Corinne Bailey Rae Live Tonight in Vancouver!

I'm super excited to go in a couple hours to see Corinne Bailey Rae perform tonight at the Commodore Ballroom in support of her excellent sophomore album, The Sea. As one might expect, my initial exposure to her music was through a cover song, specifically a smokin' jazz version of Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You. Of course, she once again popped up on my music radar a year later when she covered The Raconteurs' Steady As She Goes for a BBC covers compilation. Since then she's emerged into one of my favourite voices to listen to and fortunately she's quite prolific on the covers front too, ranging from Björk to Editors to Jimi Hendrix to John Lennon. Not only does she have impeccable cover choices, Rae never fails completely nail them and make them worthwhile to listen to. She also provided guest vocals on Joni Mitchell's River for Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, which won Album of the Year Grammy for 2007.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) [originally by Doris Day]
Rae and her band performed this incredible showstopping cover of Que Sera Sera (by way of Sly & The Family Stone) at Tuesday's tour kick off at the Virbiana Cathedral in Los Angeles, a benefit concert for KCRW, which was partially recorded for today's airing of Morning Becomes Eclectic. Listen/watch to the rest of the show here, which includes her cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Since I've Been Loving You [originally by Led Zeppelin]
Corinne Bailey Rae - Steady As She Goes [originally by The Raconteurs]
Corinne Bailey Rae - Creepin' [originally by Stevie Wonder]
Corinne Bailey Rae - Sexyback [originally by Justin Timberlake]
Corinne Bailey Rae & John Legend - Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) [originally by Marvin Gaye]
Corinne Bailey Rae - I'm Losing You [originally by John Lennon]

Opening for Rae is Daniel Merriweather, probably most known (at least to me) from his contribution to Mark Ronson's Version covers album, performing The Smiths' Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before. He also recorded this oddly delightful White Stripes cover, seemingly filtered through Sweet Home Alabama.
Daniel Merriweather - You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told) [originally by The White Stripes]

Little Wing in the Sea

Corinne Bailey Rae's new album The Sea came out today and her cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing accompanies the iTunes release, though fortunately it can be purchased separately. Here's her performing it last year in the BBC 1Xtra Live Lounge:

Corinne Bailey Rae - Little Wing (Live on the BBC) [originally by The Jimi Hendrix Experience]

Whoa, New Raconteurs album next week!

Hey, Happy St. Patrick's Day, which has absolutely no relevance to me except for wearing green to avoid getting punched by strangers (Secret Fear #27).


Wasn't going to post today, but just read this on the AV Club newswire:
Out of the blue, The Raconteurs second album titled Consolers Of The Lonely will be released NEXT TUESDAY.

"The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE. The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement. The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding it’s availability, reception or perception."

Awesome, awesome news, as if there weren't enough March releases to keep on top of lately. Also in the press release, they say there will be no bonus tracks on different releases. Ha, take that, iTunes exclusive tracks you can't get even if you already own the actual album. Maybe they learned with the whole White Stripes Conquest 10 formats/versions debacle that it's not very nice to milk your loyal fans.

WHOA, SUPER EDIT (3/18/08): I just found out they're kicking off their tour here in Vancouver April 20th at the Commodore Ballroom!!!

The Raconteurs - Teenage Kicks [originally by The Undertones]
It's fitting that Jack White & Co. covered this song for last year's BBC 40th anniversary cover album. Teenage Kicks was John Peel's all-time favourite song and he, of course, was an early champion of The White Stripes as they were starting off.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Steady, As She Goes [originally by The Raconteurs]
This Corinne Bailey Rae cover is definitely worth revisiting. From the same BBC album, representing the year 2006.

The Raconteurs - Yellow Sun/I've Got a Feeling (live)
They do a bit of a tease of The Beatles' I've Got a Feeling in this live version of Yellow Sun, a Raconteurs song which bears some vague similarities to the original in the first place.

The Raconteurs - The Bane Rendition
One of my favourite Raconteurs tracks is actually an instrumental B-side to Steady, As She Goes.

2007.

Sit down, tape your eyes open, and unplug your ears. This'll be a doozie of a post. I know, I know we've all been suffering through these year-end lists, but it's just blogger nature to think others care about what we think. I'm no different, so here are my picks of 2007 in no particular order because it's pretty futile to rank these. Also, these aren't the "BEST" of 2007 per se... I'm usually behind the eightball in terms of actually listening to things the same year they're released, not to mention I'm unreasonably biased so every year-end list is basically made up of my favourite bands/artists that happened to release an album that year. See, I can already picture next year's list: Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, new Ben Folds album, Zooey Deschanel's debut, Ben Lee's Mixtape, new Raconteurs album, The Ditty Bops, Supergrass... sigh, I'm so predictable. Alright, here we go:

Top Covers/Cover Albums:

