The National And St. Vincent – Sleep All Summer (Crooked Fingers Cover)

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[rating:60/100]

St. Vincent has been much-blogged about here lately at PMA, and deservedly so- the first two singles off of her upcoming album, Actor, are both remarkable, memorable tracks. Here, she (Annie Clark) lends her subdued, haunting voice to a cover of “Sleep All Summer,” the Crooked Fingers tune, for Merge’s upcoming 20-year anniversary album (it drops April 7th, with covers from The Shins, Times New Viking, Ted Leo, and more).

And it’s a decent, if not very good listen- the National’s Matt Birninger and Clark do a by-the-numbers, faithful cover, recreating the same melancholy, soothing vibe that “Sleep All Summer” had back in 2005. They add some delicate horns to back their delicate voices, a nice touch.

If anything, their rendition provides the indie world with 4 minutes and 26 seconds of two of the most buzzed-about musicians in recent memory dueting with each other. Birninger’s deep baritone complements Clark’s light falsetto quite nicely, and the two provide a great cover for a rainy day or a long train ride home. Except on that long train ride home, I’d rather listen to “Train Song,” the superior indie duet of the year.

Or maybe I’d just turn up Daniel Merriweather and Adele’s “Water And A Flame.”

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by Adam Offitzer on April 2, 2009 ‡ 4 reactions