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]

Jamie Cullum Live in Vancouver!

Jamie Cullum blew through town last Saturday night and his show at the Commodore Ballroom immediately vaulted into my top five all-time concerts. My sister flew in from Edmonton to join me at the show and we went an hour before the doors opened, but there were still about 40 people in front of us in line. Fortunately when they finally let us in, most of them were clamoring for the tables and booths while I made a beeline for the stage. Even before we went in, I knew I wanted to be parked left of centre stage right in front of Jamie's piano and that's exactly the spot we got. I think the pictures speak for themselves! The opening act was also a treat with rockabilly vocalist Imelda May revving up the crowd with an energetic performance (she recently teamed up with Jeff Beck at the Grammys in tribute to Les Paul & Mary Ford). Then it was on to Jamie Cullum and I was in awe from the moment he started pounding his new single I'm All Over It through to his second encore, his cover of Radiohead's High & Dry. I've been patiently waiting years for my opportunity to see him live ever since first hearing his 2004 album Twentysomething and the show blew away my already high expectations. It was a perfect storm of excellent sound, a diverse setlist, an unbelievable vantage point, and, of course, a phenomenal artist and performer.

Setlist:
I’m All Over It
Don’t Stop The Music [Rihanna]
Just One Of Those Things [Cole Porter]
Get Your Way
Not While I’m Around [from Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim]
Frontin’ (Solo) [Pharrell]
Photograph
Wheels
I Got a Woman intro [Ray Charles]
These Are The Days
I Get a Kick Out of You [Cole Porter]
London Skies
Mixtape
What a Difference a Day Makes [Dinah Washington]
If I Ruled The World [Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel]
Mind Trick
Cry Me A River [Julie London]
All At Sea

Encore:
The Wind Cries Mary [The Jimi Hendrix Experience]

Encore 2:
High & Dry (Solo) [Radiohead]


Jamie Cullum - After You've Gone [originally recorded by Marion Harris]
Jamie recorded this snappy version of the standard for the BBC series of the same name.

Jamie Cullum - Seven Nation Army [originally by The White Stripes]
Recorded live at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Jamie tackles the White Stripes anthem with his piano and looping pedals. Speaking of which, their Under Great White Northern Lights super box set came out last week and I was finally able to get mine from the post office yesterday. The whole package is a thing of beauty. It was practically a ritual as I unwrapped it and sifted through each of the components, which includes two DVDs, a CD, a double LP, 7" vinyl, a Rob Jones silkscreen print, and a book of photographs chronicling the tour. Woo, Christmas is March!

Jamie Cullum - I Get a Kick Out of You [originally by Cole Porter]
This is from Jamie's Live at Blenheim Palace DVD, which is where I first got a taste of his dynamic live show.

Jamie Cullum - The Wind Cries Mary [originally by The Jimi Hendrix Experience]
This solo live version of the Jimi Hendrix classic comes from the live 5-song EP Twenty Zero5 Live. A full band studio rendition appears on Twentysomething.

Video evidence of our brilliant vantage point

For the past five years, I've had "Must see Jamie Cullum someday" as a blog label. . . Mission accomplished with a vengeance!

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Here's a little postscript to my Addicted to Codeine Velvet Club post from last week... according to my Last.fm profile, Codeine Velvet Club are now:

My #1 Top Artist of the last 7 days

My #1 Top Artist of the last 3 months

My #1 Top Artist of the last 6 months
and

My #5 Top Artist of the last 12 months

Pretty spectacular considering I first heard them only 20 days ago. Yep, must see Codeine Velvet Club someday! I told you I was addicted.

Yippie-yi-o-ki-yay (Mr. Falcon)

I've been frantically cleaning house the past two days in preparation for the family coming over to bunk during their Olympic stay. Of course, the 2010 Winter Games kick-off here in Vancouver on Friday so blogging's not really on my mind at the moment... though do look for my Olympic-themed guest post on Covering the Mouse on Wednesday! So here are a couple covers I've been meaning to share for a while...

Barenaked Ladies & The Ditty Bops - I'm an Old Cowhand From the Rio Grande/Welcome Back Kotter
["Cowhand..." by Johnny Mercer; "Kotter" by John Sebastian]
I discovered this unlikely cover combo from the archives of the eTown radio show, a public radio broadcast hosted by Nick and Helen Forster that spotlights a diverse range of accomplished musicians and also recognizes community leaders. This particular episode from 2006 featured sets from Fong Songs faves The Ditty Bops and The Barenaked Ladies with the two acts teaming up to do a cover over the closing show credits. There's some talking and sponsor thanking over the instrumental break, but it's worth it to hear this great cover medley. I'm an Old Cowhand was originally performed by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film Rhythm on the Range and it became one of songwriter Johnny Mercer's earliest successes. For your Olympic tie-in, the Barenaked Ladies will be performing next week (Feb. 16) at one of the Victory Ceremonies and also a free show in Whistler (Feb. 17).

Terra Hazelton - I'm an Old Cowhand [originally by Johnny Mercer]
This cover is from Canadian jazz singer Terra Hazelton's sophomore release Gimme Whatcha Got. She used to be a featured vocalist with the late great Jeff Healey and his Jazz Wizards, which is when I first heard and saw her at a 2004 show in St. Albert. She is joined in this rendition by Alberta folk/jazz/swing/etc. band The Polyjesters, who just so happen to be playing a couple free Olympic shows as well, Feb. 25 at the Alberta Plaza (Robson & Beatty) and Feb. 26 at LiveCity Yaletown.