One of my favourite albums of 2007, covers or otherwise, was Mark Ronson's Version. In early 2006, I put a mental checkmark next to Mark Ronson's name when his masterful cover of Radiohead's Just featuring Phantom Planet's Alex Greenwald was making the blog rounds. I hesitate to call any one cover "definitive", but for now that will be the definitive cover of Just. Once I heard Ronson was working on a covers album, that immediately jumped up to one of my most anticipated releases of 2007. Ironically, I didn't know most of the songs being covered and I listened as if they were originals, so I was immune to claims of "Oh! He ruined this song" or "What a pointless cover of that song". I've read some pretty harsh reviews of the album-- "Pandering!", "Unoriginal!", "What a rich spoiled jerk!"-- which kinda baffles me but I guess to each his own. I've said before (possibly to myself) that Britney Spears' Toxic is a great cover song, which is to say it's been covered so many times in various styles that (for the most part) all manage to make it interesting. Mark Ronson's version is no exception, throwing in some Ol' Dirty Bastard vocals and somehow making it work. Other highlights are Amy Winehouse performing The Zutons' Valerie, Lily Allen on The Kaiser Chiefs' Oh My God, a b-side cover of Queens of the Stone Age's No One Knows, and this instrumental Coldplay cover:
Mark Ronson - God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (feat. The Daptone Horns) [originally by Coldplay]

A covers album that grabbed my attention out of nowhere in early December was Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra Hits the Hits. Similar to Mark Ronson, Shawn Lee (a multi-instrumentalist) has brought a retro sound to modern hits. Covers include choices as diverse as the Gorillaz' Clint Eastwood, Red Hot Chili Peppers' By the Way, and (surprise!) Britney's Toxic. I first heard of him when I tuned into KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic when Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings were performing. With a couple minutes to spare before the top of the hour, a groovy little piano-based cover of Hey Ya came on and naturally my ears perked up. Just when I thought I'd heard enough Hey Ya covers, this one comes along to re-inject some life into it. Snag the whole album from eMusic or Amazon.

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Hey Ya [originally by Outkast]
Have you ever seen that online video of the Peanuts gang synced to the original Hey Ya? Originally created by some clever bear at Venis Productions, they got cease & desisted by United Media, though we all know once it's online, you can't stop the signal... It's pretty hilarious especially when Andre 3000 sings "we know we're not happy here" and it cuts to a grumpy Charlie Brown standing alone in front of an empty mailbox. Ha! Even though it can get repetitive with not enough footage to fill out the whole 4 minute song, the "Cooler than being cool" section is quite brilliant. Anyway, Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, unintentionally or not, takes this concept to its logical conclusion with a Hey Ya cover in the style of Vince Guaraldi's Linus & Lucy.

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Rehab [originally by Amy Winehouse]
I was probably one of the last people to hear Amy Winehouse's Rehab sometime in November, so I totally missed the whole overexposure to it. Not surprisingly, I started digging the song after hearing covers by Girls Aloud and Paolo Nutini. While train wreck seems to be the phrase most often used to describe Amy Winehouse, it's disappointing since I actually enjoy her music & voice as opposed to say Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan who just won't leave us alone. While Winehouse has been making it on to best-of lists this year for Back to Black, the album was technically released in October 2006 in the UK and last December in Canada. So belated '06 kudos to that album.

The Bad Plus - Tom Sawyer [originally by Rush]
Being Chinese-Canadian, I must be genetically inclined to love piano-based jazz covers of Rush. This so happened to be one of my most played covers of the year. Unlike some Bad Plus covers, this never derails into total chaos and unrecognizability.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Steady As She Goes [originally by The Raconteurs]
Once upon a time in August, I mentioned that BBC was putting together a covers compilation of 40 contemporary artists covering 40 tracks to celebrate 40 years of BBC Radio One. Well, I seem to have missed the whole release part of the equation. It guess it was released in November, though typing combinations of "BBC" "Radio 1" "40 Years" and "Covers" will hardly bring up any Amazon links. To find it, search for "Radio 1 Established 1967", which is available for the low, low price of $63.99! The Amazon 3rd-Party sellers seems to be the way to go if you're desperately seeking this album. After a fly-by listen of that plethora of covers, the most outstanding cover to me is Corinne Bailey Rae's take on The Raconteurs' Steady As She Goes. She continues to blow me away with her covers... first Zeppelin, then the Raconteurs? That's two years in a row that Corinne Bailey Rae has made my top covers. She could probably cover any song and I'd enjoy it-- love her voice!

MC Chris - Dare to Be Stupid [originally by Weird Al Yankovic]
This is interesting: a cover of a Weird Al original. Honestly, though I'm a big Weird Al fan I never really liked this song... until I heard this amped up electro version, which made me reevaluate the original as all good covers do.

The Quartertones - Here Comes the Fuzz [originally by DJ Format]
Somehow over the course of this blog I've never once mentioned DJ Format even though that's the closest thing to rap or hip-hop that I listen to regularly and thoroughly enjoy. The original from 2003's Music for the Mature B-Boy is an instrumental track based on a repeated guitar sample with horns. This cover from the b-side to DJ Format's The Hit Song is performed "unsampled" so to speak by The Quartertones, a Canadian jazz/funk outfit from Toronto. While in the UK last year I specifically went on the hunt for DJ Format albums, which (at the time) were notoriously hard to track down here in Canada for a reasonable price even though a regular collaborator is Toronto rapper Abdominal. Now you can get DJ Format quite simply on iTunes, though it's no match for a physical album.

