Song: Robyn Hitchcock 'Not Dark Yet' (2005)

This is really beautiful. I can't stand Bob Dylan (I know, I'm a heretic, burn me at the stake or whatever); I think most of his songs are horribly phony and pretentious, and calculatedly arty in a horribly smug sort of way. Every once in a while though, someone does a Dylan cover that makes me recognize the merit in a particular song (like MCR's cover of Desolation Row - yeah, I know, now you really want to burn me at the stake - well, bite me!), and this particular cover elevates that merit into the realm of genuine loveliness. Robyn's interpretation has a classy sort of softness to it, so different from the harsh original; his spare acoustic guitar winds beautifully together with John Paul Jones' (yes, that John Paul Jones) tasteful mandolin accompaniment in an unusually elegant take on an oft-recorded song.

Covers have such an odd and uncomfortable place in the music world. It's terribly irritating when a loathly, rotten band covers a great song, which is far too often what happens. Every once in a while a great artist manages to drastically improve on the original, as in John Cale's exquisite cover of Hallelujah and the Soft Cell version of Tainted Love. Here's an exceptional example of one of the most consistently underrated musicians I've heard covering one of the most consistently overrated:

Song: David Sylvian 'Silver Moon' (1986)

Here's a bit of buried treasure for you. I'm a pretty massive fan of Mr. Sylvian's music, most of the time, but I have yet to discover much affection for his record Gone to Earth. It swarms with unappealing qualities, particularly that pretentious sort of spiritualism which always makes me want to smack those afflicted by it upside the head in the hope that they'll come to their senses. It's not one of the triumphs of his career (unlike the absolutely perfect Secrets of the Beehive, of which I will write more at some point). Silver Moon, however, is a completely different sort of fish. This swooning little gem of a song seems completely at odds with the rest of the album; psuedo-Eastern mysticism gives way to lush romanticism, accompanied by a lithe, swaying beat unlike anything else on the record. The rich, silky warmth of many-layered instrumentation contrasts marvellously with the simple (and simply perfect) vocal, making for a deliriously lovely confection:

...Of course, having written all about why I can't stand Gone to Earth, I shall most likely listen to the whole record sixteen times in a row and end up falling in love with it after all, which is what always happens for me with Sylvian records. I didn't like Brilliant Trees at first either, and now I think it's, well, brilliant. Gone to Earth has got a lot going for it (like Steve Nye, for example - and Bill Nelson, Robert Fripp, & Richard Barbieri - and my favourite drummer of all time, Steve Jansen), so perhaps I ought to give it rather more of a chance.

Song: Be-Bop Deluxe 'Maid in Heaven' (1975)

Pure pop-trash perfection. Every single f***ing line in the entire f***ing song is a hook. Lyrics leave a little (perhaps a lot) to be desired; I've (sadly) heard worse though. The music side of the thing is positively sublime. Special highlight: the drum bit at the tail end of intro. Tunewise at least, this is a stunning example of masterful songwriting and some very impressively savvy arranging.