Hooray for random cover posts!

Yup the title pretty much says it all. Enjoy!

Where Eagles Dare (Misfits cover)- Of Montreal

Crown of Love (Arcade Fire cover) - This is Ivy League

Water Runs Dry (Boyz II Men cover) - Jens Lekman

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend cover) - Hot Chip & Peter Gabriel

Dreams Come True Girl (Cass McComb cover) - Girls

Story of My Life: The Musical!

A meme circulating around Facebook about one's Top 25 Most Influential albums needs new life here, if you'll allow the indulgence. These're in chronological order. This might help explain my musical weirdness, or it might just confuse you:

The Early Years (1981 - 1993)

1. Tickle Tune Typhoon - Circle Around ...Kinder-pop!

2. Firesign Theatre - Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers / I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus ...This was not by choice; it was my dad's pick
Side A of "Don't Crush That Dwarf".mp3

3. The Beatles - Revolver ...Mom's pick
And Your Bird Can Sing.mp3

4. Steely Dan - A Decade of Steely Dan ...From both parents
Reelin' in the Years.mp3

5. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream ...I have listened to this album far, far more than any other.
Geek U.S.A..mp3

The Teen Years (1993 - 1999)

6. U2 - Achtung Baby ...Can YOU pick out the (supposed) 11 oral sex references throughout the album?
Even Better Than the Real Thing.m4a

7. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill ...Quintessential angsty mid-90's femme-rock

8. Radiohead - OK Computer ...Revolution #1: Changed the way I listened to music
Let Down.mp3

9. Tori Amos - Boys for Pele ...So, so important
Father Lucifer.mp3

10. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Kinda I Want To.mp3

The College/Bellingham Years (1999 - 2003)

11. Jeff Buckley - Grace ...Revolution #2, and my top "desert island" album pick
So Real.mp3

12. They Might Be Giants - Flood
Istanbul (Not Constantinople).mp3

13. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs ...I still worship Stephin Merritt as the lyrical god he is
Epitaph for My Heart.mp3

14. Velvet Goldmine OST ...Ah yes, the important Bowie/glam phase
Placebo - 20th Century Boy (T. Rex cover).mp3

15. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Words and Guitar.mp3

The Post-College Years (2003 - 2008)

16. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans / Illinois ...Revolution #3. Sufjan is my hero.
To Be Alone With You.mp3

17. Elliott Smith - XO
XO (Waltz #2).mp3

18. Andrew Bird - Weather Systems
Weather Systems.mp3

19. the Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree / Ghana ...Revolution #4 -- an epiphany! John Darnielle and Peter Hughes as friends and influences
Going To Kirby Sigston.mp3

20. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
My Body is a Cage.m4a

These Days (2008 - Present)

21. Jens Lekman -When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
You Are The Light (By Which I Travel Into This And That).m4a

22. Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colours
So Haunted.m4a

23. Islands - Arm's Way ...My pick for best album of last year. Epic! Move over, NMH
J'aime Vous Voire Quitter.m4a

24. the Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed ...A whole new perspective
Mole.mp3

25. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals ...Ridic catchy. I think this album'll last the years.
Set It Off.mp3

New Feud Alert!

Don't you just love a good indie rock beef? Well, then have I got a good one for you. Psychedelic troubadour, lead Flaming Lip and songwriter of Oklahoma's state anthem Wayne Coyne hates Arcade Fire. No--more then hates, more like viscerally loathes and passionately despises Arcade Fire. According to an interview in Rolling Stone, Coyne says:

I'm a fan of them on one level, but on another level I get really tired of their pompousness. We've played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, "Who do they think they are?" I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be like, "Fuck you, get outta here."

(Read the rest of the article here)

Ohhh BURN. I can't wait to see how/if Win and company respond to allegations of their pompousness.

Oh wait they (sorta) did: AF collaborator and Final Fantasy dude Owen Pallett just tweeted, "Win might not be all hugs and rainbows and kittens, but neither is he drug culture, confetti, pot paraphernalia and bullshit." Ohhh Double BURN. BUT he just removed the tweet.

This has the making of a great feud right up there with the Bloods and the Crips, the Hatfields and the McCoys, or East/West coast gangsta rap. Without the senseless violence of course. Or maybe we could replace the violence with a giant hamster ball relay race. Because Wayne would kick Win's ass.

The Flaming Lips - Fight Test.mp3
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies).m4a

For those of us who weren't invited to the Obama staff party...

Here's the Arcade Fire covering Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA". Thank God someone videotaped this, although fair warning they happen to sing along very loudly. Can't really blame them though:

The bears are back in town

...and look what they're singing this time!


