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Live vs. Studio?

It is often said about artists - particularly the mass-produced pop variety - that they simply can't reproduce the slick sound of the studio recordings when performing live. Be that as it may, I think singer-songwriters (which are not of the said category) have the power to really bring something special to a tune when performing it live. And I don't necessarily just mean through the atmosphere or intensity that is present at a concert, but through the manner in which they perform it - the instrumentation, the speed, the style etc. 

Mundy is an Irish singer-songwriter, he sort-of shot to fame in the late 1990's when one of his songs was featured in Bazz Luhermann's remake of 'Romeo and Juliet'. He has had a mixed career since - got back into the charts about a decade later with a cover of Steve Earl's song 'Galway Girl'. His version has become a classic and continues to be heard in country discos in the west of Ireland!!

A song of Mundy's that I have strangely fallen in love with is called July. I suppose what is not unusual for a singer-songwriter is the raw sound of the studio version. The song features Mundy's lone vocal accompanied by an acoustic guitar and very sparse percussion. It ranges from being delicate to quite forced and painful at parts. His vocals are quite raw - very raw, in fact. It's one of those marmite records - you'll either love it or hate it. Have a listen and see for yourself.




Bored and searching the internet, I came across a live performance from Oxygen in 2008. He seemed to captivate the crowd with a re-invigorated version of the song. And this is not one of those standard festival performances that requires you to be under the influence of cheap vodka and various other illegal paraphernalia to be enjoyed. He transposed the song down a few tones and it suits his voice much better - he's also accompanied, not only by the crowd, but by an electric guitar and a fast but steady drum beat. It really adds a few layers to the track and makes it easier to listen to. A huge improvement? I think so.





I think this is fantastic - There's definitely potential for this to be re-released as a radio mix. It reminds me of some sort of stadium anthem - and there's no surprise that everyone is singing along.

I went to see David Gray perform live 2 years ago in Bray. He did exactly the same thing. Some of his songs tend to drag on using the same 2/3 chords- to the listener, sometimes quite monotonous. But at his live gig - he used a lot of electronic instruments to reshape a lot of his songs and in turn create an electro-folk sound. I was really impressed by it as it refreshed old songs that were possibly becoming slightly lacklustre.

Have you been to any gigs recently? Did you find that an artist put effort into making their songs different and unique for the show?

Gavin.



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