There are a TON of free shows (and not free shows) in and around Vancouver all Olympics long. Way too many to even attempt to summarize. Wilco, Sloan, Sam Roberts Band, Jill Barber, Damian Marley, Feist, Stereophonics, Matisyahu, Nelly Furtado, The Lost Fingers, K'naan, Blue Rodeo, Hawskley Workman, Chromeo, Jeremy Fisher, Randy Bachman, INXS, and on and on and on... they'll all be performing over the next few weeks. Even Jonathan Coulton's playing a show at the Rio, though I think that's more a happy coincidence than Olympic-inspired. There also Hal Willner's epic Neil Young Project, an all-covers concert featuring Lou Reed, members of Broken Social Scene, Ron Sexsmith, Sun Kil Moon, and many more.

Check The Georgia Straight's google calendars for Vancouver shows and Whistler shows. That doesn't even cover the free shows going on at the Richmond O-Zone or Surrey's Holland Park (Serena Ryder and Hot Hot Heat are performing over there). If you're ready to do some major research, this guide to the various Houses and Pavilions may be the best jumping off point I've come across for all sorts of free Olympic activities.

Countdown's on!

Eh! to Zee Avi

I am really excited to see Malaysian artist Zee Avi play at the Media Club here in Vancouver tomorrow night. Even though she's basically my favourite new artist of the year, I've somehow avoided blogging about her since first finding out about her music in April. My first exposure to Zee Avi was through a post on Ukulele Hunt with the chords to her song Just You and Me and a brief description of her heartwarming journey from YouTube uke picker to a US record deal. Admittedly the part that immediately grabbed my attention and had me dig deeper was the mention of her video being "discovered" by Raconteurs drummer Patrick Keeler.

Dating back over two years ago, she had been posting several original songs and covers (including The White Stripes' We're Going to Be Friends) under the username KokoKaina, but it was her original Christmas song No Christmas for Me that exploded in popularity, being featured on the YouTube front page and leading to a deluge of e-mails from well-wishers and label reps. One of those was from Ian Montone, manager of The White Stripes and The Shins among others, who had been shown the video by Patrick Keeler. This eventually led to her being flown to L.A. to record her self-titled debut album, which was jointly released this past May by Monotone Records and Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records. Her No Christmas for Me was also released on last year's Brushfire X-Mas compilation, This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday.

If I'm not mistaken, this will be her first ever gig in Canada. Don't worry, we will refrain from referring to her as Zed Avi... Based on some of her tweets today, the gig was a little up in the air:

@ZeeAvi: Wow. What an ordeal of a morning. Up since 6. Headed to Canadian Consulate, told 2 come back at 1:30, found out we didn't just in time b4 10

@ZeeAvi: Waiting for my number to be called out. Keeping my fingers crossed for same day approval. Big ups to my agent Robin Taylor for running...

@ZeeAvi: with me. Literally. Running.

@ZeeAvi: Cross your fingers with me. Let's make Vancouver happen!

@ZeeAvi: So after ONE whole day of walking, Vancouver is good to go! Ohsem!

Huzzah! This is the third time this year she's been scheduled to perform a Vancouver gig and I would've been very disappointed to find out another show was scrapped. I was originally going to see her show here in July when I found out it had been canceled with no explanation. Then she was re-scheduled a month later as the opener for Pete Yorn, unfortunately on the same night as The Dead Weather's Vancouver debut. It turns out that Yorn gig never happened anyway for reasons unknown. So third time's the charm, right?

Even when you check out her early videos her on YouTube, it's easy to hear that star-making quality in her voice, which has a jazzy Norah Jones vibe. Though most of the songs are performed on guitar, she starts writing them all on ukulele. In an interview I read or heard somewhere, she describes The Velvet Underground as an influence, in the sense that she would write these happy, upbeat songs that belie the lyrical content. For example, one of the standout songs Poppy describes losing a boyfriend to heroin addiction with the head bobbing chorus "The poppy took my baby away from me". Another great song Kantoi jauntily flops back and forth between Malay and English while telling the story of two cheating lovers ("Kantoi" = "Busted!"). Some other ones I dig are Bitter Heart, Monte, Honey Bee, and a cover of Morrissey's First of the Gang to Die. Zee has also been doing the radio circuit this summer, which has produced some other sweet covers:

Zee Avi - First of the Gang to Die [originally by Morrissey]
From Zee Avi's self-titled album, available on Amazon, iTunes, and the usual spots.

Zee Avi - Slow Hands [originally by Interpol]
Zee Avi - Dream a Little Dream of Me [originally written by Wilbur Schwandt, Fabian Andre and Gus Kahn]
Live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, May 20, 2009.

Zee Avi - Summertime [originally by George Gershwin]
Live on the Acoustic Cafe, September 21, 2009.

