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Rating: Discovered Covered (Gammon Records, September 2004) is a bizarre tribute album; indeed, Daniel Johnston seems to be doing just fine while looking at his tombstone with a disconsolate air and a big bunch of red roses.
A double CD featuring 18 of his greatest hits: in the first, The Covers, the tracks are performed by a great lineup of more or less indie artists, including some of our favorites: Sparklehorse with Flaming Lips, Bright Eyes, Mr. Eels, Beck, Mercury Rev, and Tom Waits; in the second, The Originals, the same songs, this time in their original version, sung and played by Daniel himself.
An admirable operation, as it's a tribute to Johnston's prolific talent, one of the first great lo-fi artists and an inspiration to many, who has always struggled to make a living from his music. Surely the prominent names on the cover have helped attract industry magazines and new listeners. Or at least we hope so.
Some song gems shine even more, faceted, and polished by new arrangements, like "Go" made even more sweetly dreamy by Sparklehorse and Flaming Lips, "King Kong" to which Tom Waits adds orangutan-like howls and a rhythmic "chatta boom" that make it less sing-song, "True Love Will Find You In The End" is well interpreted by Beck in a country style as in his latest album, and "Blue Clouds" becomes glorious and compelling thanks to Mercury Rev.
Other interpretations are less successful, like "Sorry Entertainer" flattened by the monotone voice of Calvin Johnston, "Love Not Dead" made too rocky by the Thistle, and "Walking The Cow" by Tv On The Radio for which I prefer the rendition from a few years ago by Eddie Vedder.
And anyway... anyway, in my opinion, they are perhaps all much more beautiful in their original form, because only when sung by Johnston, with his childlike falsetto climbing over crackling, noise-tainted backgrounds, do they truly reflect all their ramshackle poetry and the turmoil of his confused mind. Optimistic yet hopeless as they are, no one can sing them better than Daniel.
"I'm a loner, I'm a sorry entertainer" (x2).
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