091211

What's It Called?

The Lost Fingers - Billie Jean

What's The Story?

The Lost Fingers are a pleasant burst of novelty from Quebec. They play well-arranged gypsy jazz covers of popular songs. Billie Jean (originally by Michael Jackson on Thriller) appears on their first commercial release, 2008's Lost In The 80's.

Who's To Blame?

A connoisseur of domestic goats.

Why ♥ It?

Take a pop-rock classic, and reimagine it with a stand up bass and two vocalists who can all sing. It probably doesn't matter what pop-rock classic, it gets serious points for novelty, and bonus points for being able to bridge from a more common taste to a seriously great genre that's a little harder to appreciate.

With that said, when I say "gypsy jazz cover of Billie Jean", knowing what both of those things entail probably gives a good mental image of what to expect in this track. I have to give props to the group for the post-breakdown part at around 3:00; they keep playing their instruments, but emulate the style of the original tune almost perfectly before smoothly transitioning back into their own take.

I wanted my closing statement to reiterate the band intro and say something about "pure novelty", but there's a lot more to this (and other Lost Fingers) tunes than just the initial delight of hearing these tunes in this format, and to dismiss it as pure novelty would be shaming the excellent performance found in this track.

090911

What's It Called?

Boysetsfire - Rocketman

What's The Story?

Boysetsfire are a generally hardcore punk band from Delaware. (Did anyone else think nothing was hardcore in Delaware?)

If you're wondering, it is indeed an Elton John cover. It's from their 7" EP Suckerpunch Training from 2001. It originally surfaced in 1972 on Elton John's Honky Château.

Who's To Blame?

Dude gives me gamerscore envy.

Why ♥ It?

Although this is a cover by a hardcore punk band, I want to differentiate it from the more well-known Me First & The Gimme Gimmes cover version. Whereas theirs picks up the pace of the song (which ruins the mood entirely in my mind), Boysetsfire keep the slow & introspective style intact for great results.

The guitar tone they use during those slow sections (the intro, for example) is absolutely to die for. It's just raw enough to give those sections an added emotion. This tone turns bright, tight and polished for the more upbeat sections, which fits that mold ideally as well.

Nathan Gray's honest and effortless vocals aren't much like Elton John, but they don't disrespect his legacy either. The background vocals on the chorus would often be out of place in this genre, but are allowed because it's fucking Rocketman, in case you hadn't noticed.

Some will still call a punk cover of this song blasphemy, but it's a novel take on a great tune that isn't afraid to be different while still respecting the song we all know and love.

081311

What's It Called?

virt - Get On The Bus

What's The Story?

virt is an online moniker for Jake Kaufman, a sound engineer and music enthusiast based in Los Angeles and best known for his takes on video game music. Get On The Bus is from Bound Together, a collection of rearranged tunes from Nintendo's classic RPG, Earthbound.

Who's To Blame?

A friend who worked on and/or with that black hole device they have in Switzerland.

Why ♥ It?

In Earthbound's storyline, there's a group called the Runaway Five, a jazzy group with a funky big band sound and a Blues Brothers personality. This track runs though many of the game's main themes reimagined as if they'd been played by a real life Runaway Five, and as such, comes out sounding like an overture.

The piano is jazzy, the organ and horns are swingin', and the bass is funky. These are all amicable traits in any jazz band-style sound, and hearing familiar midis explode into this soundscape is great. My choice favorite of this is when the tune blows into the title theme at about 2:05 in a grand, seamless fashion. Then, at around 2:50, they play the Runaway Five's theme, and it really does feel like a Blues Brothers sorta thing. This runs to a neat organ solo around 4:15, and transitions to an almost-random guitar solo that still fits the mood. The meat is definitely at the center of the tune, but the intro and outro, like any good overture, still hold interest.

I usually have a hard time telling if a remix of music from an old video game is great because it's great, or if it's great because I loved the old music when I was 10. This is one case where I have no doubt that the first of those is true, and this song is worth checking it out whether you know what's coming or not.

101210

What's It Called?

Foo Fighters - Baker Street

What's The Story?

The Foo Fighters are Dave Grohl's radio-rock-hit manufacturing band who will appeal to just about anyone besides your grandparents. The original Baker Street was performed by Gerry Rafferty (of Stealer's Wheel) in 1978. This version appears on the My Hero single as a B-side.

Who's To Blame?

A talented drummer who eschews meat.

Why ♥ It?

