Cover Of The Day - "All Of The Lights"

Hey Kanye.

Sweet video dood.

Kanye makes great visual companions to his tracks; see POWER, or Jesus Walks, or Heard Em' Say, or Diamonds From Sierra Leone, or Heartless, or Good Life, or Stronger, or Love Lockdown.

How bout that mini-movie he made this year?

He's good. And I've already thrown out my praise for this album. So, i'll leave it at that.

But how do you cover a Kanye West piece? Rap is hard enough to cover well, as it is. Throw in Kanye's sick production skills and generally top notch instrumentation, you just about have to copy it or be far different from the original. Well, I suppose if you take the vocals out, a lot can happen.

So, that's exactly what the Portland Cello Orchestra did. It's only natural that the song could make a beautiful instrumental piece, the first minute of the song already is. the PCO adds some nice little twists though, what with the unexpectedly rocking tribal drums and some really beautiful harmonies between the strings. There's even a brief appearance from another famous music figure in there.

"MJ gone. That n**** dead"

Portland Cello Project "All of the Lights" by killrockstars

CCEEELLLOOOOOO SSSSSOOOOLLLLLOOOO!!!!!!!!!freebird

The Incredible Catalogue of PS 22

I feel like kids choirs can get gimmicky, real quick. When used in power ballads, it can get so sentimental it will make you want to eat babies. When used in virtually any other context, it can be downright creepy. Sure there are exceptions (Passion Pit(they used this choir), but generally, children's choir are a last desperate reach from a fading star.

So, what happens when you take out the rock star?

Public School 22 in Staten Island, New York has choir of boys and girls just as talented as any ole' kid you can find down the street. Their passion, however, is extraordinary. The kids have invaded youtube over the last few years with covers of radio hits and indie gems. And while they do occasionally back an artists here or there, the kids are usually the rock star; it's PS 22's world, the stars merely accent it. Here are a few of the great songs they've recorded.

"Lisztomania" - Passion Pit

"Round and Round" - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

"Zebra" - Beach House

"Kids" - MGMT

They've got some pretty cool guests too.

"One Day" - PS 22 with Matisyahu

"Put Your Hands Up" - PS 22 with Kylie Minogue

"This Christmas" - PS 22 with Common

Sound check with Crowded House

It's a real group project here. The teacher deserves teacher of a life time, and is reason enough for music programs in schools today. You can see the kids give it their all every time they open their mouth. It's a really amazing thing that has happened out of sheer pasion for music, and these kids are truly inspirational. I don't throw that word around much, so.....real talk.

I'll leave you with this video of the choir accepting a personal invitation from Anne Hathaway to perform at the Oscars this year.

Cover Of The Day - "Reptilia" and "Heart In a Cage"

Good afternoon world.

Recent events have led me to start getting in to The Strokes. I always knew that they were a good little catchy band with a ton of critical hype (at least for the first album), but I've gotta admit, they surpassed even what I had expected. I even liked the last album, which got slammed by a ton of people. The first two songs are some of their best work.

There were two cuts, however, that I've known for quite a while. The first song, "Heart In a Cage", started out as a Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers song to me. It was on How To Grow A Woman From The Ground, and it didn't really go out of its way to give credit to Julian Casablancas and gang. I'm sure its in the fine print somewhere.

Therefore, I'm going to act like its a Punch Brothers song first. It's the better one, anyway.

Chris Thile - Heart in a Cage (The Strokes Cover) by wereofftherails

The Strokes original luckily paved the way for the great song above, but it really is one of my least favorite by them. It lacks the energy and creative guitar licks that make the band so great. I really like the lyrics though.

The second Strokes song I heard Thile take on like a champ was "Reptilia", which was already my favorite song from the band. The chorus emanates this caged energy; like a hurricane in a box.

Now, try it bluegrass style.

As you can hear, they only do it live. I really like that too, because it leaves a huge incentive to go to the shows. Last time I saw these guys, they played Radiohead's Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box. It was amazing.

