And the first sounds of that project are in. Jagjaguar just announced the release of a Bon Iver/Gabriel split 7″, which will include the latter’s cover of “Flume” (off Scratch My Back) and Justin Vernon’s take of “Come Talk to Me.”

The release will be a Jagjaguwar exclusive for this year’s Record Store Day (April 17), which means it will only be available at stores participating in the annual celebration of indie retailers. Keep track of those locations, as well as other Record Store Day news, here.

There is a certain heir of novelty attached to any covers project—be it Johnny Cash’s American series or anything record by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. The idea is to offer up a little something for everybody, to satisfy the diehard fans and rope in some new ones. While this concept is best used for Kidz Bop compilations, when an artist as internationally adored as Peter Gabriel announces an album of symphonic reinterpretations of popular recordings, he is owed the benefit of the doubt.

Scratch My Back, Gabriel’s first studio recording since 2002’s Up, is the first in a two-part song swap collaboration dreamed up by Gabriel and Bob Ezrin (who also produced Peter’s eponymous debut), on which Gabriel tackles orchestral and piano-only overhauls of music by artists like David Bowie, Neil Young, Lou Reed, The Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, and Radiohead. The yet-to-be-recorded second installment, appropriately titled I’ll Scratch Yours, will challenge the aforementioned to return the favor by covering material from Gabriel’s own extensive catalogue.

The concept is, at the very least, unique, and is as innovative as any project Gabriel has been attached to in his 40-plus years of making music, but with innovation comes risk. Absent here are the collaborative efforts of guitarist David Rhodes and bass player Tony Levin, whose nearly 30 years with the prog-rock pioneer have made them as much a part of the Peter Gabriel sound as the man himself. Instead, Gabriel has turned to composer John Metcalfe’s stark, emotional arrangements to provide the sonic glue for the record, which are beautiful, but often times too bold for covers of three-minute pop songs.

While the grandiose nature of the project aids the more baroque of numbers—as is the case with Elbow’s “Mirrorball” and Regina Spektor’s “Apres Moi “—Gabriel’s redux of The Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage” turns an already doom-laden piece of music into a full-on masochistic opus—and it’s gorgeous. Stripping the original track of its gated drums (Win Butler stole them from “Biko” anyway) and roaring pipe organ, Metcalfe utilizes the inherent complexities of an orchestral setup to add depth to the harrowing lament found on the original. The soft oboe and piano melodies give way to outbursts of strings, organs, and flutes that seem to be simultaneously working for and against one another, all while Gabriel’s authoritative voice whispers and howls in both ecstasy and grief. “My Body is a Cage” succeeds in this particular milieu because this manic-depressive motif is something Gabriel has incorporated into his work since 1994’s Us. At times, it feels as though he had a hand in writing the original version.

Other songs range from true-to-the-original nods (Randy Newman’s “I Think it’s Going to Rain Today”) to melodramatic makeovers (Paul Simon’s “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble”), but all share a Gabriel-branded authenticity that, for the most part, eases the listener through Scratch My Back’s minor blemishes.

Whereas Gabriel’s post-Genesis sound has largely been characterized by his world music-influenced production, fans of the artist outside of So megahits will note that many of the compositions on Scratch My Back actually feel right at home in his catalogue. Pete’s take on Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” and David Bowie’s “Heroes” for example, aren’t so aurally farfetched from OVO’s “Father, Son” and “The Time of the Turning.” And is “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” really so different from Up closer, “The Drop”?

Gabriel’s rendition of The Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love” has been floating around since 2004, first appearing in the Richard Gere romantic comedy, Shall We Dance. And, while many of Gabriel’s interpretations on this release are much darker and pensive than their source material, Gabriel’s “The Book of Love” adds a great deal of levity to the original (that line about some music being transcendental and some of it being really dumb never sounded so good). The track features sublime background vocals by Gabriel’s youngest daughter, Melanie, who has performed with her father on the road since 2003’s Growing Up tour. Aside from being the only guest vocalist on the record, Melanie is said to have introduced her father to the music of many of the newer artists covered on Scratch My Back, namely Bon Iver, whose “Flume” is given an uplifting piano and brass treatment here.

