Fong Songs 101 All-Time Covers: #42 to 36

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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.
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Earth, Wind, Fire, Waterloo
42. Sunshiners - Everybody Wants to Rule the World [originally by Tears for Fears]
The Sunshiners hail from Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific. I just discovered the band about a month ago and their reggae Tears for Fears cover from their self-titled debut album quickly found its way into the regular covers rotation. The rest of the album included fine covers of 80s hits from the likes of David Bowie, Human League, Supertramp, and Fine Young Cannibals. Their second album Welkam Bak Long Vanuatu continued with covers of Dexys Midnight Runners, INXS, Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran, Queen, and more.

41. Jamie Cullum - The Wind Cries Mary [originally by The Jimi Hendrix Experience]
Jimi Hendrix's virtuoso and revolutionary guitar skills are rightfully trumpeted, but it's his great songwriting that perhaps gets the short shrift. The Wind Cries Mary is one of his best and Jamie Cullum gives us a lively jazz piano arrangement in tribute. I waited for years for the opportunity to see Jamie Cullum live and finally got the opportunity earlier this year to stand (within arm's reach!) of Jamie and his piano for an amazing show! It's immediately became one of my top 5 all-time concerts and he also played The Wind Cries Mary for his first encore.

40. Shirley Bassey - Light My Fire [originally by The Doors]
Here Dame Shirley Bassey does a wonderfully melodramatic cover of The Doors' Light My Fire. It's slow and groovy with flourishes of a John Barry-like orchestral arrangement. My favourite part: the climactic "Come on baby light my--" [everything grinds to a halt] "FIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEE". Amazing but ineligible for for this list: the Propellerheads remix of her signature Bond song Goldfinger.

39. Nation - Waterloo [originally by ABBA]
This is the second cut from that German ABBA tribute album I mentioned earlier in the list. I've always imagined this cover as the result of The Darkness being commissioned to cover ABBA.

The Weather Outside is Frightful
38. Peace Brothers - Frozen [originally by Madonna]
A complete transformation of Madonna's late 90's hit, this nearly unrecognizable cover reminds me a little of Cheap Trick's I Want You to Want Me. It'll have you singing "do do do do do do do dooo" all day long. This comes from Volume 4 of the Punk Chartbusters series.

37. Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone - Baby, It's Cold Outside [originally by Frank Loesser]
I've heard dozens of covers of this classic tune but Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone are by far my favourite pairing. From the soundtrack to Elf, this was the first inkling most of us had of Deschanel's musical inclinations. It took a few years, but we finally got Volume 1 (and now Volume 2!) of She & Him, her collaboration with M. Ward. Got my tix to see them live this fall-- can't wait!

36. Bobby Darin - Don't Rain On My Parade [originally performed by Barbra Streisand]
At first I didn't realize that this was Barbra Streisand's "signature tune", originally from her role in the film and musical versions of Funnny Girl, only because in my mind Bobby Darin's version just dominates above all else, leaving all other renditions in his wake.

Tomorrow on the Fong Songs 101 countdown, we tackle some standards and cover some stones.

2008.

After a month of false starts and extreme procrastination, long after everyone else has already posted their "Looking Forward To" lists (and then some), I'm finally going to take my annual look backwards and sum up 2008 through the narrow lens of Fong Songs. Since this blog more or less serves as a diary of sorts, assembling the inevitable year-end post was an amusing exercise in sifting through the past year's posts to see where I was and what I was doing at any particular time:

2008 started with a bang as my first post of the year Pinball Number Count Revisited was (and is) the most popular post I've ever had. Then it was all downhill from there... just kidding. Like any year, there were big ups and big downs. 2008 was strange in that the ups were way high and the downs were way down. Last April, I was fortunate to be invited as a guest panelist on Coverville to talk shop with other cover bloggers. It was a fun experience, though it's very obvious why I stick to blogging over podcasting. 2008 marked my first travels to Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Chapel Hill, the latter of which was part of an epic continent-crossing venture to see the reunited Ben Folds Five. There was a sad though not completely unexpected death in the family that I won't go into here, but needless to say it was a heavy-hearted experience. On the flipside, in September I flew to Toronto and met my 11-month old cousin for the first time, the first Fong boy in the family since me. While there, I got my first taste of the Toronto Film Fest and literally got to watch a film alongside Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge. I made another appearance on the internet airwaves on the BreakThru Radio show Anatomy of a Blogger in November, blathering self-consciously about Fong Songs in between music picks ostensibly chosen by me (not entirely true).

Fourth quarter '08 was marred by a blogosphere wide crackdown on MP3 blogs, the ripples of which still continue to this day, leading many to abandon blogspot for hopefully safer waters or outright pack it in. I haven't gone either route yet, but the number of posts I've written since this whole thing came down has diminished dramatically and part of it is a mental block, knowing that hours of writing can be flushed away by an online robocop. The file-host situation has also been nagging on my brain, but for now I'll be forsaking the bonus traffic of Hype Machine and Elbo.ws and going back to using Mediafire which (for me) has a fairly convenient interface and unlimited bandwidth (a feature lacking in other sites). In fact, throughout this post you'll find selected tracks only available via streaming, hopefully to prevent future headaches.

