Each week I'm posting a random or not-so-random cover song. Only the current week's track will be available but if you see a past one you'd like, contact me and we'll make arrangements.
If you are the copyright holder of the current track and wish it to be taken down please contact me to do so.
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover Pulp
WikipediaEgads, another week, another repeat. It’s turning into a regular clips episode around here. But again, I have good reason – because this week, Pulp and I will be meeting up in the year 2011 at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will be along for the ride. Okay, it’ll actually be Cave and company in their guise as Grinderman, but that kind of fits with this week’s selections.
I’ll direct you back to the December 2009 post where I went over the specifics of when and where these tracks came from, but the short version is that when asked to contribute some b-sides to the single for Pulp’s “Bad Cover Version”, Nick Cave actually submitted two – a gently swaying and sentimental version that was used as the b-side and a more raucous “pub rock” version that showed up on the deluxe reissue of Different Class. The former kind of fit the ballad-y mood of the Bad Seeds releases of the time, but the latter was loud and sloppy to a degree that sort of foreshadowed their excursions into raunch with Grinderman.
Pulp play the first of their reunion gigs on Friday night at Barcelona’s Parc Del Fòrum. Grinderman are up the night before. The third salvo of Nick Cave & The Bad Sees reissues came out last week.
MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Disco 2000”
MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Disco 2000” (Pub rock version)
Video: Pulp – “Disco 2000”
Sunday, May 15th, 2011
Friendly Fires cover Lykke Li
popwreckoningI try not to repeat myself too much with this feature, but sometimes it’s impossible not to. Like back in March 2009 when St. Alban’s Friendly Fires were coming to town on the back of their self-titled debut and opening up for White Lies, just a month a bit after Lykke Li herself had been through for the third or fourth in support of her own debut, Youth Novels.
Fast-forward a couple years and both acts are back with sophomore efforts that will only elevate their status’ even higher – Lykke Li released Wounded Rhymes back at the start of March and Friendly Fires’ Pala is due out next Tuesday. Further, both are coming to town in the coming weeks – Lyyke Li has a sold-out date at The Phoenix on May 22 and Friendly Fires are at that same venue on May 30. So you can see why I feel compelled to again bust out this cover that they did of her when they toured together back in 2008; synchronicity demands it. But in the interests of mixing it up just a bit, I’ve taken a different crop of the image of Friendly Fires hamming it up with Lykke Li and cut out a different member of the St. Alban’s trio. If and when I post it a third time, I’ll just Photoshop out Ed MacFarlane entirely.
Also curiously coincidental, when I posted this last time, I was all discombobulated trying to get my shit together to head down to Austin for SXSW. And this time, I am similarly unprepared to leave for Primavera in Barcelona this Saturday.
MP3: Friendly Fires – “I’m Good I’m Gone”
Video: Lykke Li – “I’m Good I’m Gone”
Sunday, May 8th, 2011
Ben Gibbard covers The Mountain Goats
Frank YangWhether fronting Death Cab For Cutie, moonlighting in The Postal Service or just spending some time as Ben Gibbard, Ben Gibbard has shown a willingness to bust out a cover or two and an sense of equal opportunity when it comes to doing so. Recordings abound of him playing hits and deep cuts, Top 40 pop tunes and underground obscurities; the man seems to operate on a pretty strict, “if I like it, I’ll play it” policy and that’s probably how it should be.
Circa his 2007 solo tours, between Death Cab’s 2005 major label debut Plans and their last record, 2008’s Narrow Stairs, one of the songs that made his “like” list was “Palmcorder Yajna”, from The Mountain Goats’ 2004 release We Shall All Be Healed, and so it was that the tune became a set list staple – and got John Darnielle’s approval – and surely introduced any number of Death Cab devotees to the wonder of The Mountain Goats. Though I would bet that many thought that he was playing a new Death Cab song, for such is the downside of the Ben Gibbard cover version; everything he sings sounds like Ben Gibbard.
Death Cab’s new record Codes & Keys is out in a few weeks – May 31 – and they have two local shows on their touring itinerary. An intimate and completely sold-out show next Thursday, May 18, at The Phoenix, and a big-ass date at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 29. The Mountain Goats were just here last month so I wouldn’t expect a return engagement anytime soon, though they will be at Osheaga in Montreal come late July, if you need a fix and don’t want to cross any borders.
MP3: Ben Gibbard – “Palmcorder Yajna” (live)
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Palmcorder Yajna”
Video: The Mountain Goats – “Palmcorder Yajna” (live)
Sunday, May 1st, 2011
Of Montreal cover Neil Young
AbsolutelyricsThough they started out as repping the twee-er than twee end of the Elephant 6 spectrum, Of Montreal have since made their name as purveyors of boundary-pushing, sexed-up psychedelic soul-pop of the sort whose only constant is being outrageous.
So it was a bit surprising that their contribution of an in-studio EP for Sony’s short-lived Connect online music store would strip down in the figurative sense rather than the literal (Of Montreal performances frequently end up clothing optional) for a short and sweet take on one of Neil Young’s sweetest and most nostalgic tunes. Kevin Barnes can be a romantic when he wants to; who knew?
Of Montreal have just released their thecontrollersphere EP as a follow-up to last year’s False Priest, and they’ll be at The Phoenix this Tuesday night, May 3. Neil Young brings his solo tour ostensibly for last year’s Le Noise to Massey Hall for two nights, May 10 and 11.
The Washington Examiner has an interview with Kevin Barnes.
MP3: Of Montreal – “Harvest Moon”
Video: Neil Young – “Harvest Moon”
Sunday, April 24th, 2011
Foals cover The Police
Frank YangOn a component level, Foals’ take on The Police’s non-single but still sort-of hit from 1979’s Regatta De Blanc doesn’t differ that much from the original. That keyboard-y bit overtop is new, certainly, but the bassline stays true to what Sting originally laid down and while thankfully de-chorused, the guitar parts are also pretty faithful.
But by making the drums double-time, their version gets a pretty solid kick in the ass and is essentially de-reggaefied and made all tense and post-punky; throw in Yannis Philippakis’ decidedly more anxious vocal delivery – he’s really not cool with the size of the bed – and things are pretty full-on Foals-y. This recording was made in a session for Zane Lowe’s BBC1 radio show in April of 2010; I am telling myself the abrupt stop is deliberate and not just a bad recording.
Foals are in town this Saturday, April 30, for a show at The Phoenix – their second in support of last year’s Total Life Forever following last September’s thrown-down at Lee’s Palace. Having done their cash in reunion in 2007 and 2008, The Police will probably remain broken up for the rest of time.
MP3: Foals – “The Bed’s Too Big Without You”
Video: The Police – “The Bed’s Too Big Without You”
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