Thursday, December 22, 2005

I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye.

O. M. G.

 

You people are total freaks! For every person that mocked the bulk of the "Last Christmas" covers I put up the other day, there were 10 others clamoring for more. I kept getting "do you have the such-and-such version???" e-mails. Well, here's another Whamful installment. Again, there are still more in my collection, but I really doubt I'll be hunting them out between now and the holiday, so get these while the getting's good. Let's all cross our fingers that my bandwidth holds up.

The Revolvers' track is my favorite here, despite the fact that I usually hate "punk" covers.

Wham's "Last Christmas" as covered by:
  • Airpanel feat. Karyn White Techno/Trance
  • Alexia "Oi Kambanes Htypoun (Greek)" Pop
  • Beatmas/Rubber Band Beatles
  • Busted Whiny Pop-Punk
  • Collage Freestyle
  • DJ Glowy and Snoopie Breakbeat
  • Fonda Indie Dream Pop
  • Julsanger Techno/Trance/Hi-NRG
  • KE4 "Last Christmas I Gave You Acid" Chilled-Out Electronic Mash-Up
  • Keisha Chante Urban R&B
  • Yuji Oda feat. Butch Walker J-Pop/Rock
  • Pas/Cal Indie Chamber Pop
  • Rap All-Stars Rap
  • Revolvers Powerpop-punk
  • Sarge Indie
  • Soulwax Alternative?
  • Yoko Watanabe J- Pop (from an opera singer, I believe)
  • Zecchino D'Oro "Questo Natale (Italian)" Kidz Bop d'Italia
  • Wednesday, December 21, 2005

    But it's not like Christmas at all.

    Aaahhhhh, freestyle*. How innocuous and fun you could be. Sometimes.

  • Brenda K Starr "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (Darlene Love/Phil Spector cover)

  • Sammy C "Little Drummer Boy" (comp. Katherine Davis/Henry Onorati/Harry Simeone)

  • Denine "Jingle Bell Rock" (comp. Joe Beal/Jim Boothe)

  • Miguel Reyes "Silent Night"

    *NOT RAP!
  • Tuesday, December 20, 2005

    Come and behold.

  • Halfby "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
  • Tatsuki Hashimoto "Jingle Bells"
  • Toshi Akigoto "The Christmas Song"
    These three tracks are from a 2003 Japanese bossanova album called Christmas Wonderland, which I surprisingly really like.

  • Hybrid Kids (Morgan Fisher) "O, Come All Ye Faithful"
    I know I just posted a Hybrid Kids track a few entries back, but I find myself trapped like a deer in headlights when I hear Morgan Fisher's covers. This one sounds like the soundtrack to a nightmare in which I'm trapped in a mechanical Christmas funhouse running away from an army of demonic robotic elves. Demonic robotic elves singing about adoring the Christ child, that is, which is even more frightening.

  • The SmashUp "Coventry Carol"
    This just plain cracks me up, and the sad thing is that I can't tell whether my joy is ironic or not.

    "Dude, are you being sarcastic?"
    "I don't even know anymore."

  • Banaroo "Bling Bling Here, Bling Bling There (Jingle Bells)"
    Oh my. Um. Yeah. Let's make a New Year's Resolution today: No more Aquaesque/Vengaboysian German teen pop acts. "Bling bling in the air," indeed.
  • Monday, December 19, 2005

    Careful what you wish for!

    So, a few people have e-mailed or commented that they want Christmas covers. Admittedly, I was quite gung-ho about Christmas covers last December. This year, I just haven't been feeling the same holiday energy. (Seasonal Affective Disorder, anyone?) But far be it for me to deny the masses what they crave. Of course, asking me for ANY covers will run you the risk that I you will hate most of what I post, but you knew that already, I hope.



    Wham's "Last Christmas" as covered by:
  • Asmodi Bizarr
  • Atomic Kitten
  • Crazy Frog
    There are things even I can't believe have gained popularity anywhere ever, and Crazy Frog is certainly one of them.
  • Dexter Freebish
  • Erlend Oye
    The best of the lot, by far.
  • Hawk Nelson
  • Hilary Duff
  • Human Nature
  • Jamelia
  • Noorkuu
  • Physical Motion
  • Raphael "La Ultima Navidad" (That means it's in Spanish!)
  • Rod Dodd and V/Vm
  • Roses are Red
  • Vasco and Millboy feat. Thomas B.

    Note: This is representative of only about a quarter of the "Last Christmas" covers I have.
  • Wednesday, December 14, 2005

    Secret, secret, I've got a secret.

    Hey, kids. Just a heads-up that The Monolators have a cover of Eartha Kitt's "Cha Cha Heels" on their main page and a slew of other bizarre covers on their Audio page. Check it out, yo.

    Tuesday, December 13, 2005

    Unlike the others, I'll do anything. I'm not afraid. I have no shame.

    Themes are cool and all, but I must admit today's selection brought to you by my shuffle play.

  • Wisecracker "When the Rain Begins to Fall" (Jermaine Jackson & Pia Zadora cover)
    There are some covers that don't even have to come close to being good for me to love them. Usually these are covers of songs that are my longtime guiltiest pleasures and I get so excited that ANYONE has covered them that I blind myself into actually loving the cover versions. And, with that said, please allow me to introduce you to this completely awesome German ska cover of this, um, classic by a band who describes their sound as "Madness meets Iron Maiden." Uh, yeah.

  • The Meat Purveyors "The Madonna Trilogy (Like a Virgin/Lucky Star/Burning Up)" (Madonna covers)
    Nothing wrong with a little toe-tapping alt.country Madge style, says I.

  • Halifax "Straight Up" (Paula Abdul cover)
    There's no good defense for someone my age actually watching the horror that was The Real World: Austin, but I did. Ugh. Worst season ever. But it did warm my heart to see holier-than-thou Lacey badmouth Halifax only to wind up wearing a Halifax hoodie a few episodes later. Nothing quite like an indie elitist coming to terms with the fact that it's easier to accept emo punk than fight it. 'Cause nothing's sadder than wasting your time beleaguering the necessity for emo punk when you could be badmouthing your drunken whore roommates.

    If you like this track, there's a surprisingly Hot Topic-esque shirt over at Threadless this week you should get to warn everyone how angry-yet-sensitive you are. Click pic below to check it out:

    Threadless.com Product - Emo Bear

    Blah, blah, blah, I think teenagers who think they're "punk" are lame. Blah, blah, blah, emo sucks. Blah, blah, blah, I'm going to go buy a Gang of Four record and prove how cool I am. Whatever. Boys wearing eyeliner are sexy and this song holds a special place in my heart because the first time I ever got totally plastered, this song was popular and my best friend Julie tried to make me sing it the entire ride home in the hopes that it would make me sober up. It was an admirable goal, really, but one that failed miserably.

  • Dick Rivers "Ces Mots Qu'On Oublie Un Jour (The Things We Said Today)" (Beatles cover in French)
    Kind of sounds like a French Elvis album playing at the wrong speed. Also reminds me of Edwyn Collins "A Girl Like You," again at the wrong speed.

  • Grope "Army of Me" (Bjork cover)
    something tells me that this is less a cover of Bjork and more a cover of Helmet covering Bjork, which is one of my least favorite types of covers ever.
  • Tuesday, December 06, 2005

    Put him in the scuppers with a hosepipe on him.

    I started commenting on these tracks last night and thought I might get a chance to finish today, but it's been so long since I posted that I thought I should just go ahead and leave some with paltry information and insights. Basically, these are a handful of experimental/electronic tracks—some more avant-garde than others, some simply electroclash, some just using one or two effects here and there. All potentially insane.

    [The Threadless sale ends Thursday, just so you know. They just printed a few new shirts in addition to reprinting a few, one of which I'd peen pining for for ages! Yay!]


  • Fifty Foot Hose "God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday cover)
    This band from the psych era would actually pretty mainstream and jazz-folky if it weren't for the bizarre electronic noises they chose to throw in over the vocals. Ah, the experimentation of the '60s!

  • Claude Denjean & the Moog Synthesizer "Big Yellow Taxi" (Joni Mitchell cover)
    Wow. It was definitely difficult to narrow it down to one track by this Moog pioneer, but this track definitely makes me the happiest. In fact, I played this for my friends Ray and Eric a week or so ago and we giggled throughout the whole thing. Reminds me of a Casio demo track. Or the soundtrack to my nightmares involving clowns. "Oooooh ... chop, chop, chop!"

  • Elektric Music "Baby Come Back" (The Equals cover)
    Hmm. So this guy once played with Kraftwerk and Electronic, huh? I'd expect this to be far more palatable than it is. Still, it's nice to be reminded of pre-"Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant.

  • Cylob "Drunken Sailor" (Traditional)
    Um. Okay.

  • Fragments "Nutbush City Limits" (Ike & Tina Turner cover)
    I can't find out anything about Fragments except they had a few 7-inches in 1980. Anyone know anything else?

  • The Droyds "Take Me I'm Yours" (Squeeze cover)
  • The Droyds "Take Me I'm Yours (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)" (Squeeze cover)
    I think I like the remix better, if for no other reason than the "I come across my camel" line makes me giggle.

  • Hybrid Kids (Morgan Fisher) "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" (Righteous Brothers cover)
    If I saw this at an open-mic poetry night, I'd be intrigued. For a minute. Then annoyed. Not unlike Blixa Bargeld reading hardware catalogs.

  • Brad Walsh feat. Kathy C. "100 Percent Pure Love" (Crystal Waters cover)
    I heart Brad Walsh. Visit his music page for some remixes as well as his cover of Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts," which I'm certain I posted or linked to a while back.

  • Ladytron "Oops, Oh My" (Tweet cover)
    I love masturbation jams, so I'm all about this.

  • Attic Plant "Sexx Laws" (Beck cover)
    Again, I don't know anything about Attic Plant, nor can I find any proof that they exist except for the fact that this track somehow wound up in my shuffle play.
  • Thursday, December 01, 2005

    Happy December.

    I've been sick, hence the lack of posts. Perhaps I'll find the energy tonight.

    Until then, David F has a handful of Seu Jorge Bowie covers up.

