Customer Reviews

In Living Cover

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Living Cover is a different spin that his previous album, Goddamned. His cover of The Freshman is really great on the piano. Blowing in the Wind is humble and respectful. Both Hands threw me a little bit as there's some mixing in there but overall it's a great album. No matter what Jay does he just does it so well. Bravo!

Just as I expected it would be after hearing his covers of some of these songs on his youtube page, this new EP is fantastic! His cover of The Freshman is gorgeous with the piano, Zombie is haunting and his rendition of Say It's Possible rivals the original by Terra Naomi. I'm so glad he included two original songs as well - especially Drowning which was the first song he ever wrote! It is an amazing song. Enveloping and dark.

So much talent here! I highly recommend checking him out!

The entire album is a wonderful composition of songs driven by piano, guitar, and vocals. Several songs really standout; his original composition "Beautifully" followed by "Freshman", "Both Hands", and "Zombie." The harmonizing with himself on "Both Hands" really captivated me. His strong piano driven version of "Freshman" flowed well with the song and complimented his voice very well.

I listen to CD's all the way through several times (for weeks on end) and there isn't a bad song on this CD. It can play in the background and let you simply enjoy having it play.

I was able to listen to his Goddamned CD via Spotify. It didn't appeal to me as much as this CD.

Overall this is a wonderful album well worth a listen. His original works bookend the CD. His covers play well with his voice and maintain the heart of the song without changing the original artists' intent. I would recommend this album if you enjoy acoustic covers, Jay, or folk.

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I bought and reviewed GODDAMNED before I got this C.D. I like this effort far more. The covers are book marked by two of his own songs. "Beautifully" is about as good as Jay, the Songwriter, gets. "Drowning" is a maudlin number- save the line; "I can't believe the price that I've paid for this chemically induced, perceiveably ideal, take-it-with-a-glass-of-water day."

As for the covers, I can't decide if it was the lack of, or the wise execution of Jay's song interpretation skills that cause these covers to be sang as closely to their originals as they are. Regardless, the tact serves him well on most of the album.

What licence he does take is head scratchingly curious. His voice is in fine form on, "Blowin' in the wind," but, why did he choose to accompany himself with, what sounds to me, like Maraca's and a bouncing ping pog ball?

"Zombie" would have been better served with less emphasis spent on mimicing every grunt from the original artist. Otherwise, it is beautifully sang, and arranged.

Overall, I think Jay has found his formula. Cull a few good self-penned songs and put them in the mix with cover songs that mean something to him. Joni Mitchell and Jann Arden's covers simply shine. I can hear a full album cover of Joni Mitchell's, "Blue."

I look forward to the next release.

This was a really great CD. I really enjoyed Beautifully, Blowing in the Wind, and Both Hands. Freshman is normally one of my favorite songs, but probably the song I least liked on this CD. I thought that Jay's voice was a little overwhelmed in it. This CD was definitely worth a lot more than what I paid for it. I really love Jay Brannan's music and this CD was a great reminder of why I love his music.

I first noticed Jay Brannan in the movie Holding Trevor. His character Jake performed a song in the film. Although I thought the song was okay, I loved Jay's voice and decided to see if I could find any other music he recorded.

I quicky found Goddamned on Amazon and purched it right away. The songs on that album were so great I immediatley bought In Living Cover and was not disapointed. With the wxception of The Verve Pipe's Freshman, I had not heard any of the songs by the original artists so Jay's renditions have become my benchmark. Great CD.

Jay Brannan is an amazing artist, that produces brilliant music. His voice is so clean I've used his music to replace showering. This album of covers is hauntingly beautiful and everyone that I've played it for has purchased it for themselves immediately. The only thing that disappoints is the small amount of tracks. Thank the lord there's a repeat button.