I (finally) saw Juno last night, and there’s a scene towards the end where Cat Power’s earthy, smoky voice fills the theater with her sublimely saddened version of “Sea of Love,” off her Covers Record.
As I walked out of the movies into the crisp and cold night, I found myself quietly singing another selection from that album, her elegiac version of the Velvet Underground’s “I Found A Reason.” It’s less than two minutes long, and like most of her covers it’s more of a reinvention than a faithful retelling. The lyrics morph; the only ones consistent between the two versions go:
Oh I do believe you’re all what you perceive (Velvet) / in all the things you say (Cat)
What comes is better than what came before
. . . and you’d better come come come come to me Better come come come to me . . .
I cannot help but smile wide at the loose, rough joy they exude in their musical jam (even if Conor is dressed kinda like he just stumbled in from post-work happy hour karaoke):
Well heck. Here it is Monday night. In addition to the time change creeping up on me, apparently I am also going to forget what day it is and therefore not put the finishing touches on the Monday Music Roundup. Which is now looking like a Tuesday Music Roundup. Terrific!
Jesse Malin‘s cover of the Lou Reed classic “Walk On The Wild Side” surfaced over on the Times UK site today for free download. It’s from his upcoming album of covers, On Your Sleeve, due April 7th on One Little Indian Records.
It begs for comparison with some of the other other notable covers of this ode to transvestitism, back room darlings, and really smooth bass lines that sound what I would imagine heroin feels like.
Walk On The Wild Side – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch Oh the horror, this was my first exposure to this song. I bought this cassingle from The Wherehouse at Vallco Fashion Park mall, probably with babysitting money. I know all the lyrics; to this day, Annie’s cautionary tale is probably the reason I’ve never done hits that make heartbeats accelerate. She wanted to be a chemical engineer, makin 50 to 55 thousand a year. She took a hit, breathed two short breaths. One for life the last for death. Thanks Marky.
Walk On The Wild Side (live) – The Strokes Julian Casablancas always sounds like he is singing half-reclined on his counch and can’t be arsed to get up, and I think he comes closest to channeling the delivery of Lou Reed. I love the way the moment in this cover when he hits the line about Jackie juuuuuust speeding away, and then of course that pretty rad guitar solo that Nick Valensi throws on at the end.
According to the Jesse Malin website: “New record out April 2008 on One Little Indian Records in the UK and Europe, ‘On Your Sleeve.’ Full-length studio album of covers from Elton John to the Hold Steady, 14 songs plus 3 bonus iTunes tracks. Stay tuned for details.”
Iiinteresting. I don’t know what he’s putting on it, but I would guess that this is the Hold Steady cover, and two other tenuous possibilities below:
YOU CAN MAKE HIM LIKE YOU (HOLD STEADY COVER) Jesse Malin at Vintage Vinyl 3/20/07
I had high aspirations for posting this on Monday, but then I had Christmas shopping to do (meager shopping since we’re still half-jobless this holiday season, which is actually kind of freeing cos no one expects anything but cookies from you). My sister and I actually braved the shopping scene to find some fun little inexpensive gifts. They’re selling shirts like that on the right at Target, which confused me.
Sis has been feeling the stress of helping to care for my sick uncle (she’s the closest-located relative to the hospital in CA) so she had expressed a desire to bake the most complicated Christmas cookies we could find while she was here in town. Her exact instructions to me were, “Go online to Martha Stewart.com, and find a recipe for something like talking reindeers with 8 layers of phyllo dough and green glitter.” We didn’t get quite that adventurous but we did manage to make even more basic cookies than truly necessary. They were good snackin to eat warm from the oven on Christmas Eve while the whole family watched A Christmas Story as we do each year in the hours before Santa comes.
“Sons of b*tches! Bumpuses!“
Bad Place The Beauty Shop At first, I listened to The Beauty Shop out of curiosity – their moniker was incongruous for the sound described (Mojo says “as much J Mascis as Johnny Cash”), but also probably because it made me reminisce of the cosy little Beauty Bar in San Francisco that I used to go to on occasion. See, both use the name and the promise of beautiful things to entice the unsuspecting. I am glad I clicked to listen to this trio out of Illinois because they get under my skin. This song feels a bit like that cover of Cash covering Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage,” and when frontman John Hoeffleur sings about punching a hole in the sky, punctuated by little yelps and a rough and ready acoustic guitar, you believe him. More tunes here.
345 Supergrass Fitting nicely onto your mix between Feist’s 1234 and something from The 5.6.7.8.s, this new numerical scorcher from Oxford’s Supergrass is just as slicing as the other new track “Diamond Hoo Ha Man” was. If these tunes are any indication of what’s to come from the forthcoming album in 2008, they’ve been listening to more White Stripes and smoking less supergrass. I felt a little frisson of electricity when this first came over my speakers.