Two dates left on the tour:
December 10th The Crocodile - Seattle, WA
December 11th Roseland Theater - Portland, OR

Check out Zee on the internet:

• Official Site
  
• Twitter: @ZeeAvi
  
• KokoKaina's YouTube Channel
  
• Myspace

Opportunities (Let's Hear Lots of Covers)

On Saturday night, I went to see the Pet Shop Boys perform at The Centre. Back when tickets went on sale, I was hemming and hawing whether I should even go or not. I mean, I pretty much began and stopped listening to the Pet Shop Boys with their 1991 release Discography, essentially a greatest hits up-to-that-point collection, but I remember this being one of my family's earliest CDs (no doubt bought by my mom) and I consider it a seminal album in my music listening experiences. I was probably 8 when we got that album and who knows how many times I popped it in the CD and just sat there reading the liner notes. In fact, up until that point I didn't even know what a "discography" was. Sadly, I don't even digest new music that way anymore, but the Pet Shop Boys' Discography has always stuck with me. I felt like I would punch myself later if I didn't take the opportunity to see them live since I know they still perform the songs I love, plus I heard they put on quite a show.... and they did.

I didn't really have a clue what to expect going in, seeing how at their core it's just Neil Tennant on vocals with Chris Lowe playing keyboards/synthesizers and manipulating the music from his control box podium thingy. What they may lack in band members is countered by pure visual spectacle and, of course, awesome songs. The best way I can describe the show is that it was like watching a music video come to life. The theme of this tour appears to be blocks and cubes... as in Rubik's cube imagery, blocky cityscapes, dancers in cubist outfits, blown up pixels, and an awesome set design made up of movable blocks. The show started with two screens of 5x5 blocks with video projected on it, before doorways materialized in the middle of each screen and the Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe stepped out... at least you'd assume so by the grand entrance and roaring reception. You see, they both wore cubes on their head, but as one made his way to his control booth stage left and one started belting out Heart, it was clear who was who. While this set-up lasted for a few songs, the show ascended to the next level during Building the Wall, in which a digital wall was being built on the video projections before the screens toppled over into their block components revealing a much deeper and cube-filled stage. Throughout the rest of the show, roadies in white lab coats and white hard hats would rejig all the giant cubes for each song. It was a remarkably versatile set design and I was shocked to read after that most of the cubes were simply cardboard boxes-- so much for hi-tech! This interview with designer Es Devlin provides some interesting background on the stage concept, though it's probably meaningless if you didn't see the show (as is my entire description of it, I suppose!).

The songs were probably a 50/50 split of hits and material from their most recent release Yes. But even on the new stuff, elements or phrases from familiar songs would creep in, most noticeably on a sort of mash-up of Can You Forgive Her? with the new Pandemonium. This could have been a fashion show there were so many costume changes, but one of my favourite moments was when Tennant was backed up by four dancing Manhattan skyscrapers (starting at 4:12 of this video). Maybe dancing mascots just make me laugh, but I loved it. It was definitely a show unlike any I've seen before and most of my all-time favourites were played. My one complaint is that I wasn't completely immersed in the show from up on the balcony especially when people couldn't decide if they were going to sit or stand, so they ended up standing only for songs they knew then sitting down... kinda awkward. Also, I was surprised to hear Tennant announce "Yes, Vancouver, we finally made it." It was the Pet Shop Boys first tour stop in Vancouver in their nearly 30 years as a group!

From a covers standpoint, the Pet Shop Boys are pretty much kings of making a song their own, scoring hits with distinct renditions of Always on My Mind, Where the Streets Have No Name (Can't Take My Eyes Off You), and Go West. I still remember being in a movie theatre and hearing U2's original Where the Streets Have No Name for the first time and mistakenly thinking they were covering the Pet Shop Boys. Oh, how my cover knowledge has grown since then! Even years after that, I was watching The Deer Hunter and the rest of that childhood cover riddle was unintentionally solved as I watched Christopher Walken animatedly singing along to Franki Valli's original Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

So here's big batch of some of my favourite covers of the Pet Shop Boys, naturally almost all taken from Discography:

Frankmusik - It's a Sin (live on BBC2) [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
This was the last song the Pet Shop Boys performed before the encore break, but with all of the elaborate choreography for each number and the fact that a good chunk of the backing music is prerecorded, was an encore ever in doubt? This recent cover was recorded earlier this year for the Dermot O'Leary show. Frankmusik actually opened for Pet Shop Boys at a couple UK dates in June.

To/Die/For - It's a Sin [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
A cover by a Finnish gothic metal band... because the world can always use more of these.

Merril Bainbridge - Being Boring [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
I was absolutely thrilled when this was the first song in the encore (the night ended with West End Girls). This cover is from Aussie pop singer Merril Bainbridge's debut album The Garden, which spawned a mid-90's hit with Mouth. I knew about this acoustic cover for a long time though hadn't heard it before randomly stumbling across a copy of the CD at a used bookstore(??) right here in Vancouver. I could have saved myself some trouble if I had known about 10 Years of Being Boring, the most absurdly comprehensive website I've ever seen dedicated to a single song, though I can't really argue since it is my most played PSB tune. Check out the "renditions" sections of that site for even more Being Boring covers!

Skin of Tears - Suburbia [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
This is the inevitable German punk cover and yeah, it's pretty awesome. I used to think this song was about dogs running in the streets at night... funny how childhood misconceptions stick with you longer they they should. Interestingly, the song itself was inspired by the 1984 film Suburbia about suburban punks, which featured the acting debut of Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers and cover-friendly punk band The Vandals as themselves. Saturday's performance of Suburbia featured video projections of an army of cube-headed businessmen moving boxes on an infinitude of moving escalators while two dancers in the same cubehead business suits mimicked the actions on stage. These two dancers who spent probably 75% of the show with cubes on their head then stripped off their suits (and cubes) to reveal that they were both actually twin clones of Gwen Stefani. And you think I'm joking.

