2/12/08

J'accuse, Caribou!

OK, let's talk psychedelic pop for a second. If you're not listening to Caribou yet, stop whatever you're doing and go take a beautiful trip with Dan Snaith through his (I hate to describe it this way but I'm not creative enough to do better right now) lush soundscapes. If you like early Pink Floyd (real early), you'll love this guy. And even if you don't, you should still listen to Caribou (see also: Manitoba). I love this guy, I love his music, I love seeing him live, and now I have to strike him down for being a dirty little thief.

Check out "Desiree," a beautiful
[Editor's note: time to hit the thesaurus, I'm repeating my adjectives] track off one of my favorite albums of 2007, Caribou's "Andorra." At around 1:23, he busts out this gorgeous chorus consisting of the second, fifth, and major third of the root chord, in that order. 2-5-3. Just like Mom used to make. Isn't it nice and harmonious (thanks, thesaurus.com!)? Yes. Yes, it is.

'There's something very familiar about all this.'Now prepare yourself to be shocked, and possibly horrified. When you're ready, click on this: "Changes" by the Zombies, from their 1968 album "Odessey & Oracle." [Editor's note: yes, it's spelled like that.] No, your ears aren't crazy. Dan Snaith has achieved the impossible and time-travelled all the way to 1968 to steal this little ditty. Wno knows? Maybe he bet on sporting events for the next 40 years and is currently an evil billionaire, menacing the poor McFly family even as we speak! Oh, the horror! He thought he could just move the whole thing up a whole step and nobody would notice? For shame, sir. For shame.

So, what do you think is the most notorious musical rip-off of all time?

PS Do yourself a favor and go listen to "Care of Cell 44" off that same Zombies album. I know it sounds like the Beach Boys in the background, but it's really a bunch of flesh-eating ghouls, out for brains. Get it? Zombies? Eh?

2 comments:

John Das Binky said...

Not digging too deeply, the most notorious musical rip off in history is probably Vanilla Ice taking "Under Pressure" and turning it into "Ice Ice Baby".

He did end up settling out of court and giving co-writing credit to Queen and Bowie.

Word to your mutha.

Incidentally, I've tried getting into Caribou a few times, but they continually just make me kind of sleepy. But so does early Pink Floyd, so there may be a correlation.

Newmanium Reveler said...

Rod Stewart - stealing "Do ya think I'm sexy" from Jorge Ben Jor ("Taj Mahal") - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M-bZ1tbHw8. The chorus comes in at about 1:17 or so. It's really unmistakable.