Pitchfork

North Carolina band Annuals' "Brother" (Pitchfork's #89 track of 2006) and their Atlanta-based tourmates' Manchester Orchestra's "Where Have You Been" are both swelling anthems, songs of communal release. Except where "Brother" zooms in on little details of a sibling relationship-- hiking, playing with a dog, falling into a creek bed-- Manchester Orchestra's song takes a bigger-picture view. The two bands have covered these songs by each other for a limited-edition tour-only 7", and you can also hear them as free downloads starting... now.

Annuals' "Where Have You Been" takes the original's rock grandeur and replaces it with frenetic beats and lofty strings, in places stripping everything down to little more than acoustic guitar. It's a no less cathartic rendition that calls to mind the emotive, IDM-infused sounds of Minnesota's Cloud Cult. As frontman Adam Baker bellows the song's closing repetition, "God, where have you been?", the arrangement grows more tense, then lets up to end with two minutes of beats and bleeps. God is in the details, perhaps.

MP3:> Annuals: "Where Have You Been"

Manchester Orchestra's take on "Brother" brings Annuals' colossal Be He Me version into a more straightforward power-pop template. An acoustic guitar strums power chords over a galloping drum beat as singer/guitarist Andy Hull sings the nostalgic lyrics in an easygoing whisper. Occasionally the drums and bass cut out, highlighting Hull's fragile voice, going for intimacy where Annuals went for hugeness.

MP3:> Manchester Orchestra: "Brother"
[from a tour-only 7"; due 10/27/07 at shows]