Frank Bennett - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
Before Paul Anka was swinging modern hits, before Richard Cheese was lounging against the machine, and even before Pat Boone was in a metal mood, Australian singer Frank Bennett (as in, Frank Sinatra + Tony Bennett) was bringing big band arrangements to contemporary songs from Pearl Jam's Better Man to kd Lang's Constant Craving with his 1996 album Five O'Clock Shadow. Unfortunately this was not on Saturday night's setlist, but I dig this unlikely cover from Bennett's 1998 follow-up Cash Landing.

The Del Rubio Triplets - What Have I Done to Deserve This? [originally by Pet Shop Boys feat. Dusty Springfield]
This was the only song I was slightly disappointed they didn't perform, but at the same time why would you even bother trying to replace Dusty Springfield? The Del Rubio Triplets were actual 60-something year old triplets performing novelty acoustic guitar covers during the late 80's and making appearances on episodes of Full House, Golden Girls, and even Married with Children. They were "discovered" by songwriter Allee Willis who has co-written I'll Be There For You (i.e. the Theme from Friends) and September with Earth, Wind & Fire. As it turns out, Willis also co-wrote this very song with the Pet Shop Boys, which probably explains this odd duck of a cover.

Sky High - Can You Forgive Her? [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
Sky High is a Swedish blues band that has been around for over 30 years. This fantastic brassy rock cover came from their 2003 double CD release On the Cover: 25 Years of Madness, which features a few other covers too.

Dubstar - Jealousy [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
This is from the 1998 covers compilation Essential Interpretations, which is surprisingly more essential than you'd expect with its generic title and oddball album cover of an ostrich. At the show, two dancers performed an interpretive dance of a tumultuous, violent relationship. During the big orchestral finale, they started tearing down bits of the set and throwing cubes at each other. Fun stuff.

Hungry Lucy - Jealousy [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
This is a beautiful cover from the Pet Shop Boys tribute album Very Introspective Actually, which actually features some other pretty decent covers from the likes of Momus and David J (of Bauhaus).

Motormark - Left to My Own Devices [originally by Pet Shop Boys]
My other favourite cover from that same Very Introspective Actually album, this is probably the most drastically reinvented Pet Shop Boys song going from a lushly orchestrated disco number to some sort of electro art punk thing. I love it.

Pet Shop Boys - Girls & Boys (Live in Rio) [originally by Blur]
The Pet Shop Boys were given Girls & Boys to remix and they later started covering it in concert on their 1994 tour.

Classic Rock Covers

Here are bunch of great bands (and covers) that I've been meaning to write about for a while. It's about time they get their dues.

Shaka Labbits - That Thing You Do! [originally by The Wonders]
Reaching #7 on the Billboard charts in August 1964, this was the only hit for Erie, Pennsylvania band The Wonders. In 2003, the one hit wonder was revived in this irresistible cover by Japanese ska punk band Shaka Labbits.

Jackson Browne, Jewel, Lyle Lovett & Ghostface Killah - Walk Hard (All-Star Version) [originally by Dewey Cox]

Charlie Wadhams, Gus Seyffert & Eleni Mandell - Let's Duet [originally performed by Dewey Cox & Darlene Madison]

Dewey Cox - Starman [originally by David Bowie]
No doubt the most successful son of Springberry, Alabama, Dewey Cox was one of the most versatile and underrated performers in rock & roll, country, and disco history. The world still mourns his timely death in 2007, in fact it feels a little soon to even talk about it.

Stillwater - Hour of Need
Peter Frampton - Hour of Need
This is one of those tricky David Bowie/Mott the Hoople cover cases. The song was indeed written by Peter Frampton, but it was first recorded by unheralded 70's rockers Stillwater in 1973. Frampton himself wouldn't release his own version until nearly 20 years later.

Soundgarden - Big Bottom [originally by Spinal Tap]
A true Spinal Tap reunion is impossible in light of the tragic history of former drummers, but founding members David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls have nevertheless set a Guinness World Record for the most reunion shows in rock & roll history. In fact, the band intends to break up and reunite at every stop on their forthcoming tour, which kicks off in Vancouver on April 17th!

The Folksmen - Start Me Up [originally by The Rolling Stones]
The original Folksmen line-up of Jerry Palter, Alan Barrows, and Mark Shubb are also Guinness World Record holders for most reunion shows in folk music history, most notably at the 2003 Tribute Show to Irving Steinbloom. Coincidentally, their latest reunion tour also kicks off in Vancouver on April 17th. Decisions, decisions!

These Eyes (HaveSeenALotOfLovesButThey’reNeverGonnaSeeAnotherOneLikeIHadWithYou)

The Juno Awards are this weekend in Vancouver, so I figured it'd be a good time for some CanCon. Tonight I'm going to see Elizabeth Shepherd as part of JunoFest, the 100 Bands/19 Venues showcase over the next couple days. I recently found out a guy I used to work with at the library in Edmonton actually plays in the Juno-nominated band Souljah Fyah, so I want to check out their JunoFest gig tomorrow. I'm also going to the Songwriter's Circle show on Sunday, which features Hawksley Workman, Doc Walker, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo, Jacob Hoggard, Ndidi Onukwulu, Sarah Slean, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Busy music weekend!

