Wednesday Covers 03/03/10

I’m going on school camp tomorrow. It involves hiking, drop toilets and tents.  I am going to die.

Anyway, before I get attacked by drop bears and the smell of unshowered teenage boys, I thought I’d share a few covers with you.

Before they released The Stand- Ins Okkervil River asked other bands to cover songs from the album and post them on youtube. One of my favourite coveres from this project is Bon Iver’s cover of Blue Tulip. There is less emphisis placed on the lyrics than in the orginal, but with Justin Vernon’s falestto it’s hardly a problem. Seriously though, he could record and Canibal Courpse cover and make it sound like the prettiest thing in the world.

Bon Iver- Blue Tulip.mp3

I have an almost endless supply of Magnetic Fields covers and I thought I’d post another one. In year 10 Neon Bible by the Arcade Fire was my favourite album. I was given a burnt copy by a  friend and, along with The Shins, they introduced me to the wonderful world of indie music. They did a cover of Born on a Train a couple of years ago, and it isn’t bad, although Win Butler’s voice doesn’t\sound it’s best. If you’re a fan of either band it is worth a listen.

I have to post the video because my internet is having a hissy fit.

Friday Covers 19/02/10

It’s been ages since I’ve done a covers post. One thing you will notice this year is that I’m going to be even worse with my self-imposed deadlines thanks to the wonders of VCE. So let’s just pretend that it’s a Tuesday and that I have some kind of time management skills.

I have two covers for you today. Neither of them are all that  recent but they’re both very good.

The other day I found out that they’re going to release a documentary about Stephin Merrit from the Magnetic Fields called Strange Powers. He is one of the few songwriters who can write songs that are bitter, funny, sad and happy all at the same time. The trailer looks pretty  good although I don’t know when the film will be released in Australia.

The Shins were one of the first “indie” bands that I really got into. I think it has something to do with really good pop songs, something which they have delivered on numerous occasions. Although it may not be cool anymore, I still really like them and thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to share their cover of Strange Powers, the best love song to mention  Thai prostitutes. No, I’m not joking.

The Shins- Strange Powers.mp3

It’s no secret that I love The Decemberists and the  guys over at You Ain’t No Picasso have posted a Decemberists cover archive with 56 songs and counting. It’s amazing. I thought I would post one of my favourite covers from the list, a cover of Joanna Newsom’s Bridges and Balloons. I can’t stand Joanna Newsom’s voice however I might have to give her another listen after hearing this version, which almost sounds like it could be a Decemberists original.

The Decemberists- Bridges and Balloons.mp3

Tuesday Covers 29/12/09

I hope all your livers are recovering well from the holidays.

This will be the last Tuesday covers segment for this year and the entire decade (bring on 2010 and not being 17) and I have a few exciting things to post for you today.

I also hope to have a best-of list up sometime this week, or early next year. I got a bunch of CDs for Christmas and want to give them time to sink in before I go list making.

When I was younger, my dad used tp play Darkside of the Moon in the car. At the time I was living on a steady diet of Kylie Minogue and manufactured pop groups and  while I would like to be able to say that it changed my life and I spent the rest of my childhood listening to classic rock, the truth is that I thought it was weird old music. There was however, one song that I didn’t mind so much  and that was Money. I think it was because it was the closest thing to a pop song and I remember looking forward to hearing it on long drives.

Today I have two covers of Money for you.

The first is from The Flaming Lips. This isn’t a live cover that a die-hard fan has recorded and posted on the internet or even a cover done for a radio station. This is a studio version that was recorded as part of the band’s cover of the entire Darkside of the Moon album, which I think is now available on itunes. Enjoy.

The Flaming Lips-Money.mp3

The other cover of Money I have for you was released a few years ago and is by The Easy All Stars who cover classic albums in the style of reggae. My personal favourite of these albums is Radiodread a cover of Radiohead’s Ok Computer, however Dub Side of the Moon is still an interesting listen, even if you aren’t a reggae fan. And it is fun to see how many puns they can come up with for album titles.

Easy All Stars-Money.mp3

I’m sure most of you would be familiar with the Magnetic Fields and their 69 Love Songs album. For those of you who don’t know, The Magnetic Fields recorded a triple album made up of 69 songs about love and love songs. Of course, having Stephen Merrit as the main songwriter meant the songs were generally sad, bitter or witty rather than sappy. Which is definetly a good thing.

As you can imagine, having such a large number of songs, most of them pretty good, has led to a number of covers. This one is a cover of Book of Love by Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes, who are pretty much responsable for making folk music cool again.

Robin Pecknold-Book of Love.mp3