Endless Conversation (acoustic) The Alternate Routes One of the Fuel/Friends favorites in 2007, The Alternate Routes keep on putting out sublime melodies with this new acoustic EP, which they’re selling exclusively at shows. Eric the guitarist tells me that the band had these alternate versions echoing in their heads of songs from Good and Reckless and True, so they recorded the EP themselves and now their label, frankly, is trying to figure out what to do with it. Let’s hope it gains an actual release in 2008 because it’s simply lovely — dusty backporch Sunday, sweetly aching, Willie Nelson-styled versions of their roosty music.
Heart It Races (Architecture in Helsinki cover) Dr. Dog I mentioned this song some months ago as the b-side to a Dr. Dog 7″ Beck remix, and now I finally have the mp3 from a friend who put it on his annual Best-Of-2007 mix CD which he distributes to his lucky friends. Track #9 on the mix, I’ve been listening to this tune non-stop on repeat. It took me a while to place this song as an AIH cover that I’d streamed months before, but either way it made me love Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog even more. With equal parts Sixties doowop, git-down handclapping rhythm, and spacey My Morning Jacket-esque vocals, this is a perfect song. Perfect.
Cut Your Hair (Pavement cover) Cassettes Won’t Listen This is what happens when Stephen Malkmus gets channeled through your Casio keyboard, and even though it’s impossible to improve upon the original, this updates it in a strangely danceable, slightly-weird but pleasing way. Part of a free EP of Nineties covers with album art that hits right at the heart of the Class-of-’97 nostalgia bin, Cassettes Won’t Listen and the blog Music For Robots take care of you with this free collection. They also give Liz Phair, Butter 08, Blind Melon, and Sebadoh their unique treatment, just for kicks and giggles.
One of the most highly acclaimed musically-infused movies to come out this year, Once is the story of a Dublin busker who works part-time in a vacuum repair shop instead of living out his musical calling (Glen Hansard of the Irish band The Frames and The Swell Season), and the musical connection that he forms over the course of a week with a fellow struggling artist, a not-yet-twenty year old street vendor from the Czech Republic who happens to play the piano (Marketa Irglova, the other half of Swell Season).
You’ve probably seen the lush and lovely soundtrack that they made popping up on year-end Best of 2007 lists all over the place, and with good reason. This particular cover is a bonus track on some special editions of the soundtrack, and it is jaw-droppingly good. Although it starts winsome and delicate, it builds into moments of heartfelt intensity. The song always ends too soon, so I have to back up and listen to it over again.
The DVD came out this week in the U.S., which is something that my Netflix queue is thrilled about.
* * * * * * * * *
In unrelated news, this kinda restored some of my faith in humanity this morning as I read the paper over my cup of coffee. Religious or not, I thought it was an inspiring story of giving this time of year, and what we are capable of.
The Stereophonics recently played a set for the BBC 1’s Live Lounge series, starting with an interview at Kelly’s childhood home in Wales, followed by a show at the Cwmaman (no, I don’t know how to say that) Men’s Club where the band had played their first show way back in the day.
The band covered the Foo Fighters song “Best of You” during the set, and after hours of fighting with the stream on the BBC site, I finally found this unofficial blog that had just the tune I was gunning for. Tonight this just seems like one of the saddest, most melancholy songs I’ve heard in a long time; Kelly sings like he’s a staring off a million miles away. Each lyric gets at me tonight. Clearly that’s also by virtue of the strength of the original songwriting here that glows through the ache.
On this version you don’t get the Grohl-screaming but you get at the core in a new way.
That site also has an mp3 of their performance of “Local Boy In The Photograph,” which feels fitting for the setting. And on a lighter note, here are a few more pics from the whole silly junket:
Beryl and Oscar (aka Mum and Dad) charmingly have a few Stereophonics videos in their collection, behind the ceramic elephant and the piano school tote bag.
Kelly’s mum telling interviewer Jo Whiley about the mullet that Kelly rocked when he was younger . . .
The internet can be so eerily voyeuristic (you know this, anonymous blog reader). I’ll admit to being fascinated by sites like PostSecret and Found Magazine; now I have a new place to click and look inside the ephemera of other people’s lives. The To-Do List Blog collects and reprints people’s lists for your perusal. Seems fitting in this list-making season, and you get to see charming resolutions like #5 above: “Let my eyelashes grow.”
A noble aspiration for us all.
This week’s tunes, a day late:
The Silence Between Us Bob Mould After former Hüsker Düer / Sugar frontman’s dancetastic side project last year, Bob Mould returns in early 2008 with his 7th solo album District Line. I am digging this first single, it’s all my favorite fuzzy guitars and big hooks [via]. I’ve heard that Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty is holding down the percussion end of things here, and this intro heavily reminds me of Pete Yorn (“For Nancy” – listen and see). Plus, do you hear an echo of the Sugar song “A Good Idea” here like I do? This is a very strong, rocking return to form, and I look forward to hearing the whole album.
