Each week I'm posting a random or not-so-random cover song. Only the current week's track will be available but if you see a past one you'd like, contact me and we'll make arrangements.
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Sunday, July 25th, 2010
The Morning Benders cover The Smiths
GiganticIn doing my cursory research for this week’s selection, I found myself far more interested in the original song than the cover – or more specifically, the video circulating online for the cover.
“I Won’t Share You” was a rather fitting closing track to the final Smiths record, Strangeways, Here We Come, a stripped down number centered around Morrissey’s vocals and Marr’s strummed acoustic 12-string, but it would have made a rather odd single. And despite the fact that I could not find any evidencet hat it was ever actually released as a single, a video – with the rather official-looking “© 1987 Rough Trade” on the opening frame and a rather Smiths-y aesthetic – very much existed. What gives?
A little further digging turned up Passions Just Like Mine, a Smiths trainspotter fansite with a videos page that had the following note:
“I Won’t Share You”
A previously uncirculated video for “I Won’t Share You” was leaked on the internet at the end of 2008. It is credited to Derek Jarman, from 1987 but was supposedly put together in the early 1990s for a multimedia exhibition organised by Rough Trade which would have raised money for the Terrance Higgins Trust. The planning ended when Rough Trade went into liquidation. The video was therefore only half finished, it would have had band footage over-layed (like the “Ask” and “Panic” videos).
Yay internet! As for the cover, its origins are far less esoteric – a couple years ago The Morning Benders, via their blog, gave away (and are still giving away) an album’s worth of covers entitled The Bedroom Covers – probably a hint as to the environment where they were recorded – and this Smiths cover, which finds Chris Chu getting in touch with his inner crooner, was one of the selections and while they probably didn’t know it at the time, it would be a somewhat prophetic move as the band would sign to The Smiths’ label Rough Trade for the release of this year’s Big Echo.
The Morning Benders are in town for three performances next week – two dates opening for The Black Keys at the Kool Haus on August 3 and 4, and a free acoustic show outside of The Big Chill ice cream in Little Italy on August 4 at 5:30PM. The Smiths are and will ever remain broken up.
MP3: The Morning Benders – “I Won’t Share You”
Video: The Smiths – “I Won’t Share You”
Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Calexico cover Arcade Fire
iTunesThere aren’t many better out there than Calexico at crafting covers that do the originals justice while becoming wholly their own – after all, not many others out there have their secret recipe of southwestern (musical) herbs and spices to work with. They don’t just save them for the live setting, either – more than a few of their reinterpretations have been recorded and officially released.
This includes their take on Arcade Fire’s “Ocean Of Noise”, a song they have some extra familiarity with having contributed the horns on the Neon Bible original. They later recorded a version of the whole song and it clearly met with the writers’ seal of approval – Arcade Fire released it as the b-side to their 2007 “Intervention” single.
Calexico are in town for a show at the Phoenix on July 22, and are about due for a new record though no formal announcement about a release has been made. Arcade Fire will release their long-awaited third full-length The Suburbs on August 3 and follow that up with a show on the Toronto Islands on August 14.
MP3: Calexico – “Ocean Of Noise”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Ocean Of Noise” (live)
Sunday, July 11th, 2010
Of Montreal covers M.I.A.
Patrick HeagneyThere’s an interesting chain of evidence with this week’s selection. Back in Fall of 2008, even though their hands should have been quite full with the release of Skeletal Lamping, Athenian Georgians Of Montreal still found the time to release a non-album 7″ with a slow funk jam cover of M.I.A.’s “Jimmy”, as the A-side.
“Jimmy” was the second single from M.I.A.’s 2007 sophomore record Kala, and itself was a cover of sorts, building on the song “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja” from the 1982 Bollywood film Disco Dancer, and was originally penned by one Bappi Lahiri, aka “The Disco King”. No, these are not things I normally know, but that’s why we have Wikipedia. Interesting, no?
Both M.I.A. and Of Montreal are coming out with new records this year; M.I.A.’s /\/\/\Y/\ is out as of this Tuesday, and Of Montreal’s False Priest is still a few months away, due out on September 14. Bappi Lahari continues to score countless Bollywood films.
MP3: Of Montreal – “Jimmy”
Video: M.I.A. – “Jimmy”
Video: Bappi Lahiri – “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja”
Sunday, July 4th, 2010
The Flaming Lips cover Queen
WikipediaFor a band often credited as proudly waving their freak flag wherever it may lead them, The Flaming Lips have a pretty healthy respect for classic rock. Okay, “respect” might not be the word some purists would use to describe their re-imagining of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, but even though they clearly had their fun with it, there was obviously a deep respect for the source material.
Interestingly, their cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which was their contribution to the 2005 Queen tribute album Killer Queen, was pretty straight although that may have been because the original was already more inherently ridiculous than anything the Lips could possibly think to do to it. It’s a great song and an undisputed classic, yes, but come on. It’s just nutso.
The Flaming Lips are at the Molson Amphitheatre on Thursday night. Volume 3 of four super-deluxe Queen singles compilations was released at the end of May. Queen Elizabeth II is currently on a cross-country tour of Canada and will be in Toronto tonight.
MP3: The Flaming Lips – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
MP3: The Flaming Lips – “Bohemian Rhapsody” (live)
Video: Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
The Acorn cover Cyndi Lauper
Paper Bag RecordsWatching the video for Cyndi Lauper’s theme song for the classic ’80s kid’s film The Goonies is like a time warp in so many ways. Beyond the obvious trip back to 1985 – the film celebrated its 25th anniversary this year – there’s the whole “event”-ness of the vid: the massive, ’80s WWF wrestler cast, the appearance of most of the cast of the film not to mention also featuring director Richard Donner behind the camera, the fact that it was split into two parts – the first part debuting on MTV prior to the film’s release and the second part debuting after it opened… I only remembered vague bits of this – the Wikipedia entry for the song and video is quite thorough. And the thing that tends to get lost in all of this is that the tune underpinning it all – “Good Enough” – is really great, even when or especially when shed of all the circus-ness around it, it’s still a perfectly crafted pop song with a really sad heart – a shame that Lauper pretty much disowned the song for so long, though she’s begun re-introducing it to her live shows.
The Acorn’s Rolf Klausener saw this, and he and his Ottawan cohorts recorded an interpretation of the song a couple years ago for inclusion on their Heron Act odds and sods compilation. Their version takes the downer vibe that exists in the song’s lyrics and brings it to the fore in spare and sombre form. A video with wrestlers would probably be wholly inappropriate. Well, The Rock might be able to pull it off. Dude’s got serious dramatic chops.
The Acorn released their new record No Ghost at the start of this month and have already scheduled two tours around Canada and the US for this Summer and Fall to support – no Toronto date to follow their appearance at Lee’s Palace a couple weeks ago, but something in November seems reasonable. Cyndi Lauper is one of the marquee performers at this year’s Pride Toronto, giving a free show at Queen’s Park on July 3.
MP3: The Acorn – “Good Enough”
Video: Cyndi Lauper – “Good Enough”
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