New Porn

Just saw the New Pornographers last night. Pretty awesome show. I was quite impressed by one of the opening acts Novillero, a Winnipeg band I'd never heard of. Check'em out if you can. I'm a fan of the New Pornographer's music, though not overly knowledgable about the band itself other than that they're a "supergroup" from Vancouver. Thus, I assumed the only female member of the band on stage was Neko Case, but I was later surprised to learn that she was in fact the band's keyboardist Kathryn Calder, Carl Newman's long-lost niece (?!?). She was also in one of the opening acts, Immaculate Machine. I was mesmerized by her performance (taking over Neko's vocals), though I have to admit that a couple bobbing heads blocked out the rest of the band for 90% of the show. The 2nd song they played in their hour-and-a-bit set is one of my favourites, The Laws Have Changed. Unfortunately, I wussed out of yelling out a request in the encore for my all-time favourite The New Face of Zero and One. They were even asking for 3 song requests but I would have been drowned out anyway by the two guys in front of me shouting "Electric Version!" over and over.

I got a cool free CD called Mint Records presents The CBC Radio 3 Sessions, which features live recordings of the New Pornographers, Novillero, and Immaculate Machine among others. If you're checking out one of their shows on this tour, don't skip the contest entry table for the free CD!

The New Pornographers - The New Face of Zero and One
The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed
The New Pornographers - Your Daddy Don't Know [originally by Toronto]

Novillero - Abbey

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On a completely unrelated note, check out the new Bravia commercia here, directed by Johnathan Glazer [via Waxy Links]. Following that wonderful bouncy ball ad, Bravia does it again. I wish all commercials were this nice.

It's Rainbow Wars all over again!! When I was little I remember seeing repeatedly this film about the warring colours. The imdb page reveals it was a short Canadian film made for the '86 expo and strangely stars Colin Mochrie & Ryan Stiles (of Whose Line) in it. Apparently, the DVD or video can be bought for $95. Insane!

Life on Mars? to the Max

For the past few weeks I've been obsessed with David Bowie's Life on Mars?. Bowie is the one concert I always regret not going to when he came to town a few years ago. The Polyphonic Spree were opening... AARRGH! It still makes me upset. Anyway, despite being a Bowie fan I somehow managed to live to this point in time without ever hearing this song before. Now I've heard it and I declare it Perfection.

As usual when I get obsessed with a song, I gotta find the covers. Some fare better than others-- some quite well, in fact-- but nothing comes close to Bowie's original. Again, Perfection. Life on Mars? comes from Hunky Dory, the same album that we get Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Andy Warhol, AND Queen Bitch (also perfection). I'm sure you've all seen Bowie's hilarious cameo on Extras and that just reinforces how great David Bowie is. And WHY OH WHY did I cop out on that concert?!?

Here's what's in the zip file below:

David Bowie - Life on Mars? [original]

David Bowie (VH1 Storytellers; discusses song's origins and mocks Barbra Streisand's cover)
David Bowie (live in Edmonton 1990)
David Bowie with The Arcade Fire (live at Fashion Rocks)

Anggun
Anni-Frid Lyngstad [of ABBA] - Liv på Mars [Swedish version]
Arid (live)
Barbra Streisand
Des de Moor and Russell Churney
Eurythmics (live)
Hector - Sudenkorento [Finnish version]
Jasper Steverlinck
Joe Jackson (live)
Jon Brion (live) [in the style of Fats Waller]
Kari Palo
L'Aura
Michelle Branch
Phish (live)
Rick Wakeman [played piano on the original]
Robin Goldwasser
Seal (acoustic)
Seu Jorge [Portuguese version from The Life Aquatic Sessions]
Steve Hogarth
The Divine Comedy
The Dresden Dolls (2005-03-02 Hamburg)
The Flaming Lips [Peel Session '92]
The King's Singers
Tino Casal
Zkippy Stardust

Life on Mars?: The Collection


It's on America's tortured brow...

Best new Bowie track

Do Yourself a Favour and Go to the Library

Over at Cinescape there's an interesting column by Kurt Amacker, albiet vaguely longwinded, about the Marshall Public Library's awaited decision on the fate of two graphic novels on their shelves. The offending works are Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Blankets by Craig Thompson, the latter of which is fantastic and not remotely offensive.
Read it here: Comics, Sexuality, and the Public Library

EDIT 10/18/06: follow-up article here.