    Tuesday, November 29, 2005

    Can you tell I'm slightly addicted?

    Threadless has reprinted/added a handful of shirts and the sale's still going on, so...

    Saturday, November 26, 2005

    Thank you for the music.

    I meant to post this entry on Thanksgiving, but I'm not surprised I'm two days behind. Simply put, much like Depeche Mode or Black Sabbath or David Bowie and the like, Abba simply has a million tribute albums dedicated to them and have influenced artists of nearly every genre. As I've stated before here and here, this could become an all-Abba cover blog and I could post multiple tracks a day for decades and still not repeat any tracks. Therefore, assembling the following list involved heading deep into my discs and giving up when I couldn't find what I wanted and trying to find them *cough* elsewhere. I've had Abba on the brain since catching their 30th anniversary documentary on Ovation the other day and realizing how fantastically talented they were, which, really, I knew long ago. And because I've been listing to Madonna's "Hung Up" on a loop for weeks, which I'm pretty sure now is more for the "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" sample than anything else.

    Anyhow, I've finally managed to escape from days of foraging for Abba covers (falling into the A-Hole?) and I bring the following nuts and berries your way. Thanks to Abba for a cornucopia of hits and thanks to all of you for paying attention to my obsessions. I really appreciate the fact that I have an audience at all, let alone such a friendly, knowledgeable and supportive one. You guys rule.


  • Any Trouble "The Name of the Game" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Live old-school Elvis Costello

  • Five Iron Frenzy "Mamma Mia" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Reel Big Fish, Hot Topic, "Stacy's Mom"

  • The Nils Landgren Funk Unit "Voulez-Vous" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Rufus, Swedish trombonists (Landgren performed on many of Abba's originals, "Voulez-Vous" included.)

  • Arno "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Paolo Conte, Tom Waits

  • Steven Wilson "The Day Before You Came" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Porcupine Tree, Hermann Dune, the Travis version of "...Baby, One More Time"

  • Erasure "Take a Chance (On Me)" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Um, Erasure and really lame, out of place "reggae" bridges

  • Eldissa "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: the Eldissa track I posted in the last entry

  • Redd Kross "Dancing Queen" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: The Runaways, '70s glam rock

  • Gabba "S.O.S." (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Beatallica-style hybrids, Ramones, .5.6.7.8's

  • Bananarama "Waterloo" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Over-produced pap

  • Wing "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Miss Piggy, B.J. Snowden, seizures

  • Information Society "Lay All Your Love on Me" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Living in a Box, Sa-Fire

  • Queen of Japan "The Winner Takes it All" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Stereo Total, Ladytron

  • Gore Gore Gays "Tal y Como Es (Does Your Mother Know?)" (Spanish Abba cover)
    RIYL: Billy Idol, Pansy Division, Doo-Wop (I'd be interested to find out from Spanish speakers if the Spanish lyrics even come close to the meaning of the original.)

  • Metalium "Thank you for the Music" (Abba cover)
    RIYL: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stryper
  • Wednesday, November 23, 2005

    This is what we'll do.

  • Eldissa "Go West" (Village People cover)
    Um. I'm not big on lounge-y Caribbean-sounding bossa-nova, really, but I am in-fucking-love with Eldissa's What a Difference, which is billed as "classic music from the disco era reworked as bossa nova and acoustic lounge." This one is the most insanely delectable to me. I'll include another in the Thanksgiving post I'm working on for tomorrow.
  • Tuesday, November 22, 2005

    Oh, no. Not me. I never lost control.

  • CJ Sleez "Cool Rider" (from Grease 2)
    This is sort of how I always imagined this song should sound. I totally believe that Canadian hard-rocker CJ Sleez really wants a cool rider. Michelle Pfeiffer? Not so much.

  • Des de Moor and Russell Churney "The Man Who Sold the World" (David Bowie cover)
    Thanks to one of my favorite SoulSeekers who recommended the Darkness and Disgrace album of Bowie covers to me. I'm a fan of acts that convincingly pull off cabaret covers without making them overwrought.

  • Suicide "96 Tears" (? and the Mysterians cover)
    The most recent (here in the States anyhow) issue of Wire magazine features a cover story on covers focusing on those that were somehow made greater or changed significantly by those doing the covering. Frankly, a lot of stuff mentioned seemed to be esoteric for esotericism's sake, but what can you expect from UK music critics? They know a lot of stuff and why not prove it from time to time. Anyhow, reading the article did serve to remind me of a few things I've been meaning to post (such as this track) and introduced me to a few things I'd not heard previously, so check it out if you can.

    Unrelated: The Threadless $10 Holiday Sale is still going on. They're out of a lot of shirts, but a few new shirts were printed this week.
  • Thursday, November 17, 2005

    If we could start anew, I wouldn't hesitate.

    I've been really disappointed lately with many of the hyped tribute/cover albums geared specifically toward the indie crowd. The soundtrack to the video game Stubbs the Zombie is no exception. Death Cab For Cutie's "Earth Angel" is like nails on a chalkboard to me, although I don't particularly have anything against DCFC most days. Ben Kweller's cutesy "Lollipop" makes me want to punch him. I'm not sure why. And don't get me started on the Dandy Warhols' godawful "All I Have to Do is Dream." Owning lots of guitar pedals is not reason enough to use them. Die, all of you! Heh. These violent reactions may be a result of the requisite emo/indie backlash we all get once in a while, or it may be that the songs actually suck. It's so hard for me to tell in these heady days of irony. Anyhow, here are a few that don't necessarily make me want to shove pencils in my ears. I guess.

  • Rogue Wave "Everyday" (Buddy Holly cover)
    Here's yet another song that uses the adjective everyday when it really needs to use adjective/noun combo every day. I know it's rock, people, but come on! The intro to this reminds me of "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" by the Wonderstuff. And Pat Spurgeon is a a great drummer (though I'm not sure this track is the best example of it since it's so subdued) and is a really nice guy. Here's a dark, blurry picture I took of him last weekend playing with Antenna:



  • Oranger "Mr. Sandman" (comp. Pat Ballard)
    Though my predilection toward acts heavily influenced by the Beach Boys has dwindled since the mid-'90s, I do tend to enjoy it when an Oranger track hits my iPod's shuffle once in a while.

  • Clem Snide "Tears on my Pillow" (Little Anthony & the Imperials cover)
    Hmm. Clem Snide has taken a step away from alt.country and immersed themselves in indie pop, eh? Good for them. I believe I once read a review in which the singer's voice was described as "Muppety." I like Muppets.
  • Tuesday, November 15, 2005

    It's that time again.

    Not music related except that all the cool kids at concerts wear 'em: The Threadless $10 Holiday Sale is upon us. I love dressing my friends in Threadless tees, so I just thought I'd mention it. I'll post actual songs later today.

    Monday, November 14, 2005

    I know what you think and what's in your mind.

    I meant to post these before I left for the Musical Family Tree Fest last week—which was awesome and nostalgia-riffic, by the way—but I couldn't remember which server they were on and I had mistyped the track names and whatnot. Heh. I suck. Anyhow, the following tracks are actually submissions sent to me via readers of the site who have their own bands/projects. This happens quite frequently, but I'm usually quite afraid of the results. Not so in this case.

  • Luxxury "I Know There's Something Going On" (Frida cover)
    This is my new favorite new-wavey cover, sent by Baron Von Luxxury. I sang this song at a karaoke bar a few months ago, and no one in the audience who wasn't part of my group seemed to have any idea what it was. But I'm a long-time Abba fan (Super Trouper was one of the first non-kiddie LPs I bought for myself as a child), and Frida rocks my world. And this version is the fucking jam. Seriously.

  • Mr. Hopkinson's Computer Sings "Where is My Mind" (Pixies cover)
    Mr. Hopkinson, how I love you. You always comment and teach me about new things. And now that I know that in performances "you" are just a TV on a stick, I'm even more happy to have you around.
  • Saturday, November 05, 2005

    Listen, listen, she's calling to you...

    I always thought the "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" snowglobe scene of Mary Poppins seemed really dark and out of place in the film. I'm glad to hear that some people decide to cover it at all and, especially, that it retains both its whimsy and its creepiness when they do.

    Friday, November 04, 2005

    Tell me how long before the right one.

    Too busy to comment, really, but I genuinely like both of these.

  • Saeta "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" (Smiths cover)

  • Popguns "Can't Ignore the Train" (10,000 Maniacs cover)
  • Thursday, November 03, 2005

    Nothing really matters, anyone can see.

    Man, I've been wanting to post for the past few days and time just kept on slipping slipping slipping into the future. And then earlier today, Blogger was freaking out on me. Anyhoooo...

    First, I wanted to say that I'm glad at least a few of you enjoyed the Rose Murphy tracks from the previous entry and I wanted to give you all a non-cover of hers to enjoy: "Busy Line". It's my favorite.

  • TRS-80 "Everyday is Halloween" (Ministry cover)
    I meant to post this on Halloween, of course. My favorite Ministry story is from my senior year of high school. One day my mom came home from a trip to Southlake Mall and told me she had a surprise for me and handed me a TicketMaster envelope. Within were two tickets to the Ministry/KMFDM show that was to take place at the holiday Star Plaza—a venue that usually featured Englebert Humperdinck and Jeff Foxworthy, but that would from time to time have some more modern acts. But even those modern acts were slightly more mainstream. That this concert, replete with a cage built around the stage that people were climbing and stage diving from, despite threats not to do so, was at this venue was weird. Weirder still was the fact that my mother was aware of the names of any industrial/synth bands I liked, let alone that she would spontaneously buy tickets for me. I remember there were two little 10-year-old girls behind us who were so out of place and clamoring for this track, which they never played because they were too awesome to please the people who only knew that song. Don't get me wrong, I did relate to the song and dance to it at Jubilation, Off the Alley or Medusa's, but it annoyed me that it became so popular. It also annoyed me that "everyday" was one word instead of two, as it's not being used as an adjective, but I digress.