200 More Miles (feat. Ryan Adams) Cowboy Junkies Other than a hazy SNL appearance with really foxy hairstyles where they performed their cover of Sweet Jane that I’ve seen in re-runs, I will admit that I don’t know much about the Cowboy Junkies. I’ve heard that this is an oversight on my part, and I should probably rectify that. Eh, we’ll see. But to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Trinity Session album, the Junkies released a CD/DVD combo of performances in the same Toronto church where the original album was recorded. Ryan Adams sings lead vocals here on this tune (I love the way his voice quavers when he sings the lyric, “Atlanta’s a distant memory / Montgomery a recent blur“). Adams plays guitars, drums and trades harmony vocals on a few other songs [pics here], and Natalie Merchant and Vic Chestnutt also appear. Trinity Revisited is out now, but maybe only in the UK.
X Marks The Spot Frankel Here is another fresh discovery from my year-end list perusing, this time from the formidably-almost-always-right Aquarium Drunkard. Of this independent Los Angeles artist, Justin writes: “an absolute must for fans of Nilsson, Lennon/McCartney, et al. I recently described the sound of the LP as the orchestration and instrumentation of latter era Elliot Smith, combined with the songwriting and world view of Richard Swift.” After reading that descrption, I said “Okay.” And I am glad I did. The album is called Lullaby For The Passerby.
I Came Here To Say I’m Going Away (Serge Gainsbourg cover) Okkervil River Artists behind another fine album from 2007 that missed my list, Okkervil River is feeling generous this Christmastime. They’ve put together an EP of live cover tunes available for free on their website, and they have dug up some wonderful, obscure tunes to make their own. Called the Golden Opportunities Mixtape, the collection includes this cover by risque French songwriter of the ’60s Serge Gainsbourg (wherein they also tag a bit of “96 Tears”), plus Joni Mitchell, The Fugs, John Cale and more. The mix also includes the evocative original tune of theirs called “Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas” that I recently posted. Nothing says Christmas like free music; go get it.
Paper Planes M.I.A. Several of you have suggested I should have named this song of the year, but since I didn’t do a list like that, it’s a moot point (like a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter). I will admit an affinity for this catchy song, built entirely on a foundation of The Clash’s Straight To Hell, with one of the best and most un-singable choruses all year (I kinda do a head bop to one side for the gunshots, then two to the other side for the cash register sounds. I look really cool doing it, especially at the gym where I am most prone to listen to it, and people think I am having a seizure). The video [via GvB] is entertaining: even if her rolling-ocean-flow hand motions lose their charm after about the second time, the Beastie Boys cameo where she sells them food off the back of her trailer restaurant doesn’t.
Coldplay is streaming a lovely cover of the Pretenders song “2000 Miles” on their website with the above description. I’m definitely a Pretenders fan, and this song is filled with a melancholy longing and wistfulness, those things that a greeting-card Christmas isn’t supposed to be . . . but often is.
In these frozen and silent nights sometimes in a dream you appear outside under the purple sky diamonds in the snow sparkle our hearts were singing it felt like Christmastime
I’ve been intending to post this song, but all of a sudden it has now taken on more gravitas to me and I’ve been listening to it quite a bit. I am back out in California again after a very last-minute late-night flight out, my uncle is seriously and unexpectedly sick in the critical care unit at the hospital. It’s raining in Santa Clara. Tubes and wires and beeping and I feel completely overwhelmed with what I can do except hold his hand and stroke his unconscious forehead. Even though I am 28 I feel like an ill-equipped kid even being in the ICU, like someone’s going to say “Excuse me sweetheart, no one under 14 allowed.” Sometimes I talk to him, about anything, about everything. Preschool Christmas concerts, recent trips, insignificant anecdotes. If I felt brave I guess I could sing, he’s always liked to hear his nieces sing.
Brandi Carlile covered “Raining in Baltimore” by the Counting Crows at a recent show Birmingham, much to my delight. This somber, underrated, poetic tune from the Counting Crows’ first album is one of my favorites. While her treatment of it is pretty faithful, the emotion in her voice belies a genuine love for the song and the mournful cello addition strikes a chord with me:
This circus is falling down on its knees The big top is crumbling down It’s raining in Baltimore fifty miles east Where you should be, no one’s around
I need a phone call I need a raincoat I need a big love I need a phone call
These train conversations are passing me by And I don’t have nothing to say You get what you pay for But I just had no intention of living this way
I need a phone call I need a plane ride I need a sunburn I need a raincoat
And I get no answers And I don’t get no change It’s raining in Baltimore, baby But everything else is the same
There’s things I remember and things I forget I miss you I guess that I should Three thousand five hundred miles away But what would you change if you could
I need a phone call Maybe I should buy a new car I can always hear the freight train Baby if I listen real hard And I wish, I wish it was a small world Because I’m lonely for the big towns I’d like to hear a little guitar I guess it’s time to put the top down
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
I (finally) saw Juno last night, and there’s a scene towards the end where Cat Power’s earthy, smoky voice fills the theater with her sublimely saddened version of “Sea of Love,” off her Covers Record. 
The internet can be so eerily voyeuristic (you know this, anonymous blog reader). I’ll admit to being fascinated by sites like 
Name: Heather Browne