Cover Of The Day - Halo

It's a classic. Well, not really, but Beyonce's (Not Kelly Clarkson's) hit Halo has found it's way into quite a few artists creative little hands. Something about it's infectiously catchy chord structure has attracted artists from across the genre board.

The original, although not life changing, was a pretty great billboard hit. I don't really know what else to say about, and I mean really, you know it, so why should I try.

102 Beyonce - Halo by hectorbuena

Florence and The Machine gave the song a try on BBC and did a pretty terrible job with it. I mean, they copied the instrumentation pretty much completely from the original, and Florence sounds worse than Wing. I still don't really understand her appeal.



MAJOR LAZER! I know it's not an exact cover, but it's pretty close. Gotta love you some Lazer. Yes, I know, this is the exact instrumentation too, and no, he can't sing well at all, but his name is Major Lazer. When you've got a name so packed with absolute incredibilitude, you can do whatever the f*^% you want to. I would kill to see this act in concert. Kill.

Halo (Beyonce Cover)- Major Lazer by brycool

Finally, just when all hope for a decent cover was lost, ceo, half of Swedish electronica pop duo The Tough Alliance, has delivered a pretty unique intriguing version of this pop power house. Using his own mix, ceo turns the solemn drown-in-love sound of the original, and makes it hazy dreamscape with swirling synths and echoing vocals. It's pretty refreshing from the others.

Ceo - Halo (Beyonce Cover) by handclapmovement

P.S. There are a trillion youtube covers of this, and not one of them is worth anything. Go look for yourself.

P.P.S.

BEYONCE IS HAWT!

Cover Of The Day - Graceland

Kristian Mattson, known more frequently by his stage name The Tallest Man On Earth, continues to mesmerize me with his astoundingly simple-yet-effective take on folkd music, never utilizing more than two instruments for a single song; some strings and his grinding vocals. He's recently released an EP titled Someitmes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird that slows the pace down from his the frenetic pickin' on The Wild Hunt. In honor of the new set of songs, I've got a Paul Simon cover with a feel quite opposite of the original.



The original Graceland is a bouncing ditty that finds Paul Simon revelling and reflecting on life love and the universal appeal of Graceland. When the lyrics grow darker and more introspective, the music is there to pick you up and keep a light on the situation. The song doesn't ever really strays from it's afro-beat boogy, and I can't exactly attatch myself to the meaning completely, simply because I don't feel that I completely understand it, but the words are beautiful none the less.



Where Paul Simon's Graceland feels like an open-roaded family vacation, The Tallest Man On Earth's version plays like it belongs on a trip to a funeral for a close friend. The simple repeating banjo licks somberly ring with a lonely reverb that is hopeful, but troubled at the same time. I love the fact that Matsson has really flipped the emotional spectrum upside down, while still maintaining the philosphical integrity the original glowed with.

The five track EP is a nice addition to Matsson's repertoire, and I eagerly await new albums from both of these artists due out in the next year or two.

Cover of the Day - Big River

Remember the good old days when everyone would sit around the 10 inch black and white television and watch the Grand Ole' Opry? Me neither, but it sounds like it would be swell. There's a soft place in my heart for great country music by the likes of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings. Most importantly, I love Johnny Cash. His music never loses its bold country attitude, and some of the recordings he did at the end of his life are especially moving. Because Johnny's music is so universally loved, millions of people have covered him from the likes of U2 to local bands who played my high schools battle of the bands(I'm looking at you There Ain't No Such Thing As Free Lunch). And who would assist in one of the best Johnny Cash covers of ever? None other than Jack White Himself.

"Big River" finds Johnny Cash being Johnny Cash at his finest. That classic twangin' Martin, the steady chugging bass line, and Luther Perkins' astoundingly simple yet innovative guitar solo. Johnny tells depressing story of a man following his love up and down the south, by river, only to end up giving up on her in the end. It's really a pretty depressing song when the lyrics are separated from the tune, but when they merge, it emits this bad ass manly grit to his suffering that is exclusive the man himself. Watch him in his environment.