Top Covers/Cover Albums:

My favourite cover of 2008 was OK Go and Bonerama's cover of David Bowie's Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, from the digital EP You're Not Alone, which may also be one of the year's great underrated releases. Joining forces with New Orleans brass funk group Bonerama (look them up for many other awesome cover songs), OK Go recorded five songs for the EP benefitting New Orleans musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Among those displaced was New Orleans legend Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, who also appears on the EP contributing lead vocals on another great cover of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. The other three tracks are OK Go songs with Bonerama adding some brass oopmh to the proceedings. The EP is only $3.49 from iTunes with full sales going to Sweet Home New Orleans and to building a new house for Al "Carnival Time" Johnson. Definitely add it to your iTunes cart if you haven't bought it already.

OK Go & Bonerama - Rock 'N' Roll Suicide [originally by David Bowie]
The cover follows the same slow build progression of the original, gradually adding elements one by one. The original acoustic guitar intro is replaced by twinkling piano, Bonerama takes the barely-there horns of the original to bombastic new heights, and OK Go singer Damien Kulash does a phenomenal job expressively building up to the show-stopping howl of "YOU'RE NOT ALONE!" The vocals remind me a little of Paul McCartney's go-for-broke vocals on Oh! Darling, one of my fave Beatles songs that wikipedia surprisingly mentions was influenced by New Orleans rhythm and blues... coincidence?

missFlag - Still Alive [originally by Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS]
At first this cover didn't make much of an impression on me, but what struck me upon repeat listens is that there's not really any winking or elbow nudging by the band. They simply perform the cover naturally as if it's the latest pop rock radio single, albeit from the POV of a vindictive AI being.

The Polka Floyd Show - Hey You [originally by Pink Floyd]
The Polka Floyd Show's self-titled debut of polka Pink Floyd covers sounds like a conceptual joke, but it's not. Clearly the band is having fun with the tunes, but it never really devolves into novelty. They strike a perfect balance of paying tribute and making the songs their own, at least insofar as that's possible when one's entire repertoire is another band's songs.

Mirror Ball Associates - On the Road Again (Slow Ride) [originally by Willie Nelson]
I had never heard of Mirror Ball Associates when I stumbled upon their album Covers Volume I while cruising for covers on eMusic. Released last January, it turns out the Mirror Ball Associates are actually a side project of Paul Durham, frontman of Black Lab (whom I have also never heard of). There is a diverse range of songs including pop punk takes on Allan Sherman's Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh and If I Only Had a Brain from The Wizard of Oz, a phenomenal update on Jesus Jones' Right Here, Right Now (posted a while back), an unironic cover of Paula Abdul's Promise of a New Day, and a whole bunch more. I'm pretty sure it's not my imagination that this Willie Nelson cover is played in the style of Radiohead's Creep. The whole album is only available digitally on Amazon, iTunes, and eMusic. Let's hope Volume I is a promise of a Volume II.

Max Vernon - All That She Wants [originally by Ace of Base]
Major kudos are due to Max Vernon who came out of seemingly nowhere (actually New York) to permeate internet consciousness beginning with his cover of Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl this past summer. I was eager to jump aboard the Max Vernon bandwagon, championing his music over several posts (his When Your Body Breaks became one of my most played tracks of the year) and ultimately I was able to conduct a lengthy e-mail interview with Max that was posted in November. Definitely a major blog highlight last year. Max also stormed the 2008 Coverville Countdown, taking the 1st and 3rd overall spots, sandwiching Johnny Cash's Hurt. Congrats! Don't forget his I Kissed a Girl cover is available on the covers compilation album Guilt by Association, Volume 2 on iTunes and presumably on CD next month.

Speaking of Coverville, I was excited to find out that this year's Coverville Countdown included Danny Michel's cover of Young Americans, which I like to think I had something to do with. For the Coverville Roundtable, we were asked to bring along some of our favourite covers for "show & tell" and that was one of my picks. Even though I submitted my official cover nominations including Young Americans in early December, I'm horribly ashamed to say I forgot to vote myself. :( At least the rest of the Coverville listeners were out there to pick up the slack.

DisCOVERy '08:

PoZitive Orchestra - Shine On You Crazy Diamond [originally by Pink Floyd]
No doubt, my cover find of the year was the PoZitive Orchestra's stash of brilliant bossa/string quartet re-interpretations of the likes of Zeppelin, Beatles, Elvis, and more. Practice your Russian here.

