Arcade Fire NOT covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

"UPDATE: According to Arcade Fire's publicist, The New York Times incorrectly reported that the band is covering "Games Without Frontiers". The band is not covering that song. It is unclear if they are covering another Peter Gabriel song or not participating in the project at all."

Pitchfork: Arcade Fire NOT Covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

Arcade Fire covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

New York Times has an article up this morning about Peter Gabriel's song swap project where he first did a cover of Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cage" on his new album Scratch My Back. Now the turn has come for Arcade Fire to cover one of Mr. Gabriel's songs. And according that NY Times article Arcade Fire has been working on "Games Without Frontiers". I can't really say I'm all that familiar with the song so I've embedded it below as much for my own interest as anything else.

New York Times: Peter Gabriel Says, ‘I’ll Sing Yours, You Sing Mine’

First impression is that the song sounds like one which Arcade Fire could really make their own. So that's good.

"UPDATE: According to Arcade Fire's publicist, The New York Times incorrectly reported that the band is covering "Games Without Frontiers". The band is not covering that song. It is unclear if they are covering another Peter Gabriel song or not participating in the project at all."

Pitchfork: Arcade Fire NOT Covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

Scratch My Back bonus disc

Peter Gabriel will release a Special Edition of his Scratch My Back album that comes with a bonus disc. On it is an alternate version of My Body Is A Cage. Full tracklisting for the bonus disc as follows:

1. 'The Book of Love' (Remix)
2. 'My Body is a Cage' (Oxford London Temple Version)
3. 'Waterloo Sunset' (Oxford London Temple Version)
4. 'Heroes' (Wildbeest Mix)

Might be worth checking out if you like the album version he did.

It's also been confirmed that each month during 2010 a 'double A-side' will be released from the project on the iTunes Store. One song taken from Peter Gabriel's covers and the other a song from one of the artists covering a Peter Gabriel song (you remember this is a song swap project, right? I'll cover you, you'll cover me - that sort of thing). First out is Gabriel's cover of The Magnetic Fields 'The Book of Love', the flip side will be Stephin Merritt's (The Magnetic Fields) cover of 'Not One of Us'. I wonder which Peter Gabriel song Arcade Fire will cover.

Peter Gabriel - My Body Is A Cage

I have to say the song sounded to me much more promising from that preview. I can't find a way into this version. Maybe in time I will. Anyway, you can also stream it over at Stereogum and read a bit about what Peter Gabriel thinks about Arcade Fire and some other bits and pieces surrounding the Scratch My Back album.

Peter Gabriel covers Arcade Fire (Stereogum Premiere)

First taste of Peter Gabriel's cover of My Body Is A Cage

As I told you guys earlier Peter Gabriel has started up a song exchange project. What it basically comes down to is all the artists/bands he covers has agreed to do a cover of one of his songs, Arcade Fire included. Peter Gabriel decided to do an interpretation of My Body Is A Cage. In this clip you can hear him talk about what his thoughts on Arcade Fire are and most importantly a snippet of the song.

[MP3] Peter Gabriel - My Body Is A Cage preview (at the 10 min mark)

Epic sounding strings! The album "Scratch My Back" is out February 15th and can be pre-ordered via Womad Shop. Will be interesting to hear the full song.

Peter Gabriel to cover My Body Is A Cage

Peter Gabriel to release orchestral covers album

For his first LP in seven years, the former Genesis frontman will 'radically reinterpret' songs by Radiohead, Arcade Fire and Bon Iver

Sean Michaels
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 October 2009 11.59 GMT

Peter Gabriel is release an orchestral covers album, his first LP in seven years. Scratch My Back is a "song swap", according to one of Gabriel's collaborators, where the singer and a host of "extremely legendary artists" will cover each other's material.

Gabriel recorded the album at George Martin's Air Lyndhurst studios in London, working with Bob Ezrin, producer of Lou Reed's Berlin, Pink Floyd's The Wall and Gabriel's self-titled 1977 record. "The songs are not simply covers," composer John Metcalfe told BBC 6 Music. "They are major reinterpretations of some famous stuff. It's quite radical."

Metcalfe describes his role as "reinterpreting the music of the songs [Gabriel] has chosen to cover". "[It's] quite onerous, as some of the songs are among the best known in the last 40 years," he said. "The album will be acoustic, using only orchestral instruments (no guitars, drums or world instruments), and range in size from sparse chamber music to a much fuller orchestral sound."

Though Scratch My Back won't be released until spring 2010, fans had their first taste of the project at this summer's Womad festival, when Gabriel performed Paul Simon's The Boy in the Bubble with a string section. "There [is material from] some all-time great singer-songwriters and bands," Metcalfe said, "and then there are some bands that are very, very well known from the last 10 years, and one or two more recent bands and singers as well."

Scratch My Back has been described as a tit-for-tat affair, with Gabriel covering artists like Paul Simon and then, presumably, Paul Simon covering a Peter Gabriel song. But the logistics of this have not been confirmed, and it's not clear whether this means it will be a double album.

Fans on Peter Gabriel message-boards have pounced upon a Scratch My Back track-list posted by a Japanese distributor. While the page offers few details – and gives a bizarre release date of 18 November – it does list 13 track titles. Among these are songs by Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Lou Reed, Bon Iver, David Bowie, Neil Young and Elbow.

It seems a plausible track-list, at least for the project's first volley, but as to whether or not it's legitimate? John Metcalfe isn't saying. "I'm not allowed to say who [is included], just yet, but there are some very, very famous singers and bands involved," he said. "There should be something in there for everybody."

Alleged Scratch My Back track-list:

1. Heroes (David Bowie)

2. Street Spirit (Radiohead)

3. The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields)

4. Flume (Bon Iver)

5. My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire)

6. Listening Wind (Talking Heads)

7. I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman)

8. Après Moi (Regina Spektor or Eartha Kitt)

9. Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks)

10. The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon)

11. The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed)

12. Philadelphia (Neil Young)

13. Mirrorball (Elbow)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/28/peter-gabriel-orchestral-covers-album

Could at the very least be interesting to see how the man interprets these songs. Will ofcourse get back on this when I know more.