You may recognize some of DJ Format's music videos such as We Know Something You Don't Know featuring breakdancing mascots (one of my fav all-time videos) or the arcade game-inspired 3 Feet Deep, directed by Keith Schofield who incidentally has a string of awesome retro music videos like Hard 'n Phirm's Pi and Wintergreen's When I Wake Up (telling the legend of the E.T. Atari landfill burial of '83). The We Know Something video was directed by Ruben Fleischer and I've always wondered if he and Kanye West went to the same bear costume shop (FYI, the music video released in early 2003 predates Kanye's debut album The College Dropout by almost exactly one year). Someday soon I'll write up that post I've been meaning to write for months regarding interesting cover/sample breakdowns of DJ Format's The Hit Song and Here Comes the Fuzz.

Same bear? Or just a coincidence?


OK Go - Don't Bring Me Down [originally by Electric Light Orchestra]
This fun acoustic cover comes from a live iTunes session.

Angélique Kidjo - Gimme Shelter (feat. Joss Stone) [originally by the Rolling Stones]
As Angélique Kidjo has done earlier on a cover of Jimi's Voodoo Chile, she transforms the Stones classic (which has been covered often) with latin beats and African chants. Joss Stone contributes guest vocals.

The Kleptones - War of Confusion [Genesis vs. Edwin Starr]
While the mash-ups fad has kind of worn off, The Kleptones have proved why the sub-genre was so exciting to begin with. From the 2007 internet release Live'r Than You'll Ever Be (available in its entirety for free here), War of Confusion seamlessly blends Edwin Starr's War with Genesis' Land of Confusion to create the best anti-war mash-up since George W. Bush sang Sunday Bloody Sunday. The whole live set (the logistics of a "live" show I don't really understand) is an example of some of the best-sounding mash-ups I've heard. This guy's a pro and he doesn't lazily fall back on simply overlaying rap vocals over instrumentals. Just look at the songs mashed together in Underground Hand: Queen's It's a Kind of Magic, Aerosmith's Dude Looks Like a Lady, Nine Inch Nails' The Hand That Feeds, and The White Stripes' The Hardest Button To Button. Other inspired combos include Jet vs. Stevie Wonder, The Doors vs. Dick Dale & The Del-Tones, Beck vs. The Eagles... all to a rockin' dance beat.

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Favourite songs/albums of '07:

The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Icky Thump is one of my top albums of 2007, which should come as no surprise to any regular reader since I seem to talk about the White Stripes every 5 posts or so. Even ignoring the Conquest cover (which is hard to ignore), the album is full of nuggets such as the Effect & Cause, Rag & Bone, Little Cream Soda, Catch Hell Blues, I'm Slowly Turning Into You... OK, so I'd better just stop there before I list the entire album. I am under the impression that almost nobody has heard the original Corky Robbins Conquest, except for possibly Jack White.
The White Stripes - Baby Brother (Icky Thump B-side) [originally by Bill Carter & The Rovin' Gamblers]


The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
The Arcade Fire is topping many best-of lists this year and conspicuously missing from many lists in my opinion is The Polyphonic Spree's The Fragile Army. More than a few times I've seen The Polyphonic Spree unfavourably compared to the Arcade Fire. I've read, for example, that they're "The Arcade Fire's hippie cousins" or they're "trying too hard to be the Arcade Fire", which isn't really fair to either band, especially since the Spree predate the Fire by a few years. The Polyphonic Spree seem to inspire either adoration or extreme hate. I think some people just have a hard time with the Spree's earnestness. Lack of irony doesn't go over so well these days. Anyway, I don't mean to get all defensive here. The Fragile Army was one of my favourite albums of the year. Plans to see them on tour this year clashed with my White Stripes roadtrip, but hopefully I'll see them in 2008. My desire to see them has boosted significantly since I heard they added a cover of Live & Let Die to their repertoire.
The Polyphonic Spree - Guaranteed Nightlife

Coconut Records - Nighttiming
I was completely enthralled by Coconut Records debut album Nighttiming. In case you didn't know, Coconut Records is Jason Schwartzman. Yes, the actor and former drummer/founding member of Phantom Planet, here playing every instrument on the album which is not as pretentious as it may sound. From the disco groove of the title track to the melancholic West Coast to the Tom Petty-esque rocker Minding My Own Business to the dreamy Summer Day, Schwartzman features a range of music, none of which really feels out of place. It took me a long time to disassociate him from his role as Max Fischer in the brilliant Wes Anderson film Rushmore. With an insignificant performance in the underrated CQ and an obnoxious turn in the god-awful Slackers, I was ready to just write him off completely as a one-hit wonder. A few years later, my sister and I would rent I Heart Huckabees and proceed to laugh hysterically throughout. In the process, I was finally able to view Jason Schwartzman as an actor and not Max Fischer. 2007 must have been a good year for him since he released this solo album independently and also reunited with Wes Anderson in the wonderful film The Darjeeling Limited (and the preceding short film Hotel Chevalier). I found out about Coconut Records quite by accident while investigating the limited music samples of Zooey Deschanel (remnants for a future posting), who is a guest vocalist on two tracks on the CD. The album, which I bought directly from Schwartzman's Young Baby Records, came with a "surprise gift" that turned out to be one of hundreds of polaroids he took. These will supposedly be used in a future music video (my polaroid seems to be of clippings/photos on his fridge or wall). I guess he ran out of polaroids since now there's a new surprise gift offered with each order. In fact, I just went ahead and ordered another copy for someone's belated x-mas gift.
Coconut Records - West Coast
Coconut Records - Slowly (featuring Zooey Deschanel)