    Hmm. Since I'm in a rambling mood and most people don't read what I write anyhow, I will now list all of the shows I remember seeing at the Holiday Star Plaza:

    Beatlemania, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!, Merle Haggard (during the intermission of which an 8-year-old Liza got to see an old woman pass out and vomit all over herself), the Pointer Sisters (my mom won tickets or something and I fell asleep), New Edition (first concert I attended without a parent in the audience with me), Poison (after which my friends and I got threatened by stoners at Arby's), Duran Duran (the 1989 incarnation), Ministry/KMFDM. I think that's it.

  • Ebn Ozn "Rockin' Robin" (comp. Jimmy Thomas)
    I remember kind of liking Ebn Ozn's one hit, "A E I O U and Sometimes Y" (and bought the LP it's on for 49 cents last week), but this is torture. The kind of torture that amuses me, of course.

  • Lush "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (Middle of the Road cover)
    While we're on the subject of iffy cover songs referencing birds, may I present this, um, gem. Seriously, I can't tell what I think of this song. I was completely unfamiliar with the original and the other subsequent covers of it, and I'm surprised at how ridiculous songs can be and yet still hit the charts. This track, as well as those directly below, come from the 1990 album Alvin Lives In Leeds: Anti Poll Tax Trax, and I have to say my opinion of all of them tends to sway depending on my varying levels of inebriation. But I guess that would be true of every track I post.

  • Cud "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen cover)
    Hey, experts: This is kinda grebo, right? At first it annoyed me, but now it reminds me of Maxi Geil! & Playcolt and other arty bands, and that turns me on a little bit.

  • 14 Iced Bears "Summer Nights" (From Grease)
    Better than the version I posted the other day at least. If apathetic shoegazey psychedelic Britpop boys whining is your thing, anyhow.

    Okay, I gotta go listen to the new K-Fed jam again. Now that's good music!!!
  • Monday, October 31, 2005

    You took the part that once was my heart.

    I meant to post these the other day in celebration of my best pal Ryan's birthday, since he's the one who hipped me to the jazz-vocal stylings of Rose Murphy. I'm not the biggest fan of jazz vocals, but hers are so quirky and cute and she makes strange noises and throws "chee chee" into everything and it makes me happy. Just like Ryan does.

  • Rose Murphy "Button Up Your Overcoat" (comp. Lew Brown/Buddy DeSylva/Ray Henderson)

  • Rose Murphy feat. Slam Stewart "All of Me" (comp. Gerald Marks/Seymour Simons)
  • Wednesday, October 26, 2005

    People might say that I should strive for more, but I'm so happy I don't see the point.

  • T42 "Heartbreak Hotel" (Elvis Presley cover)
    This is one of those rare tracks that I download, don't listen to right away and forget about completely. Then one day, it hits my shuffle play while I'm reading a magazine and I think, "What's this? Is it on that Anything Box album I downloaded a while back? It must be, because it doesn't sound like a cover." But no. Closer inspection (you can inspect things with your ears, right?) leads me to find it is in fact a cover. One that's so gloriously odd and amusing and dead-on in terms of achieving whatever it wants to achieve that I'm able to ignore any mediocrity within and revel in its mission. Especially when I learned that this dedicated synth duo was from Dallas, of all places. (And should not be confused with the Luxembourgian act of the same name. Hmm. Luxembourgian. Now there's a word I don't use very often.) I love that so many late-'80s synthpop acts I thought were European—e.g. Information Society, Anything Box, Cause & Effect, Book of Love [See Below]—weren't European in the least. What I also enjoy about this track is that it reminds me of a cover band named Situation Grey that was popular when I was in college. I hated Situation Grey with a passion, most likely, in retrospect, because I was in that requisite alt.grrrl anti-cover-band phase and jealous that they were so damned popular and were able to get good-paying gigs at frat parties and whatnot. Members of Situation Grey went onto to join/form bands I didn't hate, which also irked me. I'm over it now. Totally.

  • I Am the World Trade Center "Going Underground" (The Jam cover)
    I had this whole spiel planned about how I think I missed my calling by not becoming an anorectic (I'd have to have a years-long bout of at least bulimia to get into cute little vintage dresses and the like) hipster who learned to play keyboards so I could monotonously, apathetically and somewhat off-key "sing" in an emo-synth band. Then I learned that the chick in this band is in remission from Hodgkin'’s Lymphoma and it didn't seem appropriate. Yeah.

  • Hi-Skool "Summer Nights" (from Grease)
    For those who found Aqua's work to be a little too deep and melodic, have I got the track for you! This actually hit the charts a few years ago for a few weeks in Belgium, birthplace of the Smurfs. So no real surprises there.

  • Book of Love "Tubular Bells (Remix)" (Mike Oldfield cover, theme from The Exorcist)
    Halloween's approaching and this was the only relevant track I could find on my hard drive in the three minutes I allotted myself toward the find-something-Halloweeny goal. I'm not used to this version that doesn't, unlike the track I wore out in high school that was on Sire's Just Say Yo compilation, mix right into BOL's "Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls." But with the aid of vodka or whiskey, I'd certainly dance to it at a Halloween party.
  • Tuesday, October 25, 2005

    All the world is a little town.

    So, I finally grabbed that Q with the John Lennon cover (I chose Beatles-era John, although in retrospect I wish I'd have opted for older John) that mentions Copy, Right? and wouldn't you know that it came with one of Q's standard half-good/half-crap tribute CDs they like to add when some big anniversary comes up. Perfect.

  • Maximo Park "Isolation" (John Lennon cover)
    Maximo Park (sorry for the umlaut deprivation) is one of my favorites of the whole new new-wave canon. This track is more a reimagination than a cover, in a way, and I like it because I like MP's little Wirey/Magaziney/Smithsy schtick. I could see a lot of people despising it, of course, but I'm just happy to see covers from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band rather than the same tired Beatles covers we always see. Or another godawful live version of "Imagine," which Madonna provides on the same CD—which you might have already suffered through if you, like me, subjected yourself to that Madonna documentary on MTV the other day.

  • Joseph Arthur "Look at Me" (John Lennon cover)
    Another John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band track that I remember loving in high school. I've gone out of my way in the past to ignore Joseph Arthur, but I'm not certain why (okay, it might have had something to do with my aversion to Peter Gabriel) as I don't hate this track in the least.
  • Friday, October 21, 2005

    He said, "Come on let's take a ride," and I said, "Okay!"

    What can I say? I owe a big part of my music obsession to movies like Valley Girl and the new music I heard in the background of party scenes. My Flirts, Sparks and Felony LPs are a testament to that. And I'm still loving the copy of Josie Cotton's Convertible Music I bought for 49 cents a few weeks ago. Therefore, I dedicate today's tracks to the great racetrack-skirted Josie Cotton. (And her cover of "Tell Him" is still available in this post, but not for long!)

  • Josie Cotton "School is In" (Gary U.S. Bonds cover)
    The school I went to never had bands play at dances like Josie did in the prom scene of Valley Girl, which is probably a good thing since the chances of getting someone as cool as Josie Cotton to play in Hammond, Indiana are slim to none.

  • Pansy Division "He Could Be the One" (Josie Cotton cover)
    Oh, you had to know that Pansy Division loved them some Josie Cotton. I'm all for the creation of more all-gay punk acts. Seriously. And kudos to them for not going for "Johnny, Are You Queer?" That would've been too pat.

  • Screeching Weasel "Johnny, are You [Queer]?" (Josie Cotton cover)
    I know the original is certainly not the most politically correct new wave song in the world [although most of the guys I liked in high school that pulled the same stuff on me most definitely eventually came out], but the title of this is listed as "Johnny, are You Weird?" on the SW album, and it confuses me as it surely sounds like they're saying "queer" in the actual track. What's up with that? I believe I once met one of the Weasels at SmartBar after a concert at the Metro and he was reading a book about Hegel and was very friendly to me. Boring story, I know.
  • Thursday, October 20, 2005

    Whenever I'm gone the strain is lighter.

  • The 27 Various "Whenever I'm Gone" (The Prisoners cover)
    I am so in love with Rhino's new Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1995 box set. While it doesn't include many true covers, it's dedicated to acts covering the sound of the first psychedelic era (as featured on the Nuggets and Nuggets II box sets) and I love almost every track I've had the time to listen to thus far. The original version of this song is on the aforementioned Children of Nuggets box set; however, I must admit I like this cover better. Of course, I'm biased since I'm pretty much a fan of all things Ed Ackerson (The 27 Various, Antenna, Polara, etc.). And I'm not even from Minneapolis! The 27 Various were heavily influenced by the psychedelic era even when they began pushing toward a more shoegazey sound. And although long out of print, I still listen to their albums pretty frequently. [Insert another reference to the fact that I'm still freaking out about the Antenna reunion, among others, at the Musical Family Tree Fest here.] And I know it's a long shot, but no one out there would happen to have the first two 27 Various LPs Hi and Yes, Indeed, would they? Because I'd REALLY freak out if I could get a hold of those.

  • The 27 Various "Burned" (Buffalo Springfield cover/comp. Neil Young)
    While I'm at it, why don't I include one more cover by the band I love that you probably couldn't care less about?
  • Wednesday, October 19, 2005

    My middle name is not Jane.

    Eenie Meenie Records has a new tribute album dedicated to the works of Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson and Dimension 5 Records called Dimension Mix, featuring a handful of your indie faves covering space-pop kids songs of which I was only very vaguely aware prior to this tribute. Go here to download Fantastic Plastic Machine's version of "I'm Bruce" and The Apples in Stereo's version of "Liza Jane." If you like what you hear, consider buying the album, as its proceeds go to Cure Autism Now. And you might as well check out the non-covers there as well. Might I recommend a little Space Needle? I was a fan back in the day.

    Tuesday, October 18, 2005

    Silly me, why haven't I found another?

    I've seen links to this guy a few times over the past week, and my friend Mark just mentioned him as well, so I figure I should help to up his stats. This quirky Jonathan Coulton character is working on a cover album [or saying that he's working on a cover album whose working title mildy annoys me, but whatever], which will include covers of "Baby Got Back," which you can get here, and "Bills, Bills, Bills," which you can get in the intro currently on his main page. I prefer the latter, if for no other reason than I think there are already enough "Baby Got Back" covers in the world. Seriously. Well, that and I'm nostalgic for the days when Destiny's Child songs didn't paint them as submissive, gold-digging (okay, they gold-dig in "Bills," but at least they call the freeloaders out) idiots trying to convince us they'd ever date a gangster who wasn't already a multimillionaire rap star. [See "Soldier" and "Cater 2 U" for examples of DC songs I hate.]