This song is a perfect intersection between 00s rock and 70s rock, as Dave Grohl often achieves in his endeavors. The sincere verses are left mostly untouched in the cover, while the timeless saxophone lines and solo are replaced with with an effect-filled guitar. The further the track progresses, the more hard rock thrashing liberties the Foos take with the tune, and the result is a positive vibe that's worth a headbang or two.

100410

What's It Called?

Angelique Kidjo feat. Joss Stone - Gimme Shelter

What's The Story?

Angelique Kidjo is a world music singer, described by Wikipedia as afropop, from Benin. This Rolling Stones cover is from her 2007 album Djin Djin, recognized for its impressive lineup of guest appearances.

Who's To Blame?

Alternative radio.

Why ♥ It?

I won't lie: despite being a resident of the world, I don't do world music generally. Great stuff, but generally doesn't catch. However, as awesome as the original Stones version of Gimme Shelter is, the song really does well with a bigger sound and tribal interpretation, two things this version brings to the plate. Joss Stone's vocals are chilling, and the horn work is excellent.

If I ever end up wrapping my closed-minded North American head around world music, you can point it back almost exclusively to this song.

091610

What's It Called?

Everlast - Folsom Prison Blues

What's The Story?

Everlast is a singer/songwriter out of the US, best known for his radio hit What It's Like. Lesser known, he was the frontman from House of Pain. This cover is from his album Love, War & The Ghost of Whitey Ford.

Who's To Blame?

A guy who I think might be in a major biker gang, but who I won't ask because I like having my spleen connected to whatever it is that a spleen connects to.

Why ♥ It?

There's a video making the internet rounds of Jimmy Kimmel impersonating Neil Young performing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Whether approve or disapprove, it seems that the general consensus is that the video delivers exactly what it promises. The reason I waste breath (finger-breath?) typing this is because this song can be summed up in exactly the same way: Everlast covers Folsom Prison Blues while sampling the beat from Insane In The Membrane.

...Hey, it could be worse, he could be sampling Jump Around.

091510

What's It Called?

David Palmer & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Run Like Hell

What's The Story?

This tune is one of a collection of Pink Floyd covers by this orchestra, released in 1991. David Palmer is well known as a later member of Jethro Tull.

Who's To Blame?

A late-night record shop downtown. Which may or may not have been visited at 9:30 on a Tuesday night in the rain.

Why ♥ It?

On the surface, this is neat enough as an orchestra performing Pink Floyd.

However, the spin Palmer arranges here is what's most attractive about the song. I'm not going to even pretend I have any idea what goes on or went on in Roger Waters' head, but Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd is a foreboding, intimidating song that sounds about fit for an air raid. Organized by this orchestra, it's a happy, sunny-day-in-a-field-with-butterflies-everywhere effort. Something that many of the string quartet cover albums of late seem to miss is to arrange with a hint of flair, and that's something that Palmer did to a T. See for yourself!

091010

What's It Called?

Corinne Bailey Rae - Steady As She Goes

What's The Story?

Corinne Bailey Rae is a newer singer that modernizes a soulful Motown sound, but is signed with EMI. The track was written and performed originally by Jack White's Raconteurs in 2006.

Who's To Blame?

A girl with a smile eons long.

Why ♥ It?

Keep the original catchy guitar riff and probably-thiefed-from-Joe-Jackson bass line, and throw Motown into the mix with some slowed down sections to give the song a new vibe. Why isn't Corinne Bailey Rae on the radio more than she is?

082410

What's It Called?

Shawn Colvin - Crazy

What's The Story?

Shawn Colvin had a huge critically acclaimed album in the mid-90's, going as far as to win a Grammy for song of the year. Then, her, Christina Applegate, Fiona Apple and Alicia Silverstone all boarded a bus and were never heard from again.

...Until 2007, when she released a folk cover of the smash Gnarls Barkley hit, Crazy.

Who's To Blame?

A website where people trade obscenely overvalued inky pieces of cardboard.

Why ♥ It?

Shawn Colvin delivers this song in a manner that's not unprecedented, but shines regardless. This came out around the time when acoustic guitar Youtube covers of popular songs (see: Umbrella, Hey Ya, etc.) were all the rage and approaching a critical mass of overdoneness.

However, one thing that separates Shawn Colvin from the rest is that she's not a twenty-something who did it to get a laugh out of her friends; her mainstream success didn't come until she was nearing 40 and divorced. So, one thing about her folk style is that it's hardened in the way that many heroic folk/country artists are. She's been everywhere, man. When you listen to this novel pop hit delivered by a fifty year old siren, it has an entirely new context that robs the tune of its camp novelty and morphs the lyrics into a life lesson.