"This ALMOST tops Love in the Club." -Jess

You SHOULD have this song by now, but if you don't... *beats you over the head with a wiffle bat* buy the freaking album already, you freeloaders. IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels).mp3

Cover Song Bacchanalia II!

Two more cool chains I worked out. Trying to find some that are longer than just 4/5 artists though.

The Killing Moon --->
You Oughta Know --->
Alanis Morissette --->
Fake Plastic Trees --->
Radiohead --->
Sunday Bloody Sunday --->
U2 --->
Love Will Tear Us Apart --->
Joy Division --->
Atrocity Exhibit

Foo Fighters --->
Keep the Car Running --->
Arcade Fire --->
Born on a Train --->
The Magnetic Fields --->
Heroes --->
David Bowie --->
Wild is the Wind --->
Nina Simone --->
Lilac Wine

The worst (album) covers

Here at VK, usually when we talk about covers, we're referring to a song played by a band that was originally done by another band. However, I don't think that actual albums covers--that is, the "artwork" on the face of the album--get credit where they are due.

Oftentimes, a great piece of art not only draws the eye, but enhances the vibe and message as the musical component of the album. At its best, the work can be as sublime, moving, beautiful or curious as the songs it's packaging.

HOWEVER! Bad album artwork can really backfire. The Sun-Sentinel has put together a gallery of the worst album covers of all time. You can even upload atrocities you've seen, and vote for the worst.

Most, like this, are simply an overbearing punch of retro SO ugly, even Threadless wouldn't pick it up for kitsch value (ouch!):

Others are "merely" an affront to the basic aesthetic sense of those who have better than 20/400 vision, but are an all-out insult to those with even a modicum of graphic design preference:


Others... there is simply no excuse, and nothing to say:


WOW. Well. On that note, let's take this "covers" term and deliver some random cover songs for you as well.

• Andrew Bird - Oh Sister (Bob Dylan Cover).mp3
  
• Cold War Kids - Electioneering (Radiohead cover).mp3
  
• Beirut - Hallelujah (live Leonard Cohen cover).mp3
  
• Arcade Fire - Born on a Train (Magnetic Fields cover).mp3
  
• Editors - Feel Good, Inc. (Gorillaz cover).mp3
  
• The Society Of Poor Academics - Woke Up New (Mountain Goats cover).mp3
  

2 recent Umbrella songs!

Two recent cover/collaborations involving umbrellas, eh.
All the Umbrellas in London - Arcade Fire (Magnetic Fields cover)
This version features a graceful poignancy lacking in the original. It's hauntingly restrained, which is refreshing coming from a band that is usually anything but.

Umbrella - Rhianna and The Klaxons
The R&B princess joins forces with Britain's leading rave-rockers for a spacey take on last year's massive summer jam. All together now: Ella, ella, eh, eh. (It never gets old)

Top 2007 Albums

These albums were chosen by the four of us using a weighted rating system, with each of us having 10 points to evenly distribute over 8-15 albums. Click on an artist's name to see our review of the album, the album name to purchase a copy, and mp3s to download ahoy before you ring in the New Year!*

The 12 winners (ties at #2 and #8) with their point totals are below:

1. Jens Lekman: Night Falls over Kortedala (26.8)

The Opposite of Hallelujah.mp3

Don't mind Jess plagiarizing herelf, but she's gonna quote her blurb in The L Magazine's top 25 album list, (which you should all check out as well, even though it's not as cool as this list because Jens is only #6 and not #1)

Every song on Kortedala joyously unfolds like the start of a newfound love affair, replete with all the smitten excitement, endearing awkwardness and the good kind of nervousness that any worthwhile relationship naturally entails. With its swirling retro-pop samples seamlessly integrated into the Swedish troubadour’s distinctly contemporary tales of romantic melancholy, it’s hard not to be won over by his lyrical wit, aw-shucks charm and total lack of irony. Whether he’s slicing up avocados, getting a haircut or flirting with a deaf girl, Jens effortlessly transforms those mundane little moments into the stuff that magical glockenspiel-laden epiphanies are made of. Doing what few albums this year (or any year) could accomplish: Kortedala inspires, reaffirming life and restoring faith in that crazy little thing called love, for even the most cynical. Don’t let anyone stand in your way.

2. Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha (18.3)

Heretics.mp3 Dark Matter.mp3

Our favorite fine feathered friend fingerling-a-lings a finely focused effort.

2. Okkervil River: The Stage Names (18.3)

A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene.mp3, Plus Ones.mp3
The audio equivalent of a rich, satisfying novel.

3.The National: Boxer (17)

Slow Show.mp3

Listen for our friend Sufjan ticking the ivories on a few tracks of this rock-solid rock album.

4. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible (13.3)

Intervention.mp3

"It's got enough atmosphere to start a planet: One minute of rapt attention, at two minutes my mind was blown. By the time the three-minute mark rolled around, my face was so melted as to leave my corpse unidentifiable." -June

5. Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position (11.3)

Overture.mp3, Accident & Emergency.mp3
Creepy and joyous, all at the same time: Wolf's broad-reaching voice and lyrics take back seat to impressive layers of Rachmaninoff-inspired pop compositions as colorful as the packaging.

6.
Radiohead: In Rainbows (11)

Nude.mp3

Not only the best pick-your-price album of the year, but one of the best in general. A real return to real rock, and their best opus since OK computer.
7. Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (10.3)

Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse.mp3

Jess again quotes herself: "It’s a weird mix of accessible melodies and dark synth-powered vitriol, a constant battle between the two tones, ending gloriously in a draw."

8. Rufus Wainwright: Release the Stars (10)

Between My Legs.mp3, Slideshow.mp3
Epic and operatic and tongue in cheek and melancholy and oh-so-very Rufus.

8.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists: Living With the Living (10)

A Bottle of Buckie.mp3

9. Magnolia Electric Co.: Sojourner (9.6)

10. Architecture in Helsinki: Places Like This (8)

Hold Music.mp3, Lazy (Lazy).mp3
A more mature sounding recording that doesn't sacrifice any of the playfulness of their earlier albums.

---

Runners-Up (chosen by two or more of us)

Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb.mp3

So few bands actually sound their best when they sound more like themselves. Spoon is one of them.

The Shins: Wincing the Night Away

Sleeping lessons.mp3

Mmmmmm...slacker-rific! Now, with new improved sound and delicious hooks!

Wilco: Sky Blue Sky

Either Way.mp3

Does liking this album take me one step closer to soccer mom-dom? Aw, fuck it. Jeff Tweedy will never break my heart.

White Stripes: Icky Thump

You Don't Know What Love Is (You just Do As You're Told.).mp3
People keep saying the White Stripes have done all they can. People can be dumb sometimes.

Feist: The Reminder

I Feel It All.mp3
Please, let's divorce this album from all its commercial appeal, because let's face it no matter how hard Apple might try, Feist proves you can't commodify a broken heart.

---

EPs we liked (not ranked)

Los Campesino!: Sticking Fingers Into Sockets

You! Me! Dancing.mp3
The most fun 16 minutes I've heard all year, like if AiH had a love child with Art Brut.

Black Kids: Wizard of Ahhs

I've Underestimated My Charm (Again).mp3
Yeah, maybe the blogs overestimated their charm, but hey you gotta admit they're catchy.

Grizzly Bear: Friend EP

He Hit Me.mp3
Psych-folk masters rework old material and freak the crap out of me. In a good way, of course.

Jukebox The Ghost: Jukebox The Ghost

Hold It In.mp3
Damn near-addictive piano-based, power-pop, proving quirky vocals and handclaps are always a winning combination.

The Viking Moses: Swollen & Small: The Songs of Neutral Milk Hotel

Holland, 1945.mp3
A small selection of pared-back Neutral Milk Hotel covers from one of the best acts to come
out of new weird America.

Two Gallants: The Scenery of Farewell

Seems Like Home To Me.mp3
With voices that sound older then they are as inherently American as Bruce Springsteen and pb&j.

Flight of the Conchords: The Distant Future

The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room (live).mp3

New Zealand's 4th-most-popular guitar-based digi-bongo a capella rap-funk-comedy folk duo!

---

Individual picks

Jess liked...

Richard Hawley: Lady's Bridge

Serious.mp3
I'm really just a sucker for his croon.

Sea Wolf: Leaves in the River

The Cold, The Dark & The Silence.mp3
This album is so gorgeous, I can't even justify its majestic, autumnal gorgeousness.

The Felice Brothers: The Adventures of the Felice Bros., Vol. 1

Whiskey in My Whiskey.mp3

The penned landscape of downtrodden America; Americana at its must rustic, rural--and authentic.

LCD Soundsystem: The Sound of Silver

North American Scum.mp3

The one album that made me want to dance and cry at the same time, despite not being coordinated enough to do so.

June liked...

Oliver Future: Pax Futura

Stranger Than Stranger.mp3

Instantly arresting lyrics, unstoppable guitar riffs and rock beats; the songs stand on their own but work best as a collective unit.

Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity

Kidz Are So Small.mp3

Where cacophany, noise rock, J-pop and a complete lack of irony in the joy of music collide into brilliance.