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
This year I got to check off Mr. Bird from the list of must-see acts after finally catching his show in Vancouver. Armchair Apocrypha was another solid record of indie goodness as only Andrew Bird can do it, this time 'round with some electric guitar in the mix. Here he revisits the track "I" from his earlier album Weather Systems with new lyrics and arrangement.
Andrew Bird - Imitosis

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings put out another awesome record of old school funk soul that's even better than her last album. Nobody's Baby has got "AH-ooh's" that would do Aretha Franklin proud and Let Them Knock is a perfect showcase (as is the whole album) for Sharon's wicked soul vocals.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Let Them Knock
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Nobody's Baby

The Ditty Bops - Dead and Gone
This was from their 5-song Pack Rat EP, a nice gift to tide us fans over until the next album due early in '08. No one sings retro harmonies as beautifully as these girls.

Danny Michel - In the Belly of a Whale (live)
On Danny Michel's live DVD from this year that he released independently, one of the extras was this version of In the Belly of a Whale, one of my favourite of his songs.

Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha Man (live)
This live track released towards the end of 2007 is a sneak peek at the direction they're taking with the new album expected in March 2008. Diamond Hoo Ha Man sounds like it's borrowing from the heavy fuzz riff of the White Stripes' Blue Orchid, but that's not altogether a bad thing.

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Cover finds of the year:

Tok Tok Tok - The Weight [originally by The Band]
This incredibly groovy head bobbin' cover of The Band is from the 2003 release It Took So Long. This was on constant repeat as I discovered it shortly before departing for China.

Doug & The Slugs - Nobody But Me [originally by The Isley Brothers]
For years this had been on my list of covers to track down. I remember this from an old mixtape my parents had on our family roadtrips. My sister and I loved to sing the lyrics, which are basically "No no no no-no no-no-no-no-no no No No No no No no NO NO no No no no" etc... which makes for some difficult google searching. A couple years ago I finally found out the song was called Nobody But Me, originally by The Isley Brothers and a hit for The Human Beinz in the 1960's. Except neither of those were the version I had heard as a kid. Over the years I would track down covers by George Thorogood, The Dickies, a non-cover of the same name by Blake Shelton, and more, but never that exact one. Then a few months ago I dug up that old cassette tape and recorded it to mp3 with the tag "unknown artist". In a move that should have been obvious from the get-go, I asked my mum if she knew the song, seeing how she originally would have made the mixtape from an LP. She didn't know immediately, but I was inspired to dig through old records in the basement looking for an LP with that cover. As it turns out it was taped off an LP from the library (gee, how times have changed) and my mom remembered it was Canadian rock band Doug & The Slugs from an album originally released the year I was born. Mystery solved!

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2007 in Film:

The best film I saw in 2007 was Zodiac, David Fincher's brooding meditation on the Zodiac killer and the individuals heavily involved with the investigation. Even though it came out early in the year, that was the one film I saw that completely engrossed me and left my jaw on the floor as I left the theatre. Last year it was Children of Men, this year it was Zodiac. Of the summer of blockbuster sequels, only the old school action throwback of Live Free or Die Hard and the visceral thrills of Bourne Ultamatum (best of the series) stood out. I hated Transformers, Ratatouille was a delight, The Simpsons Movie was surprisingly not terrible, but Stardust was a disappointment. I caught the Danny Boyle sci-fi thriller Sunshine on the flight home from Hong Kong and it was riveting even on a teeny-weeny seat monitor. I really liked Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, which had unintended extra pathos in light of the real-life turn of events surrounding Owen Wilson this year (hopefully he bounces back in '08). The absolute worst movie I saw this year was August Rush. Gag! Vomit! I saw it at a free screening and felt totally ripped off. No Country For Old Men was excellent, but I didn't love it.

2007 films I really want to see still: Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, and Gone Baby Gone.

