I honestly thought this mashup was my own idea, and I pitched it to my buddy Mike last weekend, who burst my bubble by mentioning the Weezer cover. Perhaps I'd heard this before but blocked it from my consciousness, perhaps I legitimately came up with the same idea as Rivers Cuomo & Co. Let it be known, however, that in my head, the "can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face..." part was directly over the hook from Kids; whereas Weezer just segues from one song into the other. Let it be known that it's unlikely I'll ever post Gaga other than this cover - just not really what I'm into these days. Let it also be known, however, that she's a musical genius, but also a savvy businesswoman who figured out that she could achieve much greater fame and fortune by going the extravagant pop diva route than playing classical music or just being a girl with a piano. While we're on covers, who can forget this gem?
Tonight is one of those rare nights when I post a cover. Generally, while I do believe some covers are worthwhile, I try to go with the original version (or at least post both). But in this case, odds are you're familiar with the original, and the cover just has that ethereal quality which merits attention.
Interesting to note that this song may have the most comments of any song I've ever viewed on songmeanings.net. Also that the band had to fight pretty hard to get past this one track from their first album, and Thom Yorke apparently pretty much hates the song now.
Carrie Manolakos cut her teeth on Broadway, and now she has released an album of original tunes. If this performance is any indication, she's got the pipes to make for some quality songs.
Here's an excerpt from an article that has been making the rounds on the social media sites:
"This Cover of Radiohead's "Creep" Will Make Your Ears Orgasm. If you're in a hurry, skip to 2:25 for the crescendo, but you should really listen to the whole thing. It's upsettingly good."
~ Neetzan Zimmerman, Gawker
Seriously, listen to the whole thing; the emotion conveyed in the quieter parts of the song is just as good as the payoff. The high note, the harmony, the control through it all... just wow. And the instruments are spot on, as well.
And here's the original, just so the Radiohead fans don't lambaste me:
Normally I try to avoid using covers as posts, but this one is just incredible. Plus I've had a rough week with work and such and haven't posted, and I'm minutes away from a much-needed crash and burn marathon sleep session, so a quick one with limited need for deep, insightful commentary was needed.
Walk Off The Earth won the internet with this YouTube video two weeks ago; you've probably already seen it, but if not, watch it now before you're the last person on earth not to. Seriously, it had something like 800,000 videos when I first saw it, and exploded to several million within like a day. 31 million views in 15 days - almost 2M / day. I believe that's what you kids refer to as "going viral"...
The gimmick is that it features five people playing one guitar, but man do they legitimize it. The arrangement is stellar, the voices gritty and true, and the dude on the right is so hardcore you won't be able to stand it.
The band does lots of covers (pretty much all of them are amazing) but also has their own tunes, so check them out further if you like this:
We've all gone through that phase where we were into rap metal, but for most of us it was quite a while ago that we got over it. OK, so I say that tongue-in-cheek, because who ever really gets over it? But seriously, maybe we haven't all done that, but we all experience changes in our musical tastes as we grow up and find ourselves at different stages in life.
All that to say, I haven't really kept up with Linkin Park, but apparently they have spent the last several years trying some different things stylistically, which I always appreciate in bands (as opposed to those who have one hit and spend decades writing more songs that sound exactly like that one.) I'm not sure how well LP's first few albums have held up as I progressed out of my teen/college years, but I can still enjoy some of those tracks from time to time. This particular song always did strike a chord for me, it's much more mellow and less intense musically than most of their stuff, but the simple lyrics pack a punch. There's another side to the band besides the angsty, angry vibes of "Numb" and the Ecclesiastic nihilism of "In The End".
This song is about reflection, regret, and reconciliation. The singer has made some major mistakes, which tore apart relationships. He's realizing what he threw away and trying to make amends. Hopefully most of you haven't had things fall apart quite that badly, but we've all said or done things which hurt family, friends, or lovers...
