Pitchfork

When not putting themselves in Arm's Way, Islands have been on the road-- if not in the stream-- sharing their inventive melodies and baroque-pop weirdness with you, the people. During a recent stop at the Daytrotter studio, Nick Thorburn/Diamonds and the rest of the Montreal-based group let a spirit of spontaneity guide them through a cover of Brian Eno instrumental "The Big Ship", a dramatic highlight from 1975's Another Green World. What Diamonds describes as an "off-the-cuff" cover is conceptually in keeping with Eno's production philosophy, with its healthy respect for the role of chance. On keyboards, strings, guitar, and sighing wordless vocals, Islands fill out the simple chord progression with their own spirited, occasionally off-kilter playing. It would've been almost impossible to improve upon the original, especially when it's been imitated so many times already, but Islands' loose rendition preserves enough of Eno's shimmering grandeur to serve as a fair tribute. Check out the band's full session to hear versions of songs from the forthcoming Arm's Way and 2006's Return to the Sea.

MP3/Stream:> Islands: "The Big Ship" (Brian Eno cover; Daytrotter Session)
[original track from Another Green World; out now on Astralwerks]