Initially, an album of orchestral covers may not sound like the logical next step for the 60-year-old art-rocker, but a look at Gabriel’s evolution as a performer clearly suggests otherwise. From costumed frontman to international pop sensation, film composer, and humanitarian, Gabriel’s creative contributions have influenced all of popular media and then some. Love it or hate it, Scratch My Back isn’t just the latest record from Peter Gabriel—it’s an open dialogue with a new generation’s musical community. Hell, if Roger Waters can pen operas based on the French Revolution, can’t Peter Gabriel have a sing-a-long?

Barford has kept Justin Vernon’s poignant verses intact, along with the gentle acoustic strumming off the original track, and even with the slightly trancey synths and oodles of handclaps, it’s still not a number you’d drop on the 2 a.m. dancefloor when the kids are coming up. The remix is better suited for a contemplative seven minutes on the couch, with the lights down low. Which is exactly the mood the original produced too.

Off the Radar is streaming the song right now.

In other Bon Iver news, “Flume,” also off Emma, appears on Peter Gabriel’s covers album, which is out next week. Listen to the version below.

Glaringly obvious oversights aplenty, P4K’s “Top 100 Tracks of 2009” is, if nothing else, predictable. The list features multiple entries from many of this year’s love ‘em or hate ‘em indie acts (e.g. Animal Collective, Phoenix, Dirty Projectors, Girls) while striking the usual balance with guilty-pleasure pop and mainstream hip-hop. Grain of salt recommended.