Favourite Songs/Albums of '08:

The Raconteurs - These Stones Will Shout
The Raconteurs surprised everyone announcing their sophomore release Consolers of the Lonely just a week before its release and a month later I got to see their tour kick-off in my (new) hometown of Vancouver. It didn't instantly blow me away upon first listen, but it eventually became my most listened to album of the year. From the pure rock anthems of Hold Up and Five on the Five to a Zeppelin-esque cover of Terry Reid's Rich Kid Blues to the sordid tale of Carolina Drama, everything just seemed to click on this album even if it took me a few listens to soak it all in. For me, Many Shades of Black was the first instant classic. The Switch and the Spur is wonderfully dorky even if it's not intentional. The one track that simmered to the top was These Stones Will Shout, which is just acoustic guitars and harmonized vocals for more than half the song before flipping to electric and building up to a great finale reminiscent of The Who. On the whole, it's a better record than Broken Boy Soldiers. Sounds like their having more fun on this one too. My dad (a huge Beatles/Eagles fan) rarely comments on music that I put on, though I'm always greatly amused when he asks, "Who is this? I like this." This has occurred multiple times whenever I play anything by The Ditty Bops and the other time was when we were in the car and I popped in Consolers of the Lonely. So there you go, it got the Papa Fong seal of approval.

From my favourite '08 albums, a handful of my top tracks:

• The Ditty Bops - The Weeds Are Winning [from Summer Rains]
  
  
• She & Him - This is Not a Test [from Volume 1]
  
  
• The Wrong Trousers - Had [from One and Counting...]
  
  
• Amanda Palmer - Leeds United [from Who Killed Amanda Palmer]
  
  
• The Bicycles - Oh No, It's Love [ from Oh No, It's Love]
  
  
• Laura Barrett - Escape to the Sun Dome [from Victory Garden]
  
  
• Danny Michel - Sweet Things [from Feather, Fur & Fin]

Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit - 'The Very Best' Mixtape
One of the best albums from last year was FREE and forecasts one of the best albums of 2009. How is that? This 15 song bootleg/mixtape called The Very Best was released by Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit for download on their myspace site (get it here). Esau Mwamwaya's journey from his home in Lilongwe, Malawi to your computer speakers is a curious tale. Less than 10 years ago, Mwamwaya moved to London and ran a second-hand furniture store, which happened to be on the same street as the studios of the producer duo known as Radioclit. Etienne Tron, half of the duo, bought a used bike from Mwamwaya and eventually invited him to a housewarming party. There he was introduced to Radioclit's other half Johan Karlberg and they got to talking music (Mwamwaya was formerly a drummer), eventually inviting him to their studios and discovering his inherent singing talents. The songs that make up the album can't really be called covers since Mwamwaya and Radioclit radically transform the samples into new songs that are familiar, yet refreshingly new. Vampire Weekend's hit Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa gets a makeover, as does M.I.A.'s Paper Planes in Tengazako. The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Ruby Suns, Sweet's Love is Like Oxygen, and more are magnificently recontextualized. A proper debut release is due sometime in '09.

2008 in concerts:
2008/01/24 The Watkins Family Hour The Largo, Los Angeles, CA
2008/02/29 Patton Oswalt Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, BC
2008/03/06 Harvey Danger's 10th Anniversary Public Spectacle Triple Door Seattle, WA
2008/03/07 Harvey Danger's 10th Anniversary Public Spectacle Triple Door Seattle, WA
2008/04/11 Tift Merritt with Sara Watkins The Plaza Club Vancouver, BC
2008/04/20 The Raconteurs with Birds of Avalon Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, BC
2008/04/21 The Raconteurs with Birds of Avalon Neumo's Seattle, WA
2008/04/30 Danny Michel The Railway Club Vancouver, BC
2008/05/01 Danny Michel The Railway Club Vancouver, BC
2008/05/13 Cake with Paper Lions Vogue Theatre Vancouver, BC
2008/09/18 Ben Folds Five with Hotel Lights Memorial Hall Chapel Hill, NC
2008/12/10 Amanda Palmer with Zoë Keating and The Builders & The Butchers Richard's on Richards Vancouver, BC

My concert-going for 2008 was down compared to previous years (a trend that looks to continue), but against all odds I was able to check off number one on the concert bucket list: Ben Folds Five. Reuniting for a one-off gig, I flew down to Chapel Hill, NC in September to see the band that has pretty much been tops in my books since I first heard Whatever and Ever Amen, which you can read all about here. My concert bucket list was narrowed further earlier in the year when I took a bus to Seattle to be a part of Harvey Danger's 10th anniversary shows. They've got a small, but devoted fanbase that soaked up every minute of it as they played through all three of their albums in their entirety and more over two nights. Fantastic stuff.

2008 in film:

In Bruges surprisingly turned out to be one of my favourite films of the year. The terrible trailers were reminiscent of the utterly forgettable Mark Wahlberg dud The Big Hit (i.e. ironic hitmen, casual chatting during shootouts) and even the recently released DVD describes it as an "edgy, action-packed comedy, filled with thrilling chases, spectacular shoot outs and an explosive ending you won't want to miss!" (note: 95% inaccurate). Fortunately, unexpected praise from several trustworthy film reviewers led me to check this one out and I was not disappointed, in fact I was a little blown away. It was odd to watch a movie with less than 15 others staggered around the theatre where all of us were chuckling out loud, but that's a testament to the dark, dark humour and spot-on performances. For what it's worth, Colin Farrell picked up a Golden Globe for his role in In Bruges reminding people that yes, he can act (probably his most natural performance since Tigerland). Co-star Brendan Gleeson was also nominated and probably more deserving. There's a wonderful scene with just Gleeson (and the voice of scene-stealing Ralph Fiennes over the phone) that shifts from amusing to heartbreaking with one spoken line. I hadn't heard of first time writer-director Martin McDonagh before (apparently his stage plays are brilliant), but he's definitely on my radar for future projects. Even though this was his first feature film, McDonagh won an Oscar for his short film Six Shooter also starring Brendan Gleeson, something I've gotta track down. The impetus for this film according to McDonagh was a trip to Bruges in which he was both awed and bored by the picturesque Belgian town, which honestly was a similar impression I got from my own brief visit to Bruges a couple years ago. The only thing I really remember after walking around Bruges for two hours was some baby ducks I encountered jumping off a foot bridge (so cute!). Full of history, yet somewhat mundane, which is what McDonagh incorporated into the opposing reactions of the two main characters. I loved how the story unfolded in a way that's unpredictable, yet somehow inevitable.

