Fong Songs 101 All-Time Covers: #49 to 43

=============================================
Just joining us?
I'm counting down 101 of my all-time favourite covers before packing this blog away in the attic.
Read my countdown preamble here.
=============================================
The White Stripes Set
Right from post #1, The White Stripes (and Jack White's musical endeavours in general) have been featured on Fong Songs more than any other single act. Regular readers must be sick of it. They were more or less my favourite band already, but seeing them live on back-to-back nights of their Get Behind Me Satan tour here in Vancouver cemented the deal. My White Stripes fever hit its peak in 2007 when they announced they would be touring every province and territory in Canada. I got to stand an arm's length away from Jack on the other side of his keyboard at a secret show in Edmonton. Then two of my friends and I flew to the Maritimes for the ultimate rock vacation, following Jack & Meg to Moncton, Charlottetown, Halifax, and finally Glace Bay for their epic 10th Anniversary show. It's only fitting a small portion of this list is dedicated to them.

49. Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army (feat. Alice Russell) [originally by The White Stripes]
By far this is the most covered White Stripes song, though most coverers make you wonder they bothered. However, one of the earliest covers remains a clear winner with a heavy bass groove, some horns, and electric vocals from Alice Russell who've I've been fortunate to catch twice live and yes, this was one of the last songs played at each show.

48. Chris Thile - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground [originally by The White Stripes]
Former Nickel Creek member and mandolin extraordinaire Chris Thile took Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground and completely made it his own with a killer bluegrass arrangement. It's hard to imagine, but I almost associate this more with Thile than the White Stripes at this point. Almost. I know Thile still plays this frequently at live shows with his current outfit Punch Brothers.

47. The White Stripes - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself [originally by Burt Bacharach and Hal David]
The White Stripes canon is full of great covers from Jack's anguished update of Dolly Parton's Jolene to the blazing mariachi rock of Conquest as made famous by Patti Page (I've yet to actually track down the original Corky Robbins version). I also love when they dabble in their folk blues roots with Your Southern Can is Mine or Lord, Send Me an Angel. Then there are those handful of Bob Dylan covers they do. Or I could gone a little off the map with their unlikely live performance of Mr. Cellophane from Chicago with Jack seemingly channeling a carnival barker. With so many great covers to choose from, I just didn't know what to do with myself... and the answer revealed itself. A modern classic.

Bowie/Reed
46. David Bowie - White Light/White Heat [originally by The Velvet Underground]
My most played Bowie track is the Lou Reed influenced Queen Bitch and I also love Bowie's covers of The Velvet Underground, so how is it that I've managed to avoid listening to most Lou Reed and/or Velvet Underground music outside of a handful of their most popular songs? It's a terrible oversight that needs to be rectified someday.

45. The Futureheads - Let's Dance [originally by David Bowie]
I was never particularly taken with the original until I got seriously hooked on this cover. It's not all that dramatically different, but to me it revealed something I had initially found lacking in the original and now I actually do love the original. Go figure.

44. David Bowie - I'm Waiting For the Man (Live) [originally by The Velvet Underground]
I've been blown away by this version ever since first hearing it on the Almost Famous soundtrack.

43. The Celibate Rifles - I'm Waiting for the Man [originally by The Velvet Underground]
This frenetic cover was released by Aussie punk band The Celibate Rifles in 1984. I can't find any evidence that supports this, but the drumming and guitar playing in this song are, in my mind, a direct precursor to Supergrass. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to drumming, but I love this style which seems to cram in as many extra drumbeats as possible, whenever possible.

Tomorrow on the Fong Songs 101 countdown I'll be talking about the weather forecast and the four elements.

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]

First post: you go, me.

Ok, here's my blog. Since one of my favourite hobbies is imposing my musical tastes on others, I decided it was about time I jumped on the proverbial bandwagon and started an mp3 blog. As I understand it, sharing music on a blog is sketchy in terms of copyright/fair use policies, but most blogs have an average audience of 12 people and the record companies don't really care because it's free advertising. So, it's not a big deal as long as I encourage you to buy music, which you do. Yeah, support your favourite bands... I do.

As my friends found out on a winter roadtrip, I have a disturbing amount of cover songs on my iPod. Until this was pointed out to me (and I was mocked), I did not think of it as being particularly odd... collecting covers, that is. I only have a few hundred, but apparently that's more than the average schmuck.
[EDIT: upon further review of my itunes collection and some re-labelling, it's actually closer to 12000+ covers... yikes!]. So the main focus of my mp3 blog shall be (drum roll please) cover songs! Now there are already a number of cover blogs, which i'll talk about in another post sometime. I'll try not to rip them off too much (or cover them, ho ho). But in addition to cover songs, I'll post whatever I so fancy.



For instance, I recently had the insane pleasure of attending back-to-back White Stripes shows in Vancouver. These are some photos I took from my 6th row seat (rock!).




Today's mp3 is of Boll Weevil, a White Stripes cover of a Ledbelly song, which typically closes out the night at their concerts (including both shows I went to). The highlight of this version from the Roseland Ballroom (NYC, 11-19-2003) is Jack stops mid-song twice to rant and swear at the moshers in the crowd. I think this is awesome because I find moshers are pretty annoying at concerts. I guess it's fine at punk shows and stuff, but I find it weird that people go to concerts specifically to get drunk and shove people around. So Jack gives them a little piece of his mind... I also think it's funny because he sounds a bit like Steve Buscemi when he's mad.

Jack's Boll Weevil Rant

That's all for now. Let's see how often I update this blog...

"Everybody got their teen angst out over here?!?"

Addicted to Codeine Velvet Club

I'll admit, I'm a terrible music blogger when it comes to new music. To catch my attention amidst the sea of PR e-mails in my inbox, I generally have to have some sort of pre-existing inclination towards a new band or project, which is probably why I usually stick to the covers beat. So it's a pretty rare set of circumstances when a press release will float through my mailbox and actually pique my attention enough to download the promo copy of the album, then actually listen to the whole thing . . . repeatedly . . . for 10 days straight. Such is the case with the self-titled debut from Codeine Velvet Club.

