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, July 8th, 2012
Graham Coxon covers Mission Of Burma
WikipediaWhen you look at the breathless, “will they/won’t they/are they/aren’t they” drama surrounding the Blur reunion after the end of that initial round of touring in 2009, it’s hard not to wish they’d just stop the hand-wringing and get on with it; maybe take a cue from a far more improbable reunion than theirs – that of Boston’s Mission Of Burma – and just get on with it.
MOB’s career was initially cut short in 1983 by not by interpersonal strife or creative differences, but by guitarist Roger Miller’s debilitating tinnitus. This stalled their output at just a single EP and album, but both would prove to be hugely influential on the burgeoning American college rock scene and by extension, the British artists who drew inspiration from them. Blur guitarist Graham Coxon was one of these, as shown by the decidedly American slant of his solo records and the inclusion of this cover of MOB’s most-famous song on his second album, The Golden D, in 2002 (his eighth solo release A+E came out earlier this year).
But I digress. The point is that Miller got his tinnitus to a manageable state and Mission Of Burma returned in 2002, first with live shows and then four studio albums – the latest of which, Unsound, is out this week – that more than fulfilled the promise of their early works. Blur have proved that they can still turn out great tunes as their new single release earlier this week can attest; just record ten more, put out an album and everyone will leave you alone. Promise.
MP3: Graham Coxon – “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”
Stream: Mission Of Burma – “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”
Sunday, July 1st, 2012
!!! cover The Magnetic Fields
WarpNo question Stephin Merritt is a smart and fascinating guy, but I don’t know if he’s necessarily the kind of person you’d want to take psychoactive class A drugs with. Not that he makes much of a case for doing so on the original version of this tune from The Magnetic Fields’ 1994 album Holiday – I mean, the instrumentation is all fun and tinker toy-ish, but his trademark mono/baritone is about as euphoric as a dentist’s appointment. And those must have been in the director’s notes, because the version with Susan Anway on vox that appeared on last year’s Obscurities really wasn’t any chippier.
Sacramento dance-rock crew !!! rectified this somewhat on a 2005 12″ with “Take Ecstasy With Me” as the a-side and Nate Dogg’s “Get Up” on the reverse. It’s definitely dancier than the original and while it doesn’t get too mind-bendy, is a much more compelling invitation to and soundtrack for geting tripped out.
The Magnetic Fields made their return to synths earlier this year with Love At The Bottom Of The Sea. !!! are due out a new album – Strange Weather, Isn’t It is almost two years old now – but it won’t be out in time for their show at Lee’s Palace this Saturday night.
MP3: !!! – “Take Ecstasy With Me”
Stream: The Magnetic Fields – “Take Ecstasy With Me”
Sunday, June 24th, 2012
Crooked Fingers cover Guided By Voices
No More Fake LabelsOkay, this one would have been a lot more fitting last week, what with Eric Bachmann leading the reunited Archers Of Loaf into town last Saturday and the release of Guided By Voices’ second album of the reunion/year in Class Clown Spots A UFO last Tuesday, but that’s schedules for you, and I kind of think this one’s worth waiting for. It comes from Sing For Your Meat, a tribute to Dayton, Ohio’s finest released in Spring of last year and featuring a pretty solid lineup of GBV contemporaries (Elf Power, Kim Deal, The Flaming Lips) in addition to their followers (La Sera, Blitzen Trapper).
Having been fighting the good fight since 1991, Eric Bachmann should be counted firmly in the former group, even though the Crooked Fingers guise that he uses for his take on the Bee Thousand classic only came into use in 2000, when the classic/current GBV lineup was already a thing of the past. And while he’s not someone I’d ever thought, “man it’d be great to hear him do some Guided By Voices”, I think it sounds pretty great.
Crooked Fingers is largely taking a back seat to Archers right now, but an acoustic demos version of last year’s Breaks In The Armor was just released. Guided By Voices have a third album entitled Bears For Lunch ready to go for late Fall, probably seeing the light of day in November.
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Tractor Rape Chain”
Video: Guided By Voices – “Tractor Rape Chain” (live 2001)
Sunday, June 17th, 2012
Saint Etienne covers The Beach Boys
Discogs.comWithout actually bothering to check if it’s true, I would submit that The Beach Boys’ 1966 classic Pet Sounds is the most-covered album – taken as a whole – of all time. Or at least of all the albums I can think of right now. Certainly helping me reach that conclusion is that in addition to the countless takes on individual songs over the last 45 years, there’ve been at least two complete tribute albums in the past few – the contemporary, indie-centric Do It Again in 2006 and the even more contemporary and still indie-centric Mojo cover CD off this month’s issue.
Not that Mojo needs a particular excuse to celebrate vintage bands or albums, their justification this time is the Beach Boys’ 50th anniversary reunion and tour, with brings Brian Wilson back into the fold, and their new studio album That’s Why God Made The Radio, which came out a couple weeks ago. They’re in town this week, playing The Molson Amphitheatre on June 20.
The tribute album kicks off with a sleek and swinging take on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” by Saint Etienne, which is quite appropriate – Sarah Cracknell makes most anything sound nice. They themselves are celebrating a bit of a return with the release last month of Words & Music By Saint Etienne, their first long-player in seven years. The Sun, Londonist, and The Huffington Post have interviews with the band.
MP3: Saint Etienne – “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?”
Video: The Beach Boys – “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?”
Sunday, June 10th, 2012
The Flaming Lips cover Radiohead
FlamingLips.comWell this one was kind of a no-brainer.
This Saturday night sees maybe the biggest concertgoer-conflict in recent Toronto memory – yeah, I’d say even moreso than Iggy & The Stooges vs Pavement/Broken Social Scene back in 2010. In this corner – the corner of Sheppard and Keele, a ways out of the city core, to be precise – you’ve got Downsview Park hosting Radiohead’s first local show in some four years, and in the other – the so-called “heart of the city” in the smack dab of downtown – is Yonge-Dundas Square, with the NXNE mainstage hosting a free headlining show from The Flaming Lips.
Really, the two locales are too far apart for any real clash of Alternative Nation titans and besides, if you were leaning towards Radiohead, you’ve already committed since it’s plum sold out. BUT – if we were to get Thom and Wayne in the metaphorical octagon, this would make a pretty fitting soundtrack. It’s a 2003 b-side from The Lips’ Fight Test EP and turns arguably the only conventional rock song on Amnesiac into a creepy, Lips-y piano dirge. It was one a few covers to accompany the lead track from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – there were also Lips-y reinventions of songs by Beck and Kylie Minogue (along with a remix and a couple unreleased songs).
So back to the question of Radiohead v. Flaming Lips – what’s the correct play? Archers Of Loaf at The Phoenix, of course.
MP3: The Flaming Lips – “Knives Out”
Video: Radiohead – “Knives Out”
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