Stereogum today premiered Karen O's cover of "Highway 61 Revisited," her contribution to the much-anticipated I'''m Not There soundtrack. It'''s a full band affair (her backing band here, the Million Dollar Bashers, play on much of the record), and it stays pretty true to what one might expect "Karen O singin' the blues" to sound like. And yet''¦ ''¦who was expecting (or is enjoying) that, exactly? Maybe this is unfair criticism, but it'''s hard not to be a little disappointed here. Sure, we get that no one wants to hear some "songstress du jour" deface a "timeless classic,"and that'''s fine. But let'''s be clear: this ain'''t your Yeah Yeah Yeah'''s Karen O. It really is her in name and voice only. The rest comes off like (pardon me, but) note-for-note reverence. And therein lies the criticism: Classic, shmassic''own it, girl!
Audio available at Stereogum.
Karen O »
Comparing this to PJ Harvey's definitive take, it sounds really toothless. But, the performers may have been under orders to emulate for the purpose of actually, you know, soundtracking the movie. Which makes sense, but is less interesting as a stand alone song. Malkmus' is kinda dull too...