “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” Four words we never thought we’d use in a sentence: Gwar covers Billy Ocean. The costumes are so imprecisely elaborate they make KISS look like One Direction. The playing is the sound of five guys who both love and scorn heavy metal, eventually getting bored and segueing into, for no earthly reason, the Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” Warning: F-bombs abound, in both songs. (avc.lu/18nWF1C) 3. NEW NAVY “Regular Town (Baio Remix)” Not just another remix, this overhaul comes courtesy of Chris Baio, a.k.a. the bassist for Vampire Weekend. Part of an EP released under his surname, this glass of tropical pop by Aussie band New Navy has been fleshed out with steel drums, percussion and isolated vocal parts. The end result is to the original as a house is to a set of blueprints. (From Mira, out Oct. 28, bit.ly/1hkp0I1) 2. DRENGE “Face Like a Skull” The last time we encountered Shef- field brothers Eoin and Rory Loveless, they came off as the world’s biggest White Stripes fans. On their new single, they sound like they’ve spent the intervening months listening to nothing but Nirvana’s Nevermind. That, by the way, is not a complaint. (From Drenge, bit.ly/1dWMjI1) 1. SILVERKEYS “The Lamb in the Garden” This week’s token happy song comes from the Montreal duo of producer/ one-man band Adam Waito and vocalist Rebecca Lessard. They’ve concocted an utterly infectious 3 1⁄
2 minutes that evoke Feist’s cover of “Sea Lion Woman” and the chugging, dead-string percussion of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Lookin’ Out My Backdoor.” Whether that actually adds up to a happy song or merely a happy- sounding one is a question we’ll be glad to ponder over the course of a couple of dozen more listens. Thanks to the mighty Herohill blog for pointing the way. (bit.ly/1aJjcWO) jsakamoto@thestar.ca