The Dark Knight pretty much speaks for itself and as a huge Batman fan in general, this was the bee's knees. Other than TDK, Slumdog Millionaire was the only other film I saw twice in theatres last year. Though the hipster backlash started pretty much as soon as it was released (as it also racks up award wins/nominations), without a doubt this was the crowdpleaser of the year, in spite of the fact that one of the most disturbing scenes in recent cinema is also contained within. I often withhold movie recommendations from friends/family because more often than not I can predict in advance they won't like the movie even if I loved it, but Slumdog Millionaire is the first movie in recent memory that I've gone out of my way to tell everyone I know to check it out. Wall-E was pretty awesome, though I think I need to see it again. The first time around, I was vaguely distracted by the let's-pretend-we're-not-talking-about-obesity subplot and the human element in general. Iron Man was surprisingly awesome considering I had no prior childhood stakes in the character, unlike many other comic-to-film adaptations. I'm liking the master plan of Marvel since they've become their own movie studio. I enjoyed Indy 4 at first purely out of nostalgia, but upon further reflection it was way off the mark (death to CGI!). Same goes for Quantum of Solace, which was enjoyable enough while in the theatre, but the more I think about it the less I liked it. Doubly disappointing after the return to form with Casino Royale.

I saw three pretty good movies last year that, as of this moment, are pretty hard to see outside of a film festival and DVD releases are a long ways off (or in one case, "never going to happen").

• Largo was a fly-on-the-wall documentary of a night at the semi-legendary club in LA (I say "semi-legendary" because I seem to always have to explain the Largo when I mention it to people). Featuring performances by Largo regulars (Fiona Apple, Jon Brion!, Jackson Browne, Patton Oswalt, Aimee Mann, Sarah Silverman, Colin Hay, and more), I have to admit that the alternating between stand-up comedy and intimate music performances was a little jarring (although it's the club's M.O.). An exhilarating performance of Andrew Bird "constructing" A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left with loop pedals is probably the highlight of the film and an eye (or ear) opener for any unfamiliar with his work, as seemed to be the case with the audience I saw it with. Co-director Andrew Van Baal was in attendance to field questions, though it was somewhat awkward since many people had left during the credits even though the theatre was only half-full to begin with, leaving a handful of us to provide obligatory questions. A DVD and soundtrack are hopefully forthcoming since a ton of footage was shot and cut out, not to mention the end credits play over a beautiful instrumental version of Zeppelin's Going to California presumably by Sean Watkins and John Paul Jones that demands release (several recordings exist on the Live Archive but this version was pristine).
  
• Even better than the real thing, Indy IV was eclipsed by three determined teenagers in Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation originally filmed in the 80s. I lucked out seeing this early last summer (review here) and heartily recommend you do you... that is, if you ever get the chance! It only played a handful of dates last year and nothing seems to be planned for 2009 so far. Like most movies there are "other" ways to see it, though nothing beats a packed theatre experience for this one. Otherwise, you may have to wait for the long-in-gestation big screen adaptation of the boys' story (similar to last year's Son of Rambow) as written by Daniel Clowes.
  
• I scored a major coup while on a family visit to Toronto, the rock documentary It Might Get Loud had its world premiere with the film's subjects Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge all in attendance and I was literally first in line to see it. Read my previously posted summary of the surreal experience.

Lastly, just a shout-out to two awesome websites that cropped up in the past year (or at least came to my attention):

• The Boston Globe's The Big Picture, an always awe-inspiring, thought-provoking collection of hi-res photos from the associated press. A simple, obvious concept executed perfectly.
  
• Sporcle.com was introduced to me via Ken Jennings' blog (yep, I read his blog) and it's a must for any trivia lover. In presentation and implementation, it's simply miles above any comparable site. Since its debut, all it does it get better. Their feedback link that not only gets read, but actually results in change! I'm tackling the Jeopardy online test tonight to see if Sporcle increased my knowledge of US presidents and state capitals.

I'm already digging Andrew Bird's latest Noble Beast, but otherwise a lot of my favourite artists seem to be keeping a low profile this year. After plenty of touring over the past couple years, Bird's old compadres the Squirrel Nut Zippers have an as-yet-unannounced studio album in the works, so I am hugely anticipating that. But I've perused some 2009 release lists and nothing else really jumps out. Perhaps someone will pull some Raconteurs-like tactics (i.e. announcing a new album just a week before it comes out).