Codeine Velvet Club is a side project from Jon Lawler, lead singer/guitarist of The Fratellis, and Glasgow songstress Lou Hickey. The reason this particular e-mail happened to strike a chord with me was because I've been recently rediscovering The Fratellis' 2006 debut Costello Music and racking up the playcounts. The Fratellis also have penchant for covering T. Rex and have previously covered The White Stripes on the BBC, which obviously gives them brownie points in my books. I skimmed the e-mail and the phrase "jazz-noir, big-band duet" jumped out at me and decided to give it a try. Lo and behold, my new favourite album of the year.

The album emanates a 60s orchestral pop vibe complete with lush big band backing and retro boy/girl duets with perhaps a little more polish and a rock 'n roll edge. Lawler and Hickey (a real find!) smoothly trade off verses and sing gorgeous harmonies (particularly in the dreamy Nevada), though it's Hickey that really shines in her solo bits like Time or the rousing chorus of The Black Roses. The orchestral score was composed by Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian fame. During my first play through the albu I thought to myself that some of these have the feel of a Bond film, so perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise to find out later that it was part of Lawler's vision for Codeine Velvet Club to sound like "John Barry playing with a rock ‘n roll band”. The horn section even includes acclaimed trumpeter Derek Watkins who, get this, has played on EVERY James Bond theme including the classic "Wah WAH-WAH Wah's" on Goldfinger! More recently you've probably heard Watkins' trumpet solo that opens the 2004 film Chicago, a soundtrack I'm well acquainted with.



Codeine Velvet Club - Hollywood

Fortunately the track I'm cleared to stream is one of my favourites from the album. I'm seriously addicted to the whole disc, but some other standouts for me include The Black Roses, Like a Full Moon, Time, and Vanity Kills, the track that initially spurred on the collaboration between Lawler and Hickey (they had originally teamed up to do a song for her solo album). I haven't even mentioned that the closing number is a great cover of The Stone Roses' I Am the Resurrection, which you can fortunately download for free from the members section of their official website (requires registration). I barely even want to think about it this far in advance, but I know Codeine Velvet Club will be guaranteed a spot in my next year-end review.

Me blathering on about tracks you can't hear doesn't do you much good, so you can check some of the tunes out for yourself on their myspace or official youtube channel, which has some live versions and a couple music videos.

Album is out in North America April 6th!

===================

Upcoming live dates for Codeine Velvet Club include a handful at SXSW and then some West Coast shows supporting Metric. Come to Vancouver soon!

3/17 The Parish (SXSW) Austin, TX
3/18 Austin Convention Center (SXSW) Austin, TX
3/19 Rusty Spurs (SXSW) Austin, TX
3/20 Cedar Street (SXSW) Austin, TX
3/21 Showbox SoDo (w/ Metric) Seattle WA
3/22 Roseland Theater (w/ Metric) Portland, OR
3/24 Fox Theater (w/Metric) Oakland, CA
3/26 Hollywood Palladium (w/ Metric) Los Angeles, CA

Can't leave without mentioning Lou Hickey's Twitter since she's gotta be the only Scottish singer who tweets about her love of hockey. Mind you, ice hockey does have some Scottish roots historically...

Every Season Has an End

It's the end of the year, the end of the decade. So far, I've resisted the temptation to add to the plethora of decade-end lists, which isn't to say that it won't happen... but for now, four versions of The Greenhornes' There is an End, followed by a grab bag of random links to recent things of note.

"Spring brings the rain,
With winter comes pain,
Every season has an end."
The Greenhornes featuring Holly Golightly - There is an End
The Greenhornes collaborated with British singer Holly Golightly who performed lead vocals on There is an End, written by Craig Fox, the band's guitarist/lead vocalist. It originally appeared on their 2002 album Dual Mono, but later served as the de facto theme song to the 2005 Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers with Bill Murray. By a weird coincidence, the very same weekend that Broken Flowers came out, I happened to go to back-to-back shows of The White Stripes here in Vancouver for which The Greenhornes were the openers. After the second show, I hung around with some other fans in the vain hope of meeting Jack or Meg (neither showed) but The Greenhornes did and I shook hands with Patrick Keeler and got the band to autograph my ticket (which I promptly lost). Of course, Keeler and Little Jack Lawrence went on to join Jack White as part of The Raconteurs and Lawrence would also be part of The Dead Weather when they debuted earlier this year.

Holly Golightly - There's an End
This version sans The Greenhornes (and slightly altered title) appeared on Holly Golightly's 2003 album Truly She is None Other, which featured liner notes by none other than Jack White. Golightly also joined Jack and Meg for the duet (um, word for three-person duet??) It's True That We Love One Another from The White Stripes album Elephant.

Gnarls Barkley - There's an End (Live in Boston)
This was an early Christmas gift courtesy of fellow blogger Leopold Stotch of Versions Galore. I had been searching for this for the past couple years ever since finding out Gnarls Barkley had been covering There is an End during their summer '06 tour. I knew some sort of recording existed somewhere but I failed miserably in my attempts to track it down until it magically appeared in my inbox last month. Many thanks!! Funnily enough, that same summer The Raconteurs were frequently covering Gnarls Barkley's Crazy at their own shows!

Ronnie Spector - There is an End (featuring Patti Smith)
Last month saw the US release of The Last of the Rock Stars from the legendary Ronnie Spector, though the album actually came out in the UK in 2006. Backed by Keeler and Lawrence (no Fox?), this version also features fellow 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith on backing vocals. Running with this whole theme of White Stripes connections, this summer Meg White married Patti Smith's son Jackson in a double ceremony with Jack Lawrence and his fiancée in the backyard of Jack White's Nashville home.

=========================

Okay, so this is probably my last post until after the holidays, but I've got a bunch of news/links to share, as always, filtered through the tunnel vision that is Fong Songs.

• The nominations are in and the Coverville Countdown is on! Brian's annual countdown of the top 40 covers of all-time is in the voting stage until December 22nd. This year's a little different with the newly instituted Coverville Hall of Fame, 10 perennial cover contenders taken out of the running to let some new blood in. Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, Johnny Cash's Hurt, and Bill Shatner's Common People are among the elite covers that are no longer eligible. Last week, I submitted my five nominations for your consideration: Ellen McIlwaine's Higher Ground, Moxy Früvous's Psycho Killer, OK Go & Bonerama's Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, Danny Michel's Young Americans, and PoZitive Orchestra's Shine on You Crazy Diamond. Vote here!
  
