DEVENDRA BANHART / XIU XIU
Split Seven-Inch
Kill Rock Stars
· A surprisingly apt union.
Xiu Xiu and Devendra Banhart might seem like near opposites, but they developed a touring camaraderie during the days of Xiu Xiu’s Fabulous Muscles tour (shortly before Banhart’s solo star took off). While their current union (covering one of each other’s songs for this limited-edition EP) might pale in the shadow of Iron and Wine’s duets with Calexico, it’s still worth a cursory glance.
Xiu Xiu’s electro take on Banhart’s "The Body Breaks" strips the track of its ramshackle folkisms and shudders like crashing metal – hearing Jamie Stewart sing "The sun will shine!" isn’t quite what we’re used to from him, but he lightens up surprisingly well. Banhart, on the other hand, completely transforms Xiu Xiu’s "Support Our Troops In Iraq OH! (Black Angels OH!)" from a spoken-word nightmare into a soulful shuffle. The lyrical reprise, "Why should I care if you ever get killed?" becomes a thing of curious beauty in Banhart’s falsetto instead of Stewart’s leaden dramatics on the original.
A definite curio, but one worth seeking out.
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