The 22nd of geekiness.

Some days, I try to pick tracks I think work well together. Other times, I throw some songs on shuffle and let technology choose. Tonight, since TRIO is showing an episode of Pink Lady and Jeff in which Pink Lady sing and dance to "Ease on Down the Road" (and later do a duet of "Heaven Knows" with Donny Osmond!) and from which I can't turn away, I've been forced to choose the latter. Oh shit! Now Teddy Pendergrass is singing "Do Me." This is heaven.

Afghan Whigs "Creep" (TLC cover)
Greg Dulli is sexy, but this cover is ultimately predictable and just plain not very good. Basically it's the band badgering you with: "You'd never expect us to cover this, would you? Huh? Huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. We're so ironic and cool." Feh. It does remind me of the satin pajamas blowing in the wind in the original video though. Honestly, TLC, En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa really kept Victoria's Secret in business in the early/mid 1990s.

Paradise Lost "Smalltown Boy" (Bronski Beat cover)

I guess I'm supposed to be impressed that a band as "tough" as Paradise Lost (I mean, they're "doom metal," for chrissakes!) is really deep for covering this coming-out-of-the-closet anthem, thus replacing Jimmy Somerville's falsetto with a meatier, annoying Cult-meets-Creed vocal. But I'm not. C'mon, boys, Sisters of Mercy already exists—and they're good.

Sobaki Tabaka! "In Your Room" (Depeche Mode cover)

My non-scientific estimation of how many Depeche Mode tribute albums exist in the world is 17 million. My estimation of how many are worth a listen is approximately two, give or take a few. Now, I'm not saying that A Russian Tribute to Depeche Mode is one of those few, per se. I am, however, going out on a limb to say it's by far one of the more interesting—far more interesting than your average techno, synth, goth or darkwave DM tribute.

This bizarre track is downright filmic. Lynchian. First you're in a dream sequence prominently featuring lizards and midgets who prophesy your demise. Then you're fondling the breasts of an aging redneck waitress while dancing drunkenly on a tabletop of an all-night diner/bar. Then the evangelist bum played by Tom Waits begins preaching scripture in Russian. Then you're back in the blur of the dream, one midget assuring you it isn't really happening while the other assures the opposite and encourages you to begin a hunt for your ex-boyfriend's wallet chain, which will hold the key to breaking the mystery you've been trying to solve for years.

Or not.

See the band's alleged mission here.

And while we're talking about neither-bad-nor-good strangely intriguing covers:

Head on over to Japanese acapella beatboxer Dokaka's MP3 page. I recommend starting with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and continuing onto the others if you feel you've got the stomach for it.