Today's cover comes from The Secret Sisters, a duo preserving the art of old time country singing through their creepy vocal precision and huge band of folk country friends. T-Bone Burnett produced their last album, following suit with his outstanding award winning O Brother, Where Art Though soundtrack. Jack White lends his signature electronic grit guitar between verses and absolutely rocks the house with it. It's like Big River in hell, all centering around the frightening doll-like voices nailing some of the tightest harmonies I've ever heard. The whole thing is a big pile of dirty bang recorded through Jack White's record company Third Man Records; and while you can buy the single on iTunes, it's worth it to pitch in the extra two dollars and get the vinyl, because honestly, this music is meant to be heard through the needle of a record player.

The Secret Sisters - Big River by the ruckus

Cover Of The Day-We Can Work It Out/Superstition

Is Stevie Wonder not the coolest guy ever? Seriously, one hour with him would probably make my life complete. The guy not only plays with the best of em, he's been doing it dominantly for around 40 years. While his best material may be lingering in the past, he still puts out solid albums every once in a while, and that takes some cajones.

Perhaps a testament to Stevie remarkable talent, Stevie has twice taken two songs by artists other than himself, and arguably, made them bigger. And with the Beatles being one of the original bands, this is no easy feat.

The Beatles's classic "We Can Work It Out" is a jangly tambourine encumbered plea for love that peculiarly contains verses in a major key, and a chorus in a minor key. Perhaps you won't understand the significance there unless you are a music nerd, but I don't know any other song ever like that. It's a doomed path; an impossible task, a musical Lord Of The Rings. But it works, beautifully. Odder still is the sudden tempo jump, but it's ok. It's The Beatles, so you don't question it.

I can't find The Beatles due to their holier-than-internet copywriting ninjas who don't allow them to be heard anywhere. Here' s a decent version by Paul.

Stevie Wonder see's the song in slightly more rose-coloured glasses.(I swear, I just wrote that without thinking about it, but I now mean it as a pun) He maintains the strangely captivating wonder of the minor chords, but he spices the whole mix up with a faster tempo throughout, and a butt-load of organ. It transforms the light jolly guitar jam to a heavy soulful hymn on a hot Sunday morning. The real genius in the track is the perfect backing vocals. Like some of the classics, (i.e. The Supremes, Aretha, and one of my personal favorites, The Temptations) Stevie gets the art of the perfect backing vocals; light and punctual. With the voices swirling in the background, Stevie may not have taken the song higher than The Beatles on the charts, but if you say the name of the song today, I bet you you will hear more Stevie than the Fab Four.

The second of our pair of songs is kind of tricky. Initially, Jeff Beck wrote it. That's down in the books. But, Stevie had a big hand in it. So, through collaboration, they made this song, and Wonder kind of took it and ran with it. I have heard from some that there were some politics in the whole ordeal, and others say Beck willingly gave it to Wonder. Either way, Wonder got the payload here. Beck's song is a slower grungier romp through funkytown that preaches the some blues some rock and some early signs of metal (in the drumming). It's good, but it's not as good as Stevie's.

Stevie once again fixed this baby up, this time with a more synthisized futuristic (for it's time) atmosphere. Lighter guitars, and a much tighter drum beat keep the song on the wire, until it breaks loose in the chorus. The horns add an incredibly deep layer, as well, highlighting the brilliant intricacies in the guitar riffs. As always, Stevie's voice is the headliner here, as I'm sure his show this week will be. It's tried and true, seemingly immune to change, and unlike any other then (70's) or now.

Cover Of The Day-To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)

"To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)" has been floating up in my cranium for quite some time now. I first heard Dave Rawlings Machine play it at an in-store performance at the Disc Exchange, and he dedicated the song to his old friend Ryan Adams, but seeing as the song was a bit of a downer, I thought maybe "old friend" was sarcasm.

