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, June 3rd, 2012
Maxïmo Park covers The Go-Betweens
AmazonIt’s always amused me the amount of hand-wringing there seems to occur here in North America over the use of the word “independent” – or “indie”, as the kids say – as a musical adjective and/or genre while over in the UK, its been accepted as a legitimate descriptor for decades, even to the point of there existing compilation albums dedicated to celebrating its endurance. That was ostensibly the mandate of Independents Day: ID08, released in 2008 and featuring one disc of covers with current independent artists covering their forbears and a second featuring recommendations of up and coming acts by those same artists. Kind of a multi-generational group hug thing,
One of the participating artists was Newcastle’s Maxïmo Park, who chose to pay homage to one of Australia’s greatest pop bands in The Go-Betweens. They don’t mix it up too much, only goosing the tempo and tension to more Maxïmo-friendly levels and transferring Amanda Brown’s violin solo to synths, but the original is such a great tune that to try and tweak it too much would only result in a poorer version – I suspect the band knew this. Or they were just being lazy.
After a few years’ break, Maxïmo Park return with their fourth album The National Health next week. The Go-Betweens ceased being a band with the untimely death of singer-guitarist Grant McLennan just over six years ago. Co-founder Robert Forster continues on as a solo artist; his last solo record The Evangelist was released in 2008.
And if you were curious, the band that Maxïmo Park recommended on the second disc of the comp was Cougar.
MP3: Maxïmo Park – “Was There Anything I Could Do?”
Video: The Go-Betweens – “Was There Anything I Could Do?”
Sunday, May 27th, 2012
Beach House covers Queen
Red HotThere’s a lot of stock descriptors that are used to describe Beach House: dreamy, hazy, dreamy, gauzy, dreamy, etc. There aren’t, however, a lot of allusions to grandiose, stadium-sized classic rock. So that the band would opt to cover as grandiose, stadium-sized and classic rock a band as Queen is an interesting choice. Wisely, however, they didn’t go for the bigger end of the band’s catalog, but instead the sort-of title track from 1980’s The Game, which offers some stately and mid-tempo common ground between their relative styles. The recording was done for 2009’s indie-centric Red Hot benefit compilation Dark Was The Night, though it was only available a) via iTunes and b) when you purchased the album in its entirety, so those who went for a physical copy weren’t left with many options for hearing it. Hello internet!
Beach House have just released their fourth album in Bloom and its garnering arguably the best reviews of their career. Queen ended in 1991 with the death of Freddie Mercury, despite Brian May and Roger Taylor’s attempts to keep it going in various incarnations with guest vocalists (John Deacon wisely excused himself from these endeavours by retiring in 1997) and various extra-cirricular projects. A couple that have been in the news of late are the 10th anniversary of the Queen-themed musical We Will Rock You, which will apparently soon be featuring a disappointing-on-so-many-levels Freddie Mercury hologram, and the Queen Extravaganza tribute tour, which is produced by Roger Taylor and will be stopping in Toronto at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday night, May 29.
I would personally suggest ignoring all of that stuff, putting on Classic Queen and just enjoy one of the greatest rock bands ever. Or maybe watch the Freddie Mercury Google Doodle. Or watch the video for “The Game” and try to deal with the cognitive dissonance of hearing the distinctive tone of Brian May’s Red Special while watching him play a Stratocaster (though the “why” of it is explained here).
MP3: Beach House – “Play The Game”
Video: Queen – “Play The Game”
Sunday, May 20th, 2012
Allo Darlin’ cover Bruce Springsteen
Amazon.comThis week’s selection is more geographically topical than anything as while I’m not actually in New Jersey, but I did land there en route to Brooklyn, and if I were to trek down to the waterfront I could see the Garden State. Not Atlantic City, though, as that’s still a ways away.
And while I’m not here specifically for NYC Popfest, it’s a bit of fortuitous timing that will let me catch Allo Darlin’ in Littlefield in Brooklyn tonight in closing the festivities. They covered New Jersey’s favourite son – that’s Bruce Springsteen and not Jon Bon Jovi, just so we’re clear – as part of a 2009 tribute album entitled Play Some Pool – Skip Some School – Act Real Cool: A Global Pop Tribute To Bruce Springsteen. With an indiepop-skewed roster of artists, it may have sought to prove the Boss’ influence went beyond just folk singers and bar rockers and having not heard the whole thing I can’t comment on how well it did, but I think Allo Darlin’ did a good job of capturing the darker tones of “Atlantic City” while still sounding like them.
Tonight’s show marks the end of their North American tour in support of Europe – hopefully not the last leg as they didn’t make it up to Toronto this time around – and Springsteen will be embarking on the second leg of his tour behind Wrecking Ball later this Summer, hitting The Rogers Centre in Toronto on August 24. Maybe Allo Darlin’ can open?
MP3: Allo Darlin’ – “Atlantic City”
Video: Bruce Springsteen – “Atlantic City”
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
PS I Love You covers Rush
Paper Bag RecordsIn writing up PS I Love You’s new album Death Dreams earlier this month, I made reference to the record’s more overt prog-rock influence which had only been hinted at on their debut Meet Me At The Muster Station.
And while you might assume that growing up in southern Ontario that Toronto’s own Rush would have been a logical assumption as influence, that’s not the case. As Paul Saulnier told Rolling Stone, he hated the band – as many do – until his mid-teens and it was “Subdivisions”, from the band’s 1982 album Signals, that turned him around – now he’s a self-proclaimed, “mega Rush fan” – as many are. I don’t count myself among them, but those early ’80s Rush albums do hold a special place in my heart. For serious.
Their cover of the Damascene tune appeared on last year’s Figure It Out, a stop-gap compilation of singles and EPs released to satiate fans while they worked on Death Dreams, and while it doesn’t get as fret-shredding as you’d expect a tribute to Alex Lifeson by a player as accomplished as Saulnier might be, remember that he’s also gotta pretend to be Geddy Lee with his feet. Cut the guy some slack.
PS I Love You kick of their Spring tour in support of Death Dreams at The Garrison in Toronto on Tuesday. Rush release their millionth (approximately) album in Clockwork Angels on June 12 and play the Air Canada Centre on June 12.
MP3: PS I Love You – “Subdivisions”
Video: Rush – “Subdivisions”
Sunday, May 6th, 2012
Richard Hawley covers The Jesus & Mary Chain
Frank YangI’d actually decided on this song for this week’s selection a while ago – the fact that Richard Hawley’s new album Standing At The Sky’s Edge was coming out in the UK this week was more than enough excuse to dig out this track.
It dates back to 2006 when it appeared both as a b-side to the 7″ of “Hotel Room” taken from Cole’s Corner and as part of Q‘s Covered: Best of 86/06 CD compilation, which got artists doing stuff that year to reinterpret artists who were doing stuff two decades earlier and in this case, it meant The Jesus & Mary Chain – Hawley tackled the title track of the Some Candy Talking EP which came out in the Summer of 1986, not long after their 1985 debut Psychocandy.
The point being that it was on deck before the JAMC announced their first Toronto show in some fifteen years last week, making a date to play The Phoenix on August 3. But hey, double context – I’ll take it.
MP3: Richard Hawley – “Some Candy Talking”
Video: The Jesus & Mary Chain – “Some Candy Talking”
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