Honey, I'm home.

I've been feeling guilty for the infrequency of my posts due to my computer woes, so today I'm posting a million songs (six is almost a million, right?) in an attempt to redeem myself. And, shock of all shocks, I think I like most of these.

The Balanescu Quartet "Pocket Calculator" (Kraftwerk cover) 5.5MB
If you've spent any time at all hunting around on Soulseek (or whatever), you've undoubtedly come across one—if not 1,000—of the plethora of string quartet tribute albums that have sprung up in the past year or so. This trend's impetus appears to have been spurred on by Apocalyptica's surprising success covering Metallica songs in the mid-1990s. And while I respect the attempt in some cases, I just don't really think the world needs a classical version of Weezer's "Hash Pipe." (Seriously, if you wanna see how out of hand this trend has become, I have some proof. 311? Audioslave? Are you fucking kidding me?)

Anyhow, predating all of the aforementioned crap work was violinist/violist (and fellow Romanian) Alexander Balanescu's awesome tribute to Kraftwerk, Possessed. (Well, at least half of the songs are Kraftwerk songs.) Sure, the songs of Kraftwerk are easily more Baroque than those of Incubus or Slayer or whatever new string tribute currently in the works, but that doesn't mean that Balanescu didn't work hard to create these interesting, highly listenable covers. I love what he did, and I hope at least a few of you do as well.

Poole "No Matter What" (Badfinger cover) 2.8MB
This track comes from a spinART label sampler that was packaged with AP magazine (I think) a while back, which actually introduced me to the Apples in Stereo-esque band Poole. It sounds a hell of a lot like the original, to be sure, but it's infused just enough with that sunshiny pop goodness for which bands of this ilk are known that it seems new again.

Scarling "Creep" (Radiohead cover) 5.6MB
I can't tell right now whether I like this cover or not, but I do know that this band certainly must've gotten a healthy dose of Medicine.

The Beards "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence Dear" (Blondie cover) 4.9MB
When I found out (about 10 hours ago) that The Beards was a sort of side project band featuring Lisa and Sherri from Buck (And Lisa was in Cub too) and Kim from the Muffs, I was disappointed that I'd never heard of them before. I really like this cover. And I'd talk more about why if I weren't about to leave work. Really.

Tori Amos "Strange Fruit" (Billie Holiday cover) 3.9MB
Man, Tori can really scare songs up, can't she? Granted, a song about lynching is a song about lynching, but when I hear this version, I can really see the bodies swaying in a way that I don't when I hear the others.

Wilson Phillips "Doctor My Eyes" (Jackson Browne cover) 2.8MB
Forget the Pixies. Forget the Beastie Boys. This is the comeback you've been waiting for and you know it. Heh.