Covers for Sunday...a day late.

We're a day late with Covers for Sunday this week because some moron decided it would be a good idea if I went in to work at 4am today. Consequently I was in bed very early, so I didn't have time to do this yesterday. I'd complain, but the aforementioned moron was me, so I don't really have the right.



A Change Is Gonna Come by Otis Redding (originally by Sam Cooke) One of the very best covers ever, I've featured the Sam Cooke original and Ben Sollee's and Arcade Fire's covers of this song. Otis Redding's and Sam Cooke's versions of this are both superb, I find it impossible to choose which is better. I think this is the best soul song ever, it's certainly my favourite. I once used this song and the Robert Frost poem, Mending Wall, as the basis for a piece of work in an English literature class 15 years ago. I loved the song then, I still love it now.

Reckoner by Gnarls Barkley (originally by Radiohead). Gnarls Barkley covering Radiohead live, it's as good as you'd imagine it to be.

Dreams the band in Heaven (originally by The Cranberries). One of last weeks most popular bands with their cover of Goodbye Horses the Florida duo are back with a Cranberries cover.

When Doves Cry by Brett Anderson (originally by Prince). Yes, the same Brett Anderson who is Suede's lead singer.

Such Great Heights by Fort deClare (originally by The Postal Service). I know this song has been covered lots and lots of times, but this version has a kazoo. You owe it to yourself to listen to it.

Fortunate Son by Todd Snider feat. Patty Griffin (originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival). To finish us of this lovely folky cover of CRR.

Live - Idioteque

Idioteque (mp3) by Radiohead, live in 2003.

One of my favourite Radiohead songs, in fact one of my favourite songs regardless of artist and this is an excellent live version.

A bit of hip hop.

Periodically I realise that I don't actually post much hip hop here and resolve to do something about. Then I'll post a little bit, get distracted and repeat the cycle a few months later. So, here's some hip hop and hopefully I won't forget, but I'm not counting on it.

Plenty of my friends, even those interested in music say they don't like hip hop. It seems though that what they actually mean is, they don't like the sort of hip hop they hear on the radio. Neither do I. Sure there are some exceptions, but for every genre except classical, I don't like what is played on mainstream radio stations. So here's some hip hop that you won't hear on mainstream radio.



Masters Of The Universe by Binary Star. It took me a long time to find this album, when I finally managed to find it I ended up paying more for it than any other album before or since. It was money well spent.



Deathbed Doctrine by Jedi Mind Tricks. Maybe the most famous non-famous hip hop act JMT have a new album, Violence Begets Violence, due out sometime this year.



Dream Seasons by Blackalicious. There have been no Blackalicious albums since 2005 but they are also working on an album due out this year.

Live - Books From Boxes

The second single from the second album, Our Earthly Pleasures. If you don't already own that album you should do, and you can pick up Paul Smith's solo album Margins at the same time.

Books From Boxes (mp3) by Maximo Park, live on The Culture Show

Covers for Sunday

Nothing Compares 2 U by The Last Royals (originally by Prince). More cover goodness from The Last Royals after their version of EMF's Unbelievable of a fortnight ago.

Unravel by Radiohead (originally by Björk). This is performed by Thom Yorke during a Radiohead webcast and is his favourite song.

Goodbye Horses by The Band In Heaven (originally by Q Lazzarus). This is the song Buffalo Bill is playing and signing along with in Silence Of The Lambs. This is a very nice shoegazing cover, a bit like a dreampop but harder. And very good.

Courting Blues by Lisa Hannigan (originally by Bert Jansch). Lisa Hannigan was Damien Rice's backing vocalist for a while, her excellent cover of Personal Jesus was featured here before. This sounds like a mix of drone music and folk music, obviously it's very good.

My Funny Valentine by Hawk (originally by Mitzi Green) Hawk is the frontman of The Plastic Pals, who I've featured before here and have a new album due soon. Mitzi Green played Billie Smith in Babes On Arms in 1937 and so was, as far as I can tell, the original vocalist for My Funny Valentine.

Fuck You by Anjulie (originally by Cee-Lo). By a female vocalist so some of the vocals are re-written. My favourite being "I guess I'm like Dora, she's a Malibu Barbie".

New Radiohead song and album stream

As you'll almost certainly know by now the new Radiohead album, King Of Limbs, was released yesterday, including the song Lotus Flower.

Lotus Flower by Radiohead.

The following video was released for Lotus Flower, it seems Thom Yorke stole Paul Smith's hat:



On the first couple of listens the album is very good with lots of dubstep influences. So far Codex is the standout track for me, I think it compares well with anything Radiohead have ever done. I suspect we'll be seeing another, companion, album to this sometime soon. You can buy the download album now from Radiohead here and if you're unsure, you can stream it from here.

The Last Royals - review

Update: The EP is available free on noisetrade for this week, go download it.



You'll remember The Last Royals from their cover of EMF's Unbelievable I posted just over a week ago.