Now, I'm in the middle of going through this book; 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die. Lo and behold, Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker is right towards the front of the book, so I piece together the album on Grooveshark, and begin to listen. The gibbering voices at the very beginning strike me funny. I notice that the title song is called "(Argument With Dave Rawlings Concerning Morrissey)", which leads me to believe that they are actually friends. Then, the first track, "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)". reveals the whole situation to me. So, to clarify,Ryan Addams, Heartbreaker-"To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)", and Dave Rawlings Machine, A Friend Of A Friend- "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)". Lucky for everyone, they are both great.

Ryan Addam's song is a slow churning acoustic guitar jam with a gritty Southern percussive pace-maker, maintaining the same shuffle step throughout the song's entirety. Ryan Addams goes everywhere from screaming, to melodic whispers in the span of two minutes, and the whole romp is a sound to be heard. It's an outstanding song, as well as the first I've ever heard from Ryan Addams. That's right, I never heard anything from him or Whiskeytown. It's a lovely start, and this album is top-notch, just four songs in.

Dave Rawlings takes the Southern drawl from the original, and puts it under a microscope, taking out the refined acoustic guitar and the drum beat, and replacing them with fiddles and wash-boards. The newly backwoods version has it's own beauty very different from the original, a feat Dave Rawlings manages to do again on the album with his shortened version of Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer". Seeing as Dave only has one official album, he will probably give the song a twirl at Bonnaroo, and I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

Cover Of The Day-Allison

Elvis Costello is one of the many artists I grew up hearing from my Dad. I think he's seen him a couple times and I know he owns plenty of records. Costello is one of the artists who I have heard, and generally like, but I don't fall in love with enough to listen to him a bunch. Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Yes are three of the main criminal offenders (Yes, I know. I want to be a music journalist and I don't know that much Bob Dylan. I'm working on it.) I respect the living daylights out of these guys, but I wouldn't travel more than an hour to go see them live.

There is one Costello song that has always sparked an interest for me, though. "Allison" from Elvis' My Aim Is True is a classic love song. Solid guitar licks and very realistic lyrics cement the song into its place in everyones life. Honestly, "Allison" is more of a plead, a cry for a woman, rather than a two way love fest. But the song never leaps from buildings to proclaim love. It's simple, like a letter, or a call on the phone. Elvis' voice, one that does not pass the usual test for pop vocals, further the everyday setting, as if anyone could be singing the song. I could listen to this song 40 times and not get sick of it, and I have the attention span of a tennis racket.

The other day, whilst blurbing this very song on the ol' Facebook, I good friend of mine mentioned a cover of it by Everything But The Girl. All I can tell you about these guys are what I can her in the song which is that the lead singer is a girl, and theres at least one other person in the band. The songs pretty good though. I think it shoots a little too intimate for the words, but I still like the hushed quietness the band instills in the song. Plus, the singer has some legit pipes on her. Nice harmonics about halfway through the song add a nice touch too. Check Check Check em out.

Elvis Costello

Everything But The Girl

Cover Of The Day-A Change Is Gonna Come

Some of the best music in history, is music backed with raw emotion; music with enough energy and life flowing through it's notes that you can honestly feel what the song is conveying. It's the ultimate quest of the singer-songwriter, and it is one of the hardest feats on this earth. Ray Lamontagne has done it for me. The Who has done it for me. Heck, even Dave Barnes has done it for me. Now, i can add a new one to that list.

"I was born by the river, in a little tent. Oh, and just like the river, I've been running ever since. It's been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come."

I was reading Pitchfork's top 200 songs of the 1960's and sitting high at the number three spot was Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come". Immediately after its's tremendous string swell, I felt sadness. I felt anguish and pain, but with a tinge of optimism. Maybe not for the present to ever see, but somewhere in the future, "a change is gonna come". Sam Cooke sang a song so powerful that I felt what he felt. The recording, in some ways, was the result of the death of his 18 month old son Vincent, and while i've never had a child that I know of, I could feel that pain in his voice. It's terribly amazing.

