PINE*am vs. Erik Satie
On the theme of great Japanese bands, I thought I would post about the crazy electro-pop band PINE*am (which, according to their bio, is an acronym for "Playing Intense Neutral Electronica ad nauseAM"). I first heard them on Fluxblog, and was blown away by the song "Gymnopedie 0.1's" awesomeness. Not only is it a perfectly catchy little song, but it is perhaps the only non-stupid pop music cover of a piece of classical music that I've heard yet. The song being covered is "1st Gymnopedie" by Eric Satie (1866-1925), and is one of my favorites. If you haven't heard of him, Satie was an eccentric precursor to many twentieth century avant-garde and minimalist composers, and had a tendency to give his songs ridiculous names like "Genuine Flabby Preludes (for a dog)" or "Bureaucratic Sonata". The name Gymnopedie for instance, translates as "Spartan dance of naked youths and men". If you're interested, you can probably pick up a record of his music in many a thrift shop record bin.
The original Gymnopedie is essentially a slow solo-piano piece, but is transformed by PINE*am into a bouncy, although still slightly melancholy, pop song.
PINE*am - Gymnopédie 0.1
Erik Satie - 1st Gymnopédie
PINE*am's newest album, Pull the Rabbit Ears, comes out on May 31. You can also download another 5 or 6 more of their mp3s here.
posted by ian at 5:49 PM
3 Comments:
I really need to get on track here. I'm so lazy!
I got a teensy music box that plays Gymnopedie for my birthday last week! I'd never heard it before and I am in love with it.
That music box sounds awesome! I'm used to music boxes that only play lame and annoying songs, and so have always had a hate-on for those things.
My husband was playing the 1st Gymnopedie the other night on the piano. He started reading the mini-biography about Satie out of the music book. Apparently Satie collected umbrellas but would never use them. He would carry them around in the rain but not open them.
Anyway, thanks for posting this. Love the PINE*am version.
Lanky14
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