A couple days ago I got an-email from a reader telling me to check out The Lost Fingers who have an album full of Django Reinhardt-style gypsy jazz covers of 80's songs. They actually did pop up on my radar last year, though I kinda forgot about them since their CD wasn't available outside of Québec until the end of January. But they've come a long way in a short time. Entirely based on their sales in Québec, The Lost Fingers (Django had two paralyzed fingers from a fire) were 2nd overall in 2008 domestic sales after only Nickelback. The band is up for two major Junos, Album of the Year and the Fan Choice Award. Unfortunately they're not on the concert schedule this weekend, but I heard they might be back here for the Vancouver Jazz Festival in the summer. I'm definitely rooting for them!

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The rest of this post is dedicated to covers of the classic These Eyes by The Guess Who, which predates the creation of the Juno Awards themselves by a couple years. I really got into The Guess Who in high school and remember coaxing my dad into driving to a show down in Red Deer around the time the original line-up reformed to tour the country (I had missed the Edmonton show).

Michael Bolotin - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
No, that's not a typo, it's by Michael BOLOTIN before everyone's favourite earbleeder changed it to Bolton. I've been on the hunt for this cover for well over a year, before stumbling on it in a used CD shop here in Vancouver that was closing down. Never before has someone gone to such great lengths to find an old Michael Bolton CD. Whether it was good or not didn't even enter the equation, I just HAD to find it. Obviously, it's not great, but it's not as awful as I expected. The real surprise was finding a half-decent covers of Dancing in the Streets and Rocky Mountain Way on the same disc. Fodder for a future post.

Ernest Ranglin - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
Nice instrumental version from Studio One session guitarist
Natalie Cole - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
Pretty cheesy, oddly reminiscent of The Bee Gees.
Alton Ellis - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
Sweet reggae cover
Jr. Walker & The All Stars - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
This cover was a hit in the US just a year after the original was released

By the way, if you haven't seen Superbad, These Eyes is a key part of the funniest scene in the movie.

One last bit of related Guess Who cover madness:
Burton Cummings Sings Maggie May as Gordon Lightfoot [originally by Rod Stewart]

Digital Valentines

Mobius Band has got a free covers EP for Valentine's Day:

Empire of Love
1. Say You Will [originally by Kanye West]
2. Love Hurts [originally performed by the Everly Brothers]
3. Lullaby [originally by Dixie Chicks]
4. Satellite [originally by TV on the Radio]
5. At My Window [originally by Townes Van Zandt]
6. You Don't Know How it Feels [originally by Tom Petty]

Head over to their official site to download the whole thing.

Digital Love [originally by Daft Punk]
This is from the free covers EP they released last year, which is still available.

By the way, the covers compilation Sweethearts should be out now. I haven't been by one of the multiplicity of nearby Starbucks to get it yet, but I noticed A.C. Newman's cover of A-Ha's Take on Me is already starting to make the rounds. Speaking of which, I'll be going to see the New Pornographers' frontman live next Friday here in Vancouver. Should be a good one.

Weekend to do list

From Amanda Palmer's myspace:
"Text your friends currently getting muddy at glastonbury:
I just *might* show up on stage with ben folds tomorrow to do some
*possibly* crazy shit that just *might* involve ben playing drums on songs
that *perhaps* might be appearing on my new record."

Danny Michel & Emm Gryner's Under the Covers starts airing this Saturday night at 9pm (in whatever time zone you're in!) as part of CBC Radio 1's summer programming. The first episode is actually a repeat of last year's pilot, though it'll be airing for the next 5 weeks with new episodes. Check the episode guide to see what they've got in store. Very exciting.

For Vancouverites, the Vancouver Jazz Festival is already well underway. I'm excited to see Elizabeth Shepherd performing Sunday, a free show at David Lam Park downtown.

Covering the Mouse Vote 2008: in honour of his first year of Disney cover blogging, Kurtis is tabulating votes for a sort of reader's choice awards. For roughly the next month, vote on the best, the worst, the weirdest, and most unlikely of Disney covers.

By the way, in case you aren't already, reading Fong Songs on via the RSS feed is the best way to keep up-to-date on new posts here. I'm partial to Google Reader.

In regards to Cover Riddle #6, no one's got it right yet. Some good guesses and one person is so close it's almost over, but not quite. I forgot Canada Day is next Tuesday so I'll probably postpone the answer until after that sometime. Some additional clues for the rest of you:

Born in the USA,Live tonight in Vancouver

If you're a Bruce Springsteen fan, live in the Vancouver area, and have nothing to do tonight, here's a suggestion: Born in the USA performed live in its entirety by Patrick Brealey, who's classified on his myspace profile as "Folk Rock / Roots Music / Lyrical".

Patrick vs. Bruce Springsteen
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Main Restaurant (4210 Main St. @ 26th)
Start time: 9:30pm

Patrick Brealey - You Shook Me All Night Long [originally by AC/DC]

Speaking of live-in-its-entirety performances, yesterday I coincidentally came across this awesome post of The Waybacks with John Cowan performing Led Zeppelin II live at MerleFest. Best Zeppelin covers I've heard in a while.

Concert Alerts for Vancouverites

I've been busy the last couple days settling into my new digs and finally completing The Big Move from Edmonton to Vancouver. The past few months I've been living out of a suitcase in my friends' spare room, but now have my own sweet suite. My folks are also visiting right now, so don't expect to hear much more from me until next week.

