While, sure, indie rock eccentrics Deerhoof dropped the excellent La Isla Bonita last fall and have basically been on a tear for 20 years now, what have the group done for us lately? Well, it turns out the band have just offered up a peek at the creative process behind their last LP by unveiling a cover of Janet Jackson's early '90s hit, "What Have You Done for Me Lately"
As you'll hear down below, Deerhoof's tribute to the Rhythm Nation blips by with various vintage keyboard tones, drum circle stomps and the original's familiar R&B hook, here sung by drummer Greg Saunier. The demo recording was later fleshed out and reworked as La Isla Bonita's "Paradise Girls," but this nod is still something that would make Ms. Jackson and Jimmy Jam proud.
Speaking with Fader, Saunier noted some people haven't quite caught on to the pop nods on the band's latest platter.
"We've been in Europe now for two weeks and the question I'm getting asked more than any other is whether the title La Isla Bonita was not just a joke, and our claims of influence a fanciful publicity concoction," he said. "It's a good indication of how lost we can get in the process of making a record, and the gulf that can grow between journalists' and even our own fans' understanding of the music we make, and our own, that we assumed that our musical debt to Janet Jackson and Madonna was obvious on this album."
As you'll hear down below, Deerhoof's tribute to the Rhythm Nation blips by with various vintage keyboard tones, drum circle stomps and the original's familiar R&B hook, here sung by drummer Greg Saunier. The demo recording was later fleshed out and reworked as La Isla Bonita's "Paradise Girls," but this nod is still something that would make Ms. Jackson and Jimmy Jam proud.
Speaking with Fader, Saunier noted some people haven't quite caught on to the pop nods on the band's latest platter.
"We've been in Europe now for two weeks and the question I'm getting asked more than any other is whether the title La Isla Bonita was not just a joke, and our claims of influence a fanciful publicity concoction," he said. "It's a good indication of how lost we can get in the process of making a record, and the gulf that can grow between journalists' and even our own fans' understanding of the music we make, and our own, that we assumed that our musical debt to Janet Jackson and Madonna was obvious on this album."
