The story behind this album is a long one, so here is the truncated version: A load of crap things happened to Yat Kha vocalist Albert Kuvezin and then he topped it all off by crashing his car. While he was recovering from his injuries he spent time going through his old records. Scheduled to head to London to record the new Yat Kha album, he decided it might be more fun to do an album of the songs that shaped him instead. And so, here is that album, Re-covers.

For those of you not familiar with Yat Kha (and I imagine that’s most of you), they are from Russian and mix Tuvan folk music (Tuva being a small republic in central Asia) with western rock. Albert Kuvezin has a voice which mixes Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, a didgeridoo and a bass guitar with all the stings slacked off. Strangely, the image that this conjures up in my head is of a fat Samurai.

All this makes for some pretty interesting covers. Kraftwerk’s Man Machine and Bob Marley’s Exodus are the most removed from their original versions, though that statement is really academic with this record as Yat Kha have made every song their own. Their versin of Love Will Tear Us Apart is one of the many notable points, featuring a beautifully plucked acoustic guitar and Kuvezin’s voice so low that it sounds like he’s singing through an electronic voice box.

The inclusion of a Captain Beefheart song (Her Eyes Are A Million Blue Miles) is interesting because Albert Kuvezin & Yat Kha could easily be described as Russia’s Captain Beffheart & His Magic Band, though they still manage to comepletely reinterpret the song.

Re-covers is the most different yet familiar (for obvious reasons) album I have heard in a long time. It’s such a refreshing change that I urge you all to go and listen to it.

Label: Yat Kha
Website: www.yat-kha.com
Release date: 15th August 2005

Tracklist:

1. When The Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin)
2. Man Machine (Kraftwerk)
3. Ramblin’ Man (Hank Williams)
4. In A Gadda Da Vida (Iron Butterfly)
5. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
6. Her Eyes Are A Million Blue Miles (Captain Beefheart)
7. Pesne O Zhirafe (Vladimir Vysotskiy)
8. Orgasmatron (Motorhead)
9. The Wild Mountain Thyme (McPeake Family)
10. Toccata (Paul Mauriat)
11. Black Magic Woman (Carlos Santana)
12. Exodus (Bob Marley)
13. Play With Fire (Rolling Stones)
14. Pesynya Mergena (Alexei Tchyrgal-ool)