Most anticipated for 2008:

• Be Kind Rewind (new Michel Gondry film with Jack Black & Mos Def)
  
• 21 (long in the works adaptation of Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House about the MIT blackjack team)
  
• Shine a Light (Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert film; Jack White is a guest star)
  
• Iron Man (never really a fan of the comic, but the crew/cast involved seem to trying really hard to make it a worthy comic adaptation)
  
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (George could have called this anything and I'd show up)
  
• The Happening (new Shyamalan film... Lady in the Water was his first film I outright disliked; hoping he returns to Sixth Sense/Unbreakable form)
  
• Get Smart (probably going to suck, but hopefully not)
  
• The Dark Knight (THE film of 2008)
  
• new X-Files movie (I don't have much expectation, but I'm definitely intrigued)
  
• The International (Clive Owen + Naomi Watts with Run Lola Run's Tom Tykwer directing)
  
• Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze directing the children's classic with a screenplay co-written by Dave Eggers??? Sold!)
  
• Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince (love the books; movies not so much... but I'll check it out anwyay)
  
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher re-teaming with Brad Pitt)
  
• new Bond film (no brainer)

Phew! After that post, I wouldn't expect to hear anything from me for a while! Happy New Year!

Zepp-A-Dee-Day

Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day [from Led Zeppelin III]
Well today is the day that I wish I was in London at the 02 Arena. Sigh.

Rasputina - Rock and Roll
I've posted this before, but it's one of my favourite Zeppelin covers ever. Rasputina, sort of a gothic cello rock band, put out a cover EP called The Lost & Found featuring this one as well as covers of Pink Floyd, Marilyn Manson, and The Velvet Underground. Excellent covers, seek that one out.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Since I've Been Loving You (live in New York)
I've been loving this cover since I first heard her perform it on some AOL Sessions last year. Now it's officially on her Live in New York & London CD/DVD combo.

Dread Zeppelin - I Can't Quit You Baby [originally by Willie Dixon]
Dread Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop
Dread Zeppelin - Hot Dog
What's a Zeppelin post without a Dread Zeppelin cover or three? Most Zeppelin covers fail because you just can't imitate Led Zeppelin. Going a completely different direction is basically the only way to go, even if it means reggae/ska with an Elvis impersonator. I've posted several Dread Zeppelin covers in past posts since they've got some legitimately great covers and regularly tackle the not so obvious tunes from the Zeppelin canon.

Jeff Buckley - Night Flight
While it's pretty hard to name one Zeppelin album as my favourite, but if I had to choose it'd probably be Physical Graffiti. Night Flight is one of the underrated gems from that album and one of my fav's. This live cover, which is barely recognizable, is from the album Live at Sin-é: Legacy Edition.

Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes - Ten Years Gone
Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes - In My Time of Dying [traditional]
Live at the Greek, a double CD album of Jimmy Page with the Black Crowes performing classic Zeppelin and some blues standards, is one my favourite live albums. I generally don't listen to too many live albums since either the recording quality is so-so, the crowd noise bothers me, or the performances are simply same old, same old. But here, the live recordings are as good as I've ever heard, if not great and the performances are dynamic. Chris Robinson is no Robert Plant, but he doesn't try to be. The shows were performed in 1999, nearly 20 years after the premature demise of Zeppelin, and Jimmy Page shows he can still rock (and rock hard). I saw Robert Plant live in 2005 thinking a Zeppelin reunion was impossible and he's still got it too. I have no doubt the reunion will be a success and now we just have to wait for the inevitable bootleg.

BBC Covers!

Just read about this and I had to share the news:

According to Pitchfork,

BBC Radio 1 is turning 40 and to celebrate they've assembled 40 bands to do a cover song, each representing a year of the station's existence. Pure bliss! Check out this line-up:

01 Kaiser Chiefs: "Flowers in the Rain" [The Move; 1967]
02 The Fratellis: "All Along the Watchtower" [The Jimi Hendrix Experience; 1968]
03 Amy Winehouse: "Cupid" [Johnny Nash; 1969]
04 Robbie Williams: "Lola" [The Kinks; 1970]
05 The Streets: "Your Song" [Elton John; 1971]
06 Sugababes: "Betcha by Golly Wow" [The Stylistics; 1972]
07 The Feeling: "You're So Vain" [Carly Simon; 1973]
08 Foo Fighters: "Band on the Run" [Wings; 1974]
09 Kylie: "Love Is the Drug" [Roxy Music; 1975]
10 KT Tunstall: "Let's Stick Together" [Bryan Ferry; 1976]
11 Franz Ferdinand: "Sound and Vision" [David Bowie; 1977]
12 The Raconteurs: "Teenage Kicks" [The Undertones; 1978]
13 Mika: "Can't Stand Losing You" [The Police; 1979]
14 Kasabian: "Too Much Too Young" [The Specials; 1980]
15 Keane: "Under Pressure" [Queen & David Bowie; 1981]
16 McFly: "Town Called Malice" [The Jam; 1982]
17 James Morrison: "Come Back and Stay" [Paul Young; 1983]
18 The Gossip: "Careless Whisper" [George Michael; 1984]
19 The Pigeon Detectives: "The Power of Love" [Huey Lewis & the News; 1985]
20 Lily Allen: "Don't Get Me Wrong" [The Pretenders; 1986]
21 Stereophonics: "You Sexy Thing" [Hot Chocolate; 1987]
22 Mutya Buena: "Fast Car" [Tracy Chapman; 1988]
23 Editors: "Lullaby" [The Cure; 1989]
24 Razorlight: "Englishman in New York" [Sting; 1990]
25 Groove Armada: "Crazy for You" [Madonna; 1991]
26 Paolo Nutini: "It Must Be Love" [Madness; 1992]
27 The Kooks: "All That She Wants" [Ace of Base; 1993]
28 Mark Ronson: "You're All I Need to Get By" [Mary J. Blige; 1994]
29 Calvin Harris: "Stillness in Time" [Jamiroquai; 1995]
30 Klaxons: "No Diggity" [Blackstreet; 1996]
31 Just Jack: "Lovefool" [The Cardigans; 1997]
32 Natasha Bedingfield: "Ray of Light" [Madonna; 1998]
33 The Twang: "Drinking in L.A." [Bran Van 3000; 1999]
34 The Fray: "The Great Beyond" [R.E.M.; 2000]
35 Girls Aloud: "Teenage Dirtbag" [Wheatus; 2001]
36 Maxïmo Park: "Like I Love You" [Justin Timberlake; 2002]
37 The View: "Don't Look Back Into the Sun" [The Libertines; 2003]
38 Hard-Fi: "Toxic" [Britney Spears; 2004]
39 The Enemy: "Father & Son" [Yusuf & Ronan Keating; 2005]
40 Corinne Bailey Rae: "Steady, As She Goes" [The Raconteurs; 2006]

