robert smith covers john martyn's 'small hours'

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After reuniting the classic Cure lineup for a pair of Australian festival shows and guesting on the latest album by The Japanese Popstars, Robert Smith has contributed a cover song to a new tribute album.

Johnny Boy Would Love This celebrates the late UK singer-songwriter John Martyn. Due for release August 16th, it features the likes of Beck, Beth Orton and Snow Patrol in addition to Robert Smith.

Smith's cover of "Small Hours" debuted today on BBC Radio 6 and was captured by the preeminent blog for fans of The Cure, Chain Of Flowers. Have a listen:


(via slicingupeyeballs)


Smith said of the song “I first heard ‘Small Hours’ on the John Peel Show late in 1977 and fell instantly in love with it... ‘One World' very quickly became my favourite John Martyn album... And these beautiful songs were, are and always will be an inspiration and an enchantment.”

To get a sense of why a young Robert Smith was so captivated, here's a 1978 performance of "Small Hours" by the man himself:

the cure 'reflections' setlist and live recordings

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Over on the other side of the world, The Cure have performed two "Reflections" shows at Sydney Opera House. Part of the Vivid Live Festival, curated by Modular's Steve Pavlovic, the performances on May 31 and June 1 featured The Cure running through first three albums Three Imaginary Boys, Faith and Seventeen Seconds in their entirety.

Estranged keyboardists Lol Tolhurst and Roger O'Donnell returned to the fold as Robert Smith and The Cure cranked out nearly 4-hour sets of the aforementioned albums and encores of other early material. See the full set list for the 5/31 show below, courtesy of slicingupeyeballs.

A few tracks have made it to youtube. Here's a look at "The Hanging Garden":




Youtube user jupiterattraction has uploaded a few audio-only tracks that merit inclusion as well. First is a rather distant recording of "Boys Don't Cry":




And here's a surprisingly clean take of "The Lovecats":




UPDATE:

A few more video clips have been uploaded that are definitely worth sharing — both also from the 5/31 show. First is "Primary":




And what's a Cure show without the Seventeen Seconds masterpiece "A Forest":




Both performances of The Cure "Reflections" were filmed for future DVD release, so look forward to that.


         5/31/11: 1st Set — Three Imaginary Boys

1. 10:15 Saturday Night
2. Accuracy
3. Grinding Halt
4. Another Day
5. Object
6. Subway Song
7. Foxy Lady
8. Meathook
9. So What
10. Fire In Cairo
11. It’s Not You
12. Three Imaginary Boys
    
    2nd Set — Seventeen Seconds
    
    
13. A Reflection
14. Play for Today
15. Secrets
16. In Your House
17. Forever
18. The Final Sound
19. A Forest
20. M
21. At Night
22. Seventeen Seconds
    
    3rd Set — Faith
     
23. The Holy Hour
24. Primary
25. Other Voices
26. All Cats Are Grey
27. The Funeral Party
28. Doubt
29. The Drowning Man
30. Faith
    
    1st Encore
     
31. World War
32. I’m Cold
33. Plastic Passion
34. Boy’s Don’t Cry
35. Killing An Arab
36. Jumping Someone Else’s Train
37. Another Journey By Train
    
    2nd Encore
     
38. Descent
39. Splintered in Her Head
40. Charlotte Sometimes
41. The Hanging Garden
    
    3rd Encore
     
42. Let’s Go to Bed
43. The Walk
44. The Lovecats

the cure to perform first three albums live

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Colossal news for fans of The Cure. May 31 and June 1 at Sydney Opera House, Robert Smith and many original members will perform Three Imaginary Boys, Faith and Seventeen Seconds in their entirety.

The performances are part of the Vivid Live Festival, which will also feature sets from Aussies Cut Copy and Tame Impala — plus Spiritualized playing Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. The festival, curated by Modular's Steve Pavlovic, will run from May 27 to June 5.

As for The Cure shows, estranged keyboardist Lol Tolhurst will return after 22 years to play along with Smith, bassist Simon Gallup, drummer Jason Cooper — and according to slicingupeyeballs, perhaps guitarist Porl Thompson and keyboardist Roger O'Donnell.

For those of us who can't afford a flight to Sydney, The Cure "Reflections" will be filmed for future DVD release. Until then, here are "10:15 Saturday Night," "Primary" and "A Forest" from the featured albums. Enjoy:

robert smith covers crystal castles

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Well, not exactly. Crystal Castles covered Platinum Blonde's "Not In Love" on the quite good Crystal Castles II. Now the Canadian duo have enlisted the great Robert Smith to lend his vocals to a new version of the track.

The single will be released via Fiction on December 6, but it's making the rounds today. It's certainly more electronic than anything The Cure has ever done, but Robert's plaintive voice just fits:




For reference, here's the album version with the heavily effected vocals of producer Ethan Kath:




And just for grins, here's the original source material. Ladies and gentlemen, Platinum Blonde:



Yes, that was real.

robert smith through the years

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Perhaps the most unifying band amongst old wavers is The Cure. Even if you think Depeche Mode are too wussy or you can't stand Morrissey's croon, you can get behind Robert Smith.

Hard to believe Disintegration has turned 20 years old, and The Cure have been at it since 1976.

Robert has thrown down some looks in that time - evolving from a fresh-faced post-punk kid to a fright-wigged crossdresser.














But no matter what he's wearing, Robert Smith has created some of the most timeless music of our era. Let's begin in 1979, with a French TV performance of "At Night", which would later become known as "A Forest":





Fast forward to 1982. Fresh off the release of Pornography, they're back in Paris for a TV performance of "The Hanging Garden":





Just a couple years later, in 1985, the goth has turned to pop on the Head On The Door tour featuring "In Between Days":





We'll end with Robert in his prime. It's 1990, Disintegration is at the top of the charts, and the Cure are full-on arena rock stars:




Now go home tonight and watch this: The Cure: Trilogy - Live In Berlin. You're welcome.