Signed to Ooh La La Recordings The Last Royals are Eric James on vocals, synths and guitar and Mason Ingram on drums, percussion and samples. I described the Brooklyn based duo as producing catchy music that's full of hooks. That's not just true of their cover but of their EP.

Catchy indie pop at it's best, The Last Royals craft songs that spend all day stuck in your head. Backseat Lovers sound like an exceptionally talented updated take on late 90's indie. Obviously all band have influences, but that's not to say The Last Royals are solely derivative and offer nothing on their own merits. Crystal Vase is just full and bouncy and fun and catchy and about the desperation, isolation and discord that happens in the aftermath of a marriage breaking up. It's not exactly easy to write a song that combines those elements. Always, To Belong is again steeped in late 90's indie, but much better. Had the indie scene actually been this good in the late 90's bands like The Strokes wouldn't have seemed so necessary. Come Take My Hand is a demo that certainly doesn't sound in anyway unfinished or under-produced. Backseat Lovers (Crayon Remix) sounds less like a remix and more like a complete re-imagining of the original, with a large serving of tenderness.



The track listing for the EP is:

Backseat Lovers
Crystal Vases
Always, To Belong
Come Take My Hand (Demo)
Backseat Lovers (Crayon Remix)

On the off chance you missed their cover of Unbelievable here it is again:

Unbelievable by The Last Royals (originally by EMF)

and you can download Backseat Lovers (Crayon Remix) here:

and listen to Crystal Vase here:



You can visit The Last Royals myspace and youtube

And then you can, and should, go and buy the EP. It's only $2.99 and you can get it from bandcamp and The Last Royals webstore. I've got no vested interest in you buying the EP, I just think you might fall in love with it like I have.

Covers for Sunday - Jazz Edition

It's been a while since we had a jazz edition of Covers for Sunday so here we are. Of course it wouldn't be a jazz edition if The Bad Plus and Brad Mehldau weren't included. Mehldau is on his own this time and The Bad Plus are as fantastic as always. James Carter, who was featured before covering Pavement, is back with Joshua Redman ripping through a Count Basie composition. There are also three first time artists, Stanley Clarke Trio's cover of Under The Bridge is especially good. Jazz Against The Machine cover Soundgarden and Jazzkantine finish with a superb cover of Van Halen, the only song from today with vocals.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World by The Bad Plus (originally by Tears For Fear)

Under The Bridge by Stanley Clarke Trio (originally by Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Bottle Up And Explode by Brad Mehldau (originally by Elliott Smith)

Blues In The Dark by James Carter and Joshua Redman (originally by Count Basie)

Spoonman by Jazz Against The Machine (originally by Soundgarden)

Ain't Talking About Love by Jazzkantine (originally by Van Halen)

Live - If You Wanna

The Vaccines have their debut album coming out 21st of March. I could go on about them, but they're so hyped I'm sure you've heard it all before and anyway, I'm pushed for time.

If You Wanna (mp3) by The Vaccines live on Later with Jools Holland.

New song by The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness

Under Cover Of Darkness by The Strokes.

As you'll almost certainly know The Strokes have a new album out on the 21st/22nd of March. The first single from it is Under Cover Of Darkness and you can download it now. Enjoy.

Some trumpet music

Green Bee by Al Hirt. Or at least Al hirt is playing the trumpet on this, but the composition is by Billy May and the orchestra is conducted by Lionel Newman. In 1966 The Green Hornet TV series (the one with Bruce Lee as Kato) was produced. The radio series had Flight Of The Bumblebee as the theme tune and that was rearranged into a jazz version that became this. The song is sometimes known as The Green Hornet.

Rise, Sally Rise by Nat Adderley. You've probably heard of Cannonball Adderley, Nat's brother, rather than Nat himself. But if you've got any of Cannonball's music chances are Nat's playing on it too. Nat played in both Cannonball Adderley Quintets as well as with Ray Charles, Philly Joe Jones, Wynton Kelly, JJ Johnson and Sonny Rollins as well as recording over 30 albums as a band leader. This is from the album The Scavenger and was sampled by Eric B & Rakim on Know The Ledge.

Miles Runs The Voodoo Down by Miles Davis. I couldn't not include any Miles Davis. Duke Ellington once referred to him as "The Picasso of jazz" and I think that sums this up pretty well. It comes from the album Bitches Brew which followed on from In A Silent Way, those two albums together being the creation of fusion jazz. Interestingly because these albums feature long tracks they are ridiculously cheap to buy in mp3, for instance you can go and buy In A Silent Way from Amazon for under £1.40/$2.

Covers for Sunday

All of the songs, bar one, in today's blog are covers that have been sent to me by bands and agents. I have now, I think, finally caught up with my e-mails. If you've e-mailed me and haven't got a reply just resend your original or e-mail me again and I'll get back to you. Sorry for all the delays.



Unbelievable by The Last Royals (originally by EMF). It's hard to pin down exactly, but I get a vibe of The Cure in this cover. I've mentioned before that I particularly enjoy listening to duos, to see how they overcome the limitations caused by the lack of band numbers. These New Yorkers do it by making their music catchy and full of hooks.