  
• Speaking of voting, Cover Me's latest cover commission is We Are the Willows. Vote what song he should cover! Right now, The Shins' Caring is Creepy leads the pack, but I went with The Zombies' The Way I Feel Inside.
  
  
• In case you missed it, 2009 Polaris Prize winners F*cked Up recently released their cover of Do They Know It's Christmas on iTunes with 100% of the proceeds going to Canadian non-profit organizations. The eclectic cast of performers lending their support include Tegan & Sara, David Cross, Yo La Tengo, GZA, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Bob Mould, Andrew W.K., Kyp Malone, and Kevin Drew. You can buy it on iTunes and read more about it here.
  
  
• Fong Songs fave Alex Robinson's A Kidnapped Santa Claus is in bookstores everywhere and online if you're looking for a last minute stocking stuffer or just a plain great gift. Full disclosure: I know Alex reads my blog(!), but that won't stop me from an shamelessly plugging it without being asked to! A Kidnapped Santa Claus is a graphic adaptation of a 1904 short story by L. Frank Baum (he of Oz fame), which can be read for free in its entirety on Project Gutenberg. I'd honestly never heard of the story before this, but it's fun to notice the obvious influence it had on the plot of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. As always, Alex's drawings are great and it bears his distinct style even though it's his first adaptation, not to mention his first all ages book. There are hilarious hidden visual jokes throughout and I should definitely mention there are pugs in suits, ha ha. Highly recommended! Alex's epic Box Office Poison was also recently named one of The AV Club best comics of the past decade--congrats, Alex!
  
  
• I've mentioned this before, but it's worth a revisit: Covered, the blog of comic book covers redrawn by other comic artists. Just like music covers, the best ones completely make it in their own style while still retaining the essence of the original. I'm consistently impressed by the output and occasionally I'll actually recognize a cover from my miniscule collection of single issue comics (somewhere in a box back home).
  
  
• Pomplamoose made waves in the cover world with their relatively recent hit youtube video cover of Beyoncé's Single Ladies. And that's not all, they have great covers of Beat It, Mrs. Robinson, September, and more. The accompanying videos are must-see since the San Francisco duo are pioneers in the self-created movement of "VideoSongs". That is, every instrument, voice, and sound you hear can be seen in the video (this will completely make sense when you watch the videos). Even without the visuals, the music is fantastic and all the covers can be downloaded for free from their myspace page. Proving they're not just a one-trick pony (or one-trick moose), their latest triumph is the Christmas original Always in the Season. Watch the magic here. This time, the duo is joined by a mini orchestral section that includes Zoë Keating on cello! A new classic.
  
  
• If you have some sort of crazy White Stripes fanatic on your Christmas list and you're extremely generous, well, Jack White just made your gift-giving decision very easy. Last week, it was announced that a limited edition box set for The White Stripes concert film Under Great White Northern Lights would be immediately available for pre-order and released in March. The film, which recently premiered at the Toronto Film Fest, celebrates The White Stripes unprecedented tour of every Canadian province and territory in 2007. The über boxset includes the DVD of the film, an exclusive DVD of the entire 10th Anniversary show in Glace Bay, the band's first ever live album on CD and double LP with songs recorded during the Canadian tour, a 208-page hardcover photo book with a foreword by Jim Jarmusch, 1 of 6 different silk screens designed by Rob Jones, a and a 7" vinyl with two live cuts included The Wheels on the Bus (uh, recorded on a city bus in Winnipeg). Naturally, I was all over it and pre-ordered it as soon as humanly possible, in spite of the hefty $200 price tag (watch it, it jumps $50 in the new year). If you're a long-time reader, you may remember me going on and on and on about the tour that whole summer on the blog. In addition to our hometown Edmonton gig, my friends and I managed to pull off a crazy pilgrimage to the Maritimes to see four shows included the ultimate gig in Glace Bay. I'll let you know if I make it on the DVD. :)
  
  
• From the realm of unlikely cover collaborators, Montréal rocker Sam Roberts performed a cover of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler with the The Holiday Jam Players at a benefit show in Toronto a few days ago. Sharing the stage: Kathleen Edwards, Jim Bryson, City & Colour's Dallas Green, TSN's Dave Hodge, and CBC's Ron MacLean! Watch here.
  
  
• In related hockey news, strictly for Oilers fans... country singer Corb Lund penned a celebratory Oilers anthem called The Oil's Back in Town. The song is peppered with classic calls from 630 CHED play-by-play man Rod Phillips during our dynasty years. Fun stuff and proceeds from the single's sale benefit The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. Buy it from iTunes today!
  
  
• A silent short film directed by Neil Gaiman called Statuesque will make its debut on SKY1 in the UK on Christmas Day at 10pm. It stars the always reliable Bill Nighy and the lovely Miss Amanda Palmer. If I remember correctly, the score is by Sxip Shirey.
  
  
• My ever-dwindling concert bucket list will get another check when Jamie Cullum drops by the Commodore Ballroom in March! Cullum will be touring select cities in the US (also Vancouver and Toronto!) in support of his first album in 4 years, The Pursuit. You may have seen his, ahem, explosive video for his cover of Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music, a song I admittedly only knew from the 30-second snippet that plays TWICE before every single movie I've seen in the past year.
  
  
• Zunior.com, the "little digital music store" from Canada, recently released a full cover album of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Featuring recent Fong Songs fave Jill Barber crooning The Christmas Song, the whole 12 track album can be bought for only $8.88 with 100% of the proceeds going to the Daily Bread Food Bank.

Have a great holiday everyone!

You Can't Always Get What You Want: The NHL Edition

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was last Friday with the Pittsburgh Penguins taking home the Stanley Cup over the reigning champion Detroit Red Wings. One of the many storylines surrounding the series, which was a rematch of last year's finals, concerned forward Marian Hossa who had been with the Penguins during last year's series and had joined the Red Wings in the off-season as a free agent in pursuit of the Cup. In theory, a promising idea since the Red Wings are proven contenders every year, but unfortunately Hossa found out the hard way you can't always get what you want. I imagine it stings that much more to lose to many of his former teammates. Ouch.