Here's an acoustic / piano only version they've been doing in concert in recent years:
And here's the original version:
And while we're at it, Josh Groban (possibly the best male vocalist alive) covered the song, so you know it's legit:
(And yes, I posted this song in part to be cute and "oh snap it's a song about the current month!", like last night. Also in part because my friend Josh tweeted some lyrics the other day.)
We'll kick off October with some Smiths. As often happens, I heard it on the radio in the car yesterday, and was like, "oh YEAH, what a great song that I haven't listened to in ages!" So of course now I'm blogging about it.
The guitar parts are pretty intense, and you can read about how they were produced on good old Wikipedia. Wiki also has info on the lyrics (some of which are paraphrased from George Eliot, who was actually a female writerin the 19th century using a pseudonym to be taken seriously - pretty interesting), and the covers, which include t.A.T.u. (remember them? hoo boy.) Lead singer Morrissey was interviewed and asked about that cover version, and hilarity ensued:
"The interviewer explained, 'They're teenage Russian lesbians.' To which Morrissey replied, 'Well, aren't we all?'"
Stayed home sick from a concert I was really looking forward to attending. Watched "Garden State" instead, and was reminded of some good tunes from the soundtrack. The film uses the Iron & Wine cover of this song (which is also awesome); I'm focusing on the original.
The Postal Service is (was?) a side project of Ben Gibbard (of DCFC fame) and Jimmy Tamborello. The name was derived from the fact that they recorded tracks for songs and mailed them to each other to build the songs. Kinda cool, eh?
The song is upbeat, electronic, and catchy, with lyrics celebrating finding one's soulmate... a bit cliched, perhaps, but still fun.
Two years ago, I was out of town the weekend my brother and friends went to Johnny Cash Day - a celebration of The Man, The Myth, The Music at a local Elks Club on (or around) the anniversary of his passing. My friends were into Johnny Cash Day before it was cool, and I missed out back in '09. Last year, I vowed not to let that happen again. It was a great event, but word had gotten out and it was packed to the point where you couldn't get a chair and it was difficult to even navigate around the room. But it was well worth it to hear some great covers of Cash's music, and because I won this:
(in '09, our friend Lindsay won a similar print - back to back winners!)
Hatch Show Prints are printed on Broadway in Nashville, and have been since 1879; this is a replica of an original poster, but it's pretty awesome and hangs in my music room by my piano.
This past Saturday was the 2011 JCD, and I missed it due to failure to purchase a ticket before they sold out. I'm sure it was great like last year, and I'm sure several of the performers covered "Ring Of Fire" like last year. (my favorite version was by Mark Williams; he did a more unique take on it and shifted some chords to minors for an interesting vibe.) It's one of Cash's most popular songs, due to the catchy tune and lyrics to which most folks can relate. Well, sort of - it was written by June Carter about her relationship with Cash whilst both of them were married (or divorcing) other spouses. Tough situation, that. So not everyone has ditched one lover for another, but the part about how love is all-consuming rings true for pretty much everyone...
Live performance 1963 (By the way, I love the Mexican horns!) - you can find other live performances online too
This one's a cover of an '80s song that you might have heard, in all its synth-pop horn chorus glory. But you won't hear trumpets in this drastically altered version - McMorrow brings it down real low with simple piano chords and ethereal falsetto vocals. It allows you to focus on the lyrics and the cry for the titular "higher love" - love that supersedes the many injustices in the world. "Without it, life is wasted time..."
Quickie tonight, because I just got home from a very awesome show featuring NYC bands These Animals and Field Mouse along with local favorite Big Hurry. I went for Big Hurry, but came away a fan of all three bands. Due to the laid back atmosphere and light midweek crowd, I got to chat with members of each band, and they were just swell. If you're on the East Coast, Field Mouse and These Animals are playing DC tomorrow, and These Animals have a couple more dates this week - worth catching if you're nearby.
In honor of the spectacular cover BH played, here's the original version of "I Would Die 4 U" by Prince:
"I'm not your lover I'm not your friend I am something that you'll never comprehend..."