100 Darkstar – “Aidy’s Girl’s a Computer”
99 Julianna Barwick – “Bode”
98 Future of the Left – “Arming Eritrea”
97 The Smith Westerns – “Be My Girl”
96 Gucci Mane [Feat. Plies] – “Wasted”
95 The Thermals – “Now We Can See”
94 Best Coast – “Sun Was High (So Was I)”
93 Morrissey – “Something is Squeezing My Skull”
92 Cam’ron – “I Hate My Job”
91 HEALTH – “Die Slow”
90 The-Dream – “Rockin’ That Shit”
89 No Age – “You’re a Target”
88 Passion Pit – “Moth’s Wings”
87 Here We Go Magic – “Fangela”
86 Drake – “Best I Ever Had”
85 Wavves – “No Hope Kids”
84 Junior Boys – “Parallel Lines”
83 Lady Gaga – “Paparazzi”
82 DJ Kaos – “Love the Nite Away (Tiedye remix)”
81 Bowerbirds – “Northern Lights”
80 YACHT – “Psychic City (Voodoo City)”
79 Pictureplane – “Goth Star”
78 Charlotte Gainsbourg – “IRM”
77 Frida Hyvönen – “Jesus Was a Cross Maker”
76 The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”
75 Gold Panda – “Quitter’s Raga”
74 Neon Indian – “Should Have Taken Acid With You”
73 Woods – “Rain On”
72 Matt & Kim – “Daylight”
71 A Sunny Day in Glasgow – “Close Chorus”
70 Discovery – “Orange Shirt”
69 Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
68 Röyksopp [Feat. Robyn] – “The Girl and the Robot”
67 Arctic Monkeys – “Cornerstone”
66 Julian Casablancas – “11th Dimension”
65 The Tough Alliance – “A New Chance (The Juan MacLean Remix)”
64 Annie – “Songs Remind Me of You”
63 Real Estate – “Fake Blues”
62 Volcano Choir – “Island, IS”
61 Atlas Sound [Feat. Lætitia Sadier] – “Quick Canal”
60 Kurt Vile – “Freeway”
59 tUnE-yArDs – “Sunlight”
58 Fever Ray – “If I Had a Heart”
57 Sleigh Bells – “Crown on the Ground”
56 John Talabot – “Sunshine”
55 Bat For Lashes – “Glass”
54 Joker & Ginz – “Purple City”
53 The xx – “Islands”
52 St. Vincent – “Actor Out of Work”
51 Antony and the Johnsons – “Aeon”
50 Matias Aguayo – “Rollerskate”
49 Yo La Tengo – “Here to Fall”
48 Destroyer – “Bay of Pigs”
47 Yeah Yeah Yeahs -”Heads Will Roll”
46 Memory Tapes – “Bicycle”
45 The Flaming Lips [Feat. Karen O] – “Watching the Planets”
44 Jay-Z [Feat. Alicia Keys] – “Empire State of Mind”
43 Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
42 The Big Pink – “Velvet”
41 Major Lazer [Feat. Nina Sky and Ricky Blaze] – “Keep It Goin’ Louder”
40 Bear in Heaven – “Lovesick Teenagers”
39 Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
38 Dirty Projectors and David Byrne -”Knotty Pine”
37 Surfer Blood – “Swim”
36 Fever Ray – “When I Grow Up”
35 Micachu and the Shapes – “Golden Phone”
34 Atlas Sound [Feat. Noah Lennox] – “Walkabout”
33 DJ Quik and Kurupt – “9x’s Outta 10″
32 The Very Best [Feat. Ezra Koenig] – “Warm Heart of Africa”
31 Lily Allen – “The Fear”
30 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Young Adult Friction”
29 jj – “Ecstasy”
28 Neko Case – “This Tornado Loves You”
27 Four Tet – “Love Cry”
26 Bon Iver – “Blood Bank”
25 Cass McCombs – “You Saved My Life”
24 Basement Jaxx – “Raindrops”
23 Animal Collective – “Brother Sport”
22 Delorean – “Seasun”
21 Raekwon [Feat. Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, & Method Man] – “House of Flying Daggers”
20 Japandroids – “Young Hearts Spark Fire”
19 Joker – “Digidesgin”
18 The Big Pink – “Dominos”
17 Fuck Buttons – “Surf Solar”
16 The xx – “Crystalised”
15 Girls – “Hellhole Ratrace”
14 Joy Orbison – “Hyph Mngo”
13 Neon Indian – “Deadbeat Summer”
12 Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait for the Others”
11 Animal Collective – “What Would I Want? Sky”
10 Washed Out – “Feel It All Around”
09 Girls – “Lust for Life”
08 Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
07 Big Boi [Feat. Gucci Mane] – “Shine Blockas”
06 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero”
05 Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”
04 Bat For Lashes – “Daniel”
03 Phoenix – “1901″
02 Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is the Move”
01 Animal Collective – “My Girls”

Check it out for yourself at Pitchfork.

Photo Credit: Simon Appelblad

“The songs are not simply covers,” frequent collaborator John Metcalfe told BBC 6 Music. “They are quite major reinterpretations of some famous stuff.” Reinterpretations that will, reportedly, be performed chamber music-style, with an orchestra, and nary a guitar or drum to be found. “It’s quite radical and we’re hoping that people really get it and enjoy it,” Metcalfe says.

More details here.

The album is set for a yet-to-be named 2010 release date.

Scratch My Back
David Bowie – ”Heroes”
Radiohead – “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”
Bon Iver – “Flume”
Arcade Fire – “My Body is a Cage”
Talking Heads – “Listening Wind”
Randy Newman – “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”
Regina Spektor – “Après Moi”
The Kinks – “Waterloo Sunset”
Paul Simon – “The Boy in the Bubble”
Lou Reed – “The Power of the Heart”
Neil Young – “Philadelphia”
Elbow – “Mirrorball”

In the meantime, catch Gabriel, amongst many other music greats, in this cover of “All You Need is Love,” which was recorded in aid of this year’s BBC Children in Need appeal.

“All You Need is Love”