I Am Iron Man

Hey, guess what comes out today? I had virtually no interest in this movie when they announced they were making it. My childhood comic book palette consisted primarily of Spider-Man, Hulk, Punisher, Wolverine, Batman, and Groo... no Iron Man. But things started to get intriguing as more news started coming out, particularly the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard (who is apparently a huge fan of the comic). Director Jon Favreau & company seemed to be genuinely working hard to make sure this was done right. And then the trailer hit and aside from the obvious usage of Black Sabbath's Iron Man (eyes were rolling), I gotta say it got me pretty pumped for this.

Bud E. Luv - Iron Man [originally by Black Sabbath]

Lounge Brigade - Iron Man [originally by Black Sabbath]

The Bad Plus - Iron Man [originally by Black Sabbath]

The Cardigans - Iron Man [originally by Black Sabbath]
The Cardigans - Iron Man (First Try) [originally by Black Sabbath]
The "First Try" version is from their b-sides/rarities collection Other Side of the Moon. The Swedish band also cover Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Ozzy's Mr. Crowley... guess they're big fans.

UPDATE 05/03/20008:
Thanks to Boyhowdy for a couple more Iron Man covers including his personal favourite, an instrumental by Four Tet.

Four Tet - Iron Man [originally by Black Sabbath]

Giant Sand - Iron Man [originally by Black Sabbath]

Another Concert Alert for Torontonians

I just read about this:

The Songbook II: featuring Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, June 20 & 21, 2008 8pm

Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies will be accompanied by an ensemble comprised of some of Canada’s finest musicians including: Phil Dwyer (sax), Rob Piltch (guitar), Rafael Hoekman (cello), Joseph Phillips (bass), Steven Sitarski (violin) & Andrew Burashko (piano).

Songs by Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Rufus Wainwright, Jane Sieberry and Radiohead; in fresh new arrangements by innovators from the worlds of pop, jazz & classical music such as Gavin Bryars, Rob Carli, Phil Dwyer, Kevin Fox, Jonathan Goldsmith, Jim McGrath, Owen Pallett (AKA Final Fantasy), Tom Walsh and Cameron Wilson.

The Art of Time Ensemble is a fascinating musical collective organized by artistic director Andrew Burashko of classical and jazz musicians, now in its 9th season of concerts. The Ensemble produces "unique and intimate
concert experiences that bridge the worlds of classical music, popular music, film, literature and theatre". Last year, they collaborated with Sarah Slean for the first Songbook consisting of new arrangements of Canadian artists including Leonard Cohen, Feist, and Sarah Harmer (listen online here).

Tickets can be purchased here between $24-$36.

Undoubtedly I will not be in attendance and there's a strong likelihood you won't either, but fortunately CBC Radio 2 is the Art of Time Ensemble's official partner so the concert should be recorded for future broadcast.

Also hailing from the snowy north shores of Canada...

...that's how Abdominal introduces fellow Canuck rapper D-Sisive on the DJ Format track 3 Feet Deep and also when I first realized Abdominal was Canadian. Though really, the hockey reference in The Hit Song should have been a dead giveaway. Today's post is all about Abdominal and a bunch of other interconnected artists from in and around the Toronto music scene.

The seeds for this post were planted when CBC Radio 3 started posting the archived streams from the show Fuse, wherein two musical acts are fused together to make new music together. What caught my eye was the combination of Abdominal with Henri Fabergé & The Adorables. I was familiar with Abdominal since he contributed raps to six tracks on DJ Format's Mature for the Mature B-Boy and If You Can't Join 'Em... Beat 'Em. On the other hand, I'd never heard of Henri Fabergé & The Adorables, though I was soon to become an instant fan.


Abdominal - T-Ode (feat. Notes to Self)
DJ Format - Vicious Battle Raps (feat. Abdominal)
Abdominal AKA Andy Bernstein hails from Toronto, a fact he proudly touts on the track T-Ode (featuring a hilariously awkward intro from Toronto mayor David Miller) from his 2007 debut solo record Escape From the Pigeon Hole. Vinyl Frontier, an earlier collaboration with partner-in-crime DJ Fase, ended up in the hands of DJ Format who was so impressed he invited Abs to the UK to work together. Soon Abdominal would make his name known internationally with his fast, clever rapping on tracks such as The Hit Song, Ill Culinary Behaviour, and Vicious Battle Raps, the latter of which was accompanied by an impressively coordinated single-shot time-shifting music video directed by Ruben Fleischer.

