Yes, I’ve been slack, so here are some covers. We’re good now, yes?
I know, I know, I’ve been incredibly slack in updating this place of late. When I started this thing, I always swore to myself that I wouldn’t be one of those bloggers who often disappears for big gaps and then suddenly pops up again with some lame excuse for not posting stuff. Unfortunately, that’s where we are though. I’d like to think these are somewhat reasonable excuses though. Partly I’ve been working an absolute ton lately, which eats into my time. Secondly, the host I use for the majority of my mp3s has been having no end of problems over the past week (and there’s more to come, yay). Finally, I’ve been putting together the first ‘Another Form of Relief presents..’ live music event. It’ll feature It Hugs Back, 4 or 5 Magicians and Favours for Sailors, and will be held on December 6 in Tunbridge Wells. A little more detail can be found on our new ‘Live Events‘ page. If you’re going to be in the south of England on that date, I implore you to attend. An awesome night of fantastic music is assured.
MP3 The Polyphonic Spree – Lithium (expired) (Nirvana)
I should probably declare now that I hate The Polyphonic Spree. I don’t particularly like their songs, I find the lead singer’s voice largely annoying and as a whole, I find the whole group to be a little on the creepy side. Despite all that though, I really like this. ‘Lithium’ is one of the few Nirvana songs that I really like (not a big fan there either), and somehow, it suits the Polyphonic Spree to a tee. I have absolutely no idea how this happened. The two bands are pretty much as far opposed from each other as possible, yet it works. Having a whole choir for large sections of the song works. The instrumentation works. Hell, even the lead singer’s voice seems to suit it. Very, very weird, but very, very good.
MP3 Counting Crows – Rain King / Thunder Road (live) (expired) (Bruce Springsteen)
In something of a contrast from the previous song, I love both parties involved in this one. I’m not the world’s biggest Springsteen fan (always try to explore more, never get very far), but the songs I do like are great. I also have a very soft spot for Counting Crows. I know over recent years they have ventured further and further into middle of the road territory, but their first few albums are still stunningly good. The first thing to note about this cover is that it isn’t just the cover. It’s taken from a live recording where Counting Crows suddenly broke into ‘Thunder Road’ part way through one of their own songs called ‘Rain King’. This in itself is a great song, and the most striking thing about this performance is how easily the band are able to segue from ‘Rain’ to ‘Thunder’ and then back to ‘Rain’ again. If you’re only really interested in the cover part, you’ll need to jump to around the three minute mark of the song, but I assure you the medley as a whole is far better.
MP3 Rilo Kiley – After Hours (expired) (The Velvet Underground)
Now I can’t stand the sound of The Velvet Underground, so this is the one song where I’m not familiar with the original. This obviously makes it difficult to write about a song, particularly in the context of a cover. As such, I can’t tell you whether this is a good cover or a bad cover. All I can really tell you is that I quite like it as a song. Granted I have a weakness for all things Rilo, and I’m not claiming that this is among their best, but it’s a pleasant enough three minutes. I don’t know when this was recorded, only that it appeared on The Execution of All Things single. It sounds kind of old, particularly when judged by Jenny’s voice, but if anyone has any idea when this was recorded, leave a comment to let me know.
That’s it cover wise. I have a whole list of things I want to write about here, so hosting willing, I’ll be back with another update or two over the course of today.
Where’d you get the Counting Crows song? It is great and they do a great job at Thunder Road! I listen to this at least once a day.
Can I get any more tunes from this CC set? It is crystal clear.
Big Thanks! My wife and I heard Counting Crows do Rain King/Thunder Road in Allentown a couple of years ago. We’ve been to four of their shows: Tower, Hershey, Allentown, Hershey again (this year) and really love the sound of this band. We miss Ben but so it goes.
We haven’t felt the music flow like this since The Beatles and Grateful Dead. Yes, we are that old.
Hey,
Found you thorough google blog search because you mentioned Counting Crows so I assume you are a fan. I did some writing about the band recently which I’m putting up on my blog in 5 parts.
Check it out if you want to:
http://krahn.blogspot.com/