Castanets: In the Vines

Sway.mp3

Haunting gorgeous... or gorgeously haunting? Asthmatic Kitty's best release this year.

Saul Williams: The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!

Tr(n)igger.mp3

Trent Reznor has been busy this year, putting out his own album (Year Zero) and producing this fantastic over-the-top grindcore work from preacher/poet/musician Saul Williams.

Megan liked...

CoCo Rosie: The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Werewolf.mp3
Everything I hate combined to make something I love.

Faker: Be The Twilight

Are You Magnetic.mp3

Megan raved about this album at length just a few posts down, but she'll say it again: kickass album with kickass choruses!

Bright Eyes: Cassadaga

If The Brakeman Turns My Way.mp3
The boy wonder isn't a boy anymore, and it's fitting that his new album has a more mature
sound. Sure, a lot of the clumsy charm of his earlier stuff is gone, but the polished, grown up
songs on Cassadaga are just as rewarding in their own way.

The New Pornographers: Challengers

Myriad Habour.mp3
Energetic and melodic and instantly enjoyable.

Lizzie liked...

Peel

State Radio: Year of the Crow

Griffin House: Flying Upside Down

Willy Mason: If the Ocean Gets Rough

*For those of us currently West of, say, Casablanca.

My favorite bands cover my other favorite band.

You've probably all seen this by now (those Radiohead webcasts spread fast!). But I shall post it regardless, because I just love, love, love how Thom Yorke nearly yodels the chorus. It is agony expressed as joy. And it is swell.



And here's the mp3:
The Headmaster's Ritual - Radiohead (The Smiths cover)

And one more very, very recent Smith cover sighting. The Arcade Fire played a rollicking rendition of "Still Ill" while touring through Manchester (where else?) just a few short weeks ago.

Still Ill - Arcade Fire (The Smiths cover)

Mix Tape III!

Another mix for your sharing pleasure; this one for a great friend celebrating a recent birthday.
22 songs / 1:18:40 total

Side "A"
4 Non Blondes - What's Up.mp3 (from Bigger, Better, Faster, More!)
To Be Sung At Maximum Volume.

Rosie Thomas & Sufjan Stevens - Say Hello.mp3 (from These Friends of Mine)
A sweet tune with two lovely voices. I love the awkward, adorable "hi" introductions at the end.

Acacia Sears - Passion Play.mp3 (from Dialtones)
Another favorite track off the album by trhe same lovley lady interviewed here a few days ago.

The Unicorns - Sea Ghost.mp3 (from Who will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?)
Every song can be improved by a 17-second sea chanty intro.

Arcade Fire - Intervention.mp3 (from Neon Bible)
I've said it before and I'll say it again: this brain-exploding tune will melt your face so as to leave your corpse unidentifiable. This is an understatement.

Neutral Milk Hotel - Two-Headed Boy.mp3 (from In The Aeroplane Over The Sea)
"Never, under any circumstances, admit you have no idea who Jeff Magnum is." --Everybody Hurts
Words to live by, there.

Weird Al - Happy Birthday.mp3 (from Weird Al)
I've managed to make a birthday mix for this person every year for four years in a row now, always including a nontraditional birthday song, and never repeating one. However, I'm beginning to run a bit low on material.

Art Brut - Good Weekend.mp3 (from Bang Bang Rock & Roll)
Jess and I once proposed to PPH that the Mountain Goats should cover this; PPH replied that he'd been already practicing the bass line that weekend (which is a wonderful, fun bassline). Cue glee.

Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks.mp3 (from Writer's Block)
The mandatory introduction to PB&J for everyone else who missed all the great music that came out last year.

Cut/Copy - Hearts on Fire.mp3 (from Cut/Copy)
Beleve it or not, this upbeat, highly dancable tune from some folks in Australia didn't come out in 1986; it came out within the last 12 months. I know, I was shocked too!

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence.mp3 (from Violator)
Perfect transition into a classic that everyone loves (but sometimes forgets how beautiful this song really is).

Side "B"
Daniel Smith & Sufjan Stevens - Worried Shoes (Daniel Johnston cover).mp3 (from I Killed The Monster)
The two friends pair up here for a richly polished cover of one of our favorite lo-fi heroes.

The National - Ada.mp3 (from Boxer)
Moar Seekrit Soof-yawn Plz! Here he tickles the ivories with panache on one of the best songs from one of the best albums this year.

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - 11:11.mp3 (from The Swimming Hour)
This mix contains several duets and this is yet another, with a superb balance of male-female vocals here in a rousing Americana-tinged rock song.