DJ Format - Ill Culinary Behaviour (feat. Abdominal)
DJ Fase & Abdominal - Fast Food
Abdominal - Big Track
Big Track is a hilarious rap aimed at taking advantage of a dubious promotion that paid rappers to insert Big Mac references into their lyrics. A recurring theme in Abdominal's lyrics is his penchant for food... fast food, in particular, so he was more than up for the challenge. I thought Abs made up this bizarre corporate scheme, but as it turns out he didn't. Not sure what the ad execs were expecting, but I'm sure they would have been thrilled by lyrics like: "Beef from a hundred different cows in that? Of course, you must be talking about... the Big Mac."


Henri Fabergé & the Adorables - Crawl Back
Henri Fabergé & the Adorables - O! Ella
After listening to the entire Fuse session with Abdominal, I decided to track down the self-titled debut of Henri Fabergé & The Adorables. And by track down, I mean visit their myspace site where I learned that their CD is available at various Toronto music establishments, in Japan(?), as a digital download from Zunior, or "randomly at one HMV, in Vancouver at the Robson and Burrard location". Uh, that one random HMV was sold out when I went so ordering directly from the label Fuzzy Logic Recordings was the best bet, plus mine came wrapped in a random tour poster with some stickers too. The Adorables are a musical collective from Toronto with a rotating door of musicians from several bands including The Bicycles, Born Ruffians, Spitfires & Mayflowers, Woodhands, and more. The band has held up to 13 members at times (heck, probably more), though a constant is gangleader Henri Fabergé AKA Henry Fletcher. Their music is usually described as catchy or poppy, and I'll add infectiously sing-a-longable. Oh yeah, Laura Barrett's also an Adorable, which is just bonus incentive.


Abdominal & Henri Fabergé and the Adorables - Move Your Feet [originally by Junior Senior]
You can listen to the Abdominal and Adorables Fuse session here, though one song that's conspicuously missing from the playlist is a cover song. And what a glorious unexpected combo it is: Junior Senior's Move Your Feet, a song that I first became a fan of due to its awesomely lo-fi animated music video. Major kudos to Abdominal for likely being the only rapper to have name dropped Ian Hanomansing and Peter Mansbridge. Add a sample of Corey Hart's Sunglasses at Night and you've got a recipe for a cover that should bring smiles to any Canadian listener. Well, smiles to any listener really, but bonus smiles for Canucks! By the way, Mansbridge fans should check out an amusing clip from The Mercer Report video archives (click on the last clip from episode 11).


Laura Barrett - Deception Island Optimists Club [from Ursula EP]
Abdominal - Pedal Pusher
Laura Barrett was a nominee for the first annual SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize in 2006 for Deception Island Optimists Club, which appeared on her Earth Sciences EP and was later re-recorded on her follow-up EP Ursula released a couple months ago. Coincidentally, the SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize for 2007 was awarded to none other than Abdominal for Pedal Pusher, a song about his days as a bike courier for which he attributes his ability to rap for long sequences without taking a breath (further elaborated on his track Breathe Later). Unintentionally good timing on this post... Laura Barrett is featured on this Saturday's Fuse with The Hylozoists.


Abdominal - Open Relationship (feat. Elizabeth Shepherd)
On this candid track, Abs raps about an unorthodox relationship "experiment" with now ex-girlfriend and Do Right Music labelmate, jazz phenom Elizabeth Shepherd. Apparently that didn't work out, but they still remained on friendly terms, recording the track together nearly a year after the fact.


Elizabeth Shepherd Trio - The Price is Right [originally composed by Edd Kalehoff]
Elizabeth Shepherd Trio - Beauty & The Beast [originally written by Alan Menken/Howard Ashman]
Elizabeth Shepherd's 2006 debut Start to Move, nominated for a Juno for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, closes with a cool scat cover of The Price is Right theme, in which she also does her album thank-yous. I first heard a sample of The Beauty & The Beast cover on the Do Right Music myspace site and I knew I had to find it. Unfortunately, it's only on a Japanese compilation called Modal Jazz Loves Disney curated by Sunaga Tatsuo, which is generally pricey and/or unavailable. This version is ripped from a radio stream that was playing a vinyl record, so it's not great quality but it'll have to do for now. Luckily I know a couple people heading to Japan in the next few months that I intend to send on an errand (hint, hint).