    Monday, October 17, 2005

    Do you have another opinion?

  • Life Without Buildings "Pop Life" (Prince cover)
    Uh. Um. Okay. I thought another Prince cover might be fun. I'm pretty sure I was wrong. Recommended to those who always found Bjork's voice a little too on-key, if said creatures exist. Other than that, it's not that bad. This came from a compilation from Homesleep Records, and this download page features a handful of the other covers, such as:

  • Midwest - "Pale Day" [originally performed by Motorpsycho]
  • Yuppie Flu -"Plainsong" [originally performed by Cure]
  • Giardini di Miro' feat. Julie's Haircut - "Floor Pile" [originally performed by Shannon Wright]
  • Mirabilia feat. Pete Bassman - "Walking With Jesus" [originally performed by Spacemen3]

    The same page also offers a few tracks from Homesleep's Pavement tribute as well.

  • TV on the Radio "Mr. Grieves" (Pixies cover)
    When it comes to tribute albums people tend to grab from me on my P2P of choice, those dedicated to the Pixies tend to be the most popular. This track that I like, of course, isn't on any of them, so too bad for them, eh?

  • Something Corporate "Just Like a Woman" (Bob Dylan cover)
    Nobody feels any pain, huh? That's where you're wrong, Terrible Mainstream Post-Punk Band #967. That my ears somehow managed to refrain from bleeding while listening to this fucking shit is a miracle.
  • Friday, October 14, 2005

    I just want your extra time and your ...

  • Age of Chance "Kiss" (Prince cover)
    I got an e-mail from my pal Mikey yesterday asking me if I remembered a cover of "Kiss" from the '80s that wasn't by Art of Noise or Tom Jones but that he once had on 12-inch. Nothing besides the godawful Westlife version came to mind, but he rightfully shot that down. I made a mental note to look it up when I got home from work. But, hopefully, I won't have to now as I ransacked the 49-cent bin at the local used record shop tonight after work and serendipitously stumbled upon this gem:



    Here's a choice quote, courtesy of the band's site: "“Prince'’s version is just the sound of cocktail glasses tinkling & wine bar small talk. We wanted to make a dance sound that represented iron foundries, civil unrest & motorway fatalities."” Heh. Awesome.

    And, Mikey, if this indeed what you were requesting, you'll be pleased to know that I don't remember it. I think I was vaguely aware of their "Disco Inferno" cover, but not this one. (Speaking of, anyone who has an mp3 of that would please me muchly if he or she would send it my way.)

    And I do like it. I've been revisiting Pop Will Eat Itself lately, and this track (and the cover art on their albums) definitely reminds me of PWEI (and maybe Big Audio Dynamite, Gang of Four and Human League as well). Yay for '80s covers that surprise me!
  • Fall is here, hear the yell.

    I remember when "Fell in Love with a Girl" made it big on the radio and I kept thinking, "I can't believe music like this is on the radio." It just seemed odd to hear something so retro-yet-innovative right after the latest Nickelback hit. Similarly, when electroclash was enough of a presence to actually acquire the name "electroclash," I was shocked that so many people seemed into it. Not because it was all bad, mind you, but the opposite. Unfortunately, when two new things make it big, there are often big "you got your peanut butter in my chocolate/you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" revelations made by second-rate producers that result in scary combinations like ElectroStripes: An Electro Tribute to the White Stripes. (And before anyone asks, yes, I'm also familiar with the Red Stripes' equally perplexing—but at the very least purposely tongue-in-cheek—efforts.) These types of mix-and-match tributes always reminds me of the early '90s when both flannel shirts and flouncy pirate shirts were in fashion and someone got the bright idea to make flannel flouncy pirate shirts. (Which I know because my mother bought me one thinking I'd like it. She didn't know any better.) But flannel just doesn't flounce, y'know? And a Chuck Taylor pump just doesn't have any practical use. And with that, here are today's tracks. At least they're short.

  • Satin and Circuits "Hotel Yorba" (White Stripes cover)

  • Sin-The-Tik feat. Commie 64 "We're going to Be Friends" (White Stripes cover)
  • Tuesday, October 11, 2005

    Certainly not the average girl.

  • John Edwards "Tin Man" (America cover)
    Much smoother than the original. I'd expect nothing less from an ex-Spinner.

  • Josie Cotton "Tell Him" (Exciters cover)
    I found a copy of Josie Cotton's Convertible Music in the 49-Cent bin at my local used record shop. I was both excited (at the score) and disappointed (at the obvious lack of savvy of the pricers, as I'd have paid well more than that). Then again, I could see how I'd be the only person really interested in a run-of-the-mill new-wave pop act who made every song sound the same. But that racetrack mini-skirt she wore in Valley Girl was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen at the time.

  • Flaming Lips "Nobody Told Me" (John Lennon cover)
    I always loved this song. Glad to see it being played live.

  • Of Montreal "She's My Best Friend" (Velvet Underground cover)
    When your Apples in Stereo albums are too depressing, here comes Of Montreal to lighten your mood.

  • Dave "Gruber" Allen as Mr. Rosso "I'm Eighteen" (Alice Cooper cover)
    Perhaps not as amusing to those who aren't hardcore Freaks and Geeks cult members such as myself, but this cheered me up today.

  • Sirenia "First We Take Manhattan" (Leonard Cohen cover)
    Oh, goth metal! How you always forsake me.

  • Lena Zavaroni "Help Me Make it Through the Night" (comp. Kris Kristofferson)
    Scottish Star-Search-caliber child superstar anorectic of the '70s and '80s. Um, yeah. There are many live snippets of songs like "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Desperado" to be found on this quite thorough fan site for those as sickly intrigued as I.

  • Jon Auer "Gold Star for Robot Boy" (Guided by Voices cover)
    Hello, Posy, marry me.

  • Josh Rouse "It Don't Matter to Me" (Bread cover)
    I was planning on posting something from the new Queen tribute album coming out in a few weeks (and I still may in the next day or two), but most are so godawful I'd rather post this sweet little track from one of my favorite sadly overlooked tribute albums of the year, Friends and Lovers: A Tribute to Bread. There are individual Posies on that one as well.
  • Friday, October 07, 2005

    Who knows what tomorrow brings?

  • The Diskettes "How Bizarre" (OMC cover)
    There are a slew of innocuous one-hit wonders that were big during my days as a music retail slut that I just can't hear without retching slightly at the thought of moron after moron clamoring for them. But there's something charming about this cute little Canadian doo-woppy indie band's version of this one that surprisingly doesn't make me want to shove pencils in my ears. Check out their site for many free downloads, including a cover of "Mr. Lee."

  • V/Vm "Up Where We Belong" (a remix that took so much, um, "work" that I'm calling it a cover)
    While not technically a cover, as it's quite obviously just a mangled version of the original, I'm posting this for its intrigue factor. And when I say "intrigue," I mean it in the sense that we as human beings often tend to be curious about witnessing massacres, however bloody and horrific they might be.
  • Thursday, October 06, 2005

    A long way to go, a short time to get there.

    Just a heads-up to all of the newer readers that it is never a prerequisite for me that the covers I post actually be good. Sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't. And it's all in the ear of the belistener, innit? So, without further ado...

  • Kiko & Deschezeaux "Rock Your Body" (Justin Timberlake cover)
    Don't be so quick to walk away. No, scratch that: Run!!!

  • Supersuckers "Eastbound and Down" (Jerry Reed cover, although I don't think he was the first to record it)
    As a kid, I must've seen Smokey and the Bandit about 100 times. Funny, all I really remember about it is this song. And that there was an elephant in the sequel.

  • Elmerhassel "Big Yellow Taxi" (Joni Mitchell cover)
    Dear MOR postpunk kids: Not learning the lyrics (or purposely simplifying them for no good reason) of the hook of a song you're covering isn't cute. It's lazy.
  • Wednesday, October 05, 2005

    They say in heaven love comes first.

    Sheesh! I've been trying to log into Blogger for the past three hours to no avail. Therefore, I've no time for banter and have chosen to post the first three covers to hit my shuffle play:

  • Raz Ohara "Where is My Mind?" (Pixies cover)

  • Great White "Burning House of Love" (X cover)

  • Student Rick "Heaven is a Place on Earth" (Belinda Carlisle cover)
  • Tuesday, October 04, 2005

    An afterlife for a silverfish.

  • The Last Town Chorus "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" (Culture Club cover)
    God, this is pretty. I snagged this from their [her] site, where you can also find an equally wonderfully languid version of David Bowie's "Modern Love" along with a few originals. Say hello to your new favorite lap-steel dirges!

  • Antenna "Outdoor Miner" (Wire cover)
    There was a time in my life (read: college) when many of the bands I was into—many of which were already defunct, even—had an Antenna connection: The Blake Babies, The 27 Various, Polara, The United States Three and so on. Even today bands like Rogue Wave are not even one degree of separation away. Even 90210's Brenda Walsh was with-it enough to have an Antenna flat on her dorm room wall in Minnesota. About now I'm freaking out with excitement because I get to relive my fervor for [at east partially] Indiana-based indie power pop at the Musical Family Tree Fest, which features an Antenna reunion! My best pal Ryan (who hooked me up with this B-Side, BTW) is driving up from Memphis, I'm driving down from Chicago and a weekend full of rocking and reminiscing shall ensue. Freaking. Out. And, I've said it before and I'll say it again, whether or not you spent any time in Indiana (or Minneapolis or Boston or wherever), if you're into obscure—and often excellent—free music, you'd be remiss not to take advantage of the immense catalog of offerings over at Musical Family Tree. And if you are in the area, there's no reason not to come out for some cheap and easy nostalgia.
  • Did I just sleep through my 15 minutes of fame?

    So, which issue of Q mentions Copy, Right? I leafed through the issue with the Rolling Stones on the cover, but didn't see anything. If it is the Stones cover, what section is it in? Any info would be most appreciated because Q fucking rules!

