Premiere: Of Montreal: "Jimmy" (M.I.A. / Parvati Khan cover)
It's great to hear an old song traveling the world years after its release, being made new again and again. As previously mentioned around these parts, M.I.A.'s Kala jam "Jimmy" is heavily based on Parvati Khan's "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja", from the 1982 movie Disco Dancer. Where M.I.A. made that song the foundation for a fast and furious example of her pan-global pop, Of Montreal now take the track even further from its subcontinental origins, refashioning "Jimmy" in electro-glam disco-pop drapery.
Wait a minute: Those opening "ahhhhhh" falsettos? That seductive, offbeat bass groove? Disco Dancer? In a twist a band as whimsical as Of Montreal may well have anticipated, it's surprisingly easy to imagine a young John "Lord Xenu" Travolta strutting his stuff to this track-- something you'd probably never say of M.I.A.'s (or Khan's) version. Of Montreal slow the pace some, and frontman Kevin Barnes replaces Maya Arulpragasam's echoey shouts with his own softly sighing, double-tracked vocals. Never a band to take themselves too seriously, Of Montreal still slip a muttered "motherfucker" toward the end of the track. What would Parvati Khan think?
MP3:> Of Montreal: "Jimmy"
[original track from Kala; due 8/21/07 on XL/Interscope]