Over and out.

I Heart Zooey

Yes, here it is, the long delayed Zooey Post. The idea of a post devoted to the music of Zooey Deschanel has been brewing for a couple years now, unconsciously awaiting a full-length Zooey CD to emerge. Under the moniker of She & Him, her collaboration with indie folk artist M. Ward entitled Volume 1, a title which tantalizingly foresees future recordings, hit stores yesterday on one of those magic new music Tuesdays. Next week will prove to be even more magical as new albums from Raconteurs, Danny Michel, and Supergrass all hit on the same day! But for now, back to Zooey.

I've been entranced with Zooey Deschanel ever since Almost Famous when she leaned down, looked directly in the camera with big googly eyes, and said:

"One day... you'll be cool."
...parting words to her younger brother William as she left home to become a stewardess. She also leaves a treasure trove of LPs behind for him: Pet Sounds, Zeppelin II, Axis: Bold as Love, The Who's Tommy... what's not to love? Mainstream audiences first got a taste of her singing talents in the 2003 Will Ferrell hit Elf, the soundtrack of which features her in a duet with Leon Redbone on the standard Baby, It's Cold Outside. Other things you may recognize her from:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Trillian
• Bridge to Terabithia as a elementary school music teacher (contrary to its baffling ad campaign, a surprisingly moving film)
• a guest stint on Weeds
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (she sings in this too)

She'll be seen next in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, but a planned Janis Joplin biopic with Zooey in the lead role seems to be on indefinite hold. While she has sometimes been relegated to "quirky best friend" supporting roles in movies like The Good Girl and Failure to Launch, she has also had prominent lead roles in several indie films such as All the Real Girls, Eulogy, Winter Passing, and The Go-Getter. The Go-Getter's soundtrack was composed by M. Ward (of whom I know absolutely nothing about) and her involvement in that project is ultimately what would lead to the She & Him collaboration. For that soundtrack, the director Martin Hynes suggested Zooey and M. Ward perform a duet together, which would end up being a cover of Richard & Linda Thompson's When I Get to the Border. Apparently good times were had by all and soon M. Ward was listening to her demos. Thus, She & Him were born.


Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone - Baby, It's Cold Outside [originally by Frank Loesser]
M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel - When I Get to the Border [originally by Richard & Linda Thompson]

Hearing her croon on Baby, It's Cold Outside was a revelation, but my fascination with Zooey Deschanel was further sparked when I found out she performed in a jazz cabaret act with fellow actress Samantha Shelton called If All The Stars Were Pretty Babies. To my knowledge, they only performed in clubs in Los Angeles. While there are no official recordings of If All the Stars... there are a couple clips floating around and a 1926 recording (cover, no less!) of the song that inspired their act's name.

The Green Brothers' Novelty Band - If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies (And I Was a Moon In The Moon) [originally by Fred Fisher and Billy Rose] [via]

Zooey Deschanel & Samantha Shelton - Walk Right Back [originally by The Everly Brothers]
Zooey Deschanel & Samantha Shelton - Stormy Weather [originally by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler]

Zooey Deschanel - Dream a Little Dream of Me [originally by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt]
Zooey performed this at an Erin Fetherston fashion show gig. Apparently, she models for her as well.

Zooey Deschanel - Hello Dolly [originally by Jerry Herman]
From the short film Raving directed by Julia Stiles, Zooey's penchant for singing jazz standards is once again on display.


M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel - Bring It On Home to Me [originally by Sam Cooke]
M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel - Magic Trick
From a live radio session last summer before they adopted the name She & Him. Neither of these songs ended up on the final album, though I'm a fan of both.

Coconut Records - Slowly
Coconut Records - Ask Her to Dance
Last year, one of my favourite albums was Coconut Records, the solo project by actor Jason Schwartzman, a former boyfriend of Zooey. On the album, she contributes some background vocals to these two tracks.

Expect to hear more from Zooey Deschanel later this year. It's been 3 years since Ben Lee announced his Mix Tape project, in which a remarkable assembly of guest artists perform songs he's composed. On the menu: Neil Finn, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds, the eels, Gomez, Ash, Nina Persson, Zooey, Sean Lennon, Maria Taylor, New Buffalo, Sleepy Jackson... and more. While I had vaguely given up hope of even hearing this, in a blog entry from last October, Ben describes the project as his own "personal 'Apocalypse Now!' taking me about 5 years to finish". All signs point to a release in 2008.

Last weekend, She & Him performed one of their rare tour dates at SXSW. Go to The Smudge of Ashen Fluff to hear three tracks they performed for the radio from their album: This is Not a Test, Black Hole, and Change is Hard.

Also, you can sample whole album here. Some promising reviews from The AV Club and Pitchfork... not that anything could really stop me from buying the record anyway.

Surprisingly one of the best, most up-to-date sources for Zooey Deschanel news of all sorts (including several of these mp3s) is a 4-year old thread run amok on The Fashion Spot forums. Kudos to them!