Patrick Wolf - Tristan.mp3 (from Wind in the Wires)
A rough, passionate, dark and undeniably sexy song.

the Mountain Goats - Cubs in Five.mp3 (from Nine Black Poppies)
John Darnielle & Peter Peter Hughes up the "oh snap!" quoitent in this wicked sharp anti-love song.

Phish - Mmm Bop (live Hanson cover).mp3 (from A Live One) (YSI)
This is actually Phish doing an impression of James Brown's cover of Mmm Bop. Must be heard to be believed.

R.E.M. - Nightswimming.mp3 (from Automatic for the People)
The epitome of an Indian summer in New York. September's coming soon (and when it does, I too shall find myself there).

Belle & Sebastian - Your Secrets.mp3 (from the Books EP)
"I just had somebody tell me I was introspective to a fault." Wait, did I write this inappropriately bouncy song?

Holcombe Waller - Anthem.mp3 (from Extravagant Gesture)
A great man hailing from Portland, Oregon. With incredible, silky soaring falsetto vocals and digestabe lyrics, this tune redefines what rock is.

Jeff Buckley - Satisfied Mind (live Johnny Cash cover).mp3
A song for a funeral. Recorded live from the WFMU broadcast October 1992.

Tenacious D - Friendship Test.mp3 (from the self-titled album)
...It never hurts to check, just in case.

Game Shows Touch Our Lives

My love for Bob Barker knows no bounds. In my eyes his retirement as host of The Price is Right, the only bastion of watchable daytime TV left in these United States, is tragic. The man is an American institution unto himself. If you see a girl roaming the streets of New York dressed all in black, with tear-streaked cheeks chances are it's me -that is if I make it out of the house at all, no mean feat given my constant state of mourning.

"But this is a music blog," you say. No worries, I didn't forget. That's why it is my pleasure to present this clip in which two members of the Arcade Fire, Tim Kingsbury and Richard Reed Perry, intervene (lame pun, I know) on the greatest game show of all time. Note their "1-866-Neon-Bible" t-shirts, as they stand behind the first bidder. It's sure to cure your Antichrist Television Blues:


Additionally, here's the most depressingly gorgeous song ever to reference the Price is Right:

The Mountain Goats - Game Shows Touch Our Lives (Live @ the Bowery Ballroom, NYC 10/01/06)

Duck and Cover!

I'm not feeling very articulate today, but here are some cover songs currently running through my brain. Enjoy!

The Ballad of El Goodo - Colin Meloy (Big Star cover)

Jealous Guy - Elliott Smith (John Lennon cover)

Born on a Train - Arcade Fire (Magnetic Fields cover)

A Song from Under the Floorboards - Morrissey (Magazine cover)

Today was a good day for mail

2001's Enjoy Your Rabbit was the last Sufjan album I had left to buy. I hesitated because I'd heard less-than-savory things about it. There's disharmonics, there's manipulated sounds, there's gratuitous nose for noise's sake. Not to mention the clinically sparse east-meets-west contradictions in the graphic design artwork.

But there is also a warm quality to the spoken Chinese, the electronic beats and the robotic bells. The underlying structure of many of the songs reflect later works: In "Year of the Dragon" one clearly hears synthesizer flourishes echoed in Michigan's "Tahquamenon Falls," and Sonic Youth inspired electric guitar in the title track found on several tracks on 2006's The Avalanche.

I'm a bit partial to Year of the Rooster being that it's my own zodiac animal.
Mr. Stevens himself is a Rabbit:

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise.

Pretty accurate I'd say!
Kicking off the album with a brief nod to his label Asthmatic Kitty and ending with a dreamy, floaty, ethereal vocal called "Year of Our Lord," this is a solid opus not to be lightly shelved by fans of Sufjan's later works.

Sufjan Stevens - Year of the Ox.mp3

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This might be old news, but did you know that Arcade Fire is really awesome? S'true! I'd be the last to bash eclectic instrumentation in indie rock, but no amount of skepticism could have prepared me for a church organ, of all things! Neon Bible, while lacking a few of the highs 2004's Funeral provided, is far and away a more cohesive, directed work, and a more solid album throughout. "Keep the Car Running," while reminiscent of Joy Division, sets the stage nicely for upbeat if moody tracks like "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" and "The Well and the Lighthouse."

The real punch in the face for me still is "Intervention." Rumored to be a political song about the war in Iraq, the richly orchestral piece is what I'd describe as heavy acoustic. It's got enough atmosphere to start a planet. One minute in my ears were held in rapt attention. Two minutes in my mind was blown. The time the three-minute mark rolled in, my face was so melted as to leave my corpse unidentifiable.
But don't take my word for it:

Arcade Fire - Intervention.mp3