Sunday, January 13, 2008

David Shrigley's Worried Noodles


They're noodles, and they're worried. How the hell can noodles be worried, you ask? I have no idea. What ARE these worried noodles, you ask? I shall tell you. There's this Scottish artist named David Shrigley. In 2005, he published an LP-sized book called Worried Noodles, a wacky collection of song lyrics and pictures. This year, he has re-released this book accompanied by a two-disc compilation of 39 artists who have set his words to music. Among these artists are Deerhoof, Franz Ferdinand, Islands, Hot Chip, Final Fantasy, and David Byrne.

The songs on the compilation range from disturbing to hilarious, and are sometimes both. Take, for example, Manager and Coordinator of Prostitutes, recorded by Les Georges Leningrad:

Give me a chance, mate.
Allow me to demonstrate
That I can do things well.
Better than the last bloke
Who stole from you
And called the police on you.
I will not let you down.
I can do things well but
I'm only ten years old
And I'm in a wheelchair.


Need I say more? I think not. However, the lyrics are way more exciting than the actual song, so I will not be posting the mp3 for it. Instead, I would like to draw everybody's attention to No, which is featured twice, with one version by Franz Ferdinand and one by Hot Chip. Franz Ferdinand's version is a guitar-driven dance-rock hoedown, and Hot Chip's version is soothing and reminiscent of their early work. I'm going to post the Hot Chip version, because I highly prefer it to the former.

MP3: Hot Chip- No

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