It reminded me of a song I threw together for a friend's mixtape because I lamented the fact (still do) that in all the years of working at the library, none of my friends ever use it... despite it being the ultimate entertainment resource. This song is a mish-mash of Simpsons quotes and a so-lame-it's-cool library card song from the show Arthur (you know, the aardvark?).

At the Library
This song is 100% accurate including the bit about the Big-People Library downtown and potential death. Puppet shows and movies, the cool things never end... IT'S TRUE! IT'S ALL TRUE.


Now you should go to the public library and borrow Blankets and also borrow the truly great Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson while you're at it. I've never heard of Fun Home, but I just went on the online catalogue and requested it. It's actually catalogued under 928.1 in the biography section... SEE HOW MUCH FUN THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM CAN BE?!? Go Library!

Some obscure Ben Folds tracks

For the record, What's Left of The Who still rocks and can sure show today's modern rockers a thing or two about putting on a show.
===================================

For any Ben Folds aficionados, I'm just going to rehash a posting I made on the boards at www.TheSuburbs.org.uk, a Ben Folds fansite in the UK. These are some non-Ben Folds tracks that are directly or indirectly related to Ben.

Butterfly Boucher - I'm Different
For the Ben Folds completist... I'm not sure how many people know about this track from the children's album For the Kids Too. Imagine my surprise when I read the liner notes and saw additional vocals by Louis & Gracie Folds, Ben's twins.

Rickie Lee Jones - Up a Lazy River [originally by Hoagy Carmichael]
Ben sings background vocals on this cover (for the ultimate version of this song check out Bobby Darin's!).

Rickie Lee Jones - Low Spark of High Heeled Boys [originally by Traffic]
Ben plays piano on this one.

Ben Lee - Brick (live)
One of the Bens covering another. I nicked this from the great music resource Live Music Archive

Darren Jessee - The Magic that Holds the Sky Up From the Ground
An acoustic guitar version by Darren, 1/3 of Ben Folds Five and the song's writer, of what would become Magic on BFF's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner album.

Who Ya!

10/16/76.
10/06/06.

It's almost exactly 30 years ago that my mom saw The Who live at the Coliseum. On Friday at the same venue, now known as Rexall Place, I'll be checking out what's left of The Who and it's sure to be a blast. I'm very pumped about it even though tickets are exorbitant and I only sprung for the so-called "cheapie" tix. The image above is from a photo-shopped art thing I did a long time ago using an unbelievable photo that my mom snapped at the concert, which she worked as an usher. Townshend, in a signature airborne move, Keith Moon below, Daltrey to the side wearing a slick striped shirt/suspenders combo, and John Entwhistle conspicuously unseen. Classic.

Who covered:
The Good
Yvonne Elliman - I Can't Explain
Dread Zeppelin - Baba O'Riley
Goldfinger - The Kids are Alright
Pink Cream 69 - Pinball Wizard
Roxy Blue - Squeeze Box

The Half-Decent
The Waco Brothers - Baba O'Riley
Killer Hayseeds - Squeeze Box
Frankie Randall - I Can See for Miles
Stereophonics - Who Are You
The Greenhornes - Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
Rush - The Seeker
David Bowie - I Can't Explain

Quite Possibly the Worst Cover I've Ever Heard
Rod Stewart - Pinball Wizard

Who covers:
The Who - Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) [originally by Elton John]
The Who - Shakin' All Over (live at Leeds) [originally by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates]

Who sampled:
Jason Forrest - 10 Amazing Years
Jason Forrest's endlessly brilliant War Photographer skillfully created a new song from Blood, Sweat & Tears samples. Here he creates a bombastic new song, sampling Who Are You with some bits of the Beatles thrown in for good measure.

Kate Winslet & Weird Al?

From the realm of unlikely duets, this one ranks pretty high. Found on the children's book/CD called Dog Train by Sandra Boynton and Michael Ford, this over-emotive power ode to naps is goofy fun and is ideally available from your friendly neighbourhood public library. I particularly enjoy the tune because I am self-declared King of Naps, able to sleep anywhere, anytime (and I often do).