    Monday, October 03, 2005

    Those Gapers Blockers are always starting something hip and new, yes?

    This week's theme at the relatively new Chicago-based Out of 5 blog is "Covers that Eclipsed the Originals." I'm not saying I agree with all of the choices, but free covers is free covers. Right?

    (Jeff, I can't believe you didn't send me a note when the blog started! Keep me in the loop, kids.)

    But for now we are young, let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see

  • Terry Edwards and the Scapegoats "The Hardest Walk" (Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
    Funny, I didn't realize how much I needed a JAMC cover that sounds like it's being played by Rob Lowe's character in St. Elmo's Fire until it presented itself to me. How I lived this long without it is beyond me. The album from whence it comes, Terry Edwards Presents the birth of the Scapegoats* is chock-full of weirdo sax covers, such as a Napalm Death medley, among others. (Originally available on an all-JAMC-cover EP. Crazy.)

  • Slut "Only You" (Yazoo/Yaz cover)
    I don't know much about Slut—and I'm feeling too lazy to Google them—but I like this.

  • Matt Pond PA "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)
    This is one of my favorite songs in the world competently covered by indie chamber popsters Matt Pond PA on their album Winter Songs, which also features decent covers of Neil Young's "Winterlong," Richard Thompson's "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" and a strange somber cover of the Lindsey Buckingham-penned "Holiday Road."
  • Sunday, October 02, 2005

    A toast to my own reunion.

  • Dolly Parton "Help" (Beatles cover)
    Posting a Beatles cover yesterday reminded me that I've been meaning to post this one as well. I love Dolly.

  • Me First and the Gimme Gimmes "I Sing the Body Electric" (from Fame)
    As much as I love covers, I used to have this thing against all-cover acts like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. I'm working on opening my mind, and there's no better song to inspire me than this.

  • Indians in Moscow "The Price of Love" (Everly Brothers cover)
    A lesser-known and short-lived act, Indians in Moscow could have been right up there with [insert name of you favorite somewhat obscure overly dramatic atmospheric quasi-gothy early-'80s new-wave act here]. You know, kind of like a Missing Persons with a lead singer who could actually sing. (Sorry, Dale, but you know it's true.) If you hear this and find yourself thinking, "Hey, I could get into this shit," there are free downloads to be had here at C-Net and at this passionate fan site.

  • Fountains of Wayne "Better Things" (Kinks cover)
    I haven't quite forgiven Fountains of Wayne for the godawfulness of "Stacy's Mom," but I'm willing to take note of the fact that they once offered better things.
  • Saturday, October 01, 2005

    We'll always be together, however far it seems.

  • Bran Van 3000 "Cum On Feel The Noize" (Slade cover)
    I knew that when I returned to make good on my Minimum 2 Songs A Day In October promise I would use a version of "Cum on Feel the Noize" to start things off, but I wasn't sure which. But today when I was finally faced with the decision, it became clear: Pick what you know and love. While this track isn't necessarily my favorite on the album, Bran Van's debut album Glee is start-to-finish one of my favorite albums of all time. It's the perfect "It's bright and sunny and I'm in a fucking great mood" album and it genre hops like the badass muthafucka it is. If you're down with Glee, well, then you're down with me.

  • Lali Puna "Together in Electric Dreams" (Human League cover)
    I am currently obsessed with the glitchy lush starkness (oxymoronic, I know) of Lali Puna. Perhaps you should be as well.

  • Dar Williams feat. Ani DiFranco "Comfortably Numb" (Pink Floyd cover)
    Dar is my girl. You don't even know. Like the aforementioned Glee, her Mortal City is an album I never get sick of that cheers me up every time I hear it. It opened my mind to folk music at a time in my life when I otherwise wouldn't have given it the time of day. Such a pretty voice. Such clever lyrics. Perfect. Her latest effort, My Better Self, from whence this track comes, is politically driven and features a slew of equally genius guest artists. If you're into what you hear here, the entire album is available for preview here at Download.com and features a cover of Neil Young's "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere," on which she duets with Marshall Crenshaw. She also has a cover of the Beatles' "You Won't See Me" on This Bird has Flown, the forthcoming (Release Date: Oct. 25) indie/folksy Razor & Tie tribute to Rubber Soul.


  • Low "Nowhere Man" (Beatles cover)
    Hey! Speaking of the forthcoming Razor & Tie tribute to Rubber Soul, perhaps I should let you enjoy what is, in my opinion, one of its finest tracks (not a difficult task to complete, really, given its less-than-innovative companions—sorry, hipsters!) by our old friends Low. I'm so glad Low finally popped themselves up a bit. Now I can listen to them without wanting to slit my writs. Well, less than usual anyhow.

    Unrelated to covers but still cool: Threadless is having one of its wonderful Everything is $10 sales until Monday. The clown puking shirt shall be mine!!! (Well, except that it's sold out. Sigh.)
  • Wednesday, September 14, 2005

    Cover for a cause.

    The dB's, the old-school power-popsters who've recently reunited and are playing the Hideout Block Party this weekend, are offering a download of a new cover of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" for those who contribute via the PayPal link on their site to the Katrina relief effort. Pretty cool, huh?

    Tuesday, September 13, 2005

    Techno for an answer?

    Okay, I admit I don't know what makes something techno versus electronica versus trance versus plain ol' dance music. Just when I think I have it all figured out, someone tells me I'm wrong. A die-hard member of the Ministry of sound, I'm not.

  • Boogie Pimps "Sunny" (comp. Bobby Hebb)
    This one's my favorite.

  • Royal Gigolos "California Dreamin' (Tek House Extend Mix)" (The Mamas and the Papas cover)
    Russians love to dance too! Check out this page to sample other mixes of this track or to watch the video.

  • Linus Loves feat. Sam Obernik "Stand Back (Linus Loves Friday's Child Remix)" (Stevie Nicks cover)

  • Firewater "Is That All There Is?" (comp. Leiber and Stoller)
    Okay, this isn't techno or electronica or whatever, but I've always loved this song and I like this version and I thought it was the perfect song to end this paltry post. And it's definitely pro-dancing.
  • Tuesday, August 30, 2005

    Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge.

    I don't have time to be witty or make many comments. Here's what you're getting: some rock, some punk, some swing/rockabilly, some bluegrass, a Scandinavian experimental take on country, etc. Not necessarily in that order.

  • Asylum Street Spankers "Paul Revere" (Beastie Boys cover)

  • The Flash Express "The Message" (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five cover)

  • Yeti Girl "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" (Marilyn Monroe cover)

  • Paul Westerberg and Joan Jett "Let's Do It" (comp. Cole Porter)

  • Suzi Quatro "Born to Run" (Bruce Springsteen cover)

  • Susanna and the Magical Orchestra "Jolene"< (Dolly Parton cover)

  • Dick Brave and the Backbeats "Walk this Way" (Aerosmith cover)

  • Claude François "J'ai Joué et J'ai Perdu (I Fought the Law and the Law Won)" (Bobby Fuller Four cover)
    "I played and I lost"? Um, close, I guess.

  • Bad Livers "Lust for Life" (Iggy Pop cover)
  • Wednesday, August 24, 2005

    I have no choice; I hear your voice.

    Okay, I know I'm always saying how I won't make guarantees that I'll post stuff other people have sent me, but I'm busy in my work life and lazy in my home life and you'll take these and you'll like them!!! (Note: You may not actually like them.) All were sent to me by readers sometime in the past few months. Some I had already, a few I didn't. (It happens!) Sorry if you sent me something and it's not on today's list. I'm also sorry I'm too lazy to research who sent what.

    But before we get to those, I'd be remiss if I didn't point you in the direction of a website featuring the Tuvan punk (you read right) stylings of Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha. Head over there to download a few tracks, including one of the most unique "Love Will Tear Us Aparts" ever.

  • Crackout "Caught Out There" (Kelis cover)
    Definitely raised my eyebrows in that "really, someone like this covered something like that???" way when it hit my inbox.

  • The Entertainment System "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (Smiths cover)
    My poor friend Mikey is forever trying to find covers I've never heard and was very depressed after sending this to me that I already had this Texas band's cover ('cause I had found it here one day). Sorry, Mikey. I still love you.

  • PJ Pooterhoots "No Go [I Can't Go for That]" (Hall & Oates cover)
    You know, it's not bad. Except it gets the original stuck in my head and I hate the original—not necessarily based on the quality of the song itself but based on the bad memories it conjures up, which are shudder-inducing. What can I say? Age 9 was rough for me.

  • Now It's Overhead "Book of Love" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    I had a feeling that the Magnetic Fields post a few days ago would result in a slew of comments and e-mails chiding me for not picking the right covers and/or suggesting tracks I already had but just didn't feel like posting, but I took the risk anyhow 'cause I live on the edge, man. Consider this an acknowledgement that, yes, I know there are many more to be had. Speaking of, I forgot to mention this page full of Magnetic Fields covers as performed by The Wake in my last Mag Fields post.

  • Glitterbug "Like a Prayer" (Madonna cover)
    Surprisingly poptastic.

  • Johnny Domino "Forever in Blue Jeans" (Neil Diamond cover)
    One of my favorite Diamond tracks. Johnny also posts a lot of covers over on his blog. If you're not already reading it, you should be.

  • Oranger "Vegetables" (Beach Boys cover)
    Jeez, what was Van Dyke Parks on? I needs me some of that.

  • Rilo Kiley "Let My Love Open the Door" (Pete Townshend cover)
    Sing along with everyone's favorite band of somewhat depressing cutesters.

  • Eve Massacre "3L3CTR1C DR3AMS" (Human League cover)
    If this were a friend's 4-track project and I were super high, I'd probably like this a lot more.

  • Stanford Counterpoint "Don't Speak" (No Doubt cover)
    College acappella groups. Is there anything they can't geek up?