Jaymz Bee & The Royal Jelly Orchestra - Fly Like an Eagle (feat. Elizabeth Shepherd) [originally by Steve Miller Band]
If you thought Seal finished off Fly Like an Eagle with his cover from the NBA/Looney Tunes movie mash-up Space Jam, definitely take a listen to this smooth groove cover. On the Price is Right track, Elizabeth Shepherd gives a shout-out to Jaymz Bee and the RJO who she collaborated with on Toronto Launch Pad, a collection of covers performed by the RJO with various featured vocalists. An early version of Elizabeth Shepherd's Start to Move is the only non-cover on there. Presumably the album served its purpose, helping to launch Shepherd into the limelight. More good timing on this post... her sophomore album Parkdale comes out next Tuesday!


Jaymz Bee & The Royal Jelly Orchestra - Sunglasses at Night (feat. John Southworth) [originally by Corey Hart]
Before Richard Cheese started lounging up contemporary songs, Jaymz Bee and the Royal Jelly Orchestra were giving the lounge treatment to Canadian hits like You Oughta Know, Superman's Song, Safety Dance, and more on 1997's Cocktail: Shakin' and Stirred. A 2002 follow-up Sub Urban featured lounge hip-hop hits. Currently Jaymz Bee is a host on JAZZ.FM91, a jazz station based in Toronto. In fact, my teenage cousin in T.O. was a guest host with Jaymz Bee twice last year... so there's my Kevin Bacon connection to Abdominal and DJ Format!

Concert Alert for Torontonians

There's a sure-to-be-great show shaping up in Toronto on June 19th. A fundraiser for The Blue Marble Music Fund, the line-up already includes Hawksley Workman, Sarah Harmer, Great Lake Swimmers, and Fong Songs faves Danny Michel and Serena Ryder. $30 + fees at Maple Music, Ticketmaster, and at Soundscapes and Criminal Records in Toronto. Jealous!

DJ Format Unsampled

Alright, now that I've got all that Raconteurs business out of my system, here's a post that's long overdue. I first caught wind of UK hip hop artist DJ Format about 5 years ago when the music video for We Know Something You Don't Know made the internet rounds. Breakdancing mascots is all you need to know. It wasn't until a couple years later when I saw the music video for 3 Feet Deep and began to take notice. After some, uh, "scrounging" I listened to a few more DJ Format tracks and liked what I heard, even though I didn't (and still don't) really listen to any hip-hop or rap. I eventually bought his debut album Music For The Mature B-Boy when I was in England a couple years ago and several tracks have become constants on the ol' iPod playlists. None moreso than The Hit Song featuring Canadian rapper Abdominal (more on him next time). The Hit Song can be summed up by its self-referential chorus:

"I use the word 'hit' in many sen-tences,
Listen how many 'hits' I manage to condense in the first verse,
In the second, I'm trying to rhyme as many words I can find that sound like 'hit',
In the last third verse, hit-related metaphors.
Example: I write more hits than Matt's got hit samples."
(Note: those are the lyrics as best as I can figure since other transcriptions available online aren't overly helpful)

DJ Format - The Hit Song (feat. Abdominal)
It's catchy, it's funny, and it's perhaps too clever by half, but then again, part of the fun lies in deciphering its lyrics.

Similar to digging up cover originals, I find it fascinating to uncover the sources of sampled music whether it's learning the sources of Fatboy Slim's big hits (check out A Break from the Norm for an earful) or breaking down Deee-Lite's Groove is in the Heart into its constituent parts. Naturally, after numerous listens to The Hit Song I began to wonder about the James Brown-like coda that ends the song. What I found out was that it's a sample of the song Hit Record performed by soul singer Mickey Murray, who indeed sounds remarkably like the Godfather of Soul. And as it turns out, Hit Record itself is a cover song, originally performed by Brooks Benton.

Mickey Murray - Hit Record [originally by Brook Benton]
Brook Benton - Hit Record
The song is a cheeky step-by-step guide on how to make a hit record. Ironically, I don't think any of these songs were really hits.

Razzy Bailey - I Hate Hate
Another ingredient that finds its way into The Hit Song is a sample from this anti-hate anthem by Razzy Bailey. If you're well-familiar with The Hit Song you'll find a nice surprise in the middle of this track.


