Yes, yes, I've been lazy about blogging again. I apologize. It's a shame, because there are plenty of things I could be blogging about, but I'm just too plain lazy! However, I was letting my mind wander at work and starting thinking of cover songs. I go crazy for cover songs. I don't know why. I love seeing what another artist will do with a piece of music. Hearing a different spin or different interpretation of something. Seeing how one song can have many layers of meaning. So I compiled a list of my top five favorite cover songs.
5. The Mountain Goats - "One Fine Day" (Carole King)
The lyrics of one fine day tell a tale of unrequited love, but Mr. Darnielle strips away the doo-wop poppiness of the original track and what we're left with is raw emotion and more than a little desperation.
4. Nirvana - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (Leadbelly)
Nirvana's haunting version of a classic Leadbelly song becomes a classic in and of itself. I've heard several covers of this song and Nirvana's is probably my favorite.
3. The Afghan Whigs - "Creep" (TLC)
Greg Dulli is a genius at covers. He takes something unexpected...say, a TLC song, and completely makes it his own.
2. The White Stripes - "Jolene" (Dolly Parton)
In the original version, Dolly Parton pleads with a woman to please not take her men. Jack White does the same...except his plead comes out as a desperate yowl.
1. Johnny Cash - "Hurt" (Nine Inch Nails)
No offense to Trent Reznor or anything...but I honestly think Johnny Cash's cover trumps the original. I find it much more moving, at least. Cash's version is more sparse than the original, and sung with the somberness of a man approaching the end of his life.
Showing posts with label musicians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musicians. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Near-Cult Experiences
It is hard to describe The Mountain Goats. The Mountain Goats usually refers to a man named John Darnielle, a former nurse in a psychiatric ward who started out writing an recording songs on his boombox. These eventually evolved into something closer to an actual band, though it still is mostly just Mr. Darnielle and his guitar. Sometime during my freshman year of college, Mallary introduced me to The Mountain Goats, through the classic songs "No Children" and "International Small Arms Traffic Blues". After falling in love with these songs, I bought the album Tallahassee, an incredible 14-song affair chronicling the destructive relationship of a couple who will eventually drink themselves to death. I was hooked. I moved onto the gorgeously beautiful and fragile songs of The Sunset Tree (I might have to do a write-up of later, because I love it so much), then We Shall All Be Healed, then All Hail West Texas, then anything else I could find. Mallary was a huge, invaluable help in this regard, having a near-complete collection of Mountain Goats songs...probably somewhere around 300...I never really counted, but it's a good guesstimate that they constitute 1/4 of the content of my iPod, easily. That same freshman year that I got hooked on TMG, Mallary and I trekked all the way up to Haverford College in Pennsylvania one adventurous Sunday night just to watch Mr. Darnielle and Peter Hughes play a show in the basement of a dorm.
Let's fast-forward to about...now.
A little over a month ago, Mallary told me that it was confirmed that The Mountain Goats would be playing a benefit for Farm Sanctuary near the tiny lakeside town of Watkins Glen, New York, called Zoop II (there was a previous Zoop in 2007). A brief description of Farm Sanctuary - FS tauts itself as "the leading farm animal protection organization". It rescues farm animals from abusive situations, rallies against factory farming, advocates a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle - all that jazz. The festivies of Zoop II would ibe a weekend long extraganza with shows by John Danielle, Peter Hughes, and John K. Samson of another of my favorite bands, The Weakerthans. And, of course, since in the past Mallary and I have proven ourselves dedicated fans of The Mountain Goats, it seemed only natural (i.e. completely batshit crazy) that we drive up to Watkins Glen to camp out for the weekend with 200 or so other rabid Mountain Goats fans.
So here's a brief pictoral run-down of the weekend.
Let's fast-forward to about...now.