Earlier this season the NHL had a nifty ad campaign with several stars literally stepping out of photographs to say a few über-serious words about The Game. This one with the Penguins superstar captain Sidney Crosby is particularly great considering how the finals played out:



And here's a little follow-up spoof I put together a couple days ago for his former teammate Marian Hossa:



Honestly, I feel a little bad for the guy. On the flipside, I have no sympathy (because I'm a bitter old Oiler fan) for Ty Conklin who has unbelievably been in the Stanley Cup Finals (as back-up goaltender) in three of the past four years with three different teams with no Cup ring to show for it. Triple ouch. Coincidentally, another former Oiler goalie Mathieu Garon was traded to the Penguins halfway through this season and got to hoist the Cup before him, heh heh.

Exuma - You Can't Always Get What You Want [originally by The Rolling Stones]

...but sometimes you can get what you want. For a long time I've been meaning to a commission a drawing from Alex Robinson, the most excellent comic book artist of Box Office Poison, Tricked, and Too Cool To Be Forgotten. So last week I finally sent him my proposal for Jane and Stephen, two of his characters from Box Office Poison, to re-enact a notable album cover. Any long-time reader should be able to guess what band's album cover I asked him to "cover". Yesterday I got an e-mail from Alex with a scan of the brilliant result and it'll be in the mail to me today! Check it out! By the way, Alex and fellow comic book artist Mike Dawson (Freddie & Me) have a podcast called The Ink Panthers-- now on iTunes. It's basically two friends riffing on a variety of random topics (i.e. identical triplets, prerequisites to calling oneself a Rush fan, safety of baby bike trailers) without, say, the obnoxiousness of morning radio DJs on a classic rock station. They're only three episodes in and still working out the kinks, but it frequently makes me chuckle maniacally to myself on the bus to work.

On the Summer Concert Plate: New bands, Old Bands, Anniversaries, and a Last Show Ever

My summer of concerts officially got underway in the last few weeks with gigs from Ellen McIlwaine and Danny Michel, but those were just the appetizers. I figured my concert-going in general might be on the decline as my concert bucket list is down to just one hand, though I guess I'm in trouble if Jack White keeps starting new bands. There are some major gigs coming down the pipeline, which makes me glad to be just a quick hop away from Seattle. Expect more on these shows later... but for now, a tasty preview of my summer lineup.

June 26 - The Lost Fingers
June 27 - Alice Russell
June 28 - Ndidi Onukwulu & José González
It'll be a busy concert weekend as I hit back to back to back shows during the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. First up, the Lost Fingers, the Juno nominated gypsy-jazz cover band from Québec I mentioned a few months ago. i (heart) music is still hosting mp3s of a live show recorded for CBC, which includes a cover of Belleville Rendez-Vous from The Triplets of Belleville and much more!

I caught British soul singer Alice Russell at Schuba's in Chicago when I visited in March. Since then, she was invited by David Byrne to sing on his and Fatboy Slim's forthcoming concept album (other singers on the album include Sharon Jones, Tori Amos, Santigold, and Martha Wainwright). She was so good I couldn't pass up seeing her gig here in Vancity!

Lastly I'm going to see local blues singer Ndidi Onukwulu who impressed me during her few songs at the Juno Songwriter's Circle a few months back. She's playing with Swedish indie folk artist José González, who I'm honestly rather indifferent towards even though he's certainly friendly on the cover front.

The Lost Fingers - Straight Up [originally by Paula Abdul]

Alice Russell - Crazy [originally by Gnarls Barkley]

The CBC Radio Orchestra with Ndidi Onukwulu - American Woman [originally by The Guess Who]
Full CBC Radio 2 concert streaming here.

José González - Love Will Tear Us Apart [originally by Joy Division]
Speaking of which, a local exhibition recently opened in Vancouver with a cover version of a different variety: Love Will Tear Us Apart being "sung" in sign language.


July 3 - Jason Webley & Friends
I'm heading down to Seattle for what's sure to be a fun-filled weekend, Jason Webley's 11-Year Elevanniversary Celebration and Camp Tomato 2009. Jason Webley's relationship to the number 11 is not unlike Jack White's obsession with the number 3, hence the unconventional anniversary. The cost? $11. Seriously, when was the last time you went to an $11 show? That's less than the fees from Ticketmaster! Tickets still available here.

Originally I was planning a trip to catch Jim Henson's Fantastic World, a traveling exhibition of Muppet mayhem created by the Smithsonian. As usual, I tried to coincide my visit with a show when I found an e-mail from Jason Webley lingering in my inbox with details on his big show. In Jason's words: "Come celebrate eleven years of screaming, stomping and squeezing across the planet. A one-night extravaganza featuring most all of the musicians and artists that I have worked with over these past eleven years." Then I got a nice surprise earlier this week when he revealed one-time collaborator Amanda Palmer would be joining the festivities. Another surprise yesterday when I read Ms. Palmer and Neil Gaiman are officially an item! And if I'm not mistaken, they were introduced to each other by Mr. Webley.... but that's enough geek gossip for this blog. Now that I think about it, I first heard Jason Webley when Neil linked to his music video for Eleven Saints about three years ago.

Jason Webley - Eleven Saints

Amanda Palmer - I Google You [lyrics by Neil Gaiman]

Neil Gaiman - Who Killed Amanda Palmer? [Neil's spoken word intro for her WKAP tour]

August 6 - 9 Edmonton Folk Music Festival
I figured it was time for a trip back home (my first since Christmas) and as a bonus, I pulled some work strings to head back for the Edmonton Folk Fest which is celebrating its 30th year. I also easily convinced my whole family to come for some or all of the festival. I was sold when I found out Danny Michel would be playing the 4-day fest. Of course I've seen him several times, but it'll be a thrill to see him mix it up at the daily sessions where anything goes. They just announced the full line-up last week and the E-Town folk fest organizers scored a major coup by booking Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to headline Saturday night. WOO! Festival goers unfamiliar with them will be in for a huge treat when they takeover the Main Stage. Other performers include:

• Neko Case
  
• Kathleen Edwards
  
• Chumbawamba (a revelation when they played in '06)
  
• Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
  
• The Wailers
  
• Steve Earle (just realized that's him in The Wire! I'm into Season 5 now.)
  
• Iron and Wine
  
• Pavlo
  
• Loudon Wainwright III (heh heh, "Dead Skunk" for my dad! My mum hates that song.)
  
• Joel Plaskett
  
• Tift Merritt
  
• Boz Scaggs (Lido Shuffle!)
  

...and of course plenty, plenty more, many of whom I'm unfamiliar with. Another headliner is the no-longer-Barenaked Lady, Steven Page who's currently in the middle of mixing an album of his collaboration with the Art of Time Ensemble from last year, an all-covers affair (streaming here) that included one of my favourite incarnations of Paranoid Android. Curious if he'll play any of that stuff at the Folk Fest. Can't wait 'til August!

Chumbawamba - Her Majesty (live at Edmonton Folk Fest 2006) [riff on The Beatles]

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - This Land is Your Land (live from Radio City Music Hall [originally by Woody Guthrie]
From last month's Dark Was the Night benefit concert.   The end of the show featured most the night's artists including Feist, Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver, My Brightest Diamond, and others gathering to pay tribute to Pete Seeger with a goofily earnest rendition of This Land is Your Land.  That is, until Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings cut in and proceed to bring down the house. Google the youtube video... it's pretty priceless.  This crisp audio is from the NPR broadcast (whole show on iTunes).

August 21 & 22 - The Dead Weather
Vancouver was spoiled last year when the Raconteurs came through town twice last year, ostensibly on the same tour. And now we're being treated to back-to-back shows from The Dead Weather come August. Gee, Jack must love it here or something. The first White Stripes shows I ever saw were back-to-back Vancouver shows in 2005.

What I'm really pumped for is the film chronicling the White Stripes 2007 cross-Canada tour, titled Under Great White Northern Lights, which is expected by year's end on DVD and possibly even in theatres. Logic dictates that the main feature will be the epic Glace Bay show, for which yours truly was in attendance (gloat!), hopefully with footage from the secret shows performed in almost every city on the tour.

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother
[File deleted, but get it free from the official site for the cost of a dummy e-mail]

August 28 & 29 - Harvey Danger
Though it was announced last week, I just found out the bombshell news last night that Harvey Danger are officially calling it quits with a handful of farewell shows. They've got shows planned for Schuba's in Chicago, the Largo in L.A., and two shows in their hometown Seattle. This just coming a year and a bit after their big 10th Anniversary brouhaha, which I was lucky enough to attend. While previously the band was on an indefinite hiatus for 4 years, the finality of this recent announcement is a bit of a gut punch. Their sophomore album King James Version, front-to-back is one of my favourite all-time albums. Though mostly known to the average joe for their one-hit wonder Flagpole Sitta in the 90s, they've got a small but intensely devoted fanbase that are already booking trips from across the US (and abroad!) to see what is 99% likely their final shows as Harvey Danger. Fortunately it's not much of a hassle for me to drag myself down to Seattle for the last two shows, an all-ages gig at the Vera Project (tickets here) and back where it all started at the Crocodile Club (tickets here). I've booked my tix, now to get off work...

Harvey Danger - Save it For Later [originally by The English Beat]
Harvey Danger - Oh! You Pretty Things [originally by David Bowie]

If you can handle Flac files, check out their New Year's gig from a few years back where they performed side 2 of Abbey Road straight through.

Some Random Friday links

The usual combo of busyness and laziness has prevented me from posting this week, though I've got a zinger batch of originals (famously covered) coming soon. For now, some links:

• Ugh, Seven Nation Army cover #62: the Oak Ridge Boys' new album will feature yet another cover of Seven Nation Army. I'm all for White Stripes covers, but let's see some variation in song choices.
  
  
• i (heart) music recently posted mp3s of a gig by The Lost Fingers from the CBC archives. In addition to their gypsy jazz takes on pop hits like Careless Whisper and Billie Jean, the set ends with a straight up cover of Belleville Rendez-Vous from The Triplets of Belleville. Nice! I'm looking forward to their show here in June as part of the Vancouver Jazz Festival.
  
  
• Free Wilco cover of Woody Guthrie, donations encouraged.
  
  
• The Ditty Bops have a new 6-song EP out, Songs for Steve.
  
  
• Ben Folds' University A Capella cover album out now.
  
  
• Covers of a different sort: comic book covers redrawn by other artists (discovered via Alex Robinson's blog)
  
  
• As you probably know, Wolverine comes out today. Though I'm not terribly pumped about it, I do love that the character hails from Alberta and (if I remember correctly) his dad was a mountie or something. Should be good for some homegrown pride.

MP3-Photo Travelogue: The Windy City and All That Jazz

So last week I'm on the plane back to Vancouver working on the crossword in The Onion (HQ'd in Chicago) when I'm feel a tinge of sadness as I look at 32-down: "CN or Sears". You see the day before I landed in Chicago, this clue was invalidated when it was announced that this summer it will henceforth be known as the Willis Tower after Willis Group Holdings, a London-based Insurance broker, who are consolidating their offices there. Sigh, I guess. Apparently Sears vacated the building and moved to the suburbs in the mid-90's, though retained the naming rights until 2003.

Today we've got a fine selection of covers from the musical Chicago by John Kander & Fred Ebb sprinkled in with photos and blurbs about my trip.

Lea DeLaria - All That Jazz [originally by Kander/Ebb]
I found this great jazz cover on a "Best Of" album by Lea DeLaria that combines covers of showtunes and modern songs from her first two albums. Her 2006 album Double Standards includes swing jazz covers of Green Day, No Doubt, The Pretenders, and more. The world of Broadway covers is woefully underpopulated, so while looking up Lea DeLaria I was absolutely thrilled to stumble upon an Avenue Q Swings album of jazz covers, to which she contributed an Ella Fitzgerald-esque take on The Internet is for Porn. I'm lucky to have seen Avenue Q twice in London and Toronto, the latter instance in front row dead centre (thanks to my sister!). If you haven't seen it, you should go out of your way to check it out.