Kate Winslet & Weird Al Yankovic - I Need a Nap

Welcome to My Nightmare

Not sure if you heard about this... Next month, The Nightmare Before Christmas will be re-released in 3D. 13th anniversary, I guess? That's pretty cool, though Edmonton is unfortunately not one of the cities where it's at. Anyway, coinciding with the release of the film, Disney is also re-releasing the soundtrack with a second disc of covers of the songs from the likes of Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Marilyn Manson, and Fiona Apple. While normally this kinda news would thrill me (i.e. favourite childhood movies + cover songs), I'm less than thrilled by the prospect of some "it" bands messin' with the originals. Fiona Apple is the only name there that sounds like she'd do a worthy cover.

If I was a producer, I'd be going straight to the likes of Rasputina & the Dresden Dolls to create thematically/musically cohesive covers. I'm all for radical interpretations, yet somehow a "racous" rendition of What's This? by Fall Out Boy is not cool .

A dream cast for Nightmare covers:
Alice Cooper or Iggy Pop - Oogie Boogie's song
Rasputina - Kidnap the Sandy Claws
The Dresden Dolls - Poor Jack or Jack's Lament
Maxwell/Mosher (or in a pipe dream, the reunion of their former band Squirrel Nut Zippers) - Town Meeting Song
and
I'd like to hear Jon Brion re-interpret some of Danny Elfman's score. That'd be trippy. White Stripes could probably throw in a capable cover too.

Alas, we'll have to settle for whatever the Disney execs deem as hip right now. Here are some of the songs that came to mind when thinking of ideal Nightmare covers:

Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
Iggy Pop - Space Goofs Theme [from the cartoon show]
Iggy Pop - Louie, Louie [popularized by The Kingsmen]
Rasputina - When I Was a Young Girl
Rasputina - Tourniquet [originally by Marilyn Manson]
The Dresden Dolls - Amsterdam (live - 2005-03-02 Hamburg) [originally by Jacques Brel]
Maxwell/Mosher - Hell [originally by Squirrel Nut Zippers, though technically not a cover but a do-over]
Squirrel Nut Zippers - The Ghost of Stephen Foster (with Andrew Bird's wicked violinin')

From the original Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack by the inimitable Danny Elfman:
Kidnap the Sandy Claws
Oogie Boogie's Song

Ben Folds/Postal Service follow-up

Now, a video of Ben Folds' cover of Such Great Heights has made it up online. Courtesy of the forums at TheSuburbs.org.uk, you can go download a 30MB wmv of the Triple J Like a Version segment:. Or for the YouTube inclined, someone promptly turned around and re-uploaded there for your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KI78874qbU.

This explains why the cover seems a bit avant-garde with 3 drummers playing beats on random things (i.e. mailbox covered in a towel). Looks like Ben also tweaked the upper half of his piano to create some curious sounds. This also explains why the Macarena slips in at the end.

Real post, later.

The Dresden Dolls also cover Postal Service

I just posted Ben's cover of Such Great Heights earlier today and I would like to direct your attention to the site Automatic Joy, a truly fantastic site of aural pleasure. Full of Dresden Dolls rarities, live covers, radio performances, etc. I just had a field day in the covers section when I stumbled upon this site a few weeks ago. Among the covers is their slowed-down version of Such Great Heights, which again is underwhelming coming from one of my favourite bands. I'm beginning to think The Postal Service's Such Great Heights is absolute perfection and despite my love of covers, I'd prefer to just leave this one alone. Anyway there's a bunch of other great Dresden Dolls material to be had at the site.

Some highlights include:
-acoustic German radio versions of Coin-Operated Boy, Backstabber, and Jacques Brel's Amsterdam
-David Bowie's Life on Mars?
-Three Dog Night's One (with the Ambiious Orchestra)
-Science Fiction Double Feature (from Rocky Horror Picture Show)
...and much more! Automatic Joy-- Go now!

Coming up this Thursday/Friday, a bunch of lucky Brisbanians will get to see The Dresden Dolls join Ben Folds for two shows down under. If anyone's listening down there (or up there), please record these shows!

Ben Folds covers Postal Service

Hey, quick update here. I've been super swamped doing the double job thing among other stuff. Here's a cover Ben Folds did for the Australian radio station Triple J. I was so excited when I heard he had covered Such Great Heights. One of my favourite songs from the past few years covered by my favourite artist... but I gotta say I was pretty disappointed. You be the judge:

Ben Folds - Such Great Heights [originally by the Postal Service]