A little over a month ago, Mallary told me that it was confirmed that The Mountain Goats would be playing a benefit for Farm Sanctuary near the tiny lakeside town of Watkins Glen, New York, called Zoop II (there was a previous Zoop in 2007). A brief description of Farm Sanctuary - FS tauts itself as "the leading farm animal protection organization". It rescues farm animals from abusive situations, rallies against factory farming, advocates a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle - all that jazz. The festivies of Zoop II would ibe a weekend long extraganza with shows by John Danielle, Peter Hughes, and John K. Samson of another of my favorite bands, The Weakerthans. And, of course, since in the past Mallary and I have proven ourselves dedicated fans of The Mountain Goats, it seemed only natural (i.e. completely batshit crazy) that we drive up to Watkins Glen to camp out for the weekend with 200 or so other rabid Mountain Goats fans.
So here's a brief pictoral run-down of the weekend.
Here are the cabins where John Darnielle and company stayed in.
And here is our little tent village directly across.
The evening started off with an excellent set by John K. Samson (who I later sat next to briefly at the post-show bonfire)
Here's John's bandmate Peter Peter Hughes, who did a most energizing solo set with a lot of danceable disco-opera songs about Aregentinian race car driver Juan Manuel Fangio (look him up). They caused Zoop-goers to randomly shout "Fangio! Juan Fangio!" for a good chunk of the rest of the weekend.
And here's Johnny!
It was great, epic set. The crowd got very rowdy during "This Year".
Cultimating in John Darnielle probably very nearly getting hit by this broken beer bottle.
A bonfire followed the concert (not pictured in this blog entry)...30 or so Zoop-goers gathered around, guitars were brought out and people drank and sang Mountain Goats songs til the wee hours of evening. John Darnielle made a surprise appearance to join the sing along and Peter and John K. Samson also stopped by. I have to tell you, it was kind of surreal. The next morning, Farm Sanctuary gave Zoop-goers a free tour of their facilities, and an oppurtunity to meet all of the animals. Including adoreable, huge cows.
Roosters.
Turkeys.
And Goats! (hehe) This goat here is Zoop, whom the event is named after. She only has 3 legs. She also likes to head-butt.
I see you.
A goat named Jerry Lee who most people simply call "The Pope".
This sheep fell in love with Mallary and wouldn't let her go.
And then a random goat escaped, causing staff to have the chase it and wrangle it back in.
This awesome woman and her husband made free t-shirts for everyone.
Now this here...is the infamous "Request Only Setlist" board. People were asked to write down any songs they wanted John to play during the Request Only show that night. They also were asked to donate money (which would go to Farm Sanctuary) in order to encourage John to play their song.
It rained a bit, then cleared up, causing an awesome and gorgeous sunset over the hills.
People gather around for the Request Only show.
I love John's enthusiasm and unabashed joy when he plays. It gets me every time.
The second, Request Only show was my favorite of the weekend. It was here especially that encapsulated the ...for lack of a better word,"specialness" and surreal, magical quality of the weekend. It's hard to really put into words. Maybe it was the environment, the setting, the people, the fact that everyone had travelled hundreds of miles just to see this guy that we all admire play songs that we all love in a barn in beautiful upstate New York. It was just incredible. I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to find someone happier to play in front of an audience that couldn't be happier to see him. Having everyone sing-along to even the most obscure of Mountain Goats songs...at one point John jokingly referred to himself as a cult leader (Mallary and I and others were also joking about a vague "cult-like" atmosphere to the whole Zoop experience. Anyhoo, during the show a sort of boundary between artist and audience was broken briefly. Like when John's guitar string broke right before the encore and he came out and led everyone in a sing-along, a cappella version of "No Children". Just...incredible. What amazing people. What amazing music. What an amazing frickin weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to find going to normal concerts at normal clubs and bars and typical concert venues really disappointing after this.
A bonfire followed the concert (not pictured in this blog entry)...30 or so Zoop-goers gathered around, guitars were brought out and people drank and sang Mountain Goats songs til the wee hours of evening. John Darnielle made a surprise appearance to join the sing along and Peter and John K. Samson also stopped by. I have to tell you, it was kind of surreal. The next morning, Farm Sanctuary gave Zoop-goers a free tour of their facilities, and an oppurtunity to meet all of the animals. Including adoreable, huge cows.
Roosters.
Turkeys.
And Goats! (hehe) This goat here is Zoop, whom the event is named after. She only has 3 legs. She also likes to head-butt.
I see you.
A goat named Jerry Lee who most people simply call "The Pope".
This sheep fell in love with Mallary and wouldn't let her go.