A couple big shows announced recently for late in the summer here in Vancouver, both at Stanley Park.

August 31 - September 1, The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition
A two day festival curated by The New Pornographers, who of course will be performing as a supergroup and in parts (i.e. Neko Case, Destroyer, The Evaporators). Other announced acts include Deerhoof, The 1900s, and Andrew Bird with more to follow. AAARRRGH! Here I was all jealous after reading Andrew Bird would be hitting the Calgary Folk Fest and now he IS coming to town but I already chose that weekend of all weekends to fly out to Toronto to visit relatives. Bah! That's bah to missed concert, not bah to visiting relatives-- I've got a brand new cousin to meet! At least, I've already seen Andrew Bird and the New Pornographers before, though I may weep as more acts are announced later. CBC Radio 3 is a proud sponsor of this first ever festival, which hopefully implies this will become an annual tradition. Tickets on sale Friday at Ticketmaster and probably any indie record store. $30 to $35 for one day, $60 for a 2-day pass.

September 18, The Raconteurs will inexplicably be coming back through Vancouver even though they were just here a couple months ago. No complaints here! Tickets also on sale Friday.

A couple other notable gigs coming up soon:
June 29, 12pm Elizabeth Shepherd is doing a free show at David Lam Park in conjunction with the Vancouver Jazz Festival.
July 6, Butch Walker, former lead singer of Marvelous 3-- a cover post on him is long, long overdue.

The New Pornographers - The New Face of Zero and One
Andrew Bird - Two Way Action
The New Pornographers - Three or Four
The Raconteurs - Five on the Five

Raconteurs Tonight!Part 1: Patrick Keeler & Little Jack Lawrence

Big show tonight at the Commodore Ballroom: The Raconteurs. Ahem, you know the "other" band of that guy. We're going to focus on the guys in the band who don't really get their fair share of the limelight. Using the liner notes of Consolers of the Lonely, we've got "Little" Jack Lawrence ("Bass, Banjo and Back-up Vocality"), Patrick Keeler ("Drums and Repercussions"), and Brendan Benson ("Sing, String, Ring, Ding, Dong").

Okay, okay, it's nearly impossible to talk about the Raconteurs without mentioning Jack White III ("Vocals, Frets, Stylophone, Pianos and Vital Organs"). You'll learn quickly that all these guys are inter-connected in curious ways dating back way before their 2006 debut as the Raconteurs, so we're going to end up playing a little six degrees of separation (but more like 3 degrees).

The first time I saw Patrick and Little Jack, they were two-thirds of The Greenhornes, the opening band for back-to-back White Stripes shows here in Vancouver in 2005. I remember after the second show, hanging around the side door in vain just in case The White Stripes came out, which they didn't. I did end up shaking Patrick's hand and getting his autograph, which I promptly lost. The Greenhornes are a garage rock band, reviving the sound of the 60's with influences such as The Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Animals, and so on. Their official website seems to have changed since I last saw it (now it's basically an image of a horse with "coming soon" underneath) and judging by comments from Brendan Benson, The Greenhornes' indefinite hiatus may be ending soon...

The Greenhornes - Nobody Loves You
The Greenhornes - I've Been Down
A couple of my favourite Greenhornes originals.

The Greenhornes - Lost Woman [originally by The Yardbirds]
This Yardbirds cover was a hidden track on Sewed Soles, an album made of selected tracks from their previously releases...almost like a Greenhornes sampler.

Loretta Lynn - Have Mercy
Loretta Lynn & Jack White - Portland Oregon
The Raconteurs - Portland Oregon (live in Portland, Oregon)
The White Stripes - Rated X [originally by Loretta Lynn]
I didn't realize at the time, but Patrick and Little Jack were both involved as the rhythm section for Loretta Lynn's 2004 album Van Lear Rose produced by Jack White.

The Greenhornes - Shelter of Your Arms
The White Stripes - Shelter of Your Arms [originally by the Greenhornes]
From The Greenhornes' 2005 East Grand Blues EP, produced by Brendan Benson. Perhaps in a little bit of cross-promotion, The White Stripes covered it as a b-side to The Denial Twist single.

The Greenhornes - There is An End (with Holly Golightly)
Holly Golightly - There's An End
The White Stripes - It's True That We Love One Another (with Holly Golightly)
The third member of The Greenhornes is lead singer/guitarist Craig Fox who wrote There is An End. British singer Holly Golightly sings on two versions of the song, the latter from her 2003 album Truly She is None Other, which has liner notes by Jack White. She also joins Jack & Meg on the great track It's True That We Love One Another, a cheeky little ditty from Elephant.

Now it's time for fun trivia with cult filmmaker Jim Jarmusch:

• There is An End was used as the theme to Jarmusch's 2005 film Broken Flowers starring Bill Murray
  
• Jack & Meg White both appeared in a sequence of Jarmusch's Coffee & Cigarettes
  
• Jarmusch directed one of two music videos for The Raconteurs debut single Steady, As She Goes.
  
• At the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, The Raconteurs (serving as the house band) were joined by Jim Jarmusch to sing "Internet Killed the Video Star"
  
• Jarmusch produced a "First Nations remix" of The White Stripes Blue Orchid, featured on a 12" vinyl with another remix by Michel Gondry

OK, before this post gets too unwieldy, I'm going to cut it off here and talk about Mr. Brendan Benson tomorrow. I'll also be off at 7am to catch a bus to Seattle to see Raconteurs, round 2! Let's see how well this blogger post-dating thing works...

