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.
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Sunday, January 17th, 2010
Dinosaur Jr covers The Flying Burrito Brothers
Rate Your MusicWhilst loitering in the vinyl section of Sonic Boom a couple weeks ago, I overheard a group of kids – I’m calling people clearly in their early 20s kids now – doing the same and upon reaching the “F” section, exclaim something along the lines of “Oh my god, there’s a band called The Flying Burrito Brothers! That’s hilarious!”. Yes, Virginia, there is and I had to wonder what they’re teaching in school these days that they didn’t know that the Burritos and their leader, Gram Parsons, would lay the template for the next forty years of (good) country rock.
And that would Include Dinosaur Jr and their self-described “ear-bleeding country”. The down-home influence might not be immediately detectable through the wall of fuzz, endless soloing and J Mascis’… distinctive vocals but it’s there – and Dino Jr’s cover of the Burritos’ “Hot Burrito No. 2” helps make that connection a little more evident. Released as the b-side of “Get Me”, circa Where You Been, the song itself is rendered pretty faithfully but is wholly done Dino Jr-style, particularly “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow’s fuzz solo in the outro. Especially the solo.
Dinosaur Jr are in town this Thursday night for a sold-out show at the Phoenix and Ottawa Express has an interview with Dino drummer Murph and The Toronto Star with Lou Barlow. Both the Burritos and Parson are long, long gone but their legacy is established and they continue to find new generations of fans – after the kid in Sonic Boom finished laughing at their name, he said “I have to hear these guys!”.
Update: And how about this for synchronicity – Dinosaur Jr will be playing an in-store at Sonic Boom – just meters away from that Flying Burrito Brothers LP – this Thursday night at 6:30PM. My head just exploded. Or will, shortly, from the sound pressure out of J’s amps. Excited!
MP3: Dinosaur Jr – “Hot Burrito No. 2”
Stream: Gram Parsons – “Hot Burrito No. 2” (live)
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
Spoon covers The Smiths
Frank YangHere’s a little bit of trivia that I’m sure is interesting/alarming to me and me only – I haven’t seen Spoon live in over four years. The last time was at the Phoenix, circa Gimme Fiction in November 2005 and while I think they’ve only been here once since – a Kool Haus show in October 2007 which I skipped for whatever reason – it’s still a bit of a surprise. I did have a Britt Daniel encounter at a Mexican restaurant in Austin during ACL (“Bloggers! What’s up!”) but didn’t actually see them play during the festival. Again, for whatever reason.
So I look forward to rectifying that this year, when the band presumably hits the road in support of their impending new album Transference. I expect/fear that they’re now big enough that their local date will be at somewhere as big/awful as the Sound Academy – certainly a far cry from seeing them back at the ‘Shoe in 2002 – but you can’t begrudge a band a success that’s as hard-won as theirs is. Grouse about it, sure, but no begrudging.
I don’t really recall if they busted out any covers the few times I saw them, but this recording from April 2008 in Norfolk, Virginia shows they’re certainly up for it on occasion – and while I wouldn’t have thought The Smiths to be an obvious pick for them, this scrappy re-do of one of the first Smiths songs I ever recall hearing certainly works for me.
Spoon’s Transference is out on January 12. The Smiths are still broken up. Morrissey is currently without a label or management. Johnny Marr is a member of The Cribs and will be in town with them at the Phoenix this Friday night.
MP3: Spoon – “Panic”
Video: The Smiths – “Panic”
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Final Fantasy covers John Cale
Frank YangLate last month, Owen Pallett announced that he was shedding the “Final Fantasy” moniker with which he’d won the inaugural Polaris Prize-winning He Poos Clouds and would be releasing its long-awaited follow-up, Heartland, under his own somewhat less exciting but infinitely less copyright-infringing name.
And so I hope I’m not getting anyone in trouble by posting this recording under his old stage name, but it does date back to 2007, when “Final Fantasy” still shone from marquees around the city (well the Tranzac and Harbourfront Centre, at least) and this John Cale cover was a fixture of his live sets though this version comes, I believe, from his CBC Fuse session with Cadence Weapon. It was also just last month that I got a copy of Cale’s Paris 1919 on LP, so the selection of Pallett’s cover of the title track seems a logical choice to start off this new year/decade. Though really, both original and reinterpretation are beautiful works that don’t need any excuse to show off and share.
Heartland is out next Tuesday and Pallett has a show at the Mod Club that evening – The Guardian talks to him about his new record and the name change decision. Cale continues to produce and record and in March of this year, will perform Paris 1919 in its entirety with The Heritage Orchestra at the Southbank Centre in London. Oh, that would be a thing to see.
MP3: Final Fantasy – “Paris 1919”
Video: John Cale – “Paris 1919” (live)
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
Frank YangSo I’ve been posting a cover a week for about seven years now, and that’s kind of neat and all, but I bow down before Mr. Bill Janovitz, erstwhile frontman of Buffalo Tom, who’s been engaged in a much more impressive weekly cover series at his blog “Part Time Man Of Rock” over the past year, where he’s been recording and posting a reinterpretation every week since last November.
Over the course of the past year and a bit, Janovitz has tackled The Replacements, Neil Young, The Clash, Radiohead and so many more, including the latest installment – a tribute recorded Christmas Day to Vic Chesnutt, who passed away earlier that day. All have been accompanied by thoughtful writeups, interpretive explanations, social commentary, biographical bits – the couple of weeks around the start of November wherein he dealt with the sudden death of a relative are particularly affecting – and oh yeah, great tunes.
There’s so much worthy stuff available on his site, both to read and to hear, that I think I could spend all of next year just reposting whatever he puts up and feel perfectly comfortable that the quality of what’s being shared hasn’t gone down a bit (and probably even up). I won’t, but here to close out 2009 is a (large) selection of stuff I’ve loved from Bill’s blog and note that you can quickly check out all the others. Share and enjoy.
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Little Mascara” (Replacements cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “The Campaigner” (Neil Young cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Straight To Hell” (The Clash cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “No Surprises” (Radiohead cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Rocket Man” (Elton John cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Man Out Of Time” (Elvis Costello cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Wendell Gee” (R.E.M. cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “American Girl” (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers cover)
MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Florida” (Vic Chesnutt cover)
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Manic Street Preachers cover Wham!
WikipediaIrving Berlin, Mel Torme, Vince Guaraldi… George Michael? Penning modern-day holiday standards isn’t easy, but I think it’s fair to put Mr. Michael in that esteemed company. Since being released as a single in 1984, Wham!‘s “Last Christmas” has become perhaps the most-covered Christmas song of the last 30 years, maybe longer. There already exists a website – last-christmas.com – dedicated to tracking the ever-increasing number of interpretations of said tune. 430 as of this writing, and that doesn’t include the Ohbijou version that was released last Friday (but does include the Montt Mardie version I linked to on Tuesday.
Also on the list is this track by Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield, recorded back in 1996 on the BBC program TFI Friday, and the video footage from the holiday special is pretty funny with Bradfield settled in at the bar, serenading pub patrons. The audio was released as a bonus/hidden track on the 2003 rarities and b-sides comp, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History.
The Manics released one of my favourite albums of the year in Journal For Plague Lovers. George Michael hasn’t released a new studio album in five years but did put out a live DVD in Live In London earlier this year. Andrew Ridgeley is still giving away copies of Son Of Albert as Christmas gifts.
MP3: Manic Street Preachers – “Last Christmas”
Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Last Christmas”
Video: Wham! – “Last Christmas”
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