And then a random goat escaped, causing staff to have the chase it and wrangle it back in.
This awesome woman and her husband made free t-shirts for everyone.
Now this here...is the infamous "Request Only Setlist" board. People were asked to write down any songs they wanted John to play during the Request Only show that night. They also were asked to donate money (which would go to Farm Sanctuary) in order to encourage John to play their song.
It rained a bit, then cleared up, causing an awesome and gorgeous sunset over the hills.
People gather around for the Request Only show.
I love John's enthusiasm and unabashed joy when he plays. It gets me every time.
The second, Request Only show was my favorite of the weekend. It was here especially that encapsulated the ...for lack of a better word,"specialness" and surreal, magical quality of the weekend. It's hard to really put into words. Maybe it was the environment, the setting, the people, the fact that everyone had travelled hundreds of miles just to see this guy that we all admire play songs that we all love in a barn in beautiful upstate New York. It was just incredible. I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to find someone happier to play in front of an audience that couldn't be happier to see him. Having everyone sing-along to even the most obscure of Mountain Goats songs...at one point John jokingly referred to himself as a cult leader (Mallary and I and others were also joking about a vague "cult-like" atmosphere to the whole Zoop experience. Anyhoo, during the show a sort of boundary between artist and audience was broken briefly. Like when John's guitar string broke right before the encore and he came out and led everyone in a sing-along, a cappella version of "No Children". Just...incredible. What amazing people. What amazing music. What an amazing frickin weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to find going to normal concerts at normal clubs and bars and typical concert venues really disappointing after this.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
It is...Complete!
I wanted to get this done BEFORE 2009, but it is New Years day so...close enough. After weeks of thoughtful review, I give you my annual list of my Top Ten Albums of 2008!
10. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver (real name: Justin Vernon) recorded this album while spending a couple months alone in a log cabin in the Wisconsin wilderness. How very Henry David Thoreau. What follows is a remarkable record that is beautiful and simple, lonely and haunting. I was intrigued at first by the raw emotion of the song "Skinny Love", but wasn't immediately taken with the rest of the album. A couple of listens later, and the songs really got under my skin.
Recommeded Tracks: Skinny Love, Lump Sum, The Wolves (Act 1 & 2)
9. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
M83 is the musical project of Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez and his latest offering, Saturdays = Youth sounds like the lost soundtrack of a John Hughes movie, if John Hughes perhaps made a movie right now. It's full of lush synch-laden orchestrations and other such ethereal sounds. It's gorgeous and sounds both retro and very modern at the same time.
Recommended Tracks: Kim and Jessie, Graveyard Girl
8. Adele - 19
This is nowhere near a perfect album, but it's a fitting debut for new British songstress Adele. It perfectly showcases her rich, powerful, bluesy voice, a voice that makes her sound much older than she is (I think she's 20 now). And, you know, with Amy Winehouse constantly being in rehab or whatever, we have a new need for that retro bluesy pop music. It's a breath of fresh air and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.
Recommended Tracks: Daydreamer, Hometown Glory, To Make You Feel My Love
7. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Again, this is an album that took awhile to grow on me. After 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain (which topped many a critics "Best Of" list that year), it just didn't seem as...well...awesome. It was a little bit too funky for my test, less complex, less rockin'. However, I stuck with it, and with each subsequent listen I began to notice new things and pick up on new things that I loved. This album proves that TVOTR is still one of the best bands out there.
Recommended Tracks: Golden Age, Family Tree, Lover's Day
6. Robyn - Robyn
This album by new favorite Swedish pop mistress was release overseas awhile back, but didn't get an official U.S. release until this year. This album makes me wish that all pop music could be this good (as in, actually good and not just ironically good or mindlessly catchy). I think Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly describes it best:
An adorable blond pixie who bleaches her eyebrows white, worships the Wu-Tang Clan, and covers Prince's ''J--- U Off'' in a voice that sounds like a Smurf on poppers? Sweden doesn't make its pop stars quite like we do. Gone is the demure teen who hit the U.S. top 10 in the late '90s with hits like ''Show Me Love''; in her place is an autonomous, thrillingly eccentric dance diva capable of both wrenching techno ballads — yes, Virginia, it's possible! — and saucy, whip-smart kiss-offs.