So many on there I'm looking forward to. Some will undoubtedly be trash, but I applaud the effort anyway. The Raconteurs seem to be the only band both covering and being covered... sweetness, and by Corinne Bailey Rae!

The songs are still in the process of being recorded so the tracklist is not set in stone. I heard a rumour this would be out in October.

Léon Covered

One of my favourite films is Léon (AKA: The Professional). If you've seen it, you probably know what I'm talking about. It's got the incredible film debut of Natalie Portman, age 12, in what still stands up today as probably her best role. It's got Gary Oldman in an over-the-top, scene-chewing (yet great) performance as a crooked DEA agent. And, of course, this would have been the first time most of us were introduced to the wickednesss of Jean Reno. It's hard to believe that director Luc Besson descended into such mediocrity after this. In fact, his directorial output over the past decade is sparse to say the least and he has become synonymous, at least in my mind, with churning out mindless action sequels (primarily as a writer/producer). That's not to say there's no entertainment to be had in multiple Transporters, constant Taxis, and American Jet Li movies, but seeing his name attached to a film trailer has definitely lost any sense of "Ooh, I might see that". If anything, it's simply been a disappointing decline in filmmaking from the guy who brought us La Femme Nikita, Léon, or even The Fifth Element.

But I digress, some songs from the movie:

The Originals
Björk - Venus as a Boy
This song plays over a montage of Mathilda (Portman) and Léon's (Reno) developing hitman/pupil relationship. Like the Rocky Training Montage, but Björked.

Gene Kelly - Singin' in the Rain
Léon's a big fan of the old Gene Kelly musicals and who can blame him. Though if you've seen Singin' in the Rain, that final 17-minute dance finale is overkill.

Sting - Shape of My Heart
This now-familiar guitar intro leads into the film's end credits.

Covers & Other Derivations...
Corinne Bailey Rae - Venus as a Boy
Oftentimes I start listening to new artists after discovering them through covers. About 6 years ago, I started to really get into The Living End after repeatedly listening to their version of Tainted Love (a modern classic, by the way). Danny Michel is another instance where I eventually "evolved" into listening to his original music (moreso now, then his covers) based on initial exposure to his take on Young Americans. At some point you realize not only is it a great cover, but a great band or artist. After hearing this and her cover of Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You, Corinne Bailey Rae is starting to move into this territory. I'm excited to hear some more from her in the near future.

Nils Landgren Funk Unit - Venus as a Boy
An instrumental jazz version, closely veering into the realm of elevator music or telephone hold limbo.

Mike Flowers Pop - Venus as a Boy
If you've heard their cover of Wonderwall, you know what to expect with this cover.

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Mint Royale - Singin' in the Rain
You'd remember this from a particularly funky VW Golf commercial from a couple years ago. This might be considered sacriligious, but damn those are some wacky moves to behold, particularly the "strobe light effect". Shockingly, the only CGI is the pasting of Gene Kelly's face onto some scarily inhuman pop 'n lock dancers (google: David Elsewhere for more). The remix used in the commercial was done by Mint Royale, who later expanded the track for their album See You in the Morning.

Jamie Cullum - Singin' in the Rain
He's on my concert to-do list.

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Dominic Miller featuring Sting - Shape of My Heart
This doesn't really qualify as a cover since Dominic Miller co-wrote and performed on the original. But Miller later released a solo album of classical music with this remake, complete with Sting in tow. Not surprisingly, it is very similar to the original.

Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings - Shape of My Heart
Last year there was a CBC special of these two Canadian rockers revisiting their classic songs from The Guess Who/Bachman-Turner Overdrive repertoire. Unexpectedly, they whipped out this excellent cover, which incidentally was a bit of a hassle to rip from our PVR box. They also teased viewers with the first 40 seconds of Jimi Hendrix's Stone Free before it inexplicably cut to commercial break, thus crushing the cover lover in me. Since then they released a DVD of the full performance, which makes the inexplicable commercial break not so inexplicable.

Sugababes - Shape
One of two songs (both apparently hits from 2003, no less) that use the Sting song as the basis for a new song. The second song is below...

Craig David - Rise and Fall (featuring Sting)
I find it vaguely amusing that, excluding the Bachman/Cummings cover, all these new versions of Shape of My Heart actually feature Sting, either through sampling or cameos.
i.e. "I will let you use the song, but only if I get to sing too."
"Uh, sure thing Sting."
Because really, who could say no to Sting? Apparently, neither Andy Summers nor Stewart Copeland. "We are The Police and we are back!" So much for rock mystique... Very subtle, guys.

Happy New Year

Here's a belated, much belaboured year-end round-up post. Phew.

Top covers:
I'm not going to bother ranking these or anything, but these are some of the notable highlights of last year for me in the cover world.

Harvey Danger - Oh! You Pretty Things [originally by David Bowie]
One of my favourite bands covering one of my favourite Bowie tracks? Most excellent. I don't know what I was expecting when I first heard it, but I was vaguely underwhelmed. This may have to do with the piano being replaced by an organ. I quickly got over that minor quibble and by the second time I gave it a listen, it had suddenly become a delayed instant classic. Go figure. If you're looking for something to spend $0.99 at the iTunes store, I'd have to recommend this above all others.

Corinne Bailey Rae - Since I've Been Loving You (live AOL session) [originally by Led Zeppelin]
I was blown away when I heard this cover. This is the 2nd cover I've heard from her and now I'm starting to take notice. Despite being one of the greatest and most successful rock bands ever, I still feel that Led Zeppelin is somehow underrated (if that is even remotely possible). Um, I was about to go into a big rant about it, but you'll just have to take my word for it. Apparently, Bailey Rae will have an album version of this next year... or rather, this year (still not used to 2007 yet).

Chris Thile - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground [originally by The White Stripes]
I love The White Stripes. I love covers. And Chris Thile of Nickel Creek hit this one out of the ballpark. The version I posted is not actually the cut from the album, but a truly solo live version from Reg's Coffee House, which is incidentally fantastic. Also go here for video of another live version and a great cover of The Band's Ophelia.

Nickel Creek - Just (live at the Largo) [originally by Radiohead]
Last year Mark Ronson released a cover of Radiohead's Just, which was superb to say the least. While there are billions of Creep covers, it was the first Just cover I had heard and I welcomed it with open arms. Then Nickel Creek had to come along and cover it too. Now there are two superb Just covers. I nicked this from the Largo website, which I had stumbled upon while scouring the net for Jon Brion material. For a while there, he was performing at the Largo once a week. How sweet would that have been? Answer: pretty damn sweet. Now I hear The Watkins Family Hour (aka two-thirds of Nickel Creek) are performing at the Largo almost every Thursday until the spring (contrary to the online Largo calendar). Very cool, if you live in LA.

Lulu Hughes - Time [originally by Pink Floyd]
So I borrowed this album from the library called Pink Floyd Redux. I wasn't expecting much seeing how I'm just a casual Pink Floyd fan, but damn if this isn't one of the best covers of the year.

Devo 2.0 - Monkey's Uncle [originally by Annette Funicello with the Beach Boys]
My musical knowledge of the original Devo is limited, so I haven't really formed an opinion as to whether an all-children's update of the new age group is a good idea or instant sacrilege. I have also never heard the original of this 1965 Disney song (from the movie of the same name), which was apparently sung by Annette Funicello with the Beach Boys (?!). Somehow none of this mattered as I was sucked into this song unawares and learned the following things: A) Songs about monkeys are cool; B) Children singing like robots is strange (but fun!); C) Corporate Disney channel cash-ins aren't ALL bad; D) Devo for kids is WAY better than kidz bop... ugh.

Natalie Cole - Criminal [originally by Fiona Apple]
Fiona Apple in the style of Aretha Franklin is unexpected. Unexpectedly awesome, that is.

Fall Out Boy - What's This? [originally by Danny Elfman from The Nightmare Before Christmas]
This had all the makings of disaster... Fall Out Boy? Covering beloved animated classic? And yet, it's addictive. Not surprisingly amped up, but surprisingly faithful and the lead singer has a flair for theatrics, which is advantageous in this case. Other covers on the Nightmare soundtrack re-release, not so successful (with the exception of Fiona Apple). Why wasn't the 3D re-release of the film shown seemingly anywhere in Canada?