  • Mystery singer] "Ask Me" (Elvis Presley cover)
    So my stepdad tells me that a friend/colleague (whose identity I shall protect) of his has gotten really into karaoke, going to karaoke bars many times a week and competing in contests. I immediately insist that we have to go watch him sometime because I live for spectacles, especially karaoke spectacles. (So far no luck!) My stepdad then breaks the news that his friend/colleague has gone so far as to record his own CD. Giddy like a little girl, I beg him to get a hold of one for me. Again, no luck, but about a month later this arrived via e-mail from my stepdad's address. All I can say is I've certainly heard far worse karaoke regulars. That, of course, is not saying much.
  • Friday, August 19, 2005

    The day is beautiful and so are you.

    Recently the Arcade Fire (a band I otherwise quite enjoy) mutilated my favorite Magnetic Fields song, "Born on a Train," and lots of other blogs posted it and called it good. It freaked me out. They didn't even start at the beginning! And it sounded like a bad Tom Waits impression. Shudder. I'm not saying all of the covers here are great, by any means, but none of them (not even the ones by Peter Gabriel or Chrash!) make me as angry as the Arcade Fire cover, which, I'm sorry, is so bad I'm not even going to post for you to hear how bad it is.

    Aaaanyhooo, Stephin Merritt writes wonderfully deadpan songs about the true nature of human emotions and I love him. Though not quite as much as some.

  • !!! "Take Ecstasy With Me" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    Note the proper spelling of ecstasy. Ecstacy is one of my biggest pet peeves.

  • Divine Comedy "With Whom to Dance" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    The morose and acerbic covering the morose and acerbic always works for me.

  • Kelly Hogan "Papa Was a Rodeo" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    Viva la Chicago-based alt-country!

  • Evelyn "Smoke and Mirrors" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    Does anyone know anything about Evelyn? This was on a Teenbeet Records sampler from 1998, but the liner notes don't tell me much. Whatever. It's okay.

  • Superchunk "100,000 Fireflies" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    I like Superchunk.

  • Peter Gabriel "Book of Love" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    I've said it before, but I hate Peter Gabriel. Yes, even "In Your Eyes." Hate him. This is from the soundtrack of some movie that totally sucked.

  • Kings of Convenience "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" (Magnetic Fields cover)

  • Chrash "I Don't Want to Get Over You" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    Whoa. I don't know what's worse, their cover or the "astute" diatribe that precedes it.

  • Mary Lou Lord "I Don't Want to Get Over You" (Magnetic Fields cover)
    Here's a more palatable version.

    Edit: An anonyomus poster just reminded me of a link I totally meant to add to this post but forgot because work got busy. You can find a handful of Mag Fields covers at It's Meaningless.
  • Friday, August 12, 2005

    Have you never been mellow?

  • My Morning Jacket "Tyrone" (Erykah Badu cover)

  • Lori Carson "I Saw The Light" (Todd Rundgren cover)

  • The Early November "The Power of Love" (Huey Lewis and the News cover)
  • Tuesday, August 09, 2005

    Feel the heat with somebody.

    I wish I had more time/less of a life so I could point you in the direction of other MP3 blogs when they post covers, but I just don't. Although I'm making an exception today because I feel like it. Muppetpastor has a handful of "What the Fuck?" covers up right now, and you should head over there. David Byrne's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is a favorite of mine.

    Friday, August 05, 2005

    I know the meaning of life—it doesn't help me a bit.

  • Sleeper "Other End of the Telescope" ('Til Tuesday cover)
    I loved 'Til Tuesday well beyond the one-hit-wonderness of "Voices Carry." And I'm not alone, Elvis Costello liked them enough to co-write this song with Aimee Mann and it would up on TT's third album well before it was on any of Costello's own. Another band I liked a lot nearly a decade ago was Sleeper, one of the lesser-known (Stateside, anyhow) of the whole 1990s Brit-pop revolution.

  • Paul Anka "The Love Cats" (Cure cover)
    Anka's whole Rock Swings album is pretty ace, but this is my favorite track by far.

  • Number One Cup "Here" (Pavement cover)
    This is my favorite Pavement song covered by Number One Cup, a Chicago outfit that I saw a handful of times at Lounge Ax before it closed. This wasn't because I any really affinity for them (which is not to say that I disliked them, I just liked a lot of similar bands more), but instead was because a cute label rep I made out with from time to time got me into their shows for free. Ah. I miss the days when I was a whore for free music.

  • Jason Falkner "A Song from Under the Floorboards" (Magazine cover)
    One of my favorite new-wave classics covered by one of my favorite people to hear doing covers. Nearly every line of this song could be a motto for my personality. Yay for songs that celebrate giving up!

  • Bodyjar "Your Racist Friend" (They Might be Giants cover)
    A while back, I mentioned I was on the prowl for the We Might be Giants Too discs and since have hunted them both down. Um. Yeah. Not the best stuff on earth. This cover by Aussie punkers is the best track on them and I already had acquired a copy of it ages ago. My wait was for naught.


  • Babybird "I can Sing a Rainbow" (written by Arthur Hamilton)
    File this under "I'm not quite sure I know why this exists." The colors in the lyrics are way off, and kid worth his or her salt could tell you that. How much orange do we need in a rainbow, Steve?

  • Clumsy Lovers "Open up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)" (written by Carl Stuart Hamblen)
    And while we're on the topic of children's classics, here's one of many songs TV helped me learn. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm couldn't talk, but they could sing this poppy little spiritual country ditty and become superstars, and as a child, I often would get this trapped in my head for weeks at a time. I like this version far better than Frente's, mostly because the voice of the chick from Frente gives me a toothache. Also, this puts a little country back in it and, regardless of how many twits say "I like all kinds of music ... except country," country rules.
  • Monday, August 01, 2005

    Are you ready for the time of your life?

    Sorry I'm so sporadic all the time. I was all stressed out the past few weeks with job-related woe, but now I'm back on track. I start a shiny new job in a few weeks, but until then, I suppose I'll have a little more time to post.

    Today's random smattering involves songs that—either the original or the cover—make me nostalgic. But I guess that could be the theme of all my posts.

  • Herman Dune "Smalltown Boy" (Bronski Beat cover)
    I'm a really big fan of Herman Dune, covers or no—although had it not been for his covers, I might not have learned about his original stuff.

  • Propaganda "Femme Fatale" (Velvet Underground cover)
    Ah, Propaganda! Could this remind me more of gay boys I lusted after in the '80s? Probably not.

  • Kirsty MacColl "You Just Haven't Earned it Yet Baby" (Smiths cover)
    Kirsty rules. I miss her. (I post lots of Smiths covers, don't I?)

  • The Detroit Cobras "Breakaway" (Irma Thomas cover, written by Jackie DeShannon)
    Six degrees of picking covers: Kirsty always reminds me of Tracey Ullman (because Tracey covered Kirsty's "They Don't Know," of course) and when I think of Tracey, I remember her version of "Breakaway," which was my first introduction to the songs of Irma Thomas. The Detroit Cobras LOVE Irma Thomas. I think they've covered nearly every Irma Thomas hit.

  • They Might Be Giants "Maybe I Know" (Lesley Gore cover)
    I've long been a fan of the 1960s girl-singer "I know my boyfriend is a jerk, but I just can't get enough of him" tracks. (See above as well.) This was always one of my favorites in the genre. In fact, nearly every song on Lesley Gore's greatest hits album is.

  • The Housemartins "Caravan of Love" (Isley Brothers cover)
    Dorky, fey, British? Delicious.

  • The Number 12 Looks Like You "My Sharona" (The Knack cover)
    Thanks to SoulSeek's "upload" feature, this wound up in my files when my pal Eric sent it my way. Yeah. It sounds like something he'd know about.

  • The Polecats "John, I'm Only Dancing" (David Bowie cover)
    I had some sort of attack last week in which I absolutely had to listen to the Polecats' "Make a Circuit With Me" about 10 times in a row. I'm not sure where that impulse came from, but I did it and it jostled my memory of this.

  • Rasputina "Bad Moon Rising" (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
    I used to make fun of Rasputina because I was mired in an anti-goth love of shoegaze and Brit-pop when I became aware of them, but in retrospect I don't hate them at all. This is pretty good.

  • St. Etienne "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" (Neil Young cover)
    I was in my sophomore year of college when St. Etienne's Foxbase Alpha came out and I remember heading out to Ozarka's in my winter coat to buy it. A few months later, I was listening to it and one of my annoying roommate's "boyfriends" overheard me playing it and said, "Man, that girl listens to weird shit." Heh. I think it was the most non-weird CD in my collection at the time.

    Heads-up/reminder: I've received a lot of comments and e-mails lately with requests and/or questions on how readers can "submit" a song to the site. Um. Unfortunately, that's not really how I work this thing. As always, if you have a song you want me to know about or hear, feel free to send it my way, but I make no guarantees it will end up here. Keep in mind that my cover sickness is full-blown, and in most cases, I probably already have it and/or know about it and/or have ALREADY POSTED IT. Heh. People alerting me to songs I've already posted are my favorite.
  • Friday, July 22, 2005

    Gray skies are gonna clear up!

    Many thanks (uh, I think) to a Live Journal friend who pointed me in the direction of this collection of MP3s of every song ever sung by the Golden Girls. Be very afraid.

    Push the button. Don't push the button.

    I try not to post from work on a regular basis, but my contract is up here soon and I'm bored, so why the hell not? I've been a little too preoccupied lately with Flickr, so I wasn't able to come up with any theme for today's selection or find an entire album from which to cull gems, so back to the random smattering it is! Enjoy. (And, fellow Chicagoans, if your organization is looking for a hard-working smartass with great administrative and customer service skills and a wealth of useless information trapped inside her head, please let me know.)

  • Blondie "Out in the Streets (1975 demo version)" (Shangri-Las cover)
    I love the Shangri-Las and I love old-school Blondie. This song gets caught in my head quite frequently.

  • The Ukrainians "Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again)" (Smiths cover)
    From their Smiths cover EP Pisni Iz The Smiths, which features a handful of Ukrainian folk versions of classic Smiths songs.

  • Two Nice Girls "Cotton Crown" (Sonic Youth cover)
    Lesbian folk singers covering Sonic Youth? Why not? From their album Like a Version, which also includes the Speed Racer theme song, among other odd covers and medleys.