Her music videos are always really cool too, so you should check out the links.
Recommended Tracks: Konichiwa Bitches, Handle Me, With Every Heartbeat, Be Mine!
5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
This album feels like a relaxing drive through some back country road in the middle of fall or winter. It is both folksy and simple, in a Simon and Garfunkel sort of way, or old spiritual hymns, and yet very lush and orchestral in many places. The melodies evoke a peculiar sense of nostalgia, only nostalgia for a place you've never experienced, if that makes any sense.
Recommended Tracks: White Winter Hymnal (a cool video), Sun It Rises, Ragged Wood
4. She & Him - Volume One
Zooey Deschanel has always been a favorite actress of mine, but she's also an exceptionally awesome singer. Her voice reminds me of a weird hybrid between Karen Carpenter and Loretta Lynn or something. This album of musical stylings with her and M. Ward (the she and him, respectively) evoke 60s/70s AM radio nostalgia to magical effect. Hopefully the success of this album is a sign that Deschanel and Ward will collaborate more in the future.
Recommended Tracks: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? , Sentimental Heart, You Really Got A Hold On Me
3. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...
Cutesy Welsh septet Los Campesinos! had the distinction of releasing not just one, but two really excellant albums this year (the other is the slightly more recent We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed). Ultimately, this was the one I had to pick, because it was the one that made me fall in love with them and it is slightly better (but only slightly). Los Campesinos! are easily my new favorite band this year. Their brand of self proclaimed "twee-core" punk rock is a fun, loud, sarcastic, rebellious, witty, energetic mix that'll have you jumping around like a rabbit on speed. If there was any new band I'd recommende this year, it would probably be Los Campesinos!
Recommended Tracks: Death to Los Campesinos!, My Year In Lists, You! Me! Dancing! (another really cool video)
2. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
A perfectly composed Brit-rock affair, that effortlessly spans between soaring, orchestral numbers like the album opener, "Starlings" and the dank, rockin' drinking dirge "Grounds For Divorce". You could compare them with some of their contemporaries, like Coldplay, but they're nowhere near as mediocre or pandering (that being said, I still consider Coldplay a guilty pleasure). I'm also terribly in love with lead singer Guy Garvey's voice, which makes him sound like a rougher-edged Peter Gabriel.
Recommended Tracks: Grounds For Divorce, The Bones of You, One Day Like This, An Audience With The Pope
1. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
Duh. This long-anticipated (at least by me) collaboration between Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan certainly did not disappoint. The combination between Dulli's sexy, cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof yowl and Lanegan's cigarette-and-whiskey drenched growls and grumbles is just too perfect for words. This is some of the purest, darkest rock you're ever going to hear.
Recommended Tracks: Circle the Fringes, Idle Hands, God's Children, I Was In Love With You
Honorable Mentions:
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Sundays At Devil Dirt
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
The Killers - Day and Age
The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
10. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver (real name: Justin Vernon) recorded this album while spending a couple months alone in a log cabin in the Wisconsin wilderness. How very Henry David Thoreau. What follows is a remarkable record that is beautiful and simple, lonely and haunting. I was intrigued at first by the raw emotion of the song "Skinny Love", but wasn't immediately taken with the rest of the album. A couple of listens later, and the songs really got under my skin.
Recommeded Tracks: Skinny Love, Lump Sum, The Wolves (Act 1 & 2)
9. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
M83 is the musical project of Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez and his latest offering, Saturdays = Youth sounds like the lost soundtrack of a John Hughes movie, if John Hughes perhaps made a movie right now. It's full of lush synch-laden orchestrations and other such ethereal sounds. It's gorgeous and sounds both retro and very modern at the same time.
Recommended Tracks: Kim and Jessie, Graveyard Girl
8. Adele - 19
This is nowhere near a perfect album, but it's a fitting debut for new British songstress Adele. It perfectly showcases her rich, powerful, bluesy voice, a voice that makes her sound much older than she is (I think she's 20 now). And, you know, with Amy Winehouse constantly being in rehab or whatever, we have a new need for that retro bluesy pop music. It's a breath of fresh air and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.
