In a bit of a twist given the prolific songwriting output of its performers,
Other People's Songs, Vol. 1
is a collection of covers from the duo of
Damien Jurado
and
Richard Swift
. The two first worked together when
Swift
produced
Jurado
's album
Saint Bartlett
, which saw release in the spring of 2010. The fast friends made plans to get together over a weekend that August, just to hang out. What emerged was this set of cover songs taken down on a four-track cassette recorder in
's home. Each title addressed was originally recorded in the '60s or '70s, but that's where similarities end among a selection that digs deep and encompasses
John Denver
,
Kraftwerk
, and the Broadway revue Oh! Calcutta!
make them all play nice together with psychedelic treatments, such as on their rendition of
Yes
' "Sweetness." The prog rock icons' already trippy first single is embellished with effects that emphasize the ethereal. Another curio is "Outside My Window." First recorded by
the Fleetwoods
for a 1960 release, it was written by
Sherman Edwards
, songwriter of the musical 1776, and lyrics legend
Hal David
. Wistful and spare in both versions,
emphasize the bassline and move crisp backing vocals into a cavern as the song's surveillant notes "You're so glad you found him/You'll never once look up to see me/Inside my window/I'm just as sad as I can be." Arguably the most distorted reworking is their "Follow Me."
's echoing falsetto, guitar, and clanking percussion suggest a haunting rather than the bittersweet affection of
's original. They even end it with a fade out on lone, harmonized oohs, a spectral call from the distance. Their lush, orchestral folk version of
's "Radioactivity," though, is a near complete reimagining built around the original's deadpan vocal line. Elsewhere,
gives a commanding vocal performance on a fairly loyal version of
Chubby Checker
's organ hymn "If the Sun Stops Shinin'." Throughout, the arrangements have an organic feel despite tinkering and effects, with a dreamlike expansiveness that foreshadows the sound of
's
-produced Maraqopa Trilogy.
Other People's Songs
shouldn't be missed by fans of those albums or by record-store scavengers unfamiliar with any of the more obscure treasures represented here. [The album was first issued as a temporarily free download in 2010, but received a proper multi-format release by
Secretly Canadian
in 2016.] ~ Marcy Donelson