VARIOUS ARTISTS: Kind of Funny, Kind of Strange: the only Donnie Darko Companion Tape: CS

Mar 22, 2017

Donnie Darko celebrated fifteen years of being released, and to commemorate, this one hundred copy special edition cassette tape and zine combo came out. My copy arrived with a Post-It Note containing a handwritten declaration: “Seventeen of the world’s foremost cutting edge artists cross the edge and cover songs from the edgiest soundtrack to the edgiest film ever made.” Minimal punctuation, maximum impact. It also came with a tiny magnifying glass that I was puzzled about until I saw the teeny tiny credits on the back. These covers (some multiple) pay homage to the soundtrack that influenced the teen years of some of my friends. Morus Alba’s modern take of Duran Duran’s “Notorious” is really fun, and Free Cake For Every Creature’s cover of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is a very sweet acoustic rendition of a classic. Other notable covers are Dodge Dirt’s version of “Mad World,” and two covers of Tears For Fear’s “Head Over Heels,” including a really beautiful version with a backing orchestra by Meaner Pencil. This tape is a really cool collector’s item. Bonus points for all proceeds after shipping (and earnings from the digital version) being donated to Black Lives Matter Upstate. –Cynthia Pinedo (Bee Side Cassettes, beesidecassettes.bandcamp.com)

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