DJ Format - Here Comes the Fuzz
Also from Music For The Mature B-Boy is the instrumental track Here Comes the Fuzz, which is built entirely around a repeated bass riff that's heavy on the fuzz.

The Quartertones - Here Comes the Fuzz (Remix) [originally by DJ Format]
Though labeled as a remix, this b-side to The Hit Song single is a cover of Here Comes the Fuzz performed by Toronto-based jazz/funk/fusion group The Quartertones.

Now that you've given Here Comes the Fuzz a spin, you've got to be asking yourself where that funky riff originates... and would you believe, it's from The King himself, Elvis Presley. Change of Habit is from the 1969 Elvis film of the same name, in which The King stars as an inner city doctor that falls for one of his nurses, who unbeknownst to him is secretly a nun. So many things seem wrong with that synopsis, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time! Mary Tyler Moore stars as the undercover nun and for Elvis, this would be his final acting role. Now you know where the Fuzz came from.
Elvis Presley - Change of Habit



A couple bonus tracks:
DJ Format - Stealin' James, pt. 1
DJ Format - Stealin' James, pt. 2
DJ Format cuts and pastes together James Brown samples on these tracks, two sides of a 12" vinyl tribute released by TD Records. In this interview, he says he doesn't mind if people download it for free since he made it for fun and the record itself is "a totally dodgy release and breaks all copyright laws". That said, both DJ Format albums Music For The Mature B-Boy and If You Can't Join 'Em... Beat 'Em are definitely worth owning if you dig these tracks.

Hey, if you have any more insight into DJ Format samples, give me a shout or drop a comment. I'd love to know the origins of Last Bongo in Brighton.

Border Song addendum

One more Border Song for you that needs to be heard: an Italian cover by singer Mia Martini. Yes, it is one of my favourite Elton John songs if you're wondering why I have all these covers.
Mia Martini - Io straniera (Border Song) [originally by Elton John]

Border Songs

Where are you going?
Seattle.
What is the purpose of your visit?
I'm going to a concert.
A what?
Um, a rock concert.
You're in a band?
Uh, no.
Where is this show?
Uh, Neumo's or Neomo's... something like that.
Where's your ticket?
Uh, I'm supposed to pick it up from the venue.
You got a receipt or something?
Uh, no. To get in, I just need a photo ID and my credit card.
Who're you going to see?
The Raconteurs.
The Racon-what?
Raconteurs.
How do you spell that?
R-A-C-O--
R. [starts typing]
A-C
R-A-C.
O-N-T
Racont.
E-U-R-S
[pause]
Consolers of the Lonely?
Yeah, that's them.
Are you lonely?
Uh, no.
[repeats] Consolers of the Lonely.
Yeah, that's the name of their new album.
Okay, we're finished here.

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

Aretha Franklin - Border Song [originally by Elton John]
Eric Clapton - Border Song [originally by Elton John]
Diana Krall - Border Song [originally by Elton John]
Boko Suzuki - Border Song [originally by Elton John]

The White Stripes - Tennessee Border (live) [originally by Hank Williams]
The Raconteurs - Headin' For the Texas Border (live at Austin City Limits) [originally by The Flamin' Groovies]

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

Where do you live?
Vancouver.
Where you coming from?
Seattle.
When did you arrive?
Yesterday.
What for?
A concert.
Who was playing?
The Raconteurs.
How much were tickets?
Uh, to the show?
Yeah.
$25.
This $37 you have marked here-- for those posters you got there?
Yes.
Next!

Raconteurs Tonight Too!Part 2: Brendan Benson

The first time I remember hearing about Brendan Benson was when Pitchfork listed their top 5 music videos of 2005. That list first exposed me to Jason Forrest's wicked (song and video) War Photographer, re-introduced me to Supergrass via Low C, and introduced me to Brendan Benson via the video for Cold Hands, Warm Heart with cute and vaguely sadistic stick figure animations. BB generally gets the short shrift when people talk about The Raconteurs. Despite having three solo albums and co-writing almost all of the material on both Raconteurs albums, I guess he can't escape the media calling them Jack White and some other guys. Judging from this Newsweek interview, it's a wee bit tiresome for him. But whatcha gonna do? He's already recorded his next solo album, but it won't be released until probably next year once all this Raconteurs business is out of the way.