Little Ditty Tidbits

Just some news tidbits that came to my attention this week that makes me want to jump up and shout it to anyone who will listen. Because when I go bug-eyed and speak excitedly about the Dresden Dolls, Ditty Bops, or Zooey Deschanel I'm generally faced with shrugs and "Oh, I see"-s from my closest friends.

• One of the perks of being Neil Gaiman as opposed to John Malkovich: Amanda Palmer will personally send you an advance of her debut solo CD "wrapped in lace" with DVDs! Damn you, Neil!
  
  
• The Dresden Dolls (Amanda Palmer & Brian Viglione) were back in the studio in January re-recording some old school non-album tracks and leftovers from the Yes, Virginia sessions. The collection of "scattered" tracks tentatively titled No, Virginia is set to be released sometime this spring before her solo album comes out. Woo! Bonus Dresden Dolls action out of the woodwork!
  
  
• It seems like Amanda has also been busy finishing off a full-length Evelyn Evelyn record with Jason Webley for anyone who missed the limited edition EP. She's also been collaborating with Estradasphere for (I think) her solo album. Estradasphere is responsible for the BEST Super Mario Bros. 2 cover ever.
  
  
• [**UPDATED] Even more DD tidbits, courtesy of Amanda's blog (warning, don't click that link if you don't want to see close-up photos of her vocal nodes) that just updated around the same time I originally put up this post:
  • No, Virginia is likely going to be released late May.
    
  • Amanda's working on a companion songbook to accompany all the songs from both Yes/No, Virginia. The previously Dresden Dolls companion was a fantastic book of full piano transcriptions with hand-written notes and an extensive diary-like section with colour photos, drawings, and such.
    
  • Cover Alert: the Dresden Dolls teamed up with their pal Franz from The Hold Steady to record a couple covers, one for a Johnny Cash compilation and one for a Jonathan Richman compilation to be released later this summer or fall.
    
  • Amanda is going to be playing with the Boston Pops Orchestra June 19th and 20th. Sweet.
  
  
  
• Once upon a time, Neil Gaiman introduced me to the wonderful world of the Ditty Bops. And there's a brand new Ditty Bops album in just a couple weeks! Summer Rains is due March 1st and is available for pre-orders from their online store. Sold!
  The Ditty Bops - Bye Bye Love [originally by the Everly Brothers]
  The Ditty Bops - Gentle Sheep
  The Ditty Bops - Aluminum Can
  -there's a tease of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in here
  The Ditty Bops - Some of These Days [originally by Shelton Brooks]
  -from the Live Music Archive which has tons of great Ditty Bops live recordings
  
  
• Zooey Deschanel is playing at the Largo tonight in LA. I managed to catch the Watkins Family Hour at the Largo when I went there in January and it's a phenomenal venue. Probably like dinner seating for 100 or less plus standing room. It'd be like a Zooey Deschanel concert in your living room. Thinking about it makes me sad that I can't be there. The Largo has a bunch of strict rules (i.e. no cell phones, electronics, talking during show, etc.) with one goal: it's all about the show/performer. And that's a refreshing attitude for music lovers. Don't forget her album with M. Ward is coming out March 18th. Note to self: get crackin' on that full Zooey cover post.

Zooey (to be continued...)

Clearly I've missed some stuff while I was away... I belated just read a post on music blog I Am Fuel, You Are Friends about the forthcoming M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel collaboration. Working under the new moniker She & Him, their debut album Volume 1 has a release date of March 18, 2008. Definitely go to IAFYAF to download their recent 4-song performance on KCRW. I've been waiting for some sort of Zooey album since hearing her croon with Leon Redbone on the Elf soundtrack.

Also check out the site for their record label Merge Records, which has the official bio blurb and a free song too. Bonus news: the album features 9 originals and 2 covers. So far they've got two concert dates in March lined up: the Noise Pop festival in San Francisco followed by the SXSW festival in Austin. Hopefully they go on tour or something.

While I was in L.A. I went on the Warner Brothers studio tour on a very rainy afternoon. With the writer's strike and not a heck of a lot was going on, although one of the projects in production was the upcoming Jim Carrey flick Yes Man co-starring Ms. Deschanel herself. Having read the book it's based on by British comedian/writer/TV personality Danny Wallace, I really have no idea who would have read it and thought "We have got to get Jim Carrey in this!", but I'm sure I'll check it out for the Zooey factor at least. By the sounds of it, they're just taking the basic idea of the book (a man who says yes to everything) and building a fictional narrative out of it.

Guess I've only got a month left to put together that Zooey cover post I've been mulling over for a year...

2007.

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

Top Covers/Cover Albums:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Same bear? Or just a coincidence?


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

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

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

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

Favourite songs/albums of '07:

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cover finds of the year:

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

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

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2007 in Film:

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

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

Most anticipated for 2008:

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

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

Another Year o' Fong Songs

**WARNING! Cover-free posting!**
Ah, the inevitable year-end post.... Almost. This is simply a year-end recap of happenings in my own little world. I'll jump into favourite covers, albums, films, and those sorts of things soon. In the meantime, feel free to not read this at all, though you might miss out on How I Almost Got the White Stripes to Perform at the Library I Worked At. Intrigued?

