Well, looks like I have an icebreaker for the next time I hang out with Aly Spaltro, aka Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. Today, she told her Facebook followers that “Kurt Vile’s record Wakin On A Pretty Daze was, in my humble opinion, 2013’s best record.” (Ahem, let’s just say she’s not alone.) She then paired the announcement with a cover of the album’s gloomy meditation, “Girl Called Alex”.
“[The album] was a constant companion on my 2013 travels,” she notes. “On the whole it reminds me of deserts, mountains, pine trees, the Pacific, the Atlantic and crossing the length of Texas, Germany, The Irish Sea, The Midwest, and the border of Southern Oregon on that beautiful, terrifying highway that winds through Northern California.
“I covered ‘Girl Called Alex’ to pay homage to that salty-sweet imprint that only a beloved piece of music can have on one’s memory…and to the particular catalog of memories and landscapes that come to my mind each time I listen to this strong, honest, restrained, unpretentious, unwaveringly solid album. Thanks for it, Kurt!”
No, thank you, Ms. Spaltro. Listen in below, or head over to her Soundcloud profile, where you can just let it segue into her other brilliant covers, specifically her alteration to Cher’s “Believe”. Chilling stuff.
