Cover-licious Volume 1

This post is the first in a multi-part tribute to great cover versions from any time and any place. I love when an artist takes a song made popular by another and redoes it, not in the same old way as the original version, but in a fresh, and new way; completely making it their own. I dedicate this series to those who are brave to take a great song of another, and put out their own unique version of it for all to hear, and judge against the original. On with the covers!

You Really Got a Hold On Me - She & Him

Volume One (2008)

This is the best version of this song I have heard since the big and beautiful blond, Bonnie Bramlett, belted out the classic on the picnic table in the Conner back yard during an early episode of Rosanne. Originally written by Smokey Robinson in 1962, the song embodies the pleasureful pain that comes from loving someone so much it hurts. The collaboration by actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, She & Him, brought us the album Volume One in March 2008. This track is my favorite from the album. It showcases the beautiful vocals of Deschanel in a stunning duet with Ward, with the unobtrusive yet divine acoustic guitar accompaniment that takes the listener to the place where Robinson must have been when he penned this classic.

Don't Come Around Here No More - Vampire Weekend

The young up and comers Vampire Weekend with Andrew W.K. gave props to the legend Tom Petty a week or so ago in Central Park, NYC, by doing their version of "Don't Come Around Here No More". I have much loved the musical offerings from Tom Petty for many years, since my sister gave me a copy of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' Greatest Hits for Christmas in '93. I fully share Vampire Weekend's sentiment when they proclaim Tom Petty as a "true fucking poet"! Rock on!



I was originally planning on including the very easy to get track Scarlett Johansson's versions "Falling Down" by Tom Waits, because I, an avid Waits fan, enjoy her refreshing feminine renditions of Waits' crookedly strange lyrics... but, I recently discovered AM/PM/FM seem to have received a cease and desist order for posting about her album, so I won't do that! To think I was going to add her as a friend on myspace! Gosh!

Watch for more editions of Cover-liscious on Road 2 Nowhere in the future!

The British Columbians

The British Columbians

A good friend of mine is FINALLY getting his musical offerings immortalized on a shiny round disc. Girard Knox has joined forces with Dave Moran, Christopher Ellis, and Owen Connell as The British Columbians, and they expect their first full length release to be available Summer 2008. In preparation for the CD release they have put together a myspace page, including 4 excellent tracks from the upcoming record. These samplings range from hauntingly beautiful laments to raccous, foot-stomping, hometown bangers. A little rock, a little alt-country; all original, and all well worth a listen! Check out their myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/thebritishcolumbians

Some Reading Material

Glitter & Doom Tour

I've recently gotten involved in the whole myspace phenomena, the digital vortex of tacky, in-your-face animated graphics. I'm currently patiently waiting for the illustrious Tom Waits to accept my friend invitation. How silly! In the mean time, I found some reading material: "Tom Waits' True Confessions", an interview Waits did with himself. What better forum to say all the stuff he wants to say, to vent the frustrations from answering the stock questions the average music writer throws his way. The interview is an entertaining read, with quintessential Waits-isms such as:

Q: What is a gentleman?
A: A man who can play the accordion, but doesn't.

Q: What is on Hemmingway's gravestone?
A: "Pardon me for not getting up."

Check it out over at Tom Wait's myspace blog.

The Old 97's

Blame it on Gravity (2008)

The Old 97's are playing at Richards on Richards tonight... I'll admit to being a little bummed that I can't go, though it's bittersweet (one of Perfect's clients is treating us to a fancy dinner and this evening's performance of Cirque du Soleil's Corteo. It's a hard life!). I'm sure I'll be missing a fabulous show this evening, as these guys are known for their fun and lively gigs, as highlighted in the not so romantic comedy The Break Up, with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. I've long been a fan of this delightfully raucous alt-country act from Dallas TX, who have just released their 7th disc, Blame it on Gravity on NewWest Records.

For your listening pleasure I offer one of my favorite, lesser known Old 97's tracks, Buick City Complex, from their 2001 album Satellite Rides; a somewhat apathetic love song set during the collapse of the Flint MI auto factory industry (for more on this story, I highly recommend Michael Moore's first documentary Roger & Me).

Buick City Complex

And for your viewing pleasure, the video for the first single from the new album: Dance with Me, a tribute to geeks everywhere, particularly those who are fans of Battlestar Galactica.

Playing the Building

One of my favorite wacky geniuses has turned an old building into a musical instrument. David Byrne's latest project is entitled "Playing the Building", an art installation in which he's connected various parts and pieces of the Battery Maritime Building in Manhattan to an old pump organ. The building can now be played like a piano!



Amazing, and beautifully strange!