Jewelled

It’s a bit of a gothic (as opposed to Gothic) Saturday night here in the Geek Lair - all moody, dreamy soft and exquisitely spooked. Thoughts go tumbling. Memories drift down from the stars, alight for a moment and then are gone. You know how it goes.

I’ve been threading through some of those old This Mortal Coil records and leaping from original to cover and back again, trying to figure which is the finest. In some cases it is no contest: Gene Clark wins out every time, whilst Tim Buckley cannot hope to compete with Liz Fraser on ‘Song To The Siren’ or with Deirdre and Louise Rutkowski on ‘Morning Glory’. “Heresy!” you cry? Nonsense. Buckley is almost as overrated as his son, and ‘Song To The Siren’ in particular belongs to This Mortal Coil forever.

The closest competition, however, centres on ‘The Jeweller’. Which to choose? Pearls Before Swine’s exquisite original with Tom Rapp’s gorgeous lisping lead vocal, or This Mortal Coil’s version with Dominic Appleton as a tragic torch singer backed by the heavenly choir that is the Rutkowski sisters? It’s a close call, and I can’t split them. So here’s both versions so you can choose for yourself.

Pearls Before Swine: The Jeweller
This Mortal Coil: The Jeweller

Comments

[S]

Hi there,

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but I can't seem to work out how to send you money for Fire Raisers. Any chance you could email me with advice?

Many thanks!

[Phil Wilson]

Heresy, heresy!!! OK, there is a lot of not great Tim Buckley stuff, but have you ever heard the live "Once I was" album? That is sublime...