Lil' Kim, Macy Gray & Queen Latifah - Cell Block Tango [originally by Kander/Ebb]
As much as I love the music of Chicago, I don't really consider any of the songs from the film cover songs exactly... in the same way that multiple productions of plays or musicals aren't "remakes". The only exception on the film's soundtrack is this questionable rap riff on the Cell Block Tango.

Above are couple screen caps from The Untouchables and The Dark Knight, plus my own shot of LaSalle street. Honestly I don't listen to very many podcasts, but I am addicted to Filmspotting, which means alongside The AV Club and Ebert, 99% of the film criticism I pay attention to is Chicago-based. Hmmm. While in Chicago, I took the opportunity to do a little filmspotting of my own since a bunch of films I love including The Fugitive and The Untouchables were set/filmed there. I checked out Union Station, where Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness famously dropped a baby carriage down the steps in suuuuuper slooooow mooootion in the middle of a shootout. In reality, those steps are not quite as epic as I had pictured, ha ha. Strolling around downtown is a bit like walking through Gotham City since Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were recognizably filmed there. It was pretty cool to walk down LaSalle street, which pulled double duties as the site of Commissioner Loeb's funeral procession and later when the Joker's 18-wheeler flips over.


Uwe Kröger - All I Care About [originally by Kander/Ebb]
A soothing bossa nova jazz cover from German Broadway star Uwe Kröger, who you may remember from some Bond covers back in November. Spent a nice afternoon at the Chicago Art Institute, which has a bunch of famous paintings from the likes of Hopper, Seurat, and Van Gogh, though a couple other notables like American Gothic and Picasso's The Old Guitarist were on vacation. I was pretty stoked to see a small but sweet exhibition on children's author/Disney storyboarder Bill Peet. Below is an original drawing from Farewell to Shady Glade, one of my faves.



Ella Fitzgerald - Roxie [originally by Kander/Ebb]
Ella Fitzgerald - My Own Best Friend [originally by Kander/Ebb]
These two covers are a bit of a rarity from a dusty 7" inch I tracked down for about $10 since it was stunningly never re-issued in any other format. The legendary Ella Fitzgerald serves up an irresistible take on Roxie with some customized lyrics. Lots of fun. Roxie is actually the b-side to My Own Best Friend, a track from the original musical that didn't quite make it into the 2002 film adaptation. Theoretically I've seen the musical in person too, but I honestly don't recognize this one. For Chicago ethusiasts, I recently discovered a cool album on eMusic, An Evening with John Kander and Fred Ebb, a 1973 concert of the original composers performing their works including All That Jazz and Roxie two years before Chicago would even hit Broadway! Speaking of which, Chazz Palminteri brought his one-man Broadway show A Bronx Tale to Chicago and I took in a Sunday performance. You may have seen the 1993 film adaptation, which marked Robert De Niro's directorial debut. Unfortunately after a full day of trudging around downtown and the Chicago Art Institute, I was nodding off a bit at the back of the theatre. Eep.

Ben Vereen & The Muppets - Mr. Cellophane [originally by Kander/Ebb]
Joel Grey & The Muppets - Razzle Dazzle [originally by Kander/Ebb]
These two Chicago covers were both performed in the first season of The Muppet Show just a year after the musical had opened on Broadway. It was St. Patrick's Day weekend when I visited Chicago (not unplanned), so I was able to take in the dyeing of the river and parade. The river itself is already a murky shade of green, but some sort of powder with carefully guarded secret ingredients is tossed off the back of the boat to transform the water into a wonderfully nuclear green. Between the river dyeing to the site of the parade, I got a bit trapped with hundreds of lost pedestrians on Lower Wacker Drive, wandering aimlessly underground for some sort of way up to street level. Fifteen minutes later we emerged from a tunnel onto Columbus Drive to cries of "Natural light! Beautiful sunshine!" After about an hour of the parade, I had more than my fill of marching bands, curly-haired step dancers, and union workers, so I cheated and made my way backwards along the parade route to the beginning where I found a logjam of floats/entries rearing to go. At that rate, the parade was going to continue for several more hours so off I went to see Wrigley Field.

The White Stripes - Mr. Cellophane [originally by Kander/Ebb]
The Alice Russell show at Schuba's Tavern was a blast. Local funk/soul act The O'My's were an unexpected treat, dutifully warming up the room before Alice Russell and her band took to the stage. She was traveling light on this tour with her album horn section filled in by a guy playing an electric violin thing that looked like it was designed by Picasso. This made things interesting when she performed her cover of Seven Nation Army. Needless to say, I left plenty satisfied. The next night I was invited by a roommate at the hostel to go to the nearby Legends, a blues club owned by Buddy Guy. It was an offer I couldn't refuse since I wanted to go but probably wouldn't have on my own. It was nearly 5 hours straight of great blues music and I got a super rare treat when Buddy Guy himself was coaxed up from the bar to sing a song before disappearing. It was the highlight of what was an already great evening of music, not unlike Buddy Guy's appearance in last year's Rolling Stone concert flick Shine a Light, which also featured a guest appearance by Jack White. The White Stripes performed this Mr. Cellophane cover on the World Café radio show, presumably around the time Jack was dating Renee Zellweger who was nominated for an Oscar as Roxie Hart in Chicago.


Mr. President is not pleased with this shirt. Plenty of tacky souvenirs available in Chicago including a life-sized cardboard cutout of Obama on sale on the 99th floor of the Tower Formerly Known as Sears.

Jack's Got a Brand New Band

So last Thursday on the Little Room, Ben Blackwell (the White Stripes "official archivist" / Jack's nephew) left a note for Nashville Little Roomers to contact him about "an event that I think you'd be interested in." Over the weekend pages and pages were filled with rampant speculation as fans wondered what was brewing in Nashville. Earlier tonight, The Event took place. And what an incredible event it was. Just reading about it makes me giddy.

