Posted by Budgie at June 12, 2007 12:43 PM

If I only could...

Bootlegs. Remember them? They used to be the bread and butter of The Pipe.

To be honest, I gorged too much on them and grew sick of them. So I don't follow the scene anymore and I only hear the odd uninspired one every now and then.

That is until now...

Track : DJ MAGNET - "LOVE COMES RUNNING UP THAT HILL QUICKLY"

This track came to my attention this morning via C4 Teletext's Planet Sound page, in which they said that the Pet Shop Boys had given their blessing to it.

It's a mash up of Placebo's cover version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and the Pet Shop Boys "Love Comes Quickly".

At this point I shoud say that the Kate Bush version is one of my all time favourite records. Probably because I find it rather odd. Odder still is that it got to #3 in 1985. Is it a pop record? With those strange atmospheres and bizarre muffled barking synth lines? So when people cover it I kind of fear that they'll ruin the ambience of it all.

Placebo covered it a few years back for their covers album that was bundled with "Sleeping With Ghosts". I was impressed, so much so I think it's as good as the original. They stripped it back, slowed it down a little and added a new, minimal eeriness to it all thus showing an understanding of the track. Gold star to Placebo! Gold Star removed from Placebo when later in the CD they managed to shit all over, another of my fsvourite tracks, Serge Gainsbourg's "The Ballad Of Melody Nelson". Pfft.

The bootleg features a lot of the Placebo version and has parts of the Pet Shop Boys track weaving in and out beautifully. But the killer is in the last minute when Kate makes a brief appearance. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end the first time I listened to it as I wasn't expecting it.

Track : KATE BUSH - "RUNNING UP THAT HILL (12" VERSION)"

As a bonus, here's the 12" version of the original.

Also worth tracking down is Claudia Brucken and Andrew Poppy's bare bones cover of "Running Up That Hill". Just beautiful piano lines and Brucken's amazing voice.

And, If you didn't pick it up when mentioned in the forum, head over to DATASSETTE's site, click on "Music", scroll down a bit and listen to his excellent electro rework of "Running Up That Hill".

Enjoy.

Go Buy : Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Go Buy : Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts (Special Edition)

Go Visit : DJ Magnet
Go Visit : Kate Bush
Go Visit : Placebo

Go Watch : Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
Go Watch : Placebo - Running Up That Hill

Feel free to leave a comment about these tracks in The Pipe section of the forum.

Ta,
Budgie