Ever wonder what lands in my inbox? I mean besides the occasional death threat or plea for help from a wealthy Ethopian prince? People send me music and it’s often quite good. Here’s a sample.
Anna Laube “Marry The Night” (Lady Gaga)
Anna Laube didn’t actually send me any of her music. Some other guy was trying to send me a link to a YouTube video of his cover of “Marry The Night” and sent me a link to Ms. Laube’s version instead. I feel sorta bad for the guy, but this song is way better than anything that other guy has done. I’m always in favor of turning overblown disco songs into quiet acoustic songs, and besides she’s got a lovely voice.
Walt Ribeiro “Seven Nation Army” (The White Stripes)
Walt Ribeiro arranges orchestral covers of popular music. And he does a very good job of it. I love the concept of arranging an intentionally low-fi song for a full orchestra. And the percussion is way better than on the original. I find the tubular bells highly amusing for some reason.
Bent Knee “Since I’ve Been Loving You” (Led Zeppelin)
Bent Knee is a band out of Boston that sent along this Zeppelin cover after they noticed that I had posted Moog Cookbook covering “Whole Lotta Love.” It’s always a treat when a band has a reason to send me something relevant. Not that there’s anything wrong with just getting stuff out of the blue (except when it’s not a cover and some lame publicist is just sending something to every music blog he can find). This version is less macho than Zeppelin’s. And how could it not be what with the 55 gallon drums of testosterone Led Zep used to bring bring with them on tour? But this version is every bit as passionate.
Algebro “I Just Called To Say I Love You” (Stevie Wonder)
The original is a favorite at wedding receptions because of its easy sentimentality. Algebro gives it a slowed-down kinda-samba treatment and there’s something about his quivering voice that makes me think that he’s drunk-dialing the girlfriend that just broke things off after several years together.
Glitter Freeze “A Girl Like You” (Edwyn Collins)
Glitter Freeze does a nice job of adding synthesizers to the guitar-driven original without turning it into a disco-tronic nightmare.
Steve,
A good, eclectic set this week, particularly the Stevie Wonder cover.
‘A Girl Like You’ is from Edwyn Collins, who continues his rehabilitation from a horrible illness, and is now recording again.
Mike
Thanks, Mike. I hate it when I have brain farts like that.
Great list this week but the Bent Knee cover of “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is extraordinary. Nobody’s rocked Zeppelin like this since the Wilson sisters.
Nice re-vamp of the site.
I really like the cheese factor amped way up in Seven Nation Army, it’s a pretty cheesey song to begin with. I don’t understand all the animosity towards Meg White’s drumming though, I know she ain’t flashy, but she has very solid meter and probably didn’t play any more than what Jack told her to anyway.
Glad you like the redesign Matt. I’ll probably be tweaking it a little bit over the next week or two.
I think “animosity” is a bit strong a word to describe my feelings about Meg White’s drumming. I just said that the percussion on the cover was way better than the original. And I think that’s hard to deny.
That being said, Meg White’s drumming does grate on my nerves for some reason and makes it hard for me to listen to the White Stripes for any length of time. Just my personal reaction to it for whatever reason.
I don’t doubt that it was part of Jack’s lo-fi master plan. Or that he was at the very least working within Meg’s limits as a musician.