Trews & Stuff

Going to see The Trews tonight at the Commodore Ballroom. They're a rock band from Nova Scotia that I first saw when they opened for Robert Plant in 2005. They remind me a bit of The Black Crowes, perhaps without so much of the heavy blues influence. That set ended with a lively cover of Bohemian Rhapsody and I'm curious to see if they'll play some covers tonight since some Stones covers have also been known to show up. No Time For Later, their latest album, was released in February though I haven't heard it yet. My friend and roommate is a big fan, so Den of Thieves their second album from 2005 has been getting a lot of spins lately.

The Trews - Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me
I distinctly remember this from that show as they impressively sung the harmonized a cappella intro from what I consider the standout track from Den of Thieves.

The Trews - Naked [originally by Tracy Bonham]
This cover is also from Den of Thieves.

The Trews and Ron Hynes - Mull of Kintyre [originally by Paul McCartney]
Last year, The Trews appeared with Ron Hynes, a folk singer from Newfoundland, on the great CBC Radio program Fuse, where two artists are brought together to fuse with each other's songs, or in this case Paul McCartney's song. Coming up soon on Fuse: Basia Bulat with the Hylozoists.

Michael Kaeshammer & Hayley Sales - Happy Xmas (War is Over) [originally by John Lennon & Yoko Ono]
This past weekend on Fuse, they re-broadcast a show from December featuring singer-songwriter Hayley Sales and jazz pianist/singer Michael Kaeshammer. There are numerous covers of the John Lennon's classic song, though most are very faithful and often embellish the bittersweetness of the tune. This is a playful cover that for once puts the "happy" in Happy Xmas.

Tift Merritt - The Long and Winding Road [originally by The Beatles]
Look, I'm not even trying and we got three Beatles-related covers in a row! Last Friday I went to see Tift Merritt live at the Plaza Club... sort of by accident. I bought the ticket meaning to see Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek who was the opener, though I completely missed her since I was at a birthday dinner for an acquaintance. This is perhaps the first time in history that the show started soon after the doors opened. I've been to shows where the opening act came on three hours after doors opened and typically a couple hours seems safe. Doors were at 7pm, I arrived at 8:15pm, Tift Merritt came on at 8:30pm. The whole time I figured Sara Watkins didn't even perform since she wasn't listed on the ticket or anything, but Tift thanked Sara at the end of the night and her CDs were being sold at the back. Kinda sucked to miss her, but I did see her perform already in L.A. a couple months ago and Tift Merritt put on a great show anyway.

Tift Merritt - It's the Shame [originally by Stillhouse]
Honestly, I'd never even really heard of Tift Merritt, though she's been nominated for a 2004 Grammy and been on Austin City Limits among other things. Though born in Houston, Texas, she moved to North Carolina at an early age, which of course is where two of my favourite bands are from, Ben Folds Five and Squirrel Nut Zippers. In fact, Tift Merritt's drummer Zeke Hutchins also drums for Hotel Lights, a band started by former Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee. This cover is from Songs For Sixty Five Roses, a charity compilation benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The album features North Carolina bands "re-working the North Carolina jukebox" and here, Tift covers a band called Stillhouse, which as I learned from their website has a drummer named... Zeke Hutchins. How many bands does this guy drum for? The answer: several.

Dolly Parton with Nickel Creek - Blowin' in the Wind [originally by Bob Dylan]
While I missed Sara Watkins perform, I did find out from a little postcard-like thing I grabbed on the way out that she's got a new solo album coming out soon. Her solo myspace site is here and my jaw was dropping as I read her some blog posts... she and her brother Sean flew out to London in December for the LED ZEPPELIN reunion! *JEALOUS* And how did they score tickets? Well, I guess it helps to have John Paul Jones as a pal and colleague. JPJ has been known to sit-in as a guest on The Watkins Family Hour at the Largo and he's producing her solo album, which features as her band Sean Watkins, Glen Phillips, Greg Leisz, Benmont Tentch, Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher, and Luke Bulla. When I was in L.A. at the end of January, going to see The Watkins Family Hour at the Largo was a definite must-see, even though it was absolutely pouring that night. It's heavy on the ground rules (no electronics including cellphones, no talking during show, minimum dinner charge, etc.), but totally worth it for a pure music-loving atmosphere. I don't know for sure, but I figure you could only squeeze 100 people in there, so it's as intimate as you can get outside of a show in your living room. As awesome as the show was, I couldn't help but pout when I read that two weeks later Jon Paul Jones and Jon Brion were guests. Sigh. Based on blog post, Sara had a nice first look at Vancouver and may be back this fall in conjunction with her new album.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings in Vancouver

This Sunday I'll be going to a zinger of a show at the Commodore Ballroom here in Vancouver: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. I've been looking forward to this since I saw a couple shortened sets at the Calgary Folk Fest, but I think they'll be much better suited to a nightclub-like locale... not that they weren't great earlier, but it'll much more intimate than a festival stage. If you haven't already, seek out their latest release 100 Days, 100 Nights. Definitely one of my favourite albums of the year. Here's a couple of their sessions from KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, the latest being from just a couple days ago.