"It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die, cause I don't know whats up there beyond the sky. It's been a long time coming, but I know a change gon' come."

While Ben Sollee doesn't come close to the intensity of the moment in his version of the song, he gives it a very fitting modern twist. Instead of a slow ballad, the song is a driving jive, backed almost solely on the low barreling cello Ben is known for. Ben scoots the song along, spending less time on looking to the past, and act's like the all-knowing mother, warning her children into the right thing. The folk is very fitting, and Ben plays one of the best versions of the impossible to live up to Same Cooke classic.

Sam Cooke

Ben Sollee

Cover Of The Day-Happy Together/Stand By Me

I'm headed to Disney World over spring break because I really love Disney princesses.

Getting that tatted on my back one o' these days.

Gotcha! My choir taking our trip there, which means we have to perform once. Believe me, the last thing I would like to do is sing typical choir songs to uninterested tourists in the middle of Epcot, but what can you do. My director wanted my quartet to do two songs; the classic "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King, and the Turtles' hit "Happy Together".

I started reading some of the notes in the back of Happy together and the arranger had listed a few bands who had covered the song, the most important of which being Frank Zappa. Lightbulbs flashed in my head and a few minutes ago, I looked it up. Meh. It's pretty much the same song. However, determined not to leave empty handed, I started looking up covers on Grooveshark. Eventually I ran across English rocker Johnny Panic's version of the song. The song takes new direction, following more of a slow punk rock song with big guitar melodies and hammering drum spurts, starkly contrasting the pretty mellow vocally based original. Johnny Panic sort of sounds like Ted Leo, who is basically my dad's BFF thanks to The Best Show on WFMU. It's kind of musical experiment, but it has a positive outcome.

Then, somewhere in the middle of that first paragraph, I thought that there had to be some great covers of Stand By Me, and, believe it or not, I WAS RIGHT AGAIN! Iz crazy, I know. I find the original absolutely incredible. Old time R&B at it's best. Ben E. King's voice was powerful, but absolutely calming to the core. If you've never heard of it, don't talk to me. After a little more research on Grooveshark, I ran across "Stand By Me", by Ry Cooder. Now, I'm not going to lie, I was a little intimidated by the name; pictures of Big & Rich raping the song to death with their twangy fists rushed to my head. However, I was pleasantly surprised, right off the bat. An accordion sets the tone of a soft Secilian lullaby, floating over the streets of Little Italy in the wee small hours of the mountain. After the intro, the song breaks into a slow groove and Ry croons through the song, adding a little bit more ease and relaxation to the already soothing ballad.

"Happy Together"

"Stand By Me"

Cover Of The Day-Crazy/To Love Somebody

I'm still in a Ray Lamontagne mood. Actually, I had gotten out of it; the sun was starting to prove it's existence again, temperatures were climbing from miserable to bad, and I stepped outside of my house long enough to do some physical activity. I was starting to break out The Beach Boys, and as soon as I uploaded Pet Sounds, I woke up to snow this morning, spiraling me back into my cold grounded folk funk.

I had a little bit of a flub in my review last week. I had heard Ray before and not given him the light of day. It wasn't until I saw him in concert that I really connected. I lost my concert virginity to Ray, in the dark corner of The Bijou Theatre's box seats. It's kinda like losing your regular virginity to... eh, I has don't know, Anne Hathaway....and Frieda Pinto....and Zooey Deschanel. F T W. Anyway, somewhere in the show, Lamontagne played his version of the Gnarls Barkley's hit "Crazy". Ray manages to take a mediocre song, overplayed on the radio, MTV, and my eighth grade dance, and injects it with a soul. The new backbone gives the song a beautiful sense of remorse, focusing on nostalgic days of old friends and love, instead of the zany gibberish Barkley intended the song to fall into.

As I mentioned in my review of Lamontagne's Trouble (See the article directly below this one), the man is a deplorable public speaker. He walked up to the mic before his last song, and said something along the lines of

"Thanks everyone for, uh, coming out to, uh the show tonight.(Ten second pause/guitar fiddle) It's been great( More pause) I'm going to play one of my favorite songs . It's by the Bee Gees."

