SOUNDTRACK: DRY CLEANING-“Her Hippo,” and “Leafy” (album versions) (2020).
After listening to the Dry Cleaning Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, I wanted to hear the recorded versions since the blurb talked about how different they sounded.
Indeed, these versions sound very different from the Tiny Desk Concert. Well, actually it’s the guitars sound very different because guitarist Tom Dowse is playing electric rather than acoustic. But it changes the whole tone of the songs.
On the record, “Her Hippo” opens with quiet but sharp electric guitars that echo as the riff circles around. Lewis Maynard’s bass sounds the same, but Nick Buxton’s drums push this song into more of a rock territory (he played keys and electronic percussion in the Tint Desk)..
Florence Shaw’s vocal delivery is similar but perhaps a but more empathic while being heard over the more rocking band. The middle part features just the rumbling bass and Dowse’s sharp (but simple) guitar solo.
“Unsmart Lady” opens with roaring, echoing wild guitars and thumping drums. When he starts playing the main (weird) guitar chords they make more “sense” on the electric guitar, but they are still noisy and abrasive. Dowse wrenches all kinds of screeching feedback and squeals out of his guitar. The Tiny Desk version sounded really good, but this version is fantastic.
At the Tiny Desk “Leafy” was all delicate synth, but on the record, Dowse plays a kind of lead solo throughout the song–melodic and pretty while keeping the bass company.
I’m glad I listened to the recorded versions of these. But I’m also glad I listened to the Tiny Desk (Home) Concert first, because hearing the structure of the songs was a great way to be unprepared for the distortion of the recorded versions. I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the record–and seeing them live.
[READ: May 10, 2021] “The Perfect Fit”
This is a hilarious essay about shopping in Tokyo. It’s especially funny to imagine David and his sisters running around the city buying all manner of strange clothes. Because if there’s one thing we know about the Sedaris family, it’s that they love odd items.
They stayed in Ebisu so they could shop at their favorite place Kapitol. He talks about all of the delightfully odd clothes they sell there. The store is still open, here’s a fun piece.
The store’s motto seems to be “why not?” They make clothes that refuse to flatter you. A shirt whose arm holes are not made like a capital T but like a lower case t. A jacket that poofs out at the small of your back where for no reason there’s a pocket. He bought three hats that he wore stacked. (more…)