  • Muse "Feeling Good" (Nina Simone cover)
    Personally, I've tried and I just can't get into Muse, but I've been told I'm wrong by more than a few people.

  • Har Mar Superstar "Alone Again, Naturally" (Gilbert O'Sullivan cover)
    Sean Na Na? Calvin Krime? Har Mar Superstar? Whoever. Personality disorders turn me on.

  • Cansei de Ser Sexy "Hollywood" (Madonna cover)
    Someone reminded me of this in a comment a few entries back. I like it.
  • Monday, July 18, 2005

    If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know.

    These tracks come from the same mostly horrifying When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear CD from whence the Ani DiFranco/Jackie Chan version of "Unforgettable" I posted here and the Billy Preston cover of "Girls on Film" I posted here.

  • The Connells "Insane in the Brain" (Cypress Hill cover)
    The Connells always seemed like a band I should have been able to get into in the same way as I got into, say, Buffalo Tom or The Posies or Lloyd Cole or something, but I never could. At least I gave it the ol' college try.

  • Devo "Ohio" (Neil Young cover)
    I listened to my dad's vinyl copy of "Freedom of Choice" quite a bit as a kid, and now it is mine. This isn't as good as anything on that album, but it's still one of the best tracks on this album.

  • Don Ho "Shock the Monkey" (Peter Gabriel cover)
    My paternal grandfather was a professional golfer and he and my grandmother spent a few months every winter in Hawaii. They took me with them a few times, most notably when I was 2 1/2 (I was very excited by the half, you know). We spent some time on both Oahu and Maui and the story goes that one night they took me to a lounge where Don Ho was playing and I joined him on stage for "Tiny Bubbles." I vaguely remember the layout of the lounge and the candles on the table, but I don't remember what I'm certain was my stellar performance. However, I suspect it was probably a little better than this track.

  • Lesley Gore "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" (AC/DC cover)
    I try to picture the call in which Lesley was asked to participate in this, and my brain implodes. Lesley is one of my favorite singers ever, but it's difficult for me to admit that after listening to this.

  • The Oak Ridge Boys "Carry On Wayward Son" (Kansas cover)
    Heh. It's not saying much, but think this is my favorite cover on the album. I love those country gospel harmonies, what can I say?
  • Wednesday, July 13, 2005

    Take a walk on the wiggly side.

    All I know about Andrew Denton I learned right here. He's some dorky Australian personality with a radio show or something and he's put out a few "Musical Challenge" discs, not unlike the Like a Version discs referenced in the last post. Here are some of the most listenable tracks from them. Um, kinda.

  • The Wiggles "Walk on the Wild Side" (Lou Reed cover)
    I was blissfully unaware of the existence of the Wiggles until I took up a babysitting gig while I was unemployed a few years ago. Man. Those guys creep me the hell out. But the kiddies seem to like them. Obviously, they've cleaned up the lyrics a bit.

  • Willie Nelson "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Nirvana cover)
    It's too bad he sang so little of the song, I'd have liked it to go on longer.

  • Screaming Jets "My Heart Will Go On" (Celine Dion cover)
    Unfortunately, I was working megastore music retail when Titanic came out and had to create a giant Christmastime Celine Dion display and endure hearing this song on the overhead speakers for months. On the plus side, we did get these ultra-cheap tacky little promotional "Le Coeur de la Mer" pendants to give out with a purchase of the soundtrack, which I wore en masse many times. You'd be surprised how fancy you can look wearing 15 of those at a time. I think I still have one somewhere; I should wear it more often.

  • Mark Lizotte "I Write the Songs" (Barry Manilow cover)
    If you told me this was the Black Crowes, I'd probably believe you. An interesting take.

  • Gina Jeffreys "Kryptonite" (3 Doors Down cover)
    3 Doors Down? ZZZZzzzz. Gina Jeffreys? Better than 3 Doors Down. As if that means anything.

  • Josh Joplin "Eye of the Tiger" (Survivor cover)
    Eh, it's okay. Kinda reminds me of 3 Doors Down though.

  • The Delltones "Pretty Vacant" (Sex Pistols cover)
    Doo-wop punk? I'm all for it.
  • Sunday, July 10, 2005

    Notice me. Take my hand.

    Today I give you tracks from CDs put out by a few foreign (to me, anyhow) radio stations. Apparently the new rage is to get current local pop stars to cover songs old and new for albums to benefit various charities. And I'm, obviously, all for that. I'm sharing tracks from two different albums today, and I have others for the days to follow. I think you'll mostly be pleasantly surprised. At least I am.

    From Ireland's today FM Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 2 (I posted tracks from the first volume way back when):

  • Bell x1 "Like I Love You/Slow" (Justin Timberlake/Kylie Minogue cover medley)
    This is the first I've heard of Bell x1 and I'm very intrigued. They sound so sexy. Or maybe it's the Sixteen Horsepowerish banjo feel. Or the bottle of wine I've had tonight has gone to my head, among other places.

  • Mickey Harte "I Don't Want You Back" (Eamon cover)
    It'd be better with the curse words intact—"feck"?—but go Mickey! Anyone who could make this song somewhat listenable is okay by me.

  • Glen Hansard & Colm MacConlomaire of The Frames "Every Time" (Britney Spears cover)
    The original was always a huge guilty pleasure for me, even if they did remove the blood from the bathtub scene in the video. Britney running so earnestly in little else but a man's white oxford shirt? It touched me, y'all. This version as well makes me want to make out with hot Irish guys. (Yeah. I shouldn't drink so much before posting.)

  • Vyvienne Long "Seven Nation Army" (White Stripes cover)
    I need more cellists in my life. My sole dreamy cellist friend, Joey, moved to California a few years ago. Whenever I smell sandalwood I think of him. Hand claps, on the other hand, remind me of participating in Catholic-school sing-along songs that involved ridiculous hand motions and whatnot. I'm so glad I'm not Catholic anymore.

    From Australia's Triple J station's Like A Version:

  • The Pictures "Milkshake" (Kelis cover)
    A lo-fi garagey "Baba O'Reilly"-sounding Kelis cover? And not changing all the boys to girls? Yes, please, a thousand times yes! (Although I do hate it when a band doesn't even find out the lyrics before covering a song. "I want it all"? Um. No. It's "Warm it up." Guys are the worst at guessing lyrics, I swear. no offense.)

  • Darren Hanlon "Don't Stop" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
    I feel similarly about this Hanlon chap as I do about Bell x1, which is weird since one of my many idiosyncrasies is an irrational anti-attraction I have to Australian men. No, I don't know where it comes from either. I'm nuts.

  • The Cat Empire "Hotel California" (Eagles cover)
    Hotel California was one of the first albums in my dad's record collection I began listening to nonstop once I was old and alert enough to realize how fucking awesome my dad's record collection was. (Seriously, how cool my dad is still freaks me out regularly, people.) This version is my introduction to the Cat Empire, whom I seem to like despite my aversion to reggae-influenced acts. (A few ska bands aside.) French lyrics and what I believe to be an accordion help it. It's very Moulin Rogue meets Buena Vista Social Club. (Heh, and they said I couldn't be a music critic!) I like this better than the songs available on their site, but they seem like a band that would put on a good show. Even if they do look like frat boys. (Not that I have anything against frat boys. I'm sure some have redeeming qualities. Really.)
  • Saturday, July 09, 2005

    Nothing can move us ... we should be moving.

    Politically, I have a few issues with the Live 8 performances, but I don't maintain this blog to engage in political debates. Therefore, I will direct you to this page, which features QuickTime movies of all of the Live 8 performances—a handful of which were covers. (Rumor has it that you can watch all the performances at AOL.com as well, but I'm sure as hell not heading over there or linking to them to find out.)

    Here are the covers I had the patience to root out that you can check for once you get there (there are probably more than those listed, but my eyes glazed over after a while):

    In London:
  • Ms. Dynamite covering Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"
  • Robbie Williams covering Queen's "We Will Rock You"
  • Dido singing the Neneh Cherry part of "7 Seconds" with Youssou N'Dour

    In Philadelphia:
  • Maroon 5 covering Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World"

    In Berlin:
  • Die Totenhosen covering the McCoys' "Hang on Sloopy"
  • Green Day covering Queen's "We are the Champions"
  • Juan Diego Flores" singing Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone"
  • Roxy Music doing their version of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy"
  • Otto Waalkes singing Billy Joel's "Piano Man"

    In Paris:
  • Craig David and Tina Arena dueting the Beatles' "Come Together"
  • David Hallyday covering the Knack's "My Sharona"

    In Rome:
  • Noa covering Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky"
  • Thursday, July 07, 2005

    Thursday night your stocking needed mending.

    I'm currently loving the Thai psych/garage madness (both the covers and the originals) of Thai Beat A Go-Go Volumes 1 and 2. Fans of the 5.6.7.8's are likely to enjoy. Here's a little sampler:

  • Payom Moogda "Tamai Dern Sae (What'd I Say)" (Ray Charles cover)
    Apparently this track's Thai title translates into "Why do you walk like a drunkard?" Awesome.

  • Sakarin Boonpit "Kotmorn Yoop Yap (All Shook Up)" (Elvis Presley cover)

  • Sodai Chaengkij "Shake Baby Shake" (which is actually "Cool, Cool Ways") (Jerry Lee Lewis cover)

  • Sodai Chaengkij "Lady Madonna" (Beatles cover)
    I think Sodai is my favorite, so I gave you two of her tracks.

  • Suda Chuenbarn "Funky Broadway" (Christian)

  • Traces "Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus" (Serge Gainsbourg cover)
  • Tuesday, July 05, 2005

    A place nobody dared to go ... except Menudo and me.

  • Menudo "Xanadu" (ELO/Olivia Newton-John cover)
    Oh ... my... God. My pal Louis—whose Damaged Hearing radio show you can (and should) listen to here on Tuesday afternoons and Friday nights—sent me this Holy Grail today and I'm freaking out. This is in the category of covers I knew existed and desperately wanted but hadn't been able to locate on my own. A rarity, that. I believe this is the first incarnation of Menudo (read: Ricky Melendez, not Martin) and I'm in love with the horror of it. It hits me like a cannonball.