Then Ray played the song that inspired me to hunt down covers ever since. Ray's version of "To Love Somebody" inspired me to pick up a guitar. I learned to play because of his version of the song. I remember thinking, "That is so simple, and so easy to learn, but holy wow is so powerful." I was knocked back by it. I don't have the greatest version of it, although the great Damien Rice plays with him. Ray started a lot, musically, for me. He bridged me to think on my own, and appreciate what I want to appreciate. I owe him a lot. Here, as usual, are the originals, followed by the covers.

"Crazy"

Also, for kicks and giggles, here is the amazing SNL sketch, "The Barry Gibb Talk Show". Please enjoy it as much as I did.

Cover Of The Day-Hallelujah

In 1984, Leonard Cohen wrote the famous "Hallelujah", and later everyone in the world decided to play it. Mark my words. Everyone. The original is obviously, very good, but also very basic. It's got this weird similarity to "We Are The World" with the choir in the back. I don't want to diss it much though, because it is a very good song, especially in the lyrics. Anyways, I'm going to post as many covers as I can find, and if you know another one I missed, leme know, and I will throw it on the "Hallelujah" wall.

The original. The reason for this whole kit and caboodle.

This version has been called the definitive version of the song. It launched Jeff Buckley, and compelled everyone after to cover the song.

This one's got a lot more gung-ho to it. It drives a lot more than others, as if Billy Joel is playing it in some crowded pub in New Jersey.

Imogen Heap brings her usual uniqueness to the song in this strictly vocals track.

This is one of my favorites. The girl has amazing pipes.

Jason Castro popped the song back into the spot-light, sending posthumous Jeff Buckley sales through the roof. Another great vocal track.

If my credible sources (wikipedia) serve me right, this is the first cover of the song.

Another one of the more famous versions, k.d. sings with a very lounge feel, that really works well here.

I love this woman. I've come to that conclusion.

Thank god for Willie Nelson. Saddle up boys.

Leonard Cohen's favorite version of the song, for some reason I can't understand. It's better than their normal shtick though.

Instrumentation boosts this from a decent cover, to a great one.

Man,Kate Voegele's kinda hott. Oh.. yea.. the song.

Hei, en norsk N'SYNC. Norske folk er kult. I en fjord kjærlig, rå fisk spising, kald slags måte. (See a Norwegian translator)

Y mientras estamos en esto, tratemos de algo de español. Oh, espera, se me olvidó lo mucho que odio español. Nevermind.

Bono provides, quite easily, the most unique take on the song for the Leonard Cohen tribute album, Tower Of Song.

This is interesting too. Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive band. This is one of the fullest versions i've heard. It's pretty good actually.

The most recent cover is for Haiti on the Hope For Haiti Now telethon. I really like this, and I really like JT. I'm not ashamed to say it. Not so much his music, but he is a really funny person. And when you get down to it, he ain't too shabby of a singer.

That's all I have for now, but feel free to comment with your favorite version, and I will gladly post it.

Cover Of The Day-War Pigs

Don't get me wrong, I think Ozzy Osbourne is one of the dumbest rockers in history, but his band's hit "War Pigs" really rocks. Its a hard thrashing political call to cease fire in war, and it intimidates a lot more than pleads. The song opens up like a typical Doors song, with a slow groove that suddenly gives way to the stomp. The guitars turn into a ball of violent energy, rolling around and kicking everything in the balls. The drums keep the song in a jarring frame, while Ozzy did whatever it is that he does all the time.

The Flaming Lips covered the song as a part of an iTunes exclusive, and changed the steady rock for trippy techno sounds with a very sharp guitar part, like in "Icky Thump" by The White Stripes. Wayne Coyne, the bands lead singer, has an equally unique voice, this time much more grizzled and harsh than Ozzy. The Flaming Lips version is my favorite, but a lot of people would hate it. What else is new.