Ivor Cutler - A Life Outside the Sitting Room - Bruce Lindsay
Covering Ivor Cutler
Ivor Cutler - A Life Outside the Sitting Room - Bruce Lindsay
Bruce Lindsay [+]
Music Journalist and Social Historian
Description
In this chapter the focus is on reinterpretations of Ivor Cutler’s songs and poems. Because Ivor’s individual songs and poems are brief – many last for less than 60 seconds and a five-minute song or poem is a rarity – his dozen or so EPs and albums offer an extensive body of work for any artist hoping to put their own mark on this material. However, until Return to Y’Hup cover versions were relatively rare. Once again, Ivor’s idiosyncratic sound may act as a barrier for mainstream artists whose own sound lacks such originality. It’s notable that choreographers, theatre companies and animators have also “covered” Ivor’s work in their own ways: this chapter includes interviews with many artists from those fields whose work has been influenced by Ivor’s own, including the leading actors from The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler. One of his best-known songs, “Women of the World,” has found recent fame thanks to U2. An adaptation of another of his most popular numbers has been adopted in the cause of fried chicken.