Don't Fear The Reaper by Bobtown (originally by Blue Oyster Cult). Bobtown play traditional Americana folkand still make it sound fresh and new with an original take on an old genre, the perfect soundtrack to Southern Gothic.



California Gurls by Lloyd's Garage (originally by Katy Perry). It goes without saying that I'm not a fan of the original version of this, because I have a 10 year old daughter I've heard it a few times. This version is very good, another duo more than making up for the lack of members. In the week when the White Stripes officially called it quits it's lazy but not necessarily unreasonable to look to Lloyd's Garage as a spiritual successor.



So Freely by Snow and Voices (originally by Tir Na Nog). Snow And Voices have been featured before, back in June 2010 with there cover of Mistress by Mark Kozelek (here) and as much as I enjoyed that I think this track, especially Lauri Kranz's vocal, is even better.



Jealous Guy by The PepTides (originally by John Lennon). Last week it was Okkervil River covering this song, now we have Canadian duo The PepTides. Even though it's the same song the two covers are very different, where Okkervil River's cover was very heartfelt and down to earth there's something grand about this.



Toxic by Yaron Herman (originally by Britney Spears). This is the only cover that wasn't sent to me, sadly I don't live in a universe where jazz musicians of the calibre of Yaron Herman e-mail me. One day though.

Afrobeat

Everybody should know Fela Kuti, and I guess most people who're into music do know of him. He's one of my favourite artists so I want to share some more of his music here. He's the pioneer of afrobeat, but there's more to afrobeat than just his music, I've been spending some time lately listening to more of the genre and I decided



Zombie by Fela Kuti.

If you haven't heard any of Fela Kuti's music before this may very well be the best place to start. From the album of the same name this song, and the rest of the album, is directed at the military government of Nigeria. In the aftermath of this song's release and huge popularity in Nigeria Fela Kuti's home/commune was attacked and destroyed, his mother killed and many residents beaten, Fela Kuti included. He sent his mother's coffin to the main military base in Lagos and wrote two songs about it, Coffin For Head Of State and Unknown Soldier. In next year, 1978, Fela Kuti played this during a concert in Accra when riots broke out and he was subsequently banned from the country.



Truth Don Die by Femi Kuti.

Femi Kuti is Fela Kuti's eldest son, but I've no real interest in comparing the two. Femi Kuti's music stands out for it's quality on it's own merits and should be judged by that. Femi Kuti has been recording and releasing as a band leader since 1989. This track comes from Shoki Shoki which, along with Day By Day, are good starting points into his music.



Beaten Metal by Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.

From New York rather than Nigeria Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra have a heavy debt to Fela Kuti. This track comes from the album Security, their third, where they start to move away from pure afrobeat and introduce a few sounds from other genres. This is still afrobeat, it's just an evolution of it. Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra are responsible for the arrangement and playing of the Fela Kuti music used as the soundtrack for the Broadway show Fela!

The Bad Plus - side projects.

This isn't meant to be in anyway an exhaustive look at the recordings Reid Anderson, Dave King and Ethan Iverson have made away from The Bad Plus. It's just one track from each of them away from The Bad Plus that I think you'll enjoy.



Not Sentimental by Reid Anderson Quartet. From Reid Anderson's debut album from 1997, Dirty Show Tunes. This features Reid Anderson on contrabass, Ethan Iverson on piano, Mark Turner on tenor saxophone and Jordi Rossy on drums.



Very Small Rock by Happy Apple. From Dave King's other trio, this band feature Dave King on percussion, Michael Lewis on saxophone, contrabass and keyboard and Erik Fratzke on fender bass and guitar. This track is from their 7th studio album Happy Apple Back on Top.



Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Ethan Iverson Trio. From Ethan Iverson's album of standards, Deconstruction Zone, released in 1998. This features essentially the same personnel as Dirty Show Tunes. With Ethan Iverson is on piano, Reid Anderson on contrabass and Jorge Rossy on drums, it's worth remembering that this and Not Sentimental were both recorded prior to The Bad Plus forming in 2000.

New Fleet Foxes song

It was released a couple of days ago so chances are you've already heard it, but if not you can get it here:

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes.

It's from the album of the same name which will have 12 tracks altogether. There's no official track listing yet but the following songs seem pretty likely to be included:

Blue Spotted Tail
Bedouin Dress
I Feel the Same
Midnight Feeder
Tripolee
Sim Sala Bim
Battery Kinzie
Montezuma

as well as Helplessness Blues.

Live - Naima

One of John Coltrane's most famous compositions he wrote this in 1959 and named it after his first wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs.

This performance comes from Antibes in 1965. Antibes is in southern France, home of the outdoor festival Jazz à Juan as well as an Absinthe Museum.

Naima (mp3) by the John Coltrane Quartet live in Antibes, 27th July, 1965.

The musicians on this recording are:

John Coltrane - Saxophone
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Jimmy Garrison - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums