Music, album reviews and videos
Archive for October, 2010
Happy Halloween! Some random, but pretty good remixes
Oct 30th
In the spirit of Halloween, or at least the night everyone will be celebrating, enjoy these couple remixes that hopefully do nothing but get you into party mode!
The first is a rework of Australian band Wolfmother’s “Woman” by the talented DJ Mstrkrft. The second is a remix of MGMT’s “Congratulations” by Erol Alkan, a DJ and Producer from London. Hope you enjoy!
Woman – Wolfmother (Mstrkrft Remix)
Congratulations – MGMT (Erol Alkan Rework)
A few not-so-bad cover songs…
Oct 29th
My co-worker mentioned a cover song today that pretty much prompted this whole post. The song was The Postal Service’s cover of Phil Collins’s “Against All Odds.” Of course there are your classic covers such as Jimi Hendrix’s version of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”, but in my search for solid covers, I was hoping to find some that may be a little less popular.
As many of you probably already know, The Postal Service is a combination of front man Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel. The bands first and only album “Give Up” was released in 2003 and although there have been rumors of a second album, nothing more than a few additional collaborations have ensued. That being said, their rendition of “Against All Odds” is one of the most well-done covers I have heard. It doesn’t sound too innovative or impressive until you hit just a bit past the one minute mark, but everything leading up to that point makes it that much better!
The Postal Service – Against All Odds (Phil Collins cover)
This next cover is done by Ruby Weapon, a band I know absolutely nothing about. My initial search to find any info on the band turned up a Myspace music page for a Chicago based hip-hop group. Doubtful, but perhaps they are into Grizzly Bear covers on the side! I don’t really care either way, but I do enjoy this version.
Ruby Weapon – Two Weeks (Grizzly Bear Cover)
The Morning Benders have started to grow on me a bit over the last several months. This cover is not anything spectacular, but for one reason or another I keep replaying it.
The Morning Benders – Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
Searching for quality cover songs can take forever, and honestly I prefer originals a good 90% of the time, but occasionally it can be a nice change of pace to hear a familiar song performed in a different light. The last of the maybe not so popular cover songs I’ve tried to surface is Pavement’s version of “The Killing Moon” by Echo and the Bunnymen. There isn’t a whole lot original about the cover, but I just really like Pavement so it got a little preferential treatment.
Pavement – The Killing Moon (Echo and the Bunnymen cover)
Feel free to let us know what some of your favorite covers are…
Mumford and Sons- Sigh No More
Oct 18th
There is not a day that goes by that music does not drive who I am and helps to shape my thoughts, my personality and my ecentric ability to overthink the obvious. An album like ‘Sigh No More’ by the band Mumford and Sons is a true example of what passion in music is all about and why it motivates the soul to be something it yearns to be. Started in late 2007 in what is now an ever growing folk rock genre, Mumford and Sons soon began to become popular with their energetic live act. In February 2010 the album ‘Sigh No More’ was released and quickly hit the radio airwaves with their first single release ‘The Cave’. Even though the folk rock stigma falls on this band, they are far from what you would consider folk. In songs like ‘Little Lion Man’ you can really hear the rock and power coming from Marcus Mumford himself. Not only can this band make a banjo really stand and trump the once only thought to be bluegrass/country genre, but they give music a chance at still being music. With pop music taking over a medium like radio that once ruled the general populations entertainment value, Mumford and Sons is a breath of fresh air in very pop polluted music market. Their songwriting, passion and incredible harmonies give music a chance to really do what it is meant to do and speak from one’s soul. As the song ‘Awake My Soul’ says “Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see, but your soul you must keep, totally free.” Let this album awake your soul, because it surely did mine.
The Cave
Little Lion Man
Awake My Soul
Music frequenting my iPod lately…
Oct 13th
There are so many great songs on The Walkmen’s 2008 release “You & Me”, but I have been constantly replaying the song entitled “New Country”. I’m not sure what it is about this track, but every time seems to be the right time to listen to it.
The Walkmen – New Country
I’m not too sure how this next song found its way into my iTunes library, but throughout the plane rides on my way to Cancun it started to grow on me. I am pretty interested to see what the rest of their songs sound like, so I’ve definitely added them to my queue.
Matt and the Arrogant Sea – Mock Origami
My friend Beth passed along this track for me to listen to one day when we were doing a little music exploration/trading session. I like it, but it’s a bit of the same story as above, I need to spend some time listening to the rest of this guy’s stuff.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Buriedfed
Lastly, “Walking” from the Dodo’s is a short piece that stands out to me based upon the musical creativity and folk feel throughout the song. I’ve listened to a few other songs from the band and they are definitely worth checking out a little further.
The Dodos – Walking
Please explore the music from these artists a bit more if you like them, or if you’re stuck in a musical funk, hopefully these help!