Planet Notion

Ministry of Sound’s new compilation CD: ‘UNCOVERED’ claims that it’s a “UNIQUE COLLECTION OF COOL COVERS”. So, let’s investigate that claim.

Investigation No.1: Is it unique?

Yes. It features a bloke called Earl Zinger singing ‘Song 2’ by Blur and Roots Manuva singing ‘Yellow Submarine’ by The Beatles. Both have never covered their respective songs before. Nor have any of the other artists covered the songs they cover across the 42 tracks and 2 CDs contained within the album. At least not to our knowledge.

Investigation No.2: Is it cool?

Well, bit of a bold statement. We think that Snooker and John Surman are pretty cool, but I’m sure there are people reading this who disagree. Although, if you’re toking on a reefer, you will find solace in both snooker and John Surman.

In fact, I’m willing to bet my mortgage on it and that’s a bet that you can’t win, because I don’t have a mortgage. So fuck it. I win.

So, is MOS UNCOVERED any good? Well, it’s a bit like telling your vegan girlfriend that you like chilli con carne. So she invites you round for a meal and serves up this real good looking chilli, only it’s made with Quorn mince; nothing short of a culinary crime. You eat the kidney beans and sauce and everything but the Quorn mince, scooping it into a plant-pot when she’s not looking.

On the one hand, half the tracks on UNCOVERED are pretty tasty.

Yonderboi manages to make one of The Doors’ best-loved tracks (Riders on the Storm) from arguably their best-loved album (L.A. Woman), a pretty chilled-out number that you could easily get stoned to on a lazy summer’s day. Ditto Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, with their cover of Janet Jackson’s What Have You Done For Me Lately. It’s a funky little number with echoes of a 60s East-End boozer and it’s arguably better than the original.

In the same way, you skip passed half of the tracks on UNCOVERED because they’re remixes of songs that deserve their status as brilliant but have been screwed up the arse and left to dry in their own excrement. You know this 10 seconds into the start of said tracks.

Example: Cicada covering Roxy Music’s 1980 hit ‘Same Old Scene’ and making it into the sort of tech-track you’d find meat-heads and orange-glow tarts dancing to in suburban night-clubs.

In a nut-shell, and because we’ve gone over our designated word limit, UNCOVERED will appeal to fans of previous MOS remix albums. As for those with a great disdain for beats, bleeps and all things dance related, there are gems to be found within this double album, too. Good ones to boot.