Music

Daily MPfree: Sam Amidon vs R Kelly

John Rogers | Tuesday 20 July, 2010 10:23

Whilst browsing the credits of Sam Amidon‘s sublime album-of-the-year contender I See The Sign, a couple of curious songwriting credits leapt out. Firstly, the songs are all arrangements of traditional folk songs with unattributed authors, explaining the timeless feel of the tunes and the antiquated phrasing in the lyrics.

But more surprising is the credit on the albums penultimate track “Relief” – a certain R Kelly. And sure enough, a quick Google search reveals the original. Amidon has removed a few of the more cheesy “man on high” references and such, but his arrangement of the song sounds as timeless and beautiful as anything else on the album.

The unexpected choice of cover feels like a masterstroke – there’s probably a musicology thesis about R&B being the new folk music in here somewhere. But Amidon injects some overtly absent gravitas into the (pretty awful) original version.

Amidon plays London’s CAMP next month, then Green Man Festival, before hitting the Barbican on Sept 27th for Bedroom Community’s rescheduled Whale Watching date.

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Sam Amidon – Relief by snipelondon

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