Oh, and the guitar work does bright justice to the original, too.

But mostly the other stuff.

081410

What's It Called?

The Black Mages - Battle With The Four Fiends

What's The Story?

The Black Mages are a sort of progressive metal group from Japan dedicated entirely to covering tracks from the Final Fantasy series of video games. Added spice: the composer of the music, Nobuo Uematsu, plays keyboards. Battle With The Four Fiends is from their second compilation album, and originally appeared in Final Fantasy IV.

Who's To Blame?

Certainly not a white mage.

Why ♥ It?

I promise, I have an answer that isn't just campy nostalgia.

I feel context will help though; this music plays during the game when fighting major villains at plot apexes. Knowing that, consider the song sort of like a story.

The organ riff that plays 0:13-0:30 feels like an oppressive tyranny. The section that answers post transition (0:35-1:09) feels like a new hope; a heroic tale of saving the day. The next slow transition (1:11-1:20) feels like the calm before the storm, and the organ riff following conveys a sinister plot of Snidely Whiplash (1:23-1:52). THEN the transition there with the quick chords and energetic drums (1:53-2:04) feels like a back-and-forth battle between these heroic and sinister movements that bridge the gap and tell both sides of the story. Once the process is started, every section expands upon these themes somehow; I could detail the whole song like this, but I'll hold it here. Just know that this track is wonderful mood music and conjures a battle of good and evil without any visual required.

And hey, if that doesn't work for you, go for the campy nostalgia, that probably works better anyways.

080810

What's It Called?

The Sleeping - Stayin' Alive

What's The Story?

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk; I'm a woman's man, no time to talk...

(It's also from a soundtrack to a crappy movie!)

Who's To Blame?

The New York Times affect a man, ya know.

Why ♥ It?

A punk band in the vein of Rise Against or Thursday take the Beegees' classic disco tune, keep much of the disco charm, and punk up some of the lead vocals and the lead guitar riff.

If you don't already ♥ it from that description, nothing I say will make you think I'm anything other than a clown, and as such, I will keep this short as to avoid wasting any more time than I already have.

Postscript: covers are cool.

072410

What's It Called?

Earth, Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life

What's The Story?

First released by The Beatles on their 1966 album Revolver; Earth, Wind & Fire covered it and released it on their first greatest hits volume in '78.

Who's To Blame?

isohunt. Filesharing is both overrated and underrated.

Why ♥ It?

It's blogging suicide to down on The Beatles, but this song was made to funk it up. The brass section from the original is changed from a warm, sunshine sound to a cool, finger-snapping swing feel that a band like EWF sold millions with. Gone is the rugged emotion that Paul McCartney so prominently sings with in the original, and it's superceded by a casual jive that screams summer.

There are two parts that sell this track for me: the prechorus makeover that Earth, Wind & Fire give to the tune, and the bass guitar. In the original, these parts are ably written and performed, but really take a backseat to the gruff rock vocals and blaring horn section--not that there's anything wrong with that, but the funk seems to put all of the contributing sounds on an equal playing field that makes me love the song even more.

Of course, this whole post is written on the assumption of your familiarity with the original track. If you don't know any version of Got To Get You Into My Life... what are you waiting for?!

071810

Well, here goes nothing. I'm starting with a song that, depending on what day of the week you ask me, may or may not be my favorite ever written.

What's It Called?

Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower

What's The Story?
Released as a B-side on Jim's 1968 album Electric Ladyland. Written by Bob Dylan.

Who's To Blame?

Probably classic rock radio.

Why ♥ It?
Leave it to a poetic genius like Bob Dylan to throw together a wonderful riddle of lyrics with a more than competent chord progression, and then almost ruin his masterpiece by actually performing it himself. I count my blessings that Hendrix (among many others) came along to save it.
With that said, this song defies an easy description of why I love it so much. I think it's at least partially because of the simplicity; it is the quintessential classic rock hit. Guitar licks are thrown into every musical orifice, and after each verse, there's time for a solo section. However, despite the simplicity, the song doesn't really even have a chorus--sort of a standard.
I think the best example of the energy I love from this song is when, at the end of the long solo, the guitar builds the intensity for Hendrix to come back in singing the eponymous opening line in the third verse. That couple-second long moment makes the final verse feel almost triumphant, like I actually achieved something by listening to the song. I couldn't imagine how much better it would feel to actually play that--but I'm betting that could be the reason that bands like U2 & Dave Matthews Band cover it so frequently.