When on a live stage, some artists and bands try to stick to the original. studio recorded version of the song, others, try to give that song or songs a different and/or additional touch that makes it different, sometimes better.
Of course, those versions can both fail and succeed in those intentions. The key there is often in the fact of whether that song is good in the first place.
A case in point here is The National and one of their better songs (after all, they rarely have a bad one) ‘Guilty Party.’ The studio version of their album ‘Sleep Well Beast’ is detailed and layered, with electronic embellishments. The live version like the one here from ‘Juicy Sonic Magic’ (Berkley, 2018), or the one from the Pitchfork showcase in Paris (the same year) is starker, with brass, and particularly brilliant guitars, as if the Berninger and the band got angrier for some reason.
Whatever those reasons were, they seem to have been the right ones, giving that song a completely different dimension.
Tennis Courts - Am I Not Talking Enough
Judging by the quality of this slow-evolving tune, and the question this Brooklyn quartet is asking in the song’s title, no, they are not talking enough, they should definitely talk, or, actually, sing and play a bit more.
BAILEN - Call It Like It Is
Julia Bailen and her two brothers, Daniel and David, have that delicate melody touch, here, and throughout their ‘Tired Hearts’ album, and are able to add just enough rhythm here, to make it a good listen while moving, in any shape or form.
Joy Buzzer - I Wanna Scream
Some say power pop is on resurgence, but, actually, it seems that it never went away, as this NYC trio amply proves with it is all there in this song - enough guitars, vocal harmonies, and keyboard touches, just for an extra touch.
Daisies- Blue Cowboy
Daisies are no newcomers (they are on their fifth album now), and that experience gives them the capabilities to combine some ‘aging’ genres here, like trip-hop and dream pop, and they can do it with ease.
Thirty Seconds To Mars - Stuck
This duo wasn’t around for five years or so, but they seem to be ‘stuck’ in their pop-oriented ways. This should be fine with dance-inclined listeners, slow and fast, as they combine both grooves here.
Lipstereo - Feedback (Live Version)
Don’t know what the studio version from these Australians sounds like, but this prime example of guitar-driven pop/rock (live or not) sounds quite enticing, no matter what.
Tanya Tucker - When The Rodeo Is Over
Nothing shows the quality and experience of a seasoned country singer than a good, old-fashioned country ballad, and in the hands (and voice)of somebody like Tanya Tucker it can only do one thing - shine.
Local Natives - NYE
Local Natives are at their fifth album now too, and again, if you are good, you can use all that experience you accumulated to come up with some good stuff - in the case of Local Natives, some quality pop-oriented post-punk.
Jesse Wagner - Cry To Me
Wagner lent her vocals to almost everybody - from Lenny Kravitz and Chic to Duran Duran and Little Steven. Here she tackles a soul classic from the sixties and amply shows why she is such a hot vocal property.
Liza Anne - Cheerleader
Liza Anne brings it all here, from Van Halen-style guitars to some mean funk rhythms and chorus cheers to the essence of art rock. Intriguing stuff as such.
The Aquadolls - Spotlight
Maybe The Aquadolls want to be in the spotlight, but in this, their more poppy mode this trio definitely deserves it with the melody and arrangement some other artists would kill for.
Hiss Golden Messenger - Nu-Grape
Starting from being ‘just another’ (good) singer-songwriter, under the above moniker, M.C. Taylor transformed himself into a band and came up with a very wide musical palette, that here goes in the direction of some mid-seventies California-style soul - and it works.
Emily Kuhn - Ghosts Of Us
Kuhn is a very accomplished trumpeter, and yes, she is inspired by Miles Davis, from all his sixties phases and is able to pick and choose from those phases, toss them in the air, pick up the pieces, and arrange them in a way she likes, with excellent results.
Gabby’s World - Mussel
When you go the introspective, gentle way, you simply have to walk a thin line between introspective and introvert, and here, Gabby Smith keeps an excellent balance between the two.
Jess Kallen - Exotherm
What Kallen brings here is something that is often qualified as bedroom pop that actually exceeds the confines of a bedroom itself and picks up aspects of a very good pop song as such.
Palehound - My Evil
Another singer-songwriter that tries to work outside the confines of a genre and succeeds in the process, without going the navel-gazing way many such artists take.
Seba Safe - I Wonder
Ireland’s Michael D'Alton asks some questions many other artists pose, but he does it in a pleasantly unassuming way that escapes any banalities, all wrapped up in a good melody and arrangement.
The Damn Truth - Lonely
This Montreal quartet is like that old-fashioned hard psych rock, but in their hands (and very much voices) it sounds quite fresh, or, if you will, well refreshed.
Lauren Morrow - Nobody But Me
The number of Nashville artists going outsides of well-tried country formulas is growing by the day, and Morrow joins them here with some excellent variations that include a bit more quality rock than anything else.
Jesse Lynn Madera - Revel
Going simple, and letting your voice be the main focus, can be a dangerous thing if you don’t have a voice for it, or if the arrangement doesn’t suit that voice. Madera escapes all such possible traps here, both with her excellent voice and an equally good arrangement to boot.