The British Are Coming
Jarvis lends a hand, Foals triumph, Massive Attack plan the future and The Kills get cheery.
Jarvis Cocker and The Gossip's Beth Ditto will be releasing a charity single via Itunes. The single is their peformance of Heaven 17’s “Tempation,” which they did at last year’s NME awards. "It has taken a full twelve months for the world to be ready for this track - I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed performing it," said Jarvis. All proceeds will go to Shelter, an organization that raises money to help homeless and badly housed people across Britain...
Posted by Joe Roth on Feb 20, 2008 @ 12:00 am
Takin' You Back
To The Pixies!
The Pixies are one of the greatest American bands of all time. While I have had many arguments about which of their albums is best/worst, you really can’t go wrong with picking up any of them (including compilations). It may take unfamiliar listeners a while to overcome the abrasiveness of some of the music, but it’s worth it. You will surely be rewarded.
The Pixies - Levitate Me – Taken from their BBC Sessions disc, “Levitate Me” is the best song on their first official release, Come on Pilgrim...
Posted by Greg Herald on Feb 20, 2008 @ 12:00 am
We've Got You Covered
Cake revamps a Frank Sinatra classic.
This week, we wrap up our extended feature of the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack with Cake’s rendition of “Strangers in the Night.” But before we move on, let’s take a brief look back. We kicked things off with possibly one of the catchiest songs of all time, Ben Kweller’s “Lollipop.” Then Death Cab for Cutie slowed things down with their take on “Earth Angel” and the Flaming Lips gave their unique treatment to “If I Only Had a Brain.” There are even more quality covers on the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack, these have been just a few of the selected gems.
I’ll come right out and say it - this is by no means Cake’s best cover. That title goes to their version of “I Will Survive.” Even though it’s not their best cover, “Strangers in the Night” is still very good. The song has a very 50’s lounge feel to it. Cake’s unique musical style and John McCrea’s sometimes talking, sometimes singing voice are perfect for this song. You can almost see Sinatra sitting at the back table of a smoke-filled lounge nodding along to the song he made famous.
STREAM: Cake - Strangers in the Night
Posted by Cory Roop on Feb 19, 2008 @ 12:00 am
The Rise
Your new favorite artist can pop up overnight.
This story may or may not be true – but “Hello Lonesome” was recorded but not remembered by The Jones Street Boys after one of the boys had a peculiar date that involved the girl forgetting his name. Bourbon was drank and “Hello Lonesome” was recorded at some point in the night. While the original version does not seem to exist anywhere, this reworked version is a tale of new shoes and broken hearts – the former never really a staple of bluegrass music; although I really don’t know enough about bluegrass to make that assumption.
The creation of The Jones Street Boys is a little more normal (or possibly less interesting). Originally comprised of Danny Erker and Jonathan Hull (the two met in their former band, The Cobble Hillbillies), the twosome quickly bulged into a quintet and the boys from Jones Street had their sound – a lively bluegrass act with hints of rock n’ roll, Americana and Afro-Peruvian drums. A thing of note – while the band all met each other in New York City, the five members were all born and raised in the Midwest.
Some of the world’s saddest songs are some of the best. Take a listen to “Hello Lonesome” below.
STREAM: The Jones Street Boys – Hello Lonesome
Posted by Wes Soltis on Feb 18, 2008 @ 12:00 am
Your Listening Pleasure
Beach House, Ghostland Observatory and The Hoosiers in this week's YLP.
Beach House – Gila - Blogger-faves, Beach House, return with a song that further develops their melancholy, dreamy sound. Beginning with a muffled drumbeat and picking up with a church style organ, a vaguely delta blues-sounding guitar melody and a repeating piano line, "Gila" slowly eases along with the help of vocalist Victoria Legrand's echoed, but pretty vocals. If you're a fan of their former tour mates, Grizzly Bear, you know what to expect here.
Devotion is out now on Carpark Records...
Posted by Jason Prechtel on Feb 15, 2008 @ 12:00 am