It was hard to think of a good cover to write about that people wouldn’t know already. So I dug deep into my iTunes library. I found some of my local music and other underground bands in other cities covering each other’s stuff. I thought that would just be too much. I finally settled on a tasteful and modest selection. The original song that I chose is from a pretty well know band, The Postal Service. The original song I chose was “We Will Become Silhouettes”. This song has been a favorite of mine since sophomore year of high school. It really got me into the indie electronic scene a lot more than I anticipated. It really sparked my interest in a different sort of music and re-kindled my appetite for searching for new music. In my search I found another indie rock band that has definitely stuck with me. This band has come to make a reputation as The Shins. They covered The Postal Service’s song on their album Such Great Heights. Their cover was a fantastic new look at their electronic poppy song.
The Postal Service’s original song is fantastic track to listen. It starts with a beautiful piano riff. The piano riff starts with a soft intensity. The piano is acoustic sounding but there was some definite reverb effects placed over it. It had a very deep quality to its overall sound. This piano riff is a nice calm to the start to their song that would help build some tension. The entire song’s tone and emotional architecture is calm with some inspiring overtones. The guitar riff just reiterates that theme, or motif. They have very warm tones and deep hypnotic sounds and effects mastered over the song. The beginning keyboard loop is followed by another harmonic, more manipulated keyboard. The organization was very ordered with choruses and verses. This also helped with small amounts of tension and release throughout the song created by layering of instruments. The timbre was very tonal because it uses a lot of piano and electronic effects with some electronic drumbeats to create a very deep and tall song.
The Shins’ cover is equally fantastic and addicting as The Postal Service’s original. It starts with a count in of acoustic drums followed by more acoustic instrumentation. They play acoustic guitars with an acoustic drumset. It is arguable whether the bass is acoustic or not. From the beginning the song is of modest intensity. I say it is modes because it is not as quiet as The Postal Service’s original, but it is not loud by any means. The tone of the song is very warm because of the warm sounding instruments and the lead singers calm and friendly singing style. The emotional architecture is happy and up beat because of the chord structures and again because of the instrumentation. It never really changes from happy but it does get a lot more intense with more layered effects. The Shins have changed the focus from a quiet electronic song to a happy sunny day kind of groove. Both of the songs have their source in their drumbeats, which make it easy to bop your head a long with. The organization of The Shins cover was also very ordered with choruses and verses because they do not change any of the lyrics and follow the same song structure. The timbre matched The Postal Service’s original because it was also very tonal. All of the instruments were very ear pleasing and not noisy by any means. All of the sound had a very clean quality to them.
It is hard to say which song I would like better. I did find out about The Postal Service first. I do think that I would owe some sort of allegiance to them. However, I have not been as indulged in the electronic scene for as long as I have been marinating in the traditional style bands. I can identify with The Shins more. I have always been into harder music since I was a child and learned to play instruments from grade school. I just find more interest in people that play the instruments instead of creating them on computer programs. That is not to say that I do not respect that music by any means. I completely respect electronic artists and everything that they do. I just don’t understand it as much as I do running sound for live more acoustic bands with instruments. Therefore I would have to say that I side with The Shins version of the song.
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