Breathe

Been too busy, no substantial post forthcoming.
Off to the Island for the long weekend!

The Ten Pound Suit Band - Breathe [originally by The Prodigy]
The Prodigy by way of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Amanda Palmer covers The Double Rainbow Song all the way!

Yesterday marked the release of Amanda Palmer's all-ukulele album of Radiohead covers, which you can buy directly from her bandcamp site for as little as 84 cents for the whole thing!

Tracklist:
1. Fake Plastic Trees
2. High and Dry
3. No Surprises
4. Idioteque
5. Creep (Hungover at Soundcheck in Berlin)
6. Exit Music (For a Film)
7. Creep (Live in Prague)

She also had a webcast release party during which performed a rousing piano cover of everyone's second favourite song about rainbows. Out of context you may be slightly baffled by this cover, so if you're not one of the 6 million folks (and counting) who has seen the original Double Rainbow video you really need to do so immediately. Once the original Double Rainbow video went viral less than 3 weeks ago following a Jimmy Kimmel tweet, The Gregory Brothers of Auto-Tune the News youtube fame quickly whipped up the instant classic Double Rainbow Song. If you can believe it, this song is actually available on iTunes and last week made it up to #74 on the singles charts with half the proceeds going right to Paul Vasquez AKA Yosemitebear AKA Hungry Bear AKA the Double Rainbow Guy who is also a former cage fighter. Got it? If you're still confused, Know Your Meme breaks it down in an easily digestible 3-minute video.

Amanda Palmer - Double Rainbow Song [originally by The Gregory Brothers featuring Yosemitebear]
"What does this mean?!?"

Covering CCR

I've been on a Creedence Clearwater Revival kick lately and that's as good a reason as any to share some good CCR covers. This may also have something to do with the recent 12-pack of CCR DLC for Rock Band (oodles of fun!) that's also spurred on the clearly corresponding revival of Creedence on the ol' iPod.

Girl Trouble - Commotion [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
Shortstack - Commotion [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
One of my favourite all-time CCR songs, the killer guitar intro gets me every time.

Chris Farlowe - As Long As I Can See the Light [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
A sweet bluesy take on another one of my CCR favourites.

Maxine Weldon - Lodi [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
Steve introduced me to this horn-infused Lodi cover in a Cover Freak post a couple months ago. I dig it a lot and it's worth revisiting.

Chicory Tip - Lodi [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
Another solid Lodi cover.

James Last - Proud Mary [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
James Last covers always make me chuckle at first, then I inevitably get caught up in their relentlessly upbeat singing and big band arrangements. Cheesy but awesome.

Dread Zeppelin - Born on the Bayou [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
From The Fun Sessions, a Dread Zeppelin album of (gasp!) non-Zeppelin classic rock covers... but, of course, this cover of Born on the Bayou is anchored on the riff from Led Zeppelin's In the Light.

The Living End - Lookin' Out My Back Door (Live) [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]
A truncated live cover from the 2001 Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands.

Roxy! Roller!

Long before I learned about the long and storied history of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I only knew "Sweeney Todd" as the glam rock band (from Vancouver, by the way) whose hit Roxy Roller is a staple of classic rock stations across Canada. From their self-titled debut album, the song went to #1 on the Canadian charts in 1976 and won a Juno for Single of the Year. Around that same time though, Sweeney Todd's lead singer Nick Gilder and guitarist Bruce McCulloch both left the band to pursue solo careers. In fact, Gilder would later win Junos for Single of the Year and Most Promising Male Vocalist in 1979. Meanwhile you might be surprised to find out who was recruited to replace Gilder as Sweeney Todd's new vocalist: a 16-year-old Bryan Adams! Fun fact: it was Bryan Adams who attended the Juno ceremonies in Gilder's place when Sweeney Todd actually won their Juno. The band recorded a second album If Wishes Were Horses with Adams before ultimately breaking up. Although it's not on the album, they also re-recorded Roxy Roller with Adams on vocals.

Sweeney Todd - Roxy Roller
Sweeney Todd - Roxy Roller (with Bryan Adams on vocals)
In between Gilder and Adams, Clark Perry had a short stint as lead vocalist. Of course, they re-recorded Roxy Roller with him too, though I couldn't track that down.

On Nick Gilder's 1977 solo debut You Know Who You Are, the record company included Roxy Roller on the US release, though whether it was re-recorded or not I can't tell since they sound exactly the same. But I'm curious if American listeners know Roxy Roller more as a "Nick Gilder" song rather than a "Sweeney Todd" song. I just noticed too that the recent soundtrack to The Runaways movie features Roxy Roller as the lead-off track, as performed by Nick Gilder...

Nick Gilder & Time Machine - Roxy Roller
Gilder did re-record Roxy Roller (with altered lyrics) for his 1999 album Longtime Coming.

Crash Kelly - Roxy Roller [originally by Sweeney Todd]

Suzi Quatro - Roxy Roller [originally by Sweeney Todd]

Jimmy Zee - Roxy Roller [originally by Sweeney Todd]
The best cover of this lot, Jimmy Zee switches gears and serves up some swaggering blues rock.

The 100th anniversary of the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) is coming up here in Vancouver and Bryan Adams is kicking off the festivities with a Brian Wilson-less Beach Boys. Almost tempted to go.

Sodom - Kids Wanna Rock [originally by Bryan Adams]
This metal cover is good for a chuckle.

New Danny Michel album for Canada Day!

Coinciding with Canada Day, Danny Michel's new album Sunset Sea is being released today! Available now from iTunes, Zunior.com, Maplemusic.com, or his website dannymichel.com where you can also check out an album sampler or watch the behind-the-scenes production diaries. Fellow Ontarian Sarah Harmer guests on the track Binary Star. Starting tomorrow, Danny will be hitting the road for a cross-Canada tour. See you on September 18 at the Biltmore!

July 02-05 Canso, NS Stan Rogers Folk Festival
July 10 -11 Sudbury, ON Northern Lights Festival
July 29 Toronto, ON Art of Time Ensemble
July 30 Ottawa, ON Art of Time Ensemble
Aug 14 Guelph, ON Riverside Park Amphitheatre
Aug 20 - 22 Owen Sound, ON Summerfolk Festival
Aug 28 Meaford, ON Irish Mountain Music
Sept 11 Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Centre
Sept 15 Duncan, BC Duncan Garage Showroom
Sept 16 Courtenay, BC Joe's Garage
Sept 17 Victoria, BC Hermann's Jazz Club
Sept 18 Vancouver, BC The Biltmore
Sept 22 Canmore, AB Communitea Café
Sept 23 Alberta TBA
Sept 24 St. Albert, AB Arden Theatre Brenda
Sept 25 Calgary, AB TBA
Sep 26 Lethbridge, AB Geomatic Attic
Oct 06 - 07 Waterloo, ON Starlight Club
Oct 08 - 09 London, ON London Music Club
Oct 11 Saskatoon, SK TBA
Oct 12 Prince Albert, SK TBA
Oct 14 St. Catherines, ON Brock Centre for the Arts
Oct 15 Toronto, ON Glenn Gould Theatre
Oct 16 Toronto, ON Glenn Gould Theatre
Oct 20 Guelph, ON Dublin Street Church
Oct 21 Peterborough, ON Gordon Best Theatre
Oct 22 Kingston, ON Chalmers United Church
Oct 23 - 24 Wakefield, QC The Blacksheep Inn
Nov 13 Bayfield, ON Bayfield Town Hall

Here's Danny covering another national treasure:
Danny Michel - After the Gold Rush [originally by Neil Young]

Don't forget to get your dose of CanCon today!