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Catchiest song of the year:
Jason Webley - Eleven Saints [via Fabulist]
This year's War Photographer award (for an insanely catchy tune attached to online animated music video) goes to Jason Webley's Eleven Saints. About a month ago Neil Gaiman posted on his journal "And just so you know, I cannot get this song and video out of my head". Naturally I had to check out the link and he was absolutely right, it's damn catchy. Since then I've been listening to it incessantly and then a couple days ago I finally decided to check out Jason Webley's website where I discovered in the forums that he had just finished touring with the Dresden Dolls. What the deuce?!? My musical tastes once again converge in strange and unexpected ways (see: Ben Folds calls up the Dresden Dolls). In this recent interview with Fabulist, Jason Webley's story of how the tour with the Dolls came about is equally strange.

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Favourite albums of 2006:
The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia


Analyzing my iTunes play counts by 2006 albums, The Dresden Dolls take 5 of the top 6 most played tracks. Four songs from this album and a b-side. It's hard to argue that any other album released last year topped this one in my books.
Mrs. O
Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner (B-side)
When I hear the latter song, I'm reminded of a French film I saw this year at the Edmonton film fest called La Tourneuse de Pages and specifically a scene where the lonesome cello player attempts to take advantage of the page turner (this does not end well for him). Previously I had never heard of a page turner as a vocation, let alone the subject of a film or song. If cold, calculated revenge is your thing, I recommend this film. Although when it ended, the woman seated in front of me promptly stood up and declared that she hated it. You can listen to me or that woman.




Rodrigo y Gabriela (self-titled)
First of two artists I "discovered" this past summer while in the FOPP record store in Bath, UK. A friend and I were perusing the CD racks and just couldn't NOT ask what was playing over the speakers. We were told Rodrigo y Gabriela. OK, mental note to self: remember those names and look into it when I get back home in a month or so. I later learned their latest album was produced in Bath, so it made sense that they were promoting it. The duo themselves are from Mexico and based in Dublin (!). I would later have the obscene good fortune of seeing them when they inexplicably made a stop at the Edmonton Folk Festival (to the neglect of the rest of Canada). Here's a Metallica cover:
Orion [originally by Metallica]

Wolfmother (self-titled)
Wolfmother is the other band I heard for the first time while in FOPP in Bath. It was this first track Dimension blaring over the speakers that was irresistably rockin'. Later in my summer travels, I bought their CD in New York City. First impressions: Jet spliced with White Stripes. To some, that would be a bad thing. But I like it, so there.
Dimension

The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
I am of the opinion that nearly everything Jack White is involved with is exceptional and The Raconteurs is no exception. Looking at that sentence I just wrote, I'm starting to doubt its logicality. . . Um, The Raconteurs rule!
The Bane Rendition (b-side to Steady as She Goes)
Together

Hawksley Worksman - Treeful of Starling
Seeing Hawksley Workman at the Folk Fest made me regret not checking out his music earlier. His long delayed, rain-soaked Friday evening performance on the Main Stage was mesmerizing even though it was only him and his piano player Mr. Lonely. I became an instant fan and thoroughly enjoyed his subsequent workshops on the side stages. This makes a nice post-apocalyptic companion piece to We Will Become Silhouettes.
You and the Candles

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My Year in Concerts (click the links to revisit old concert posts):
02/18 - Edmonton - The Philosopher Kings
04/25 - Edmonton - Franz Ferdinand/Death Cab for Cutie
06/24 - Dores, Scotland - The Loch Ness Monster: Fatboy Slim & guests
06/30 - Toronto - Seu Jorge
07/15 - Toronto - The Dresden Dolls
08/01 - Toronto - The Living End
08/10 - 08/13 - Edmonton - Edmonton Folk Music Festival (Hawksley Workman, Rodrigo y Gabriela, K'Naan, Bedouin Soundclash, Feist, Chumbawamba, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Sarah Harmer, and many many more...)
08/24 - Edmonton - Ben Lee
09/22 - Edmonton - Danny Michel
10/06 - Edmonton - The Who
10/17 - Edmonton - The New Pornographers, Immaculate Machine, and Novillero
10/22 - Edmonton - Ellen McIlwaine with Cassius Khan

About 75% of those shows were brilliant. Let's just say that with the exception of The Who, larger venue concerts are not ideal. The tantalizingly short 30-minute set by Rodrigo y Gabriela was unreal and unarguably the best gig out of 4 days of solid music at the Edmonton Folk Fest (read more here). At the other end of the gig spectrum, The Dresden Dolls' night of entertainment, which spanned nearly 5 hours for $10 in an old movie theatre was amazing and was one of those rare occasions of quantity AND quality (see above link).

The Who - See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You (live in Edmonton 10/06/06)
Roger Daltrey's parting words after a night of technical difficulties: "Never give up!"

The Living End - 10:15 Saturday Night [originally by The Cure]
Danny Michel - Moonage Daydream [originally by David Bowie]
Death Cab for Cutie - Little Boxes [originally by Malvina Reynolds]
Ellen McIlwaine with Cassius Khan - R&B Medley (live in Edmonton) [various covers]
The Dresden Dolls - Tout les garçons et les filles (live in Lyon) [originally by Françoise Hardy]




I'm kicking this melting popsicle stand and jetting to San Francisco next week with the fam'. Stay frosty.