So Jack White's new band The Dead Weather was unveiled featuring Alison Mosshart (of The Kills), Little Jack Lawrence, and Dead Fertita (once part of the Raconteurs on their first tour and also from Queens of the Stone Age). The Kills actually opened for the Raconteurs last year when they came to Vancouver for their second show in 5 months, though I had to skip it since they just had to play on the exact same day (a Thursday!) I flew to the other of the continent to see Ben Folds Five. Anyway... about 150 friends, family, and lucky, lucky fans were in attendance by invitation only at the brand new headquarters of Jack's label Third Man Records. As guests walked in, they were given a limited edition 7" vinyl of the band's debut single, hand-painted by the band themselves. Drool. Cameras and cellphones weren't allowed, but they had people walking around the room taking polaroids of you and the band. Among the attendees: Jack's wife Karen Elson, Meg White, Brendan Benson, and (somewhat bafflingly) Sheryl Crow and Martina McBride. From what I've been reading, it was as much about the opening of this physical Third Man Records location as it was about the new band. The building contains "the label's offices plus a vinyl record store, photo studio, dark room and performance stage." Sweet, time to go to Nashville.

Songs from The Dead Weather's upcoming album Horehound (due in June) were blared from the speakers as black and white movies of the band pressing the vinyl were projected on the walls. Then the band played a 20-minute set. Jack's on drums/vocals, Alison on lead vocals, Little Jack on bass, and Dean on guitar. The new single Hang You From the Heavens is already up on iTunes along with the b-side, a cover(!) of Gary Numan's Are Friends Electric?. You can also listen to it at their website.


This L.A. Times article about the event has even more exciting news. Apparently Jack intends to "reissue whatever music of his own that's out of print as well as recordings that are out of circulation"! In the same article, the White Stripes manager said "they've made a movie and there will be a new album out, probably next year". I'm thinking the Glace Bay show/cross-Canada tour DVD might finally happen? Fingers crossed.

By the way, on Friday I'm headed to Chicago for a self-proclaimed 4-day weekend. I have a Chicago-themed post lined up before I leave, but all this White Stripes talk makes it hard for me not to post this next stuff right now. As is the usual when I travel, I check concert listings just in case there's any interesting gigs happening, provided of course that I'm not traveling specifically for a show in the first place. So I noticed this Friday the 13th, British soul singer Alice Russell is playing at Schuba's Tavern and I figured it's hard to go wrong for only $14 a ticket. I recognized the name since she sings lead vocals on Nostalgia 77's Seven Nation Army, my second favourite White Stripes cover (Chris Thile takes tops). Since I found out about the show, I grabbed her 2008 album Pot of Gold off eMusic and I dig it a lot. It also happens to have a cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, which the Raconteurs also covered on their '06 tour. To complete this little cover triangle, I'm still trying in vain to track down Gnarls Barkley doing a live cover Holly Golightly & The Greenhornes' There's An End (I know it exists!).

Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army (feat. Alice Russell) [originally by The White Stripes]
Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army (feat. Alice Russell) [Grant Phabao Remix] [originally by The White Stripes]
The Raconteurs - Crazy (Live) [originally by Gnarls Barkley]
The Legion of Doom - Crazy As She Goes [Gnarls Barkley vs. The Raconteurs]

Jack, Meg, & Conan

Set your PVR for this Friday's episode of Conan O'Brien, his last on the Late Show before he takes over the reins of the Tonight Show from Jay Leno at the beginning of June. The White Stripes will be sending him off in style with the duo's first live performance since their abruptly cancelled tour in fall 2007. You might remember a few years back in '03 when they were booked as the musical guests on Conan for a solid week. Conan also appeared in the music video for The Denial Twist directed by Michel Gondry, which was a surreal re-enactment of their appearances on Late Night. In 2007, Jack and Meg were back on the show performing the opening and closing tracks of Icky Thump. Not surprisingly, The Raconteurs have also been on the show in promotion of each of their albums.

Last summer Conan was on KCRW's Guest DJ Project and one of his music picks was The White Stripes' Ball & Biscuit. Surprisingly, Conan reveals that he first met Jack and Meg, pre-White Stripes in a Detroit bowling alley... listen here [MP3 REMOVED].

The bowling bit isn't that surprising. Back when The White Stripes toured cross Canada, they played one of their legendary secret shows in a Saskatoon bowling alley and it wasn't uncommon to hear stories of them lurking around bowling alleys all throughout the tour. I think there are at least two bowling-themed songs in the White Stripes repertoire (Hand Springs and Red Bowling Ball Ruth). And according to Tegan and Sara, Meg's got mad bowling skills...

The White Stripes - Black Jack Davey [trad.]
This folk ballad dates back in various forms to the 1700s and Bob Dylan covered it on his 1992 album Good as I Been to You. If you're a White Stripes fan, you'll know that they do more than their fair share of Bob Dylan covers.

The Raconteurs - Many Shades of Black (Live on Conan O'Brien)
On last year's appearance on Conan leading into Many Shades of Black, the boys pay tribute to Bo Diddley who had passed away earlier that day.

Conan O'Brien - Blue Moon of Kentucky [originally by Bill Monroe]
An unlikely, but sweet cover by Conan during a show last year.

C.W. Stoneking - Seven Nation Army [originally by the White Stripes]
I think Jack would be a big fan of this cover which sounds like an old school blues recording of St. James Infirmary, which the White Stripes incidentally covered on their self-titled debut album. This remarkable reworking of Seven Nation Army by Aussie artist C.W. Stoneking is from Triple J's Like a Version 4 compilation. More St. James Infirmary covers than you can shake a stick at here and here.
**EDIT: I was just listening to some other songs on C.W. Stoneking's myspace page and I can't believe it's a thirtysomething dude with that voice. It reminds me of that scene in Walk Hard where a young Dewey Cox jarringly sings with the ravaged voice of a old bluesman. Great sounding tunes.

... and here are some awesome youtube videos of little kids singing the White Stripes:
• Toddler sings along to My Doorbell
  
• Class of kids singing Apple Blossom
  
• 5-year old girl sings The Hardest Button to Button a cappella!

From the Fong Songs Newsroom

Too busy to assemble a regular post, but there's plenty of exciting news (covers-related and otherwise) filtering through my inbox and RSS feeds this week.

