Unireverse

The Unireverse are three Montreal cats who can be seen as the modern equivalent to Dick Hyman, Claude Denjean or any other old-school Moog-twiddling dude who did an album of cover versions back in the day. Of course, the Unireverse have a spiced-up, modern, bass-heavy sound comparable to, say, LCD Soundsystem, but their synths are all old and rickety, and the choice of covers is just that — choice. This, their third album, opens with a nearly ten-minute rendition of the Beatles’ "Tomorrow Never Knows” that burns down any speculation that these guys might suck or be more of a gimmick than a worthy project. The group also do originals, and those are quality tunes, too, but part of the Unireverse’s expert pastiche are those excellent covers — their version of Donna Summer’s "I Feel Love” lasts 14 minutes, the Red Crayola’s "Transparent Radiation” is 18 minutes, and for extra obscurity bonus points, they even cover Krautrock legends Brainticket’s "Brainticket.” The Unireverse’s Plays the Music is an entirely engrossing and elaborately constructed affair that could be little more than a gimmick, if it wasn’t so damned good.