Live on Morning Become Eclectic May 12, 2005
1. DJ Intro
2. instrumental
3. How Do I Let a Good Man Down?
4. How Long Do I Have to Wait For You?
5. Your Thing is a Drag
6. interview
7. What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?
8. This Land is Your Land [originally by Woody Guthrie]
9. My Man is a Mean Man
10. Outro
[Download link]

Live on Morning Become Eclectic December 3, 2007
1. DJ Intro
2. Casella Walk
3. Intro / I'm Not Going to Cry
4. Keep on Looking
5. Be Easy
6. interview
7. Let Them Knock
8. What Have You Done For Me Lately? [originally by Janet Jackson]
9. How Do I Let a Good Man Down?
10. 100 Days, 100 Nights
11. interview
12. Nobody's Baby
13. Outro
[Download link]

Bird & Bordello

Today I'm off to Vancouver for the long weekend and checking out two exciting concerts: Andrew Bird & Gogol Bordello. In August 2005, I checked off Ben Folds and The White Stripes from list of must-see-artists-before-I-die gigs and said "Next up, Andrew Bird and Harvey Danger". The following summer, I checked The Dresden Dolls and The Living End off the list. This was another good summer, adding 5 more White Stripes dates and having seen the Squirrel Nut Zippers for the first time. And now I'll get to make good on that vow to see Andrew Bird (Harvey Danger will have to wait until possibly later this year when I move closer to Seattle).

[An unexpected X-mas gift from Andrew Bird. I've yet to decipher the chicken scratches under his signature.]

In a nutshell, I jumped on the Andrew Bird bandwagon after I went through all the Squirrel Nut Zippers CDs at the library and started delving into their extended musical family tree. Andrew Bird was dubbed an honourary member of the Zippers, though I'm not entirely sure about the distinction since he played on practically every album and toured with them. In any event, he put out a couple albums of old style jazz albums with his band Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire. It was 2001's The Swimming Hour that really blew me away with several outstanding songs that rank among my top iTunes playcounts. It was quite a departure from his earlier jazz/swing albums, exploring several different genres but always putting his distinct mark on it. Strangely, this album has been criticized for being too derivative due to its mélange of styles and was even dubbed by some fans (this really floors me) for being too commercial. I imagine that was just a kneejerk reaction from fans of his early material, thinking he was going to do remake those first two albums forever and ever. In fact, I think it's this album where he's starting to find his own distinctive voice that would evolve into his later albums.

The Swimming Hour (2001)
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - Case in Point
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - 11:11

His last three albums are Weather Systems, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, and this year's Armchair Apocrypha. This is where we start to see a shift in his music to a more experimental, eclectic, indie... well, it's difficult to classify except it's distinctly Andrew Bird. At this point, I'd advise just listening to his music and see where it takes you since my words will not do it justice.

The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
Andrew Bird - Opposite Day
Andrew Bird - Skin Is, My

Armchair Apocrypha (2007)
Andrew Bird - Heretics

And I haven't even talked about his live show, which should prove to be incredible. He's known for extensive use of the looping pedal to construct songs out of thin air by himself, though in the past year or two he's enlisted Martin Dosh as a percussionist. I wonder if he still plays his older stuff... I'm hoping so, but I doubt it.

Something interesting I discovered the other day... Final Fantasy (AKA Owen Pallett) posted on a message board about meeting Andrew Bird and discussing the inevitable comparisons people make (myself included) between the two and also Patrick Wolf (who I admittedly haven't heard). Apparently Andrew complimented Owen on his "'Nervous Tic' rip-off". Now this piqued my interest and after looking into it, I found this:

Cadence Weapon with Final Fantasy - Sharks (live)
On the CBC Radio show Fuse, two seemingly incongruent musical acts are thrown together. Here, local Edmontonian hip-hop artist Cadence Weapon raps over music provided by Final Fantasy, which is in fact sampled from Andrew Bird's Imitosis and A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left. Hearing that totally made my day.

OK, I'm going to have to wrap this up so I can catch some ZZZ's before I catch my plane. The other concert I'm going to which should be another unreal experience is Gogol Bordello, whom I posted about before in February. I first caught wind of the band last year when I saw Wristcutters: A Love Story at the Edmonton Film Fest. In the film, one of the lead characters was inspired by Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz and their music was featured as well. Then I would later see Eugene Hütz himself in Liev Schreiber's film Everything is Illuminated starring opposite Elijah Wood. Tickets for the show were an unbelievable $17.50 each, but it took me so long to confirm time off from work that it was sold out and I had to get them off eBay. I wasn't completely gouged, but it would've been nice to get them at face value in the first place.

Gogol Bordello - Sally
Gogol Bordello - Mishto

Madonna featuring Gogol Bordello - La Isla Bonita
There's a video from this year's Live Earth concert (I think it was taken off youtube, but you can google it elsewhere), where Madonna specifically invited Gogol Bordello members Eugene Hütz and Sergey Ryabtsev to help perform a remix of her classic song La Isla Bonita. It was completely surreal. While Madonna and her crew of male model back-up dancers pranced about their carefully choreographed routine, the real stars were Ryabtsev on violin, injecting some life into the performance, and a lanky, bug-eyed, mustachioed Hütz strumming and dancing as though he was a madman caught on the wrong stage and didn't care. Eugene is also starring in Madonna's directoral debut, a short film called Filth and Wisdom, which required him to dress in drag. Madonna asked him "How do you feel about dressing up as a woman?" to which he replied "Well, as long as it's a woman with a moustache, I'm there."

See you next Wednesday.