Take Everything Away

I wasn't going to do another music post just quite yet but then a couple or three things came up and now I am. One of them is AI-related, too, so there's that...

In fact, why don't we start there? I was wandering about in YouTube this afternoon when I came across something you don't see very often - a cover of an Ourselves The Elves song. You remember Ourselves The Elves, right? No, thought not.

Well, anyway, they're from Manilla and they're responsible for one of my favorite songs of the last ten years, the yearning, haunting, mysterious Cincinnati Clocks. I was certain I'd featured the mesmerizing live perfomance they gave back in 2014 for SOFAR but search can't confirm I ever did so I'm more than happy to correct that now.

Cincinnati Clocks - Ourselves The Elves

Ourselves The Elves, who are still going, by the way, have more than one great song to their name. There's the sixties-inflected singalong I Wouldn't Mind for one and Uncertainly for another. It was finding a cover of that last one that started all this, whatever it is.

Uncertainly - Alexie Karr (Ourselves The Elves cover)

Now, if you happen to be the one person who actually clicked through the link and listened to the original, then listened to the cover, you'll have noticed the backing track sounds identical. That's because it is.

In the notes, Alexie Karr credits "the instrumental" to something called "vocalremover.org". I was curious about that so I checked it out. Vocalremover is a free-to-use website that "will help remove vocals from a song". The name pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

To give it a little more context, albeit not much, "Once you choose a song, artificial intelligence will separate the vocals from the instrumental ones. You will get two tracks - a karaoke version of your song (no vocals) and acapella version (isolated vocals)." 

And it's all completely free, apparently. No, really, it is. "Despite the complexity and high cost of service, you can use it absolutely free." And it's fast, too. "Processing usually takes about 10 seconds."

What's more, it totally works. I've tried it. I might even use it to do some covers of my own except, as vocalremover points out, this is really nothing more than karaoke. A really interesting cover is always diffferent from the original, not identical except for the singing. 

Ah, but look and listen to that Alexie Karr video. She's used AI to strip the vocal out of the original recording and - I'm guessing, though she doesn't credit it - more AI to create the visualization and what she's made is a small piece of art. 

I wouldn't mind doing that. It may not be wholly original but it's not wholly unoriginal either. As Everett True said this week, on his less-than-triumphal return to blogging, "There is immediate satisfaction to be had in creating music", even if it is, as it is in his case, through banging out tuneless piano covers on YouTube that hardly anyone ever sees. 

All of which raises the question of whether copying is in and of itself a creative act. 

Cello Song - Fontaines D.C. (Nick Drake cover)

Well, obviously if you do it like that...

That's either the second, or maybe the third, promotional release from the upcoming Nick Drake covers album I mentioned a while back. The first was the sublime Let's Eat Grandma cover of From The Morning. The third, or maybe the second, was this gem:

I Think They're Leaving Me Behind - Katherine Priddy (Nick Drake cover)

I didn't think I was all that interested in hearing thirty versions of Nick Drake songs. I am now. I'd love to see a full track listing to find out just who's been invited to contribute and who picked which song but I guess I'll have to wait a while longer. Whoever it is sure knows how to build up expectations. Let's just hope they can satisfy them.

The thing about covers, though, or one of the things, is that unless you know the original - or another cover of it - they're just songs. Which is fine. They'll be your originals, then. But it does strip away a layer. It's the differences that make covers so intriguing.

Bizarre Love Triangle - The Anchoress (New Order cover)

This, for example, is very like the original and yet somehow not all that much like it at all. If there's one thing no-one ever accused New Order of sounding it would probably be lush. This is as rich as cream and as smooth as cream and as full as cream.

In an interview she gave about recording this, The Anchoress referenced Tori Amos, who has to be among the most visionary of all cover artists. She tears songs down to the bones and builds them back into something new. Here she is, deconstructing a Bruce Springsteen thumper we've all heard too many times, making it breathe again.

I'm On Fire - Tori Amos (Bruce Springsteen cover)

When it comes to Springsteen covers that sound nothing like the original, though, Suicide's takes some beating. This is literally unrecognizeable other than Alan Vega repeating the title a couple of times at the start. I'm not sure it even counts as a cover in any meaningful way and yet it makes perfect sense as a tribute to The Boss and the rich, rock history atop which he stands.

Born In The U.S.A. - Suicide - (Bruce Springsteen cover)

If Suicide covering Springsteen seems strange, let's not forget Springsteen's covered Suicide too. He's a fan, apparently. There's no figuring musicians. Dylan's been to see Metallica live. Twice!

I'm going to finish this with something that's not exactly a cover but runs with the same pack. This couldn't have happened before video-sharing platforms like YouTube and universal access to what used to be professional editing software.

You Should See Me In A Crown - Dodge (Billie Eilish/Locke & Key mashup)

It's obvious how I came to find that one. It's a pretty good meld but I wonder if it wouldn't be better if you stripped the dialog out using vocalremover. Maybe. Maybe not. But the tools are getting better and freer all  the time and AI is going to smooth a lot of the rough spots down so you can do this stuff at home more easily than ever. And it's already easier than anyone could have imagined it would be a decade ago.

If I was twenty I would be all over this shit. Maybe I should be anyway. Maybe I already am.