Local pop singer-songwriter Dan Parsons has a free track available via iTunes. It is called 'Firestarter' and it is a 'single of the week', meaning it will cost you a grand total of $0 to obtain. Obviously, you have to be using an application that represents the pinnacle of software design and development, the over-bloated iTunes (ok ok, it's acceptable on Mac, but terrible in Windows).
This is probably the first time I've ever heard a Dan Parsons track despite his name being bandied about the traps for quite some time now. It's listenable and will appeal who like indie singer-songwriters - like Ryan Adams, who coincidentally has a song with a similar name ('firecracker', as I was correctly corrected - I swear these uni assignment's are making me forgetful).
Someone mentioned on his myspace that he sounds a bit like Sebadoh, but based off this one song, I'm not sure where the comparison is exactly. Educate me, dear reader.
You can check out the official video for the song below.
One of the trials of living in the UK is the huge public interest in ‘talent shows’ such as the X-Factor. Ok, I do admit that I have had a passing interest in this years series due to the fact that this show is such a water cooler subject around my office. In its more innocent moments, the show had lulled me into a false sense of security, and articles such as this one by Steve Wells of the Guardian had caused me to re-examine my own musical prejudices and leave myself a slight more open to the oft criticised world of manufactured pop.
Not for long however. Cue the dire cover version of the already covered-to-death Cohen classic ‘Hallelujah’ by X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke. I’m not going to go into why I severely dislike this version of the song (for the record, this tune is having the soul slowly ripped out of it with every new version, ironic in a fashion considering the definition of the songs title), it has inspired me to write about some cover songs that I truly think are quite accomplished, clever, or beat new life into dead horses. Finally, I get to the point of this exposition.
Let me wax lyrical with a few cover songs that I think are quite well done.
NoFx’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Go Your Own Way’ is a typical example of something I think freshens up the song. It sure is cheeky! Fat Mike is no stranger to the art of the cover, being an intrinsic part of seminal punk cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
Two other great cover songs come immediately come to mind. Cake’s version of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” is another absolute gem while Of Montreal’s cover of the great Shins song ‘Know Your Onion’ from is something unexpected. Speaking of The Shins, they too are also not adverse to cracking out the odd cover, hitting strides with a cover of ‘Strange Powers’ by originally done by the Magnetic Fields, which you can find on their “Sea Legs” single.
Dinosaur Jr's cover of the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” deserves a mention. The live version of the song is particularly notable for J Mascis’s crazy-arse soloing at the beginning of the song and off kilter vocal delivery (I say off kilter, I probably mean ‘out of tune’ – Mascis can’t sing, but we won’t let that stand in the way of a great cover, eh?).
Irish rockers The Frames have been known to throw in a cover or two, typically melding their own songs with cover songs with similar chords/structures. They do a smashing version of Pixies “Where is My Mind” utilising the fiddle to good effect. On the subject of mashups, I recall years ago back in my dark days of liking Tool and other Maynard James Keehnan side projects witnessing A Perfect Circle performing a mashup cover utilising the verses and music from Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a madmen” with the chorus of the Cure’s Lovesong (this cover song seems extremely hard to find on the webernet). Rest assured, I actually think it was pretty well done. On many occasions, the cover version can outshine the original. Ryan Adam’s version of Wonderwall is certainly one of the more well known covers. I have to admit I prefer it to the original, but that is not saying much considering how much I dislike the original. I think the same for Jimi Hendrix’s version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”.
Of course, there are some seminally bad cover versions. I’m thinking any number of song covered by Britney Spears. The worst one I can think of is definitely Celine Dion and Anastacia doing AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”. See it here in all its unholy glory.
Truly awful.
Of course, there are thousands of good, and bad, covers songs out there. Feel free to suggest some!
‘Best of’ lists are a collective certainty in the music blogging world, and I am personally not adverse to them myself. In fact, I think it’s a great method of discovery new artists, and celebrating the lesser known genius that occasionally elude the mainstream press. Everyone enjoys spinning yarns about the aural pleasures that have popped up throughout a calendar and I’m not going to buck the trend by not doing one.
As I’ve said elsewhere before, it can take me some time to ‘discover’ acts from bygone years and I’m not going to attempt to try write an article solely devoted to my favourite new bands or records that have been released throughout 2008. Some of these relationships can be fleeting anyway. I’ll give you a concise overview of records and artists who have dominated my speakers throughout the year.
For most of the year, I’ve been on the move, traveling to several new continents. Consequently, the diverse musical tastes of fellow travellers, work pals and other new friends have facilitated my exposure to many new artists. Generally, I can sum up the year with a few bands that, while most of them I’ve heard of, I grew to appreciate. Sort of like a fine wine I guess (alternatively insert some other innocuous metaphor here).
Wilco was one band that asserted itself in my consciousness with their classic “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” album accompanying me throughout South America (I do recall with fondness traversing the Bolivian salt flats with ‘Jesus Etc’ belting from the four-wheel drive speakers). I now curse myself for once giving up the opportunity to see the band live a few years back when I was slightly ignorant of their talent.
Ryan Adams is another artist that I grew to appreciate, particularly his most recent release “Easy Tiger”. I had cycnically assumed Adams as a petulant rock star of little talent and all hype, but now I’m a bit more forgiving. Yes, he is petulant and given to some childish behaviour but he does write some rather good little ditties such as ‘Oh My God Whatever Etc’ which is a personal favourite.
Fleet Foxes (pictured above) released their sublime self-titled debut which quickly became a personal favourite. I’m sure if you’ve listened to the radio or read the music press at any stage this year then you would have heard about some of this bands work. Trust me; they deserve all the praise they have rightfully garnered.
As you may have read, I delved into some older 80s punk/alternative music, with The Replacements and their records “Let It Be” and “Pleased to Meet Me”, along with some Husker Du. R.E.M’s “Murmur” has also undergone more than a few listens.
In terms of new releases and new records, the folk pop crooning of Chad Vaangalen and Bon Iver have been a pleasure to find their way on to my stereo. On the flip side, the doom metal of Japanese rockers Boris kept the metal monster inside of me alive and kicking. On that point, I’d never thought I’d ever say this again, but my teenage romance with Metallica was wistfully re-imagined after the released of the surprisingly good “Death Magnetic” (despite what pitch-arse might say!).
Recently, The Pains of Being Pure of Heart have shaped up as a great new prospect and I eagerly await the release of their debut record scheduled for 2009. Guided by Voices, Of Montreal, the Magnetic Fields and a dozen other regulars still provided me with a lot of joy, head banging, shower-crooning and even air-drumming.
Well, that’s a typically meandering essay of my musical adventures of 2008. I hope 2009 will provide even more fresh discoveries.
