Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Kraftwerk, of course, needs no introduction.

Hikashu may, a brilliant pop ensemble from Japan in the 1980s, they were mostly the band of choice for Japanese experimental musician and theatrical performer Makigami Koichi . You can see the band performing in its early glory days here; for a genuinely fascinating look at the New Wave scene in 1980s Japan, look no further than this post at the great Mutant Sounds blog.

Big Black is of course the first band of Steve Albini, who's star may have fallen slightly since he was producing for the Pixies and Nirvana, but still manages to be one of the name producers in so-called Indie music.

It is very hard, I think, to imagine in this day and age that three bands that were from such different scenes would do the same song, and having so much in common nonetheless in their versions. This wasn't always so; look at this WFMU post of 78 versions of "Popcorn".

Why? It's hard to say, but there's a real sense that these bands back in the early 80s were genuinely trying to spread a kind of solidarity, to create a sense of community with like minded individuals. In this day and age where every man woman and child can nod their heads to the very disappointing new MGMT album for free well before it drops, it's hard to remember that the people listening to Hikashu in Osaka and the kids listening to Big Black in Chicago would have had almost no way of hearing each other at all. More likely, one would just make a remix, which (given the similarities of the three recordings above) is maybe not so different after all. Just thoughts, not problems, so no solutions offered or needed.