Sunday, September 5th, 2010
"Umbrella"
Manic Street Preachers cover Rihanna
WikipediaOne of the perks, if you could call it that, of not having cable or a working terrestrial radio, is that it’s very easy to be completely tuned out of mainstream popular culture and whatever the inescapable song du jour might be. The only time they seep onto my radar is when they’re slowed down 8000% and become internet memes or are covered – ironically or not – by artists I do like. And so it was that the first time I heard Rihanna’s “Umbrella”, which was apparently one of the monster jams of 2007, was when Coeur De Pirate covered it beautifully at Virgin Festival last year (her version).
The second time was when I found this version by Manic Street Preachers, recorded for an NME CD released in conjunction with the NME Awards in 2008, wherein they got artists of the moment to cover other artists of the moment, the Manics’ moment at that point being their 2007 album Send Away The Tigers. It’s a typically Manics big rock treatment, trading the original’s slinkiness for stadium scale, but you can still hear James Dean Bradfield smile as he gets to that chorus. Who wouldn’t?
The Manics’ new record Postcards From A Young Man is out September 28. Rihanna is set to release a new album, as yet untitled, on November 2.
MP3: Manic Street Preachers – “Umbrella”
Video: Rihanna – “Umbrella”
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