    Somewhat related—and I'm dating myself big-time here (yeah, MTV, I actually lived in a '70s house): Does anyone remember the episode of Silver Spoons where Ricky Stratton (Ricky-now-Rick Schroeder) sneaks into a hotel to convince Menudo to play at his birthday party so he can impress a girl he likes and they come out on that little train and play a song, I think, and when the song is over, the girl screams, "Ricky, I love you!" and rich-kid Ricky thinks she's talking about him, but she was really talking about Ricky in Menudo and she runs to him and hugs him and Ricky Stratton is all heartbroken? That was the shit.

    Also related: Does anyone remember the little mini-videos Menudo had on ABC in the early '80s that inexplicably replaced Schoolhouse Rock, I believe, that were about the most inane subjects ever? For decades now whenever I go to a "shopping mall," I get that damned song stuck in my head. "If there's anything you like, you can always find it in the shopping mall. Made in China, Philippines ... something something something ... in a shopping mall." Dude, according to Menudo, you can even find parrots that speak French in shopping malls. I've no proof of that though. How can there not be a site somewhere dedicated to those snippets? I need MP3s and video. Desperately. Louis? Anyone?

    One more thing. Spanish speakers help me out here: Am I hearing things or does this translation indicate that someone is playing an "armonica fantastico"? There wasn't a reference to a fantastic harmonica in the original, but there should have been!
  • We're all so famous!

    So I was linked in yesterday's LA Times article on MP3 blogs, huh? I guess I should actually start posting more regularly for the next few weeks. (Which has actually been my plan now that the holiday weekend is over.) Look for some new tracks tonight.

    Monday, July 04, 2005

    Dance in front yo' mirror when you're on the phone.

  • Wang Chung "Hot in Herre" (Nelly cover)
    Thanks to reader MuffinMan who was able to get me this MP3 so you can download the best cover performed on the otherwise godawful run of Hit Me Baby One More Time.
  • Thursday, June 30, 2005

    So ... in ... phase.

    I know it's difficult to believe given my passions for reality TV, pop culture, retro hits and cover songs, but I haven't really been watching Hit Me Baby One More Time. I figured it would be really depressing. And from what little snippets I've seen here and there, it seems I was right. Still, I heard good things about Wang Chung's version of Nelly's "Hot in Herre." And, you know, it really was pretty good. You can hear it at WC's MySpace page. Enjoy.

    Tuesday, June 28, 2005

    I've waited hours for this.

    Like all good aging hipsters, I once had a really big thing for the Cure. And it's my birthday and I have nothing better to do than relive my thing for the Cure. If you feel me on this, you should check out Plainsong.net, which features a pretty comprehensive list of "selective" covers (I think he or she means "selected," but I'll be nice since I don't think English is his/her first language) and tribute albums. I respectfully disagree with many of the author's opinions on which tribute albums and songs are worthwhile, but it's a nice list nonetheless.

    From Fictional: A Tribute to the Cure
  • Blipp! "The Caterpillar" (Cure cover)


    From Give Me the Cure: DC Bands Cover the Cure
    By far the most emo/indie of the Cure tributes.
  • Chisel "Six Different Ways" (Cure cover)
    I love Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, don't get me wrong, but oh how I miss Chisel. And this song, as well as any track on The Head on the Door, reminds me of one of the longest make-out sessions of my high school career. I think my then boyfriend (now gay, of course) let the cassette play through on automatic reverse about three times as we cavorted in his basement.
  • DJ Bootious Maximus "The Love Cats" (Cure cover)
  • Tuscadero "Boys Don't Cry" (Cure cover)
  • Dismemberment Plan "Close to Me" (Cure cover)


    From Into a Sea of Cure (an Argentine tribute to The Cure)
  • Shh... "Lullaby" (Cure cover)


    From Pink Pig—The Whole Cure in the Mirror
    A whole bunch of Cure fans you've most likely never heard of covering every Cure song that exists.
  • Lucho Giesso "A Few Hours After This" (Cure cover)
    Many of my favorite Cure songs were B-sides, and this is my all-time favorite. Well, not this version, which is overwrought to say the least.
  • Damon Boyce "A Man Inside My Mouth" (Cure cover)
    Another B-side that makes me nostalgic. Sorta. My freshman year of high school, we hit the gymnastics portion of the semester and my crazy friend who was on the school dance squad made us do a routine to this song (the original, of course, as this version did not exist back then). That she chose it was cool I guess, but gym-class gymnastics routines? Not so much.


    From 15 Imaginary Songs: A Tribute to the Cure
  • The Caves "Just Like Heaven" (Cure cover)
  • Morbid Poetry "Push" (Cure cover)
  • Decadence "Disintegration" (Cure cover)


    From Disintegrated: A Hardcore Tribute to the Cure
    Why?
  • Cave In "Plainsong" (Cure cover)
  • Bad Luck Thirteen Riot Extravaganza "Pictures of You" (Cure cover)
    I hate shit like this, and not just because it's a cover of my least favorite Cure hit ever and not just because it's hardcore. What I hate is the idea of a band badmouthing the types of people most likely to be Cure fans on a tribute album to the Cure. Yeah, we get it, you're cool and above it all and would never shop at Hot Topic although your band name implies otherwise. You showed us!

    And, you know, I never do this (or at least I've never done it before), in celebration of my own birthday, I've decided to repost a track I posted ages ago. It's one of my favorite Cure covers and you can find it here.
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2005

    Chameleon, Comedian, Corinthian and Caricature.

    I'm a terrible music blogger, I know. Updating only once a week? That sucks, right? But, man, I don't know how all the other MP3 bloggers do it. Daily updates? Huge essays? I'm a total slacker and I can't even find the time for that level of dedication.

    I'm really going to try to post more frequently. My birthday is a week from today and I generally make my New Year's Resolutions then. Maybe I can up it to two or three entries a week for a while. Unless there's something really good on TV ...

  • El Nino "Reptile"< (Lisa Germano cover)
    This is just one of hundreds of songs I've snagged from Musical Family Tree, a massive, ever-growing collection of MP3s from Bloomington/Indianapolis-based acts. Some of these bands are still performing and some are now defunct, but many are the bands I spent a lot of time adoring in the early/mid-1990s when I was in Bloomington. And not just because they were my friends and acquaintances. El Nino was one of said bands. And so was Lisa Germano, for a while. I miss Bloomington.

    If you have the time and interest, you might find a handful of interesting covers by interesting acts in the giant MFT catalog and it would take me forever to locate, list and link them all, but I'll point you in the direction of a few:

    1. Vess Ruhtenberg (United States Three, among others) and Michelle Marchessault (ex Gerunds and Sardina, both of which you should check out) performing "Blue Moon"
    2. Sardina performing "Me and My Arrow," which I originally posted around this time last year.
    3. Admiral Stereo has covers of "Gouge Away" and "Honey Pie," among others.

    I hope at least some of you take the time to check out the music offered at that site. Jeb's got a real labor of love going on there, and I for one couldn't be more appreciative.

  • Five in Love "Smooth" (Santana/Rob Thomas cover)
    I can't hear any version of this song without remembering the horrifically hot summer of 1999 in which I was commuting daily to the Borders in Deerfield, where I briefly worked as an interim manager. One of the worst summers of my life, though I didn't really know that at the time. I think I'm over it enough to enjoy this swingy cover though. I think ...

  • In Flames "Land of Confusion" (Genesis cover)
    I never thought I'd say this, but more and more, I enjoy Swedish death metal.

  • The Minus 5 "Wicked Annabella" (Kinks cover)
    A competent cover by Scott McCaughey's ever-changing chamber-pop collective. Man, I love Ken Stringfellow.

  • The London Punkharmonic Orchestra "Ever Fallen In Love?" (Buzzcocks cover)
    Ah. Classical punk covers. Were they the catalyst for all those ridiculous "String Quartet Tributes" out there nowadays? Perhaps. But I'm not holding it against them. Hell, anything is better than the Fine Young Cannibals version.

  • Pop Will Eat Itself "Games Without Frontiers" (Peter Gabriel cover)
    In my college dorm there was a very friendly, straight-laced looking girl named Erika who was really into bands like PWEI. It kind of freaked me out. In a good way. I like this cover way more than the original, but that's not saying much since I'm one of the few people who seem to be in the "Oh my God, I fucking hate Peter Gabriel" camp.

  • Replicants "The Bewlay Brothers" (David Bowie cover)
    I didn't really embrace the Replicants at first, but I see now the error of my ways. This is one of my favorite Bowie songs covered in a really engaging way. Yay for that.

  • Ushuaia Rocks! "Pink Moon" (Nick Drake cover)
    Argentine punk bands. I can never get enough.

    Also: Remember the database of Smiths/Morrissey covers I posted a few entries ago? Well, here are a couple for other acts. (Note: These are databases of INFORMATION. I'm not implying that you can find the actual tracks there.)
  • Dylan covers
  • U2 covers
  • Monday, June 13, 2005

    Weirdo-electro Monday

    I've been amused by industrial and electronic covers lately, so I'm foisting them upon you. Some of these are Faustesque or Negativlandy and some are just industrogoth techno and so on. All are pretty strange.

  • Dimthings "Superstition" (Stevie Wonder cover)

  • Plastics "Last Train to Clarksville" (Monkees cover)

  • Coercion "Cars" (Gary Numan cover)

  • Jeff and Jane Hudson "The Girl [Boy] from Ipanema" (de Moraes/Gimbel/Jobim)

  • Sun Yama "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (Bob Dylan cover)

  • Second Delay "Born to be Alive" (Patrick Hernandez cover)

  • Dark Distant Spaces "Space Age Love Song" (Flock of Seagulls cover)

  • Familiar Faces "Mad World" (Tears for Fears cover)

  • Battery "Gangsta's Paradise" (Coolio cover)

  • Pinker Tone "Louie Louie" (Kingsmen cover)

  • Sista Mannen Pa Jordon "I Want You to Want Me" (Cheap Trick cover)

  • Turner "Right by Your Side" (Eurythmics cover)
    Now, I'm all for a band covering a song and making it their own, but I'm not so down with someone taking the lyrics from a song and completely rewriting the music. But whatever.
  •