Not Them Young Folk..

Upon my morning peruse of the music blogs, I found a couple of interesting tracks. If you're an indie swot such as myself you've probably heard this track in its original incarnation on the radio or in various clubs (so I'm told). This song has also been a regular choice for programme trails on TV due to it's psych groove and signature whistling accompaniment. This track was EVERYWHERE about 8 months ago. Then, as with any anthemic tune, it slowly drifted away from the front of the music scene to make way for gems such as.. Keane. But now it seems to have made a resurgence in the world of alternative music, with various artists spraying their own artistic flair on it.


But which one is as good as it's predecessor?


Exhibit A:

The Kooks- Young Folk.MP3

Now I don't mean to sound harsh but The Kooks are everything I hate about music. Whiny, adolescent vocals and songs so predictable you can sing the tune to their next single before they've written it. Saying that though, they're damn good live. I saw them at Benicassim '06 and they were a lot better than on record as they had more of an edge. Sadly I think they lost it somewhere on the way back to Britain. Plus they remind me of a local band whose egos match the size of Jonathan Ross' bank balance.


So really I didn't have high expectations when I found this track on the refreshing blog RolloGrady. I thought seeing as it's more of an up tempo, dance track, that they'd venture outside their wee box (not actual wee box, you get what I mean.. hopefully) and mix it up a bit. Sadly, although this track was a nice way of actually waking up, there wasn't much spice to it, nothing to really surprise me. Maybe Luke Pritchard and co. are much more adept at writing mellow, lovelorn songs instead of dancefloor tunes, or maybe they're just bland.


I hadn't expected to find another cover of Peter Bjorn and John's track 'Young Folks' for a while, certainly not within 10 minutes. It seems to me that good music is like England's transport system; there's never anything around for ages and then when you're just about to give up and walk the 2 miles home two great things come at you at once.



Exhibit B:
Alright I couldn't find a clear picture of the swedish producer, so here's an actual Klumpfisk.

Peter Bjorn and John-Young Folk (Klumpfisk Remix).MP3

I found this track at one of the blog I regularly subscribe to, Lemur Blog. I was somewhat wary of how good this track would be, judging from my run of luck thus far in my quest for a good cover of this classic track, plus the fact that it's a remix and I'm not the biggest fan of them. However, I was pleasantly surprised when listening to it, there's a definite twist on the original melody, incorporating fused melodies on panpipes and other Middle Eastern instruments. Plus the whistling bit it still there. Nice.


There's more of a lilt to this track than there is in the original, this would not be out of place in some trendy Soho club and actually reminds me of the rainforest somehow. Admittedly, if this was the original I wouldn't be that enthused, it's because Klumpfisk has made distinct differences that offer some variety from the bog standard dance track. What I like most about this track is that the abstract, floatiness of it is still present, every now and then I catch a glimpse of fellow psych inspired act MGMT, making this track even more current. The choir at the end of the track makes you feel as if you've awoken from some spiritual dream, a very chilled ending to a thoroughly different song.



Now, I may have been a bit blunt and melodramatic but let's face it what teenager isn't?


Nobody ever knows what to do with themselves in the week between Christmas and New Years, people just amble about, pretending to work whilst lethargically poking their friends on Facebook, stuffing their face with left over turkey and Quality Street.
So, since you've got nothing better to do, why not listen to both tracks and send me a comment telling me whether I'm right and The Kooks' version is a bit blah or whether I'm wrong and Klumpfisk's version is just a bit too strange.