One of the things that's fun about keeping this blog is that it doubles as a sort of diary of personally significant events (musically, at least) and I can just skim through the 2007 archives to see what happened without wracking my brain too hard.

• The first post of the 2007 was... um, last year's year-end post.
  
  
• I had a wonderful first-time trip to San Francisco, also finding time to zip down to San Jose to watch the Oilers beat the Sharks (that'd be hockey for the non-hockey inclined).
  
  
• 2007 would turn out to be the year of band reunions with Davie Lee Roth rejoining Van Halen, The Police coming back together, Genesis, and even The Spice Girls getting in on all this reunion action. February saw the return of one of my favourite bands the Squirrel Nut Zippers who had been missing in action since 2001. When I posted about this reunion back on February 2, little did I know that the ultimate band reunion would be announced later in the year...
  
  
• Chinese New Year fell on February 18th and it was MY year, the Year of the Pig. As far as concerts went, 2007 was positively epic. And I had the fantastic opportunity to take a huge trip to China to check out my roots. Yes, it was a very good year and technically I still have a couple months left on the Chinese calendar.
  
  
• Heart-thumping news on March 20 courtesy of the White Stripes. After some hoax tour dates appeared, their official newsletter was sent out with the teaser "The White Stripes have yet to confirm their North American routing as of yet. But we are happy to say that it will include all 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada, as well as the remaining 16 states of the United States the band have yet to play." Good god, a Canadian tour including the territories?!? Would they actually be coming to Edmonton? Is this a horrible joke?
  
  
• For a time, I was addicted to Desktop Tower Defense.
  
  
• March 30: I finally tracked down the official Interstate '76 soundtrack. Score!
  
  
• April 10: Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls confirmed that none other than Mr. Ben Folds would be producing and playing on her solo album, which as of now is still in the works.
  
  
• April 17: Jack White reiterates the plan to cover all Canadian provinces and territories. Speculation rampant and tour dates imminent.
  
  
• April 26: Jack White is a man of his word. Full Canadian tour dates are released including Edmonton. Unlikely stops: Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Iqaluit, Glace Bay.
  
  
• May 4: Star Wars Day. I post some Star Wars covers, my blog is bombarded with hits after an Idolator shout-out, and I'm inexplicably featured on IMDB's Hit List. At the peak, 4052 unique visitors on one day vs. the usual 150. My virtual ego inflates, but then blog traffic returns to normal as I return to my regular posts. Never underestimate the power of the Star Wars fan contingent.
  
  
• Some time in mid-May I joined Facebook. Strangely, it wasn't really a matter of caving in. I was blissfully ignorant of the addictive site until I was trying to view some Danny Michel tour photos that were posted on Facebook. Ironically after I joined, those photos were unavailable.
  
  
• My rock dreams were coming true as I booked myself aboard a Ben Folds cruise for 2008. These dreams would later be dashed as the cruise was unceremoniously cancelled.
  
  
• They came, they played, they conquered. The White Stripes came into Edmonton on June 30th. Even better than the actual show was one of the now-legendary Secret Shows, which took place in a youth centre in the inner city. I was arm's length away from Jack as he played to a packed room of 200-ish salivating fans. I guess enough time has passed for me to tell the full story on how I almost got the White Stripes to play in my library... I was working at the library in the heart of Old Strathcona, a beautiful newly-renovated brick building that was the first public library in Edmonton built in 1913. A friend and former co-worker at the downtown library called me (although he was sworn to secrecy) with crazy news that someone from the White Stripes camp had contacted them about potentially playing their secret show there. And the library declined! What?!? GRRR! I was so excited and disappointed at the same time. I went on the Little Room forums to rant and rave about what a blown opportunity it was. I also posted some photos of the White Stripes shrine I had put up at the library as the display person and not-so-subtlely suggested the gig should happen at our library. Amazingly, I received a private message from someone... After some rapid back-and-forth e-mails with some scouting photos I took, it turned out our room could probably on hold 80 people and they were expecting more like 300. I also found out later the downtown library gig was kiboshed because of fire hazard and security concerns rather than management simply being close-minded. In any event, I got to go to the secret gig after getting the announcement on the forums and rushing to the youth centre. On the way there, that someone gave me a courtesy call to let me know where the gig was at. And that is how The White Stripes almost played at my library. The end.
  
  
• While on my weeklong White Stripes Maritimes Extravaganza, I was contacted by some guy named Kurtis who was planning to start up his own cover blog... A couple months later, Covering the Mouse debuted featuring all Disney covers, all the time. And the world rejoiced.
  
  
• I went to the Calgary Folk Festival and had a heck of a great time. Squirrel Nut Zippers reunited, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings... it was fun. It occurs to me that I never wrote my Calgary Folk Fest Part II post, which has been condemned to draft hell. So I never told the story of how I weaseled my way into the volunteer's after party to watch the Squirrel Nut Zippers for one last time and danced the night away. Maybe someday I'll finish up some long lost posts.
  
