Listen Up! is the(in)terns way of giving a song the isolated attention it deserves. It's the track that says stop what you're doing and slow dance, grind or head thrash immediately. Our first Listen Up! is from the incomparable Annie Clarke, otherwise known as St. Vincent. April 5th marked 20 years since Kurt Cobain's death. In memorandum, St. Vincent took on the ballsy task of covering Nirvana's Lithium at a show in Chicago. It's a far cry from the left-field, brassy pop of her latest self-titled effort, but she slays. The chorus is one that even Courtney Love would be pleased with. It's everything it should be: angst-driven, angry and anxious. Clarke sticks close to the original, taking the beast on head-first and wins. The recording is low-quality but it adds a certain lo-fi charm.