• Ben Folds' a cappella covers project is full steam ahead. Ben's listened to over 200 a cappella covers of his own music and posted the shortlist here, which is a mix of solo and Ben Folds Five stuff. Looks like we'll likely be getting the first "official" cover of a Way to Normal track with a University of Georgia group tackling his collaboration with Regina Spektor, You Don't Know Me. Hopeful release date is this spring with proceeds going to Save the Music.
  
  
• Hear Ben chat with Stephen Merchant on BBC Radio 6 (find the link on the right side of the page and fast-forward to about 42 minutes in). Thanks to reader Ian for that tidbit!
  
  
• Andrew Bird's new album Noble Beast has an official release date of January 20. If you haven't already, pre-order the deluxe edition from Fat Possum records, which includes a bonus disc Useless Creatures (a collection of instrumental works), extra photos, a fold out poster, a 24-page illustrated lyric book, and exclusive album artwork by Diana Sudyka that differs from the standard edition. Awesome!
  
  
• Speaking of Mr. Bird.... Bobby Bare, Jr. and his pop Bobby Bare are producing a tribute album to Shel Silverstein(!!) for a mid-2009 release. Confirmed artists include: Emmylou Harris, Black Keys, George Jones & Ray Price, Allison Krauss, Band of Horses, Dr. Dog, Andrew Bird, Kris Kristofferson (backed by members of the Silver Jews), and My Morning Jacket. Definitely something to look out for in '09.
  
  
• Following the bluegrass-ification of their song Top Yourself as a b-side, The Raconteurs have taken it up a notch by enlisting Ricky Skaggs and country singer Ashley Monroe for a phenomenal country/bluegrass reworking of another Consolers track, Old Enough. A little bit of an Everly Brothers cover even sneaks its way in. Great stuff. This was released via digital outlets yesterday and you can watch the video here.
  
  
• Mark Ronson, who had the awesome cover album Version in 2007, is "reportedly" working with Elton John on his new album due in late 2009. That is, according to Fox News who are definitely my go-to guys for music news. Uh, right.
  
  
• CBC Radio 3 notes that Aussie fans of CanCon have much to look forward this winter. Stars, Tegan and Sara, Holy F*ck, Jill and Matthew Barber, Hawksley Workman, Final Fantasy, Hey Rosetta!, and A-Trak are all heading down under on tour. I also have to add to their list: Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Billy Talent, Crystal Castles, and Bedouin Soundclash.

OK, ok, I do have a couple covers for you... More covers fun from Russia! Check out these awesome covers of Misirlou and Super Mario Bros. I snagged them from this guy, who is presumably the artist (and my Russian is too poor to find out otherwise). Fantastic, I want more!

Misirlou [originally by Michalis Patrino]
Super Mario Bros. [originally by Koji Kondo]

Big Bowl of Suck

So another day, another bombshell. My filehosting account was deleted yesterday, though I guess they were nice enough to refund the remaining credit on the account. Will to blog slipping .... slipping...slipping away. Just kidding. I guess that's the end of direct links here (nice while it lasted I hope) and it's back to Mediafire or something. Spare time has been drastically diminished by a new job, so expect the post count to slow down, but I'll still be here plugging away.

In lieu of a real post today, I'll just rehash some recent covers-related news:

• Cover compilation Guilt by Association, Volume 2 is now out digitally. Artists include My Brightest Diamond, Kaki King, Matt Pond PA, and of course Mr. Max Vernon. Honestly I've never heard of nearly half the song picks, so I must be totally out of the loop. Not to mention, I consider Need You Tonight, In the Air Tonight, heck even We Didn't Start the Fire as legitimately normal pleasure songs. Just not feeling the guilt! So that's available now on iTunes, which includes a bonus iTunes track of The Bloodsugars performing Lady in Red. Physical disc hits stores in February. Speaking of Max Vernon, he's got a couple new songs on his YouTube page. Good stuff.
  
  
• Marianne Faithfull has assembled an eclectic group of musicians (Jarvis Cocker, Rufus Wainwright, Cat Power, Nick Cave, Keith Richards, Sean Lennon, and more) for two discs of eclectic cover choices (Neko Case, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Randy Newman, Dolly Parton, Morrissey, and more). Check the full tracklist at Pitchfork. Release date is January, though apparently it's on iTunes in Europe.
  
  
• Elvis Costello's Spectacle is gearing up to be a must-see show. It'll be shown on the Sundance Channel in the US, but fortunately for us Canuck viewers, CTV will be airing it concurrently with the American airdates starting with December 3rd's debut episode whose special guest is (strangely enough) the show's executive producer Elton John. Costello reportedly covers Elton John's Border Song (one of my faves). The show will feature performances and conversations with a wide array of guests including The Police, Lou Reed, Bill Clinton (!), Herbie Hancock, Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Rufus Wainwright, and many more. I'll be setting my imaginary PVR for the February 11th episode featuring She & Him, Jenny Lewis, and Jakob Dylan. Nice!
  
  
• Recently Okkervil River talked to MTV in a "singing interview". One segment was all about cover songs, bizarrely to the tune of The New Pornographers' Challengers. Another one of these US only things, but I managed to watch a snippet of it through some overly complicated proxy thing. The constant re-buffering gave me such a headache I had to stop it. Funny thing about this singing interview gimmick is I did not digest a single word they were saying, which I suppose speaks very poorly of my music listening abilities. I couldn't help but hum or sing in my head the real lyrics. Also, CONSTANT RE-BUFFERING! Get a real video player, grrr. By the way, what do you call re-lyricized songs if it's not meant to be funny like a parody? Can't think of any off the top of my head, but I know I have a handful of such songs.
  
  
• Jam band Umphrey's McGee played a Halloween show in San Fran that featured some covers and live mash-ups including an inspired combo of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, Pink Floyd's Money, and Zepp's How Many More Times. 7NA vocals over the How Many More Times riff is pretty awesome. Other unlikely pairings: Michael Jackson vs. Pink Floyd, AC/DC vs. Black Sabbath, Pantera vs. Metallica vs. Gorillaz, and Daft Punk vs. The Doors. The whole bootleg is up on the Live Music Archive here.