Another Form of Relief

I’ve lost track of exactly how many versions of Where Is My Mind I have at this point. It seems to be one of those staple cover songs that everyone has to have a go at sometime. With that in mind, here is Emmy the Great’s version, recorded live for a BBC Radio 1 session. I think. Maybe it was for somewhere else. My feelings on Emmy’s music itself varies from week to week, and I seem to like about half of her songs but can’t stand the other half. I’m not sure exactly where this one falls. It’s all acoustic with layered vocals, something Nada Surf attempted with their version if I recall correctly. It’s not bad by a long shot, but it’s not blowing me away either. Still, it’s always enjoyable to hear alternative versions of songs.

Well it’s that time again folks. The post that crops up every couple of weeks or so and doesn’t see me shilling whatever new band I’ve discovered this week. It’s time for a bunch of weird and wacky cover songs!

MP3 Belaire – Through The Wire (expired) (Kanye West)
I originally posted this one when I first wrote about Belaire. Originally I had absolutely no idea that it was a cover, much less that it was a rap cover. I think I’m one of the few people that the Kanye West bus (other than Gold Digger and Jesus Walks) hasn’t rolled over just yet. Anyways, after I found out I went and listened to the Kanye version, and I’m all the more impressed by it now. This sounds absolutely nothing like that version, turning it into a driving guitar song, and I love those borderline aggressive female vocals.

MP3 Teenage Fanclub – Here Comes Your Man (expired) (Pixies)
I always find Pixies covers to be interesting if only for the way that they put bands into an awkward spot. They have such a unique sound that it’s pretty hard to cover them without either copying it exactly or changing the sound a hell of a lot. Teenage Fanclub elect the copy scenario, which is reasonable enough. It’s harldy the world’s greatest cover version or anything, but it’s a solid version of a solid song. It seems to have something of a cleaner sound than the original too, actually making it easier to make out the words. Granted they still don’t make a lot of sense, but it’s a help nonetheless.

MP3 Dan Wilson – Everything I Own (expired) (Bread)
I guess I’m about the only person excited by the upcoming Dan Wilson solo album. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of his projects, be it Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare or solo material. I know most people are going to cry ‘middle of the road’ at it and the such, but I don’t really care. I’ve yet to be let down with any release he’s been involved with so I’m very curious about this. Anyway, this is a cover version of a Bread song recorded as part of a live radio performance several months ago. I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t really know the Bread version, but I like this a lot, and it’s the perfect song for Dan’s vocal style.

MP3 Death Cab For Cutie – This Charming Man (expired) (The Smiths)
Oh boy, where do I start with this one? This has to be one of the most shambolic, disastorous covers that I have ever heard. Oddly though, I still like it a hell of a lot. If you’re a big fan of The Smiths oriignal though, you’re probably going to consider this to be akin to rape. I wasn’t when I first heard so it’s not a massive deal for me that the lyrics are completely wrong. It’s all good though as the band apparently feel really bad about getting them wrong. You’d think if you were covering a song you’d check your lyrics were correct first, but apparently not Gibbard and his merry men. Thankfully this doesn’t do any major damage though, other than changing the entire meaning of the song. It’s still a lot of fun in a car crash kind of way though.

If I could just do a quick bit of pimping before I go, don’t forget that this is the last couple of weeks for eMusic’s 50 free mp3 offer. If you haven’t taken advantage of this awesome deal yet, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so. If you already have and want a new fix of mp3s (or are just greedy!), don’t forget that Audiolunchbox are also offering 50 free mp3s. Both of this sites have a lot of great stuff available, so be sure to grab what you can, while you can.

Well that’s your lot for today. I’ll hopefully be having my second interview type thingy coming up soon, which should be pretty damn cool. Once again I’m not going to say who it is, just that it’s someone I’ve written about previously. And like last time, it’s not William Shatner. Although that would be aweosme in itself.

I’ve been dealing with server and domain related issues for a large part of this evening, so tonights scheduled post on Holiday With Maggie has been postponed for a day or two in favour of something wholly simpler. It’s time for another batch of covers. I know it was only a mere nine days ago that I put up a batch, but I’ve got so many of the damn things, and a ton of them are awesome. Regular service will resume again tomorrow, but for now, enjoy this not in the least bit thrown together in five minutes batch of randomness:

MP3 Weezer – Velouria (expired) (Pixies)
I’m going to commit a little musical blasphemy right now and admit that I like this version more than the original. The original Velouria is of course a fantastic song, but there’s something about this Weezer rendition that grabs me more. It just seems to have a grittier feel to it all, and that suits the nature of the song. I also think it has one of the best Rivers vocal deliveries, actually better than the vast majority of Weezer songs. It’s one of the few times where his voice actually sounds confident, and it works perfectly.

MP3 Nina Gordon – Straight Outta Compton (expired) (NWA)
Continuing our mini series of rap songs transformed into something completely different, we have Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt. She somehow manages to take NWA’s defining song and turn it into a slowed down, almostly bluesy acoustic number. And sounds damn good doing it. It might be littered with profanity and incredibly violent, but when it sounds like this, it really doesn’t matter.

MP3 Nick Cave – Disco 2000 (expired) (Pulp)
Another cover of the “is this the same song?” variety. I’m sure that most people will be familiar with Pulp’s classic Disco 2000 (if not, why not?). You may remember it as a jangly, upbeat nostalgia trip. In the hands of Nick Cave though, it becomes a mournful, depressing song. Which is absolutely nothing against it at all as it suits Cave very well this way, and just makes me wish he’d had a go at Common People too.

MP3 Bide Ou Balde – Buddy Holly (expired) (Weezer)
Finally, we have a cover version that is just downright hilarious. I’m not sure whether it is supposed to be viewed as a serious cover or not, but regardless of that, it makes me laugh an awful lot. Weezer’s Buddy Holly was already dangerously close to being novelty record territory, so what better way to cover it than to keep it almost identical to the original? With only one minor change. The lyrics are translated from English to Portugese, as Bide Ou Blade (from what I can find out) are a Brazillian band and really decided to make this their own. I have no idea how good the translation is, other than some parts obviously couldn’t be done as they remain in English, but it manages to crack me up every time. This is probably the point where I’ll find out it is actually a serious cover or something, but no matter.

That’s all for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with a couple of new artists posts as I’ve been discovering some really excellent stuff over the past few days. It also strikes me that I’ve been doing this for a month already. That time has gone scarily quickly.