Recommended Tracks: Daydreamer, Hometown Glory, To Make You Feel My Love
7. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Again, this is an album that took awhile to grow on me. After 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain (which topped many a critics "Best Of" list that year), it just didn't seem as...well...awesome. It was a little bit too funky for my test, less complex, less rockin'. However, I stuck with it, and with each subsequent listen I began to notice new things and pick up on new things that I loved. This album proves that TVOTR is still one of the best bands out there.
Recommended Tracks: Golden Age, Family Tree, Lover's Day
6. Robyn - Robyn
This album by new favorite Swedish pop mistress was release overseas awhile back, but didn't get an official U.S. release until this year. This album makes me wish that all pop music could be this good (as in, actually good and not just ironically good or mindlessly catchy). I think Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly describes it best:
An adorable blond pixie who bleaches her eyebrows white, worships the Wu-Tang Clan, and covers Prince's ''J--- U Off'' in a voice that sounds like a Smurf on poppers? Sweden doesn't make its pop stars quite like we do. Gone is the demure teen who hit the U.S. top 10 in the late '90s with hits like ''Show Me Love''; in her place is an autonomous, thrillingly eccentric dance diva capable of both wrenching techno ballads — yes, Virginia, it's possible! — and saucy, whip-smart kiss-offs.
Her music videos are always really cool too, so you should check out the links.
Recommended Tracks: Konichiwa Bitches, Handle Me, With Every Heartbeat, Be Mine!
5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
This album feels like a relaxing drive through some back country road in the middle of fall or winter. It is both folksy and simple, in a Simon and Garfunkel sort of way, or old spiritual hymns, and yet very lush and orchestral in many places. The melodies evoke a peculiar sense of nostalgia, only nostalgia for a place you've never experienced, if that makes any sense.
Recommended Tracks: White Winter Hymnal (a cool video), Sun It Rises, Ragged Wood
4. She & Him - Volume One
Zooey Deschanel has always been a favorite actress of mine, but she's also an exceptionally awesome singer. Her voice reminds me of a weird hybrid between Karen Carpenter and Loretta Lynn or something. This album of musical stylings with her and M. Ward (the she and him, respectively) evoke 60s/70s AM radio nostalgia to magical effect. Hopefully the success of this album is a sign that Deschanel and Ward will collaborate more in the future.
Recommended Tracks: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? , Sentimental Heart, You Really Got A Hold On Me
3. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...
Cutesy Welsh septet Los Campesinos! had the distinction of releasing not just one, but two really excellant albums this year (the other is the slightly more recent We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed). Ultimately, this was the one I had to pick, because it was the one that made me fall in love with them and it is slightly better (but only slightly). Los Campesinos! are easily my new favorite band this year. Their brand of self proclaimed "twee-core" punk rock is a fun, loud, sarcastic, rebellious, witty, energetic mix that'll have you jumping around like a rabbit on speed. If there was any new band I'd recommende this year, it would probably be Los Campesinos!
Recommended Tracks: Death to Los Campesinos!, My Year In Lists, You! Me! Dancing! (another really cool video)
2. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
A perfectly composed Brit-rock affair, that effortlessly spans between soaring, orchestral numbers like the album opener, "Starlings" and the dank, rockin' drinking dirge "Grounds For Divorce". You could compare them with some of their contemporaries, like Coldplay, but they're nowhere near as mediocre or pandering (that being said, I still consider Coldplay a guilty pleasure). I'm also terribly in love with lead singer Guy Garvey's voice, which makes him sound like a rougher-edged Peter Gabriel.
Recommended Tracks: Grounds For Divorce, The Bones of You, One Day Like This, An Audience With The Pope
1. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
Duh. This long-anticipated (at least by me) collaboration between Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan certainly did not disappoint. The combination between Dulli's sexy, cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof yowl and Lanegan's cigarette-and-whiskey drenched growls and grumbles is just too perfect for words. This is some of the purest, darkest rock you're ever going to hear.
Recommended Tracks: Circle the Fringes, Idle Hands, God's Children, I Was In Love With You
Honorable Mentions:
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Sundays At Devil Dirt
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
The Killers - Day and Age
The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
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