  
• August 28: I stayed up and watched the lunar eclipse like an idiot.
  
  
• September 12: My head exploded as Led Zeppelin officially announces their one-off reunion show. In spite of great lengths to procure tickets, it just didn't work out.
  
  
• Boyhowdy joins the cover blog fray with Cover Lay Down, devoted to folk covers.
  
  
• As I'm off galavanting in China, Kurtis takes over Fong Songs temporarily.
  
  
• While wandering the streets of Macau, I see a sign. Literally a sign for "Fong Song". I wonder if there's a real Coverville out there somewhere.
  
  
• And lastly, I moved to Vancouver.

My Year in Concerts (click links to revisit old concert posts):
2007/01/14 The Tragically Hip Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB
2007/01/23 Video Games Live Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB
2007/02/06 The Arrogant Worms Winspear Centre, Edmonton, AB
2007/02/25 Wolfmother Edmonton Event Centre, Edmonton, AB
2007/05/17 Danny Michel Convocation Hall, Edmonton, AB
2007/05/23 The Killers with Hot Hot Heat Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB
2007/06/23 Red Shag Carpet with Kyle Riabko Freemason's Hall, Edmonton, AB
2007/06/24 Roger Waters Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB
2007/06/30 The White Stripes with Dan Sartain Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton, AB
2007/07/10 The White Stripes with Dan Sartain Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB
2007/07/11 The White Stripes with Dan Sartain Charlottetown Civic Centre, Charlottetown, PEI
2007/07/13 The White Stripes with Dan Sartain Cunard Centre, Halifax, NS
2007/07/14 The White Stripes with Dan Sartain and Ashley MacIsaac The Savoy Theatre, Glace Bay, NS
2007/07/18 Jon Levine Band Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, ON
2007/07/25 Weird Al Yankovic Capital Ex, Edmonton, AB
2007/07/27 - 07/29 Calgary Folk Festival (Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Polyjesters, Eleni Mandell, Watermelon Slim, Hawsley Workman, Sarah Slean, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Don McLean, and many more!) Prince's Island Park, Calgary, AB
2007/09/01 Andrew Bird with Dosh Richard on Richard's, Vancouver, BC
2007/09/02 Gogol Bordello with DJ Scratchy Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
2007/12/09 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings with Megatron Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC

Clearly this was an outstanding year for concert-going. The White Stripes Maritimes Extravaganza was logistically improbable but in the "so crazy it just might work" way and with the ultimate pay-off. The 10th Anniversary show in Glace Bay was the most unreal concert experience I've ever partaken in and unlikely to ever be topped. I tear up just thinking about it... so great in so many ways. Roger Waters put on a spectacular show and in a non-White Stripes year it would contend for best concert of the year. They had a giant high definition screen as a backdrop that is by far the clearest I've ever seen. Giant inflatable graffiti pig too. Shine On You Crazy Diamond was near-euphoric performed live. That concert now has the distinction of the most expensive concert ticket I've ever paid for at $167 and I somehow convinced two of my friends to come too. Tickets for the three of us nearly matched the cost of all of our White Stripes Maritimes shows put together. After years of waiting, I finally saw the Squirrel Nut Zippers live and they did not disappoint. Concert-wise, there's nothing really on the radar yet for 2008. High on my list of must-see someday are The Polyphonic Spree, Harvey Danger, and if we're really lucky maybe Zooey Deschanel will go on tour with M. Ward in '08.

OK, thank you for indulging me. Next time: top stuff of 2007.

Ben Lee

Last thursday I had the opportunity to check out Ben Lee at the Sidetrack Cafe. More than just playing good music, Ben was entertaining between songs as well, telling goofy stories and personally pledging to aid Justin Timberlake's cause to "bring sexy back" by the year 2008. During his set, he covered Modest Mouse's Float On as well as Montreal band Pony Up!'s Matthew Modine about the all-girl band's collective crush on the actor Matthew Modine (hilarious when sung by one guy and with his acoustic guitar). And to fulfil his Canadian content requirement, Ben and his band performed BTO's You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet in the encore.


After the show, Ben hung around to sign stuff and pose for photos. How many artists are this approachable? Being a huge fan of The Bens (i.e. the side project he did with Ben Folds & Ben Kweller), I asked him when they're going to reunite. "Soon...when the timing's right..." he said, mentioning that Kweller just had a baby. I hope they do a full album because their 4-song EP is just a teaser of great things. Another Ben Lee project I'm looking forward to is his "Mix Tape" project to be released. . . next year? Word on the street is Zooey Deschanel sings and plays piano on a song. How cool is that? We definitely need more Zooey on CD (and screen).


My growing unhealthy fascination with YouTube continues... here's some footage I shot at the concert:

"Ben Lee - Catch My Disease (live in Edmonton)"


"Ben Lee - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (live in Edmonton)"


Ben Lee - Float On [originally by Modest Mouse]
Pony Up! - Matthew Modine
Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone - Baby, It's Cold Outside [originally performed by Betty Garrett & Red Skelton]
The Bens - I Touch Myself (live in Melbourne) [originally by The Divinyls]