Brendan Benson - Folk Singer
Brendan Benson - Good to Me

The White Stripes - Folk Singer [originally by Brendan Benson]
The White Stripes - Good to Me [originally by Brendan Benson]

The Mood Elevator - Money City Maniacs [originally by Sloan]
Now this here is actually the impetus for these last two posts. Saturday being Record Store Day, I paid a visit to Zulu Records and bought a handful of CDs including a compilation called One Scene to Another: Plumline Record's Tribute to Canadian Indie Rock. Now really, with a title like that who could resist? From the CD insert: "our favorite Detroit bands from the present cover songs by our favorite Canadian bands from the past. Hope you enjoy." The Canadian bands being covered include Sloan, Joel Plaskett, Thrush Hermit, Jale, The Super Friendz, Eric's Trip (former band of Julie Doiron), The Hardship Post, The Inbreds, Hayden, Plumtree, and Zumpano (former band of A.C. Newman, frontman of The New Pornographers). Note: this album can be bought online here.

Admittedly, I bought this just to hear a Money City Maniacs cover, so imagine my surprise when I skim the liner notes and see that Brendan Benson is credited for "snaps, backing vocals" on the track. As it turns out, Brendan Benson was also in a band called The Mood Elevator, a re-arranged line-up of Brendan Benson & The Wellfed Boys. Nifty.

Terry Reid - Rich Kid Blues
The Raconteurs - Rich Kid Blues [originally by Terry Reid]
Of course you should have Consolers of the Lonely already, but if not, check out this cover of Terry Reid's Rich Kid Blues. Sound a little Zeppelin-esque to you too? Reid was Jimmy Page's first choice to be the lead singer of his new band after The Yardbirds, but he declined and suggested someone by the name of Robert Plant...

Terry Reid - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) [originally by Sonny Bono; performed by Cher]
The Raconteurs - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (live) [originally by Sonny Bono; performed by Cher]
The Raconteurs played this a bunch on their last tour (including on Austin City Limits). Perhaps Terry Reid's version is partially responsible for that cover choice...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Record Store Day!

For the record, today's a holiday. Record Store Day! Celebrating the existence of independent record stores across the US and Canada, and probably elsewhere. Hundreds of special events going on: sales, free stuff, prizes, exclusive merchandise, and such. You and I know both know the first artist that comes to mind when you think "indie record store"... Metallica! Um, yeah, so they're kicking off the festivities with a in-store signing and fan meet & greet at Rasputin Music in Mountain View (near San Francisco).

450+ record stores are participating in the events. Lots of local bands performing in-store. An incomplete sample of artists involved can be read here and here.

• If you live in Massachusetts and have a Newbury Comics near you, check the list of events here. Coolest in my mind, at the Newbury Comics in Cambridge, Brian Viglione and Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls will be acting as "employees" between 2 and 5pm. In addition to helping out at check-out, Brian will be acting as store DJ and Amanda will be painting a picture that will be given away at the end of the day. Coming soon from the Dresden Dolls: No, Virginia a collection of b-sides and newly recorded versions of songs left off Yes, Virginia. There's a pre-order contest here. Grand prize? A wicked-looking toy piano (a baby baby grand), a copy of their new songbook The Virginia Companion (literally a Dresden Dolls tome), and pair of tickets to every Dolls concert in North America and Europe that you can physically get yourself to. 5 runners-up get all of the above minus the piano. Nice.
  
  
• Concerts all day at Sunrise Records (click for full line-up) on Yonge Street in Toronto. Hey, at 4:30pm, Fong Songs fave Laura Barrett will be performing there.
  
  
• Check here for events across Canada as compiled by the folks at CBC Radio 3. Here in Vancouver, I've heard there's a few indie record places to check out: Red Cat Records, Zulu Records, and Scratch. Since moving here I've only been to Red Cat which is probably closest, but today I may just do a little circuit to see what's going down. Unbelievably it hailed and snowed last night-- hopefully it warms up soon.

So yeah, support your local record stores. Sure it's all fun to download and stuff, but nothing beats flipping through stacks of CDs and finding gold.

Record Store Day Grab Bag!
Mates of State - Starman [originally by David Bowie]
Long Goners - Ball & Biscuit [originally by The White Stripes]
The Bad Plus - Velouria [originally by The Pixies]
Metallica - Stone Cold Crazy [originally by Queen]
Furillo - The Final Countdown [originally by Europe]
Cansei de ser Sexy - One Way